Email From My Division Director

[N8CPA]

This is part of an email I received from ARRL Great Lakes Division Director Jim Weaver, K8JE. He sends such emails to the membership at least once a month.

"E-MAIL & US MAIL ON MORSE CODE REQUIREMENT

During recent days I've received E-mail messages promoting absolutely no code from proponents of No Code International. Before this, I received code-forever cards from FISTS followers. Partly because of this, I'm motivated to come out with a bit of plain talk. I do not wish to offend anyone. I respect anyone's opinion (regardless of my opinion of it) and continue to invite people, ARRL members especially, to let me know their
thinking. However, here is what I think about the Morse code licensing issue and how I intend to proceed at the ARRL Board meeting next week
. . . and a few thoughts on other topics. Please take these words at face value.

THE OPINIONS OF MEMBERS

Members' opinions are very important to me. Your answers to my July CW questionnaire caused me to modify my initial position on code requirements. Any member of this Division was eligible and requested to
give me his/her thoughts. For members who somehow did not receive the poll, I regret you were missed. For you who chose to ignore the questionnaire, I am sorry you shut yourselves out of helping shape my
opinion. You snooze; you lose!

NO CODE INTERNATIONAL (NCI)

NCI has done a good job of encouraging its members and followers to let me know what they think. No problem. Unfortunately, most of the NCI people who contacted me and identified themselves as such do not belong to ARRL. They lost their opportunity to help me formulate my position on code requirements by not being an ARRL member and, therefore, not replying to my questionnaire. My position was developed by mid-Fall
after studying the hundreds of responses by members to my questionnaire and after studying other information I found.

NON-MEMBERS

To be very frank, unless a non-member comes to me with a clearly good idea or points out a clear problem, their opinion holds significantly less weight with me than those of members. With exception, nonmembers
do not actively support the fight ARRL is making to defeat the forces (BPL) attempting to QRM our frequencies on a wholesale basis. They also
generally do not support our effort to pass legislation that prohibits FCC from skimming off our frequencies at will . . . or our fight to secure the right for each amateur to install an antenna/tower (provided doing this is physically reasonable and safe). In short, nonmembers who ask my support for a position usually have not in my opinion shown they care enough about Amateur Radio by joining the fight to protect it and enhance it.

If anyone wants my unqualified representation, all they need to do is to join ARRL and become part of the only organization in the world that is fighting to preserve and enhance Amateur Radio in the US. Shouldn't it
be more important that all of us get together under one strong organization to defeat the BPLs, frequency skimmers and anti-antenna/tower rules than to have a head-butting contest over either of the no code or know code extremes?

As an example of the reason I feel this way, it would matter not that I have a 20-wpm license or a no-code license, if we lose essential battles and find ourselves but have only insufficient, and highly QRMd frequencies on which to exercise these licenses.

MY POSITION

I agree with and will pursue offering the opportunity in a meaningful way to no code licensees to use HF. I have just become a Bad Guy in the eyes of the strict know-coders.

I also agree with and will pursue requiring Morse code requirements for a specified class of license. I have now also become a Bad Guy in the eyes of the strict no-coders. Let's face it, no matter what I and the rest of the Board do in this matter, we will be labeled stooges, a bunch of out-of-touch old men and saddled with the claim we have prostituted ourselves to the financial
dictates of someone or other, somewhere. This easily-concocted view of the Directors and Officers is an easy, if not fully inaccurate, target for anyone who does not get exactly what they feel they deserve.

So much for the goings on in the world of friendly politics!"

[WB0WAO]

I received the same email - Jim does a very good job of keeping the Great Lakes Division members informed. #It looks to me like that the ARRL will support a compromise position in which Element 1 is retained for Extra but not for General. #I can live with that - not sure how many others will be able to though # #

73

Dennis - WB0WAO

[N8CPA]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (wb0wao @ Jan. 09 2004,04:41)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I received the same email - Jim does a very good job of keeping the Great Lakes Division members informed. #It looks to me like that the ARRL will support a compromise position in which Element 1 is retained for Extra but not for General. #I can live with that - not sure how many others will be able to though # #

73

Dennis - WB0WAO[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
As I told Jim when I responded, his position is not my preference. All compromises thus far have been from the status quo. And every one of those compromises has only resulted in further demands for lower licensing standards. It is with strong misgivings about what the next demand set will be, that I understand and support Jim&#39;s position.

Ever heard, &quot;Give &#39;em and inch and they&#39;ll take a mile.&quot; If you track the history of this debate over the last twenty years, that saw appears to be true. Every inch given has resulted in another mile demanded. It makes one wonder what the real endgame is for the advocates of change.

I only hope whatever license change comes will be the last compromise. Whatever happens, I&#39;m a ham and I&#39;ll continue to be one.

&#33;&#33;

What the real endgame is in the eyes of the advocates of change is no license examinations at all.... Yeah yeah they all say &quot;Oh no, just eliminate code testing and we will be happy.&quot; but I know better.... Mark my words, this is the beginning of the end of ham radio as we know it... In a few short years (after code testing is eliminated) you will see easier and yet easier written exams... Then there will be a push on to make the entry license &quot;free&quot;.... From there they will push to eliminate testing all together.... They will try it and likely will succeed.... The end result will be a greatly expanded citizen&#39;s band radio service.... What a joke.... 10-4 good buddie??

N8CPA &amp; NJ1K,

This fight needs to be taken from a defense of the status quo to an attack on the biggest mistake ever in amateur radio the creation of a &quot;no-code&quot; license.

There is precedence for revoking priveleges of existing license holders, it happened in 1969. IT SHOULD HAPPEN AGAIN.

Perhaps the FCC should get a complete listing of all the inane questions in QRZ.com&#39;s Q&amp;A section being asked by license holders today. This ought to convince them that standards have fallen and action needs to be taken.

The no-code license needs to be eliminated. One year to upgrade or get out. Let NCI and friends defend the status quo.
We NEED change BUT not in the direction we have been going since the days of &quot;novice enhancement&quot;. That ought to be clear to about anyone who has been arround for any amount of time.

The highest class ticket ought to be a GROL and a T2, take it out of the hands of the Curly, Larry and Moe examination team.

73 Marty WB2RJR

What were the details of what happened in 1969?? I don&#39;t recall hearing anything about that...

And you have hit the nail right square on teh head regarding the Curly, Larry and Moe examination team.

[AE4FA]

Curly here.

I&#39;ve tested at an FCC field office, and would be happy to do it again - even prefer it. BUT, that&#39;s - sadly - not likely to happen.

Do remember, though, that all VE teams are not created equal. If you&#39;ve got a lousy one in your area, join it and work to make it better. Or, just hold your breath until FCC field office testing is revived.

NJ1K,

At one time general class hams had all privileges on hf. There were no subands for extra, there was no advanced ticket. So what happened was all general class hams lost privileges one fine day in november, and all the subbands by license class came into existance. No reason why this couldn&#39;t happen to no code techs, or everyone else for that matter, today.

73 Marty WB2RJR

P.S. I pretty sure this was Nov 69, could have been 67, I was very busy working full time and going to college during this period.

Curly was always my favorite.

Marty WB2RJR

Oh yes I did know about when the advanced &amp; extra licenses were created and the generals lost those sub-bands... I guess there is a fight still going on over that one....

So, how do you propose we restructure now to take privileges away from the new genius no-code techs out there?? Maybe assign them the old novice-only priveleges for CW only within the HF novice sub-bands and take away all their priveleges above 30 mHz?? This would certainly be fine by me... It would also give them one thing they were looking for; HF access without a code test&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;