11 year-old passes morse test Morse code received a boost from the younger generation, on the 24th June 2020, when 11-year-old Ryan Morrison from Stillorgan, Co. Dublin took and passed his Morse code test. Conducting the test were IRTS Chief Morse tester Dave Moore EI4BZ and Jerry Cahill EI6BT. Ryan was delighted to pass the Morse test after practicing for five months at twenty minutes per day. Ryan is looking forward to sitting the radio theory test on 25th July in the Maldron Hotel, Tallaght and we wish him every success. IRTS http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/july/11-year-old-passes-morse-test.htm
Great job Ryan. An inspiration to the older amateurs who are also trying. I suspect the key thing to learn from Ryan is the daily practice.
ALAS, HERE in the 13 COLONIES THERE IS "NO LONGER A CODE TEST!!! I say RE-INTRODUCE THE 20wpm REQUIREMENT FOR THE SO-CALLED EXTRA!!!
Congrats to Ryan! I don't know the speed he copied, but I copied 5 WPM at age 13 to qualify for my Novice license. At Ryan's age, his brain is like a sponge, and I'm confident he'll become a fine Ham Op. BTW, when I was 11, I was too much into astronomy and other sciences......I didn't even know that Amateur Radio was a "thing"........
According to this IRTS site it is 5wpm. The Morse Test is conducted at 5 words per minute. The test consists of the following: Receiving 75 characters of plain language* with no more than four errors; Sending, using a straight key, 75 characters of plain language* with no more than four uncorrected errors; Receiving 5 groups of numbers, in five figure groups, with no more than three errors; Sending, using a straight key, 5 groups of numbers, in five figure groups, with no more than three uncorrected errors.
Very cool. Congratulations Ryan! Unfortunately, you will encounter many code haters along the way. Just tell them to QSY!
Dang. I can CW my Call, CQ, 73, de, and some other words in 20WPM, but not the whole alphabet. Good Job!
I say that's not happening. So does the FCC. The best you could get, by my estimation, is something like Canada where if you pass the Morse code test then it will be noted on your license. I'd support that since it opens up more nations to reciprocity agreements for newly licensed Amateurs. Even then it's not likely to be more than the minimum to meet these reciprocity agreements, such as having the tested speed be 5 WPM, perhaps 8, 10, or 15 WPM. If you want the 20 WPM Morse code testing reinstated then I suggest writing up a proposal, then pass it around to get some people to review and critique it as well as get them to support it. After a few iterations of review and revision, as well as gathering some support on people willing to put their names on the proposal with you, then submit it to the FCC. Then be sure to let us all know how that goes. If you want the 20 WPM as a requirement then I suspect it will not go far. If you propose a Morse code knowledge notation on the license for matters of reciprocity then I will gladly submit a comment to the FCC in support.
