ad: elecraft

ARRL Bulletin on Morse Code Elimination

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by AA7BQ, Dec 16, 2006.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
ad: L-HROutlet
ad: l-rl
ad: abrind-2
ad: Radclub22-2
ad: Left-2
ad: Left-3
ad: L-MFJ
  1. N0KLU

    N0KLU Ham Member QRZ Page

    I express my heartfelt thanks to you and your Elmer for your services to our country. I spent my years mostly overseas, Germany and the Pacific theatre. It is good to bump into vets these days.

    Also Merry Christmas to you and yours. [​IMG]
     
  2. KA9UCE

    KA9UCE Ham Member QRZ Page

    It's never taken any 'real effort' to get a ham license!

    Pounding brass is NOT working for what you want, and for those that think this way, you obviously can't repair your radios!

    I'll take electronic service techs any day over any CW buff!

    Knowing how to copy and send CW is really child's play, try learning how to design a class AB 2304 Mhz. amplifier...and you think CW is 'hard'?

    You need to grow up and get outside more!

    So...in your view, knowing CW and being an appliance op makes you a better ham, while being an electronic design engineer and NOT knowing CW makes you a fool?

    Is that what you mean?

    If it is, then you are THE downfall as well as the 'dumbing down' of ham radio...due to ignorance and self worth *spew**cough*

    That mentality makes me sick!

    Pity the children in that home!

    I can see it now....Daddy, can I use your calculator to do my geometry?

    Dad: No, you have to prepare for your code test, you need to get past 13 WPM to make 'general' before your sister does.

    No wonder sports ranks #1 in the nation......Simple minds, simple pleasures!
     
  3. WW5RM

    WW5RM Guest

    Roger That..........Thank you Sir for your service to this great nation of ours. So that we may raise Old Glory up high in the morning, lower her in the evening and fold her up just right.

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours.

    God Bless and God Speed during the Holidays.

    De NØUYX - Randall
     
  4. KA9EKG

    KA9EKG Ham Member QRZ Page

     
  5. KB3OJG

    KB3OJG Ham Member QRZ Page

    Okay, folks,
    time for my two cents (more like twenty bucks, the way I go on some times!)

    A little background:
    I previously had the callsign N3jus (got in the first time in 1991, as a "tech-plus", in case you wondered.) Due to various things -- too much to bother listing here -- I didn't actually have much success or fun with Amateur Radio the first time around (I don't want to go into it.) Due to those factors, I let my license laps, thinking that I'd never do anything with Amateur Radio again.

    Well, to make a long story short, during the tail end of last year, I had the opportunity to get back into "shortwave listening". Also, I finally got to rummage around in some boxes that I'd had stashed away for a long time. One of them contained some books on Ham Radio, electronics, etc. Well, I just recently took the tests -- only had two weeks to study up before the testing session. It was remarkable to me how much I actually remembered. Well, I passed General (Tech theory, 5-wpm code, general theory, the whole bit.)

    Now, let me be the first to say that everything I say here will probably offend BOTH sides of this "debate". I want to be up-front about that.

    Here's my position:

    This "issue" has been garbage from day one. When the first "No-Code" Tech. licenses were granted, the same chronically-whiny wannabe "old-Timers" started to cop an attitude. I had several very good friends of mine who I introduced to Ham Radio. Unfortunately, they decided to go the "No-Code" route and, predictably, eventually got dissilusioned by the downright snotty way they were treated -- not by EVERYBODY, to be sure, but by a significant number.

    Now, I never got treated that way. The "Old-Timers" always took time out to try and "Elmer" me, and were downright solicitous about it, in many cases -- but when it came to a "No-Coder", well, it was a different story altogether.

    Most of those friends of mine have dropped out of Ham radio entirely, and I actually can't blame them. They're impression of the Hobby/service/activity/whatever mostly consisted of extremely-clannish "Old-Timers" -- most of which hadn't been in for more than ten years or so -- who either refused outright to comm. them at all, or were very condescending about it.

    Now, there was a significant gap where I wasn't involved in Ham Radio, but now that I'm back, it's downright dissapointing that the same sort of stupid nonsense is still going on. No WONDER the "No-Coders" are jumping up and down, gloating, and taking every opportunity to "diss" CW: most of them probably associate it with snotty power-plays, and bad jokes about "Chicken-band." I can very definitely understand why they'd be happy to finally see the Old-Timer's precious "filter" ripped away. Now, the licensing is all about THEORY tests -- which I'll wager right now that a significant portion of them will undertake with the enthusiasm and dedication befitting the TRUE SPIRIT of Amateur Radio.

    Further, I have a certain insight into the "Old-Timer" mentality (given that most of my initial exposure to Ham Radio came by way of self-teaching from old ARRL handbooks and literature from Ca. 1940s-1970s era.) Thus, I was -- and am -- somewhat familiar with the various so-called "major" changes that have happened in Amateur Radio over it's history. Newsflash -- this is NOT one of them.

    What WAS a "major change"? Hmm, maybe the whole "incentive licensing" scheme, undertaken solely to forcibly inject relevance back into the Advanced/Extra classes in 1968? See, some years before, the FCC had made what many Hams considered to be a blunder, and granted full privileges to GENERAL class licensees. Thus, from an operational standpoint, absolutely nothing was gained in passing an Advanced or Extra class license. Needless to say, the Advanced and Extras of the era were NOT happy.

    (Given the fact that the Advanced license had originally been created as a replacement for the earlier "Class A" license and was originally closed to new appicants, one can readily see why -- prestige.

    Now, what "incentive licensing" did was essentially to steal a bunch of HF spectrum from General class licensees who -- and this is very important to note -- had previously been granted that spectrum legitimately. Essentially, it was a forced down-grade of duly-licenced operators who had previously been recognized as fully-qualified for that spectrum.

    This was -- predictably -- protested by the General-class licensees of the time. They saw it for what it was -- a power-play by licensees whose 'prestige' didn't actually amount to anything other than a pretty piece of paper on a wall.

    Now, let's be honest here: look at the call-signs of the vast majority of the people saying negative things about this. (No, I am NOT impugning all Advanced/Extras, nor am I saying that upgrading isn't a good thing, etc. so don't even go there.)

    Let's be honest: there's a lot of hams out there who are REALLY protective of their "elite"-only sub-bands, and get a rea l power-rush out of looking down on lower license classes. I think a lot of this stuff about how this will "kill Amateur Radio" comes from the idea that there's going to be a whole lot of new General/Advanced/Extras, and that many of them will be drawn out of the despised "No-Code" class.

    This is NOT about CW -- it's about power and prestige.

    So here's my idea, folks: a big rush of upgrades, as high as you want to go -- just to show 'em. That'll inject some "new blood" into their "Class-specific" sub-bands.

    (No offense meant to the "old-timers" -- just giving my 2 cents.

    73, kb3ojg (Henry)
     
  6. NA0D

    NA0D Ham Member QRZ Page

    Just like:

    Citizen's Band Radio Service

    or

    General Mobile Radio Service

    or

    Family Radio Service




    Flawed logic....I bet you have an amber light and orange vest in your car too? You know, for the service?
    Weak.
     
  7. NA0D

    NA0D Ham Member QRZ Page

    Why? You're still not as good as those who had to past a code test that was more than 5 WPM, and they will tell you that. Regularly.

    Congrats otherwise!
     
  8. K4JF

    K4JF Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Only the jerks. Ignore them.
     
  9. KB3OJG

    KB3OJG Ham Member QRZ Page

    Here's a quote from one of the books I learned from:
    It's called "Here is your hobby, Amateur Radio", copyright 1968 by Byron G. Wells):

    "If you ever need assistance with an Amateur Radio problem, ask another Ham. Hams are exceedingly helpful, and it doesn't take much asking to get lots of answers. Traditionally, in Ham radio assistance is a big part of the hobby. One of the traditional Ham "parties" is called a stick-raising. When you are ready to put a complex antenna up, mention it at the ham club, and tell them when. Hams from all over the countryside will descend on your home to help you put up the antenna, and all you have to supply is sufficient refreshments. This is very much like the barnraisings our pioneer forbears had, and it's an excuse to have a lot of fun. The visiting hams will argue, discuss technology, and finally get the antenna up and tested. It's an easy way to prove that many hands make for lighter work, and have some fun at the same time."

    Now, I'll admit that this was written in 1968, before I was even born. But nowhere in that quote -- or, seemingly, in the ham radio "scene" of the time as portrayed in any of the other books I have from that time period, is there ANY suggestion of this snotty "I-have-a-higher-license-class-than-you-so-I-spit-on-your-shadow" mentality that's so prevalent nowadays. Elitism is the LAST thing that Ham radio needs -- whether it's snotty anti-CB'er stereotyping (which just insures that the better type of CB'er is NEVER going to bother getting into ham radio), or snotty FISTS-style "Proud to be a KNOW-CODE ham" nonsense. This pathetic refrain of "you damn kids have it so easy, when I was YOUR age..." is just tiresome. You do NOT "elmer" people by telling them "you were basically handed a license unjusty, and shouldn't even BE INVOLVED", but that's exactly what we're seeing over and over and over from the "Morse Advocacy" side of this debate. The No-Coders are, in the main, talking about things like "advancing the radio art through technology" and actively becoming interested in progressing to higher licenses, and all that the chronically-hemmhoroidal "Old-Timers" can do is make the sign of the Evil Eye in their general direction, and grumble about how they're letting the "Wrong Kind" into the precious, restricted country-club known as "Amateur Radio".

    Both sides have admitted that there is REALLY sub-par operation going on (75 meters was mentioned several times.) So now, let's be honest here -- for them to operate LEGALLY on those freqs, they are at least General class. Also, many of these people are "old-timers" themselves -- I remember hearing this same complaint quite a lot back prior to 2000 (when the precious 13-WPM was still in effect) so you can't just blame the bad operation on the profressive reduction in code-speed requirement.


    The No-Code folks have repeatedly mentioned this (and the obvious fact that 'license class' has nothing to do with quality-of-operation), but have been getting snottiness back for their efforts. Sad to say, but if THIS is what Ham Radio is about, then the precious Hobby/service/whatever it is SHOULD get swallowed whole by BPL.

    The story about Bill N0-whoever it was (sorry don't remember your callsign right now) really should have been all the evidence both sides of this "debate" need, but evidently not.

    I wonder what the spark-gap afficianados said when their 'mode' was outright banned by the FCC? (NO, I am NOT "comparing CW to spark-gap", so don't even waste your time going there.)

    Pre-"incentive licensing" Advanced/Extras benefitted by the forcible downgrading of that era's General-class operators (to create their precious sub-bands), and today's Advanced/Extras are frantically trying to keep the "wrong kind" of people out.

    How about this for an idea (This'll really get 'em all):
    After restructuring takes effect, whenver someone upgrades to the one of the formerly CW-requiring license classes, how about a bunch of you "Right-thinking" Oldtimers go out to their house and burn a giant Straight-Key on their lawn? Just be sure to wear your call-sign hats, K?

    73 Kb3ojg (beginning to wonder why I actually got back into Ham radio).......:(
     
  10. N4TLL

    N4TLL Guest

    I'm happy about this and I will buy a HF Rig and a "Hf Beam antenna. I'm a No- code Technician Class license holder too. Tim Lewis N4TLL from Jenkins Kentucky
     
  11. W0UZR

    W0UZR Ham Member QRZ Page

    Wow !!

          Quite a write up/

    My position on this  Isn't about bashing the new people coming in. Not about the people that are already here. It isn't the new people coming in's fault that the FCC caved in to these whiners and that the FCC needs a psychiatrist.  They will do what is required from this point on and get licensed.
           My beef is the people that  WON'T put forth any effort and just cry and whine and wait for things to be changed just for them, and wait for it to be handed to them. And band together to get an organization together so that their crying and whining is unified (NCI) and go through all kinds of hell and high water to get the FCC to change things their way because they don't want to put forth any effort to do something they don't want to do. And if they put a quarter amount of effort to just learn the code as they do in whining and trying to get the code dropped, they would  upgrade just fine.

               And my other position is that when you take away all the effort on getting something, the person isn't going to value it hardly at all. When a person has to put in a lot of time, effort, discipline, then they are going to value the service, guard it, and try to keep it clean.  It was 13wpm for general, 20wpm for extra, and now it's no code with a test you can memorize the answers on.

                 Like if you give a young person a Cadillac.  And another young person worked and saved for years and bought his.
               Who is going to value and take care of his car more?  

             There you go, it's the same thing with the Amateur Radio Service.
     
  12. Guest

    Guest Guest

    Gee, now that code will soon no longer be a requirement...code learning tapes and CD's are selling like hotcakes.... [​IMG]
     
  13. KA9EKG

    KA9EKG Ham Member QRZ Page

    Who is going to win Sunday nite.Chicago Bears or Green Bay Packers?......................................................................
     
  14. N9XRT

    N9XRT Ham Member QRZ Page

    Hey, Packers have a chance! lol
     
  15. N9XRT

    N9XRT Ham Member QRZ Page

    I'll give you that...but, scrap the Caddy, I want another Harley! And I promise to take care of it as well as the one I bought.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

ad: Schulman-1