Jamaica - No more Morse code for radio operators, technicians

Morse ≠ hard

 

In my personal observation Morse code is still the best mode to use under very poor band conditions of QSB, QRM, QRN, etc. It only requires a key, transceiver, antenna and a trained brain.

But the JT65A and JT9 digital modes beat Morse Code as far as weak signal copy under the very poor band conditions mentioned above. But then you have to add a battery powered computer, tablet, cell phone, etc to run the appropriate digital mode software like WSTJ-X.

 

I'm afraid that CB type behavior is already in force on the hamateur radio bands, on 3843 kHz, the 7200 kHz. I hear CB lingo more and more on the air with poor audio quality, roger beeps, 10-4, S10, good buddy, etc.

 

It's not limited to those frequencies and bands.

 

The Morse code requirement was never about proving competence. It was an easy way for the military and maritime shipping to get trained operators -- because "back in the day", it was young people getting in to amateur radio instead of retired people.

When the military and shipping industry no longer needed radio-telegraph operators, and even the Coast Guard abandoned CW, there was no longer any justification for the code requirement.

The purpose of a licence is to ensure that reasonable competence is demonstrated. We don't require potential drivers to be tested for calculus proficiency or fluency in Sanskrit, for example. This doesn't prohibit people from learning calculus or Sanskrit on their own, however. You can argue that the world might be better off with more people fluent in Sanskrit or proficient in calculus, but the purpose of a drivers licence is not to elevate educational standards -- it's to guarantee a minimum level of competence among those on the road.

 

code has a use if required it keeps the low bands less cluttered because those of us that hate it will find something else to do
i now refuse to help any one wire up his equipment if he can do 20wpm he should know how to wire it up

 

MORE FOREIGN LIDS

 

As someone who loves CW, and passed the 20 wpm element, here is my take:

The only reason why Morse code created "better" operators was because it required the application of an acquired skill, as opposed to a written test on rules and theory.

If one wants to create better operators and have a barrier to entry that requires a higher degree of skill, any such test of practical skills will suffice. It would be better to have such a test that involved modern, relevant techniques. Requiring the applicant to set up a station, build a working antenna system for example. Being able to construct a digital station and demonstrate the ability to send and receive digital signals, communicate through satellites, or even setup a mesh network.

There's nothing really special about the code itself. The only thing that made it unique was that it was the only part of the exam that required a display of practical skills.

I suspect that if you reinstate a "skills" test updated for the 21st century, many of those amateurs lamenting the "dumbing down" of amateur radio wouldn't pass.

I would submit that the answer is to look forward, not back.

 

From the very beginning, the treaty Morse requirement came out of the concept of "shared bands" introduced at the 1927 Washington conference. A secondary user should be able to intercommunicate with a primary and be able to follow instructions to move off frequency. Thus the Morse requirement.

WW2 changed the roadmap, and for decades afterwards "incentive licencing" was used in many countries to form a corps of competent radio operators for inclusion in conscript armed forces. This was also in line with a general reasoning that radio amateurs should form an elite among radio hobbyists that was implied in the Radio Regulations.

There are not any doubts that Morse requirement kept up the quality of amateur radio operators and sorted out those without a real interest.
The "half-lives" of Morse tested operators have been proven to be far longer than of those without.
Statistics from Swedish Telecom from the 80's showed that slightly less than half of no-code licences were not renewed when the first invoice for the yearly licence fee showed up.

73/
Karl-Arne
SM0AOM

 

And apparently in Jamaica there are 84 licensed hams, so keeping the code test must have been causing an extinction of the operators. Perhaps it would be that way in Sweden today if they had kept a mandatory code test, we will never know.

Of course some think it would be better to have 84 hams who know Morse code than any larger number of hams who may or may not know Morse code, because, you know, that code test makes all the difference. We really don't need slackers, etc.

 

Actually it is the abolishment of the Morse requirement that is one of the causes for the present crisis for amateur radio in Sweden.

When the Morse test was mandatory, about 1/3 to 1/2 of all examined became active in some way, but today less than 10% generate activity.

The average age of the real radio amateurs has crept up to about 70 and there is for practical purposes no influx of new active amateurs, mainly because the competence levels are too low to assemble a working station and engage in meaningful communications. They tend to make a few contacts on local repeaters but soon get disappointed and leave.

Also, the Authorities have lost both interest and patience with amateur radio and would probably rather see a few hundred reasonably active, competent and well-behaved radio amateurs than thousands of inactive but potential trouble-makers with dubious quality.
The position is that amateur radio is not "needed" in any way, and is tolerated as long as we do not cause too much trouble.

73/
Karl-Arne
SM0AOM

 

Boo,I use cw mostly but the good thing about ham radio is it has something for everyone.

 

That's why most hams in the USA don't look at Europe as any sort of model. We have a totally different outlook on things here, and will have ham radio as a viable hobby long after it's gone over there. Certainly Jamaica shows that keeping Morse testing doesn't improve our hobby, it just makes it less relevant.

 

IT IS 2017 JUST LET IT GO PEOPLE,LET IT GO LET IT GO... AWWW I GET A CW MACHINE AT THE STATION IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY I SURE WILL PLUG IT IN
PLUG IT IN !!!
BUT I NEED TO SAY IT IS VERY NICE DOUGH THAT CW THING... I MIGHT BE TOO YOUNG FOR IT. LOL
GET OVER IT FOLKS AT LEAST WE WILL HAVE MORE HAM RADIO OPERATORS IN THE WORLD TO DX WITH...

CQ CQ JAMAICA ONLY NEW LICENSED HAM RADIO OPERATORS PLEASE ALL OTHERS PLEASE STAND BY CQ CQ DX JAMAICA.

 

There's nothing NEW about this particular edict, so why sweat it??? Like here in the USA ALL our licenses classes are (SAD) NO CODE, BUT! For the USA "EXTRA" THE 20WPM REQUIREMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN LEFT IN!!! I say that because isn't it the "TOP LICENSE" and supposed to be TOUGH??? That would have weeded out a lot of people, especially those that let THE BOTTOM 25KHZ of the extra CW bands GO TO WASTE!!! SOME WOULD SAY GET yours AND THEN YOU COULD USE THEM, that's not the point @ all !!! The "EXTRA" is the top license BUT IT'S NOT TOUGH ENOUGH!!! It's not "SOUR-GRAPES" IT'S A FACT!!!