Alun Palmer wrote in message . ..
S. Hanrahan wrote in
:

On Wed, 05 Nov 2003 12:35:58 GMT, "Bert Craig"
wrote:

"S. Hanrahan" wrote in message
. .
At 5 WPM, you don't need a computer to copy good or poor code.

I think you've just hit the nail on the head. It's really not how hard
or
easy 5-wpm is, it's the willingness (or lack thereof) to make the
initial
(i.e. "initiative") effort to learn the 43 required characters.

Exactly. I look at it this way, if a person doesn't want to learn the
code, fine, if they want to fine, just don't come up to me and bitch
and moan that 5 WPM is a hurdle or mountain too high to climb.

I'm hearing impaired in both ears, and I can copy 45-50 WPM in my head
solidly, and attained the 20 before taking my General class written,
without waivers.

As I said, I can copy 45-50 WPM solidly. 99.9% of my casual CW
contacts are no faster than 18 WPM or adjusted accordingly if I'm
responding to someones else's CQ.

Stacey/AA7YA


5 wpm is easy. I admit that. However, as you can copy 45-50 wpm, you are
so far to the other extreme end of the bell curve that I don't beleive you
really know that yourself.

Well, then here's the voice of the other extreme.

It would be like Michelle Kwan wondering how
beginners can fall over on the ice.

I more liken it to requiring the beginner to learn the basics before
they can skate in the same rink with Michelle Kwan.

More to the point, a 5wpm test is slow enough to be pointless, as someone
who passes it doesn't really have much of a useful skill level.

The value is not so much in one's instant proficiency, it's in the
exposure level sufficient to allow said newbie to make a truly
educated decision as to whether or not s/he wishes to pursue CW any
further. There is also the intangible feeling of accomplishment that
comes with "earning" privileges by meeting a significant challenge. I
truly don't consider a 35 or 50 question multiple choice test out of
published Q&A pools of approx. six to eight hundred questions, much of
a "challenge."

At 13 wpm
it was a significant hurdle, but at 5 it's merely a waste of time.

The more "challenging" the hurdle, the more "privileges earned." Most
licenses aren't "rights," they're "privileges." That includes AR.

Either
way, it still has no relevance to the use of a microphone.

I don't want to reduce it to just that. There's a bigger picture.
(Read: more rounded.)

It's like
learning to ice skate to take part in a bicycle race.

No, it's like learning the basics of cycling before being allowed to
participate in the race. Most people take issue with the "being
allowed to" part and try to give all sorts of lame reasons why they
shouldn't be made to "jump through hoops" and hurdle "barriers." Like
I said, when you peel away the layers of the onion...theres no
substance at the core. And that's the sacrifice some are willing to
accept for an "easier" ARS.

73 de Bert
WA2SI