"Robert Casey" wrote in message
...





What else should be here?



- Basic knowledge and skills for the basic level, more advanced stuff for
the
higher license levels.

- Operating skills and practices

This would be an extension of distingushing between malacious
interefernce and
the "facts of life" on HF ham bands (that nobody has exclusive rights to
a specific
frequency and that both parties involved in QRM move away (up or down) in
frequency to clear each other. And that some bands have unexpected
patterns
of propagation (like 10m has the usual circle of nearby coverage, then a
ring of
no coverage, and another ring of "skip". And thus you can QRM the
reception
of a ham in the skip zone trying to copy someone you can't hear. So you
would
then understand why someone seems to be talking to himself.).

Also some basic knowledge of the "syntax" of a QSO. XX#XXX, this is
WA2ISE.


- Morse code tests

Why this today? Back in the vacuum tube era, morse code (CW)
transmitters and
receivers were simple but required human encode and decode. Today we have
digital technology and such for automated encode and decode of modes
more robust
than old fashined CW. Morse can be a fun mode for those interested,
but should
it be required?


Each and every mode will have conditions under which it will out perform
others. When there is a high static level and phase shifts induced by
severe auroras, voice fails and so do all computer aided digital modes
currently in existence. This was proven last fall with the large number of
major solar flares we had last fall. Code with human encode/decode held up
longer than any other mode under that set of conditions.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE