In article , Leo
writes:
On 01 Sep 2004 20:09:31 GMT, (Len Over 21) wrote:
snip
The Notice is available at:
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/inter.../sf06456e.html
Thank you for the link!
Any Canadian radio amateurs care to comment on that?
I'm not Canadian, but I think it fails to follw the KISS principle. They
want to add an Intermediate licence to their Basic and Advanced. Why don't
they just abolish the 'Plus' categories (i.e. plus Morse)? That would be
much simpler.
I'm not Canadian either as a "Carbo-American," but I think the "plus"
category is a sop to the existing Canadian mighty morsemen.
Canada must have its share of olde-fahrt hamme morsemen and
those must be "satisfied."
I am 
- and fully agree with your observation that there are -um-
a fair number of 'old school' amateurs up here, who do not believe in
the abolishment of the Code Test (approximately a third of the
respondents to the RAC survey on this subject). The RAC proposal
attempts to meet the needs of both the "Pro Morse" and "No Morse"
factions of the hobby - in quite an interesting way. Both sides win -
either path leads to a full HF-access Amateur license.
Now dat's a typically Canadian solution, eh?
I'm not familiar with that sort of "typicalness." Been in here
in this ultra-conservative retro-tech newsgroup too much. :-)
I would say instead it is a GOOD COMPROMISE and to the
credit of the Radio Amateurs of Canada and Industry Canada.
I believe that the proposal is a good one - inasmuch as it provides
access to HF without the requirement of Morse testing. It does
recommend that Morse testing be made available should the applicant
desire it - I have no problem with that. Status quo - or not. Your
choice.
That's fair and equitable in my viewpoint.
Mighty macho morsemen will disagree and ignite (again) Flame
Wars instead of simple bonfires.
It recommends raising the pass marks on the exams - good idea, most
believe that they are way too low right now (60% is a pass on both the
Basic and Advanced tests currently). No issue there.
That's good in my view.
It is indeed a compromise intended to satisfy both the Morse and No
Morse factions of the hobby - but it does so with considerably more
elegance than the ARRL proposal, in my opinion.
ARRL is not fully into this new millennium. :-)
Some wonder if they ever made it into the last millennium...
I'm in favour of it - and my comments to that effect have been filed
with IC, as of today.
Good on you!
I have to agree with Hans Brakob in that our northern neighbor in
Norse America is doing the right thing for their future. Modernization
is long overdue. [excuse me...NORTH America...;-) ]
heh.....that brought back memories of Leif The Lucky from grade
school!
Norsemen were the first European discoverers of North America.
Settled in what is now Canada (New Foundland) for a while.
Dunno why they left...maybe they objected to speaking French?
:-)
Industry Canada has much simpler regulations for their radio
amateurs but accomplish the same thing in the hobby.
Well said. The less regulations, the better the hobby!
.....and the less I gotta remember....
Band limits and other technical necessities should be enough.
BTW, that electronic test that can run on any PC looked rather
neat! Simple way to do it and the computer does most of the
paperwork as well as keeping a record of it being done and
when.
Learning skills of long ago just to get a license in here and now
is nowhere close to being progressive and just doesn't keep up
with the times.
73, Leo
PS - WTF is a "Carbo-American"? - never heard that one before!
Came from a couple of comic strips running in the L.A. Times as
well as elsewhere. Backlash to the "Adkins Diet" craze. :-)
[or "Atkins Diet" or whatever..."zero carbohydrates"]
BTW, the Olay cosmetics company now has a body wash product
called "Ohm." [just saw it on the shelves at market today] I think
that will meet with some resistance in some U.S. ham circles... :-)