On Thu, 3 Mar 2005 21:58:45 -0500, "Jack Painter"
wrote:


"Tebojockey" wrote

/snip
somewhat outmoded means of communication. Even for seafarers, GMDSS
is taking over and code is used less and less.
/snip

Somewhat outmoded? Used less and less? Here's an update:

Even at sea, where code died a slow death as far back as the 1960's (some
hangers-on who liked it persisted through the 80's) there was no need for
any radio operator to have memorized more than two letters of code after
that point. Except for an outdated concept of licensing. That is also long
gone from the maritime world, with no radio officer aboard any longer. Why?
Simple economics. In concert with great advances in safety of life at sea,
the need for either code or the radioman who knew it faded away completely a
long time ago.

I agree with you that anyone who experiments or legitimately repairs or
modifies radio transmitting equipment should be licensed, and for the good
reasons you explained. But the fact is that neither aircraft nor marine
vessels in private or commercial or military use whose lives depend on
communication, have any such requirements for the operators. It is in fact
quite "plug-n-play" and this is the major reason the MF and HF bands are
still in use at all. When that equipment is no longer competitive with
modern satellite systems, we will see it disappear entirely from commercial
use. By that time new technologies will have other uses for the spectrum,
and its hard to imagine how far some of that will go. But it is no longer
relevant to continue to drag old habits (CW) along, unless you are forming
an "old habit we do for fun" club. If Amateur Radio allows itself to be
relegated to that category, as the legal team proposing new BPL rules argued
in open court last Fall (which they won by the way, in spite of heroic
efforts by the ARRL and others), it has nobody to thank but itself.

73,
Jack Painter
Virginia Beach, Virginia

Jack,

Thanks for your input, but I beg to differ with you. A general
radiotelephone operator's license IS required to perform *any* work on
comms equipment for aircraft or marine use. Further, GMDSS repairer
or operator is required for using or repairing that equipment, as is a
second or first-class radiotelegraph license for most large vessels.
Plug-n-play aside, these licenses are still required, and anyone not
havig one and working on such equipment is liable for big trouble if
found out. Military is a different matter, as they train and certify
their own, but commercial and private aircraft and marine must still
abide by the regs (that is, if they are US licensed or serviced in a
US facility).

Code is still very useful in an emergency if all other means fail.
Indeed, this is why code became a part of ham radio. When it was
being demonstrated to one federal regulator in the early days, the
modulator section of the demonstrator's equipment failed and he
switched to Morse. The federal official was so impressed, that it
became a part of licensing regulations. Like it or not, we hams many
times find ourselves in emergency situations where we have to relay or
report message. How do you propose to do that if you have no spares
and your modulator fails?

I don't use code, but I can in an emergency. This gives me a nice
comfort zone. Some people prefer to use it exclusively. But I
suspect that it will always be a part of the license requirement.
Surely if you possess the necessary skils for electronics, you can
master 5 WPM code which is now all that is required. It's a rite of
passage to join the club.

Let us not forget that the license is a *privilege* and not a right,
and can be revoked at whim by the FCC. It's something you have to
earn, and the powers that be apparently feel that code is necessary, I
suspect, for emergency purposes.

Regards,

Al

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