RadioBanter - View Single Post

April 20th 05, 02:06 AM

wrote:
From: "cl" on Sun,Apr 17 2005 11:33 pm

Eh - I had the code down in 2 weeks for the Novice exam. AND I'm now
an
Extra. Been licensed since the early 80s.
Yeah, I probably could have learned it in under a week, if I pushed
myself.
Most anyone will tell you - it isn't good to do such.

Sorry, according to many in here you have to approach it as
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN YOUR LIFE!!! :-)

I've heard that, too.

Besides, at that time,
I was chasing rug rats - so study time was premium.

Excuses, excuses, excuses! :-)

I've heard that, too.

Most recommendations are
15 minutes to a half hour a day. That hardly makes it possible in a
week. I
used the words " "AT LEAST" 2 WEEKS". Some are faster learners than
others,
that is a given. BUT my point was, you have to get started to learn
ANYTHING. You can't absorb it through osmosis. Back to the timing
thing, I
hope someone from the military can step in to tell us how much time
they
were given to get the code down. I think they had to "Cram".

"Caveat," I was in the military, the United States Army,
voluntary enlistment beginning 13 March 1953. Went from
Basic to Signal School at Fort Monmouth, NJ. Amount of
Signal School time spent on morse code? ZERO! NO class,
NO "cramming."

That can't be right. Why there's a war museum in Canada that has a
code key...

Hi, hi!

At that time the ONLY military occupation specialty
in the Army requiring morsemanship was Field Radio.

Just like Field Day, I'll bet.

Field Radio then required passing 20 WPM, was taught
at Camp Gordon (later Fort Gordon, now the home of the
Signal Corps).

Fort Gordon? Where was Fort Farnsworth?

Drop-out rate was roughly a quarter of
all starting...that I know about. Those that didn't
make it, but had some apitude for electronics, got to
go to Inside Plant Telephone, Outside Plant Telephone,
Carrier, Teleprinter Operator, Field Wireman...or the
Infantry. :-)

"Incoming!"

My Signal School classes taught Microwave Radio Relay
(at a time when there was little of such operational).
Radar was also taught at Fort Monmouth, had the same
basic electronics as Microwave. I got assigned to a
Fixed Station Transmitter site in Japan. Got all of
about a day's worth of on-site "training" to operate
one of three dozen HF transmitters having a minimum of
1 KW output. NO MORSEMANSHIP NEEDED THERE.

Not even to open and close circuits?

NO MORSE
USED at the third-largest station in the Army Command
and Administrative Network.

That's when the US Army started it's downward slide and people now have
to go to Canadian war museums to get "thier" morse code fixes.

Maybe you never will use it again.

Perhaps. I've found little use for it so far. Maybe once I'm an
old
fart, have loads of time, and wax nostalgic for things that never
were,
I'll take it up and enjoy it, and demand that all learn it.

Probably the same age bracket as me. I do listen to call signs now
and
then
on the scanner to pick out the services they represent - if I don't
immediately know who the service is. I do listen some times to code
on
the
H.F. Bands.

...or what you think is morse. :-) There's very LITTLE
morse code on HF nowadays...EXCEPT inside the ham bands.

There are many things you learn in life and may never use
again, unless you plan to play on Jeopardy.

Tell that to Ken Jennings! :-)

That guy could probably copy psk31. He's a machine.

bb