Len:

A direct quote from Jim Haynie, "The ARRL president asserted that many
Amateur Extra class licensees couldn't pass today's Element 4
examination if they had to..."
Complete article at:
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/05/22/1/?nc=1

Warmest regards,
John
wrote in message
ups.com...
From: "John Smith" on Tues 7 Jun 2005 21:18

I was gonna say that!!! (but, you did say it better!)

Thank you...but it's only a summation of what has gone on in
here for years, said by others as well as I. :-)


But glad you clarified, certainly is close to my take on the whole
thing--you think you might be the only one who has ever told them the
truth--of how it all looks in others eyes? If not, you suppose the
problem is that they didn't believe the first guy? grin

Actually there were dozens in here since 1996 trying to
point out the TRUTH, but the die-hard morsemen would have
none of it, preferring their own wonderful fantasies. Most
simply got tired of wasting their time trying to argue
against those (sometimes irrational) "believers."

One of the redoubtable fanstasizers was Jim Kehler, KH2D,
on Guam. He went so far as to "found" the fake organization
known as "No SSB International" to counter the established
No Code International (NCI) organiztion. NSI had very good
web page design but was hampered by their "leader," Kehler,
possessed of a zealot's blunt axe of words. NSI no longer
exists as any effective group. NCI continues. NCI leaders
helped to bring about the revision of S25 for international
amateur radio standards at WRC-03...along with the IARU...
even though hampered by the resistance of ARRL at the time.
Kehler had some kind of illness and moved to the contiguous
USA a few years ago. He had a website of his own (may still
have) and kept digging and digging at those code-tested he
did not like...in rather not-nice terms such as "brain-dead
old farts." :-)

The international maritime world selected GMDSS as THE
distress-and-safety automatic calling system a few years
ago, abandoning the old, romantic stalwart 500 KHz distress
frequency with its "CW" only capability. The USCG has
stopped monitoring that 500 KHz frequency. Some in here
(notably W0EX in Missouri, probably SK now) tried to tell
all "it wouldn't work!" by repeatedly quoting some retired
mariner (who was oblivious to the fact that the international
maritime folks had already tested the system and found that
it does work!). The FCC has added GMDSS commercial licensing
class categories (a few years ago) in Title 47 C.F.R. and
COLEMs do the testing for those (rather simple) written
license tests.

The ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) has
abandoned "CW" necessity for long over-water flights and
air carrier navigator-radio personnel were "downsized"
(laid-off, given their pension monies, waved bye-bye).
ICAO switched to voice on HF for such tasks.

Maritimers on the shipping lanes now use SSB voice and
various TORs (Teleprinter Over Radio) on HF for long-distance
communications. More expeditious for them, less error-prone
than "CW." River and harbor communications switched to VHF
voice decades ago for water-borne radio communications.

Outside of some long-ago-installed automatic station
identifiers using preset ID beepers, the only users of "CW"
in the USA are the amateur radiotelegraphers. Members of
the ARS (Archaic Radiotelegraphy Society) do some remarkable
rationalization on "why" all MUST test for morsemanship to
gain HF privileges: "It is the SECOND-most popular mode;"
"it is needed so all can communicate with third-world hams;"
"it is a 'traditional' and 'basic' mode;" "they need to know
it so that all can communicate during extreme emergencies
(perhaps when space aliens invade the earth)." The old,
tired, trite "CW gets through when nothing else will" still
surfaces even though first coined in the 1930s. Put into
terms of reality, the morsemen had to test for it and
therefore all newcomers have to do it (the "jump through the
hoops" hazing syndrome)...nya, nya. :-)

A sub-group of the mighty macho morsemen are the ex-service-
members (military service that is) who demand a militaristic
structure of defined rank-status-privilege with the "best"
privileges naturally bestowed on those with the highest rank.
[they self-define themselves as "deserving" of it] All of
the military mighty macho morsemen are anal to a point of
near-insanity on strict, unbending legalities with implied
capital-offense punishment to be immediately applied to the
poor souls who look for change in regulations. They
"believe" all the usual political propaganda statements to
be (almost) words of God and gleefully pin on their "deserved"
medals for engaging in a hobby activity that requires federal
regulation (due to the nature of EM physics).

All that fuss and furor over a HOBBY activity! None may say
nay to the divine-right of ham rule by the mighty macho
morsemen! :-)