K=D8HB wrote:
wrote

It's like saying we have a manual-transmission test where the
person must get the car in first gear and drive around an
empty parking
lot at 5 mph for one minute. And folks say that's too
much to ask!

Since it serves no useful purpose,

It would serve the useful purpose of making sure drivers had
the basic skills required to drive a manual transmission car.

such a test would be
ludicrous (and thus "too
much to ask"). Couldn't have stated it better myself.

Apply that same logic to the written tests.

Explain why it's necessary to learn all the stuff necessary to
pass Elements 2, 3 and 4, just to operate QRP CW on 14.020 MHz.

So would you support a reasonable set of Morse Code only
subbands,
Bill? Say, the bottom 10-15% of each HF ham band?

There are no such subbands on MF/HF now.

There should be.

Why in heavens name would we establish
them at this point?

Several reasons. One is that we're about to unleash a lot of
hams with no Morse Code skill upon the bands where Morse Code
is primarily used by hams.

But the more important reason, IMHO, is that as amateur radio
becomes more diverse and varied, the regulations of necessity
become more complex.

There was a time, a bit less than 60 years ago, when 99.99% of amateur
radio operations used either Morse Code or AM voice. Almost all
operations were "simplex" too - satellites, repeaters, and other
automatic stations were in the future.

The regulations back then were simpler, because the range of amateur
activities were fewer.

Then hams in considerable numbers began to use SSB voice. And RTTY,
though the number of RTTY stations was limited by the
cost, size and complexity of an RTTY setup. (Yes, we all know
The Armed Forces used lots of RTTY, which they called RATT.
They also had somewhat greater resources than the average ham).

Then hams began to use SSTV, and FM, and satellites, and repeaters, and
RTTY modes besides five-level Baudot. And packet
and pactor and PSK and HELL and WSJT and all sorts of other stuff.

Now we have a whole tower of babel of modes. That complexity
would benefit from some rules changes. Like a protected
space for good old Morse Code.

Hans, I know you think the best system would be to simply allow all
authorized modes anywhere in the ham bands, by any licensed radio
amateur. The reality of such a system might be very
different from your imagined nirvana.

btw, FCC doesn't go for that system either.=20

73 de Jim, N2EY