Peter wrote:

CW does not make you a better radio amateur but it does give some
folk on this newgroup an inflated opinion of themselves. Perhaps that
test and the RAE are only exams they have ever been able to pass? ;-)

Peter, G3PHO

True Peter. I have the 12 wpm morse, and I enjoy the mode. And I passed an
essay exam many years ago. But that doesn't make me any better an amateur. It
was necessary for the time, that's all. We nearly all built then and we shared
some bands with CW people who _had_ to be able to make us understand if there
was an emergency. (The Bs weren't on those bands so didn't need the morse.).
Non-one needs the morse now (but it's still fun) and few people build. We _are_
really now nothing more than appliance operators, who hopefully have some
concept of transmitting cleanly, apart from anyone who likes to choose some
pioneering activity. All strength to both types of amateur, I say. Oh, and one
other thing: we do enjoy heaps of spectrum. But if newsgroups carry on spouting
the anti- line persistently enough, we may lose it. Good, some may say, it
isn't what _we_ want to _you_ can't have it either!
..