"MnMikew" wrote in
:

"dxAce" wrote in message
...

"No one has ever said that using CW is a total time requirement. It's just
like any number of other questions that have been on the test either now
or in the past. It's just a 'question' on the test. Just pass the test and
if you desire you need never use CW again. But, you can always renew your
license."




So why not replace the worthless code questions with more pertinent
questions?



Worthless ???? Only in your estimation. It's really a matter of comittment
after all. Want to be a ham radio operator ?? Take the test or sit on the
side lines whining about a simple morse code requirement and wait until it
gets removed. If nothing else, code requirements require effort on the
part of the applicant and for the moment if you want to get on HF, it is
required. It makes those who have gone before appreciate being a ham since
they earned it and were interested enough to buckle down and learn morse
and a smattering of electronics.

Should it be removed as a requirement? Possibly, but if so it should be
replaced with much stiffer technical examinations, including an above
average user levl computer component, than what currently exsists. The
notion that a ham radio license should be a minimum effort passport to
many Mhz of HF radio spectrum is utter nonsense. Wether or not CW is a
"useful" mode of communication is another debate entirely. However by
comitting to learning the morse code, and getting up to 10wpm minimum
requirement, I became a ham at age 13 (that was minimum age back then).
That ham license was a passport to a universe of excting possibilites that
have lasted a lifetime. Perhaps the policy should be changed so that you
could make a choice between a morse code exam or the code free more
technical exam. Either way it should take a commitment on the part of than
applicant that is more than just a desire for instant gratifcation.

If you want a no comittment radio service to be a member of that
already exsists. In fact these days you don't even have to have a license
for it, just buy a radio and start right being a "radio operator". With
the propagation cycle about to go up, 27Mhz should soon be
experiencing a huge upswing in talking skip.



--
Panzer