"an old freind" wrote in
ps.com:


Al Klein wrote:
On Wed, 23 Aug 2006 19:54:37 GMT, "Woody" wrote:

"Dave Oldridge" wrote in message
59...
For CW to be effective, both operators
must be competent. IF they are, they can often transcend barriers
of language that only digital modes can get over. In my own case,
the fact that I could read CW and read written Spanish a bit once
enabled me to render aid to a burning fishing boat. (There were
other more routine examples of where the language barrier was
crossed by CW--many messages I copied were not in English at all,
but were readable by their end recipients).

OK.... so by your own words, CW still didn't save a life... CW mixed
with bad Spanish passed a message. So now we'll have to add a
Spanish test. Thanks a lot.

I think you missed the point. Even if you didn't know "ola" from
"adios", you can copy Spanish in CW and hand it to the recipient, who
can read it. Try that with a mic.
I do that firaly well as long as it is a a langauge fro gruop I know I
can take down serbian in crylllic even though I don't what they are
saying it is simply a skill For that matter I hear and resend Morse
as long as I don't try to decipher it

As for the language thing.... I can copy voice language and hand it
off to another native just as easy and they'll figure it out too.
No CW necessary.

Really? You can write a spoken language you don't understand well
enough to be read by someone who understands it? Maybe. Maybe not.
In CW, you can.

YOU can and you then claim that you have that skill it is valid

your values in the ARS refuse to accept that notion different strokes
for different folks

If instead of CW testng we had a choice a various tests to take that
would stand muster the current value Morse well outside of it value
withut even realy testing its abilty to do a QSO were the test based
sending and receiveing where the receiveing could send bak pse senf
all after ... and before what then take a test to show that he was
able to comincate the test would have more vailiity but it doesn't the
CW tests do noy even show that the testee can use CW over the air

We have three tests her in Canada now. The Basic gets you on the air.
If you get an 80% or higher score you get HF privileges with that.
You're limited in power and must use commercially built, approved gear.

If you want to roll your own gear or put up a repeater or something, then
write the Advanced. You'll get full HF privileges.

If you want to be known as morse proficient, then take the code test.
That will get you on HF even if you just PASSED your Basic. But if you
already have the Advanced, then it will get you a nic shiny morse
endorsement and a sense of accomplishment.

And no, the sky didn't fall any further than it already did when we
dropped the code requirement for Basic and made it VHF only.


--
Dave Oldridge+
ICQ 1800667