"L." wrote in message
...
"Cecil Moore" wrote in message
. ..
Slow Code wrote:
Step 2: The passing score for written exams needs to be raised to 85%.
If 85% is good, wouldn't 100% be better?
Step 3: Code elements should be 13 wpm for General, and 20 wpm for
Extra.
If 13/20 is good, wouldn't 30 wpm be better?
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com
I had quit following this mundane thread for a while, looking in only on
occasion. I must wonder - it is being "recommended" "apparently" by "slow
code" to raise the CW rates to 13wpm General and 20wpm Extra.
DUH - we "were" there already.
I've said before and I'll say it again. I'm not a "code" lover, but I've
learned it and used it and sometimes listen to it. Will it save a life?
Probably not - but still - the chance is there just the same as for any
other mode. You use what you have available. CODE did NOT keep the crap
off the ham bands, so to put it back in or KEEP it in, is sort of useless
to argue about. While "I" think 5 wpm is about as easy as you're going to
get - it seems far too many still cry about it. Yes, you could make the
written tests tougher - but that sucks too - because in a sense - they're
"not" any tougher when you're being given the answers in a book. And most
of those books cover "just" enough to pass the exams - they by no means
"teach" you electronics. In days gone by - you had to have at least a
basic grasp of electronics to be able to pass the exams. I'm not saying
you had to be a "Technician" with years of experience - I'm saying you had
to know more than these books teach. At that time - you had NO clue what
the FCC would ask. I've still got sample study guides sent by the FCC if
asked - and they were "vague".
CODE, EXAMS - nothing will keep the riffraff off the bands. This is a
lawless society anymore - people do as they damned well please. CB got
quiet in many areas not due to Cell Phones - it happened long before. It
happened in many places based on what I've learned - because of the
garbage. Ham will be the same way if it isn't respected. We're in a NO WIN
situation.
I find it amazing, people with illegal amps and radios will defend them to
the hilt - like a murderer caught with a smoking gun - claiming his/her
innocence. If the government agency deems them illegal - then they are -
no excuses. Just like the speed laws - if the road is marked 25, that is
what it is - plain and simple. If we all took responsbility for our
actions - maybe things wouldn't be so damned bad. I know lots of cbers who
got out of cb BECAUSE those with the illegal amps and radios "splashed" so
bad, they couldn't even talk on the radio. So, tell me again - how those
illegal radios and amps are helping? Hams have a rule of using the minimum
necessary to carry out the communications. IT DOES WORK! QRP (Low Power)
is part of the challenge! 500- 1000 watts or more - any dummy can do. If
you want to be known as an "Alligator" station - ALL mouth and NO ears....
keep using that garbage. Who wants to talk to them? That is as irritating
as static on an AM radio station. Listen to Channel 6 on the CB - there
is a guy who constantly talks - HOW he hears anyone is beside me. I think
he talks just to hear himself talk. AND being he is in the south, he has
to be running some power. If everyone operated like that, the bands would
be total chaos, no one talking to anyone - only to themselves. How the FCC
hasn't busted him yet - is amazing.
Just my 2 cents.
L.
Remember the "No child left behind" policy of our educators of some years
ago? What you are seeing today is largely a result of that philosophy. No
responsibility, accountability or respect for others or oneself.
I worked as a radio dispatcher in the Air Force during my Sixties tour. That
was the foundation of my radio experience. I owned a CB set for a year
before I actually transmitted. The style was so alien and "cutesy" it made
me want to barf. Then the syntheisized 40 channel rigs came out and everyone
could afford one. End of CB for me.
I then went on to get my commercial ticket with radar endorsement. A year
later I got a ham ticket and two years later I got my Extra. Code does not
come easy for me. It was a constant uphill battle to pass the 20 wpm code
test. But eventually I passed it.
Turning on the radio today, there are still some good folks on ham radio and
not all of them are old timers. But a lot of the same types that ruined CB
and now ruining ham radio. I can't remember the last time that I actually
transmitted with my station. I'm about ready to sell it off and chalk it up
to history.
Amplifiers are not intrinsically bad. Abusing amplifiers is bad. If you work
75 or 80 meter telephony, an amp is an absolute must have, especially if you
have a less than full size dipole at a decent height.
I enjoyed ham radio more when folks knew a bit about electronics. It gave us
something to talk about that we all hand in common. Ditto CW. No one had
more trouble learning CW than me, believe me. It still gives me a headache
to operate CW for more than a few minutes, but I wanted that Extra Class
ticket and that was the only way to get it back then.