RadioBanter - View Single Post

Alun L. Palmer · January 8th 07, 05:44 AM posted to rec.radio.amateur.policy

wrote in
oups.com:

Carl R. Stevenson wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
Cecil Moore wrote:
John Smith I wrote:
No, the new generation of hams will make it obsolete and history!

Like AM?
--

The invention of the motorcycle did not make the bicycle obsolete.
The invention of the car did not make walking obsolete. Power boats
did not make all sailboats obsolete, although many sailboats were
replaced by power boats.

People still *run* marathons, even though they'd go a lot faster
with a lot less effort if roller skates were used.

AM did not become obsolete when SSB was invented. Morse Code did not
become obsolete when voice and RTTY were invented.

There will still be people who CHOOSE to use Morse if it's presented
to them as fun and they're allowed to make the choice without
intimidation (and without berating them)

And if there's available spectrum and other Morse Code operators.

Except for a few people who learned Morse Code elsewhere, most
would-be hams don't have any prior Morse Code skill.

True ...

The code test acts as a sort of Great Equalizer,

Absurd ...

Not at all.

ALL that a code test does is indicate that you can copy Morse at some
specified speed. Nothing more, nothing less.

IMHO, that's a rather shortsighted view. Consider this statement:

ALL that a written test does is indicate that you can pick out
at least the minimum required number of correct multiple-choice
answers in a test where all of
the questions and answers are freely available beforehand.
Nothing more, nothing less.

In addition, as long as you don't cheat, FCC does not care how you
get the right answers, nor which questions you get right or wrong.
They don't care if you memorized, or if you guessed, or if you
really understand the material. They also don't care if you have a Ph.D
in EE, etc. - you get the same test.

Note that FCC *eliminated* the multiple-choice Morse Code test option,
leaving only the one-minute-solid-copy and fill-in-the-blanks options.

because almost
everyone starts out as a clueless newbie with the mode.

True ...

Morse Code cannot be learned by simply reading a
book, visiting some websites or picking up a little bit here and
there. A newcomer cannot cut-and-paste his/her way to a
new skill, or rely on past achievements or claims to get around it.

It's a skill that is easily measured and cannot be faked. And it
puts a Final Authority wannabe on the same footing as a Young
Squirt.

It may be precisely this equalizing effect that makes some folks
want to get rid of it.

The implication above that everything about ham radio except Morse is
"cut-and-paste" is also absurd.

I intended no such implication - because it would be absurd.

The point I was making is that *passing the written tests* is/was a
very
different thing from passing the Morse Code tests, particularly if
someone
had some background in electricity or electronics. Which is much more
likely today than someone having background in Morse Code.

The written exams, particularly Element 2, do not begin to cover
"everything about ham radio except Morse". Nor do they cover
any subject in much depth, IMHO.

In my experience, most people can accumulate a lot of "book learning"
type
knowledge by "here and there" methods. Skills like Morse Code
usually cannot be learned that way. Whether that's good or bad is a
matter
of opinion.

I was talking night before last with Ed Hare - remember the 3 page
study guide that he had for his novice test and compare that, as he
does, to the 200+ pages of "Now You're Talking" - there has been NO
"dumbing down" for entry into ham radio. How anyone could assert with
honesty and a straight face that 200+ pages of material is "dumbed
down" compared to 3 pages is something that simply is unfathomable.

I have debunked W1RFI's "200 page" myth several times - including in
person.
I wish you'd been there for that one, Carl.

Comparing the "Now You're Talking" book to the Novice study guide in
old LMs is
comparing apples and oranges. Here's why:

1) The LM study guide mentioned was for the old 1year nonrenewable
Novice license. Today's Now You're Talking (NYT) is for the
Technician, which conveys
many more privileges.

2) The LM study guide wasn't complete - one also had to study the
regulations,
which were in the back of the book.

3) The LM study guides were in the form of essay questions and answers.

The NYT book gives the exact Q&A used in the exams.

4) Just *one* of the old LM questions could generate a whole raft of
possible
multiple choice exam questions. NYT gives the exact Q&A.

5) The old LMs weren't meant to be a stand-alone introduction to
amateur radio. They
were simply intended as a guide to what was on the exams, and the
procedures to
get a license. In truth they weren't even complete, because they
did not cover how to
learn Morse Code. (ARRL sold another fifty-cent book for that). NYT
is meant as a
complete introduction. It would be fairer to compare NYT with a set
of the old ARRL
intro books (the LM, "How To Become A Radio Amateur", "Learning the
RadioTelegraph
Code" and possibly "Understanding Amateur Radio).

6) The old Novice was a one-year one-time nonrenewable license. The
Technician isn't.
Try comparing the *content* of some of the questions - and not just
for the old Novice.

Nobody really knows how "hard" the old exams really were, because
they're not
available for comparison.

I will repost some study questions from the old License Manual -
they're the best we've got.

I think it's time to stop trying to attribute mythical powers to the
soon to be history Morse test.
To continue only perpetuates the falsehood that
Morse skill is essential to being a good ham, capable of contributing,
etc.

It's one tool in the toolbox. That's all. A very useful tool, though.

Have fun with Morse and promote it in a kind and polite way if you
wish, but please lose the attitude that Morse somehow is the measure
of a "REAL ham."

Please point out where I have ever written that one must have Morse
Code skill
to be "a real ham".

The "equalizer" idea is simply to point out that almost all hams who
try to learn it
start at the same place. That's not true of the written exams.

IMHO

73 es KC de Jim, N2EY

It's not true that the FCC eliminated the multi-choice code test, it was
the NCVEC who did. It was a reaction by them against the FCC eliminating
the 13 and 20 wpm tests.

Theoretically, I suppose they might react now that the 5 wpm test is being
cut too by stiffening the theory tests in some way, although paradoxically
they filed a petition in favour of this.

My guess is that these contradictory decisions were made by thin
majorities.

73 de Alun, N3KIP.