wrote in
:

no the Nation party to the ITU treaty to change the the lange first to
drop the requirement above 50MHZ then in 2003 to remove the langage
all together

I never heard about dropping the code requirement above 50mhz. Perhaps I
missed something, fill me in. I do remember when the no-code Tech license
came into being and the code requirement was dropped above 30mhz for that
class license only. Is that what your referring to?

The purpose of proficiency testing was to insure you can send and
receive code with a minimum of effort.

and yet it does not assure any ability to USE the mode at all

Sure it does. If you practice cw and the procedures used in it, the
effort to operate is minimized as opposed to someone who knows little
about operating procedures behind that particular mode let alone the code
itself.

The one pitfall in cw testing that I think your pointing out, is that it
was one sided. You only tested on what you could hear, not send. A good
VE will conduct classes giving a turn at the key. Keep in mind that a
person can send code much faster than they recieve it.

If your saying there is no guarantee an operator will use it, I agree.
On the other hand just because you won't use it does not mean I will not.

Consequent to receiving your license, you
also took a commitment and seriously I might add, to assist and render
aid should you hear a distress call.

as I can even in the unlikely event I receive a MorseCoded
http://kb9rqz.blogspot.com/


Anyone, licensed or not who can operate radio equipment can assist in a
distress call. However, if you don't know squat about cw, you don't know
that code or procedures, how do you know how to respond to it? Answer,
you can't. Thats the sad fact.

What will be next, to many controls on a radio? Mandate that radios are
produced with only essential controls to make it easier?

Where does it end? I just don't see how eliminating cw made the hobby
better. I think it makes us more dependent rather than self-reliant.

I can see the cw pileups during contest time now. TNC's don't have the
same ability as the human ear, good filtering and technique.