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Jerry Stuckle · October 15th 14, 08:34 PM posted to rec.radio.amateur.antenna

On 10/15/2014 1:53 PM, wrote:
gareth wrote:
"gareth" wrote in message
...
Relying on someone's NEC program to number crunch to
produce the answer 42 is not the same as understanding
what is going on as an aid to didactification of novices.

Why is it that those who shout about NEC on the one hand, and
resort to personal remarks on the other, seem to neither have answers
nor able to contribute to discussions?

Sadly, I am reminded of those who claim that they don't need any
understanding of mathematics because of the availability of electronic
pocket calculators.

That is a childish oversimplification at best.

What is actually said is that while you need an understanding of what
a square root is, no needs to be able to calculate the square root of
2,284,987.32 either in their head or with paper and pencil.

Sadly, I am reminded of senile gas bags who long for the good old days
when the streets were full of horse crap and the air full of flies.

Electronic calculators certainly make things a lot easier. When I took
my exams, the only calculators out there were four function and had a
high three digit price tag. Slipsticks were the in thing (and what I
used for calculations - it got me close enough as long as I didn't lose
a decimal place).

I also remember when programmable calculators came out - the FCC started
by not letting them into the tests at all. They finally allowed them,
as long as the memories and programming were cleared first. (This was
in the days before volunteer examiners).

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Jerry, AI0K

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