Dick Carroll wrote in :



Arnie Macy wrote:

"Alun Palmer" wrote ...

What about me? I passed 20wpm and choose not to use it at all? No
doubt I
will be told I'm missing out, but I'm doing exactly what I want to.
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I would probably be one of those that would say that. But, I also
believe that it's your choice to make once you have passed the test.
However, once learned (especially at 20wpm) you will never lose the
ability to use it. Rusty maybe, but it will always be there.

I seriously doubt that he actually learned it at 20wpm, tho I don't
doubt he did pass a 20wpm 'test'. At one period the code tests were
made quite easy and if you could copy at all often one could guess out
7 of 10 correct multiple choice answers on the test.



The real point here is only learnt what I had to do to get the *phone*
privileges I wanted. I never actually wanted to use CW, and this is why I
don't think it should be tested for licensing purposes. I understand that
the ARRL gives out nice certificates for those who have the burning urge
to take a code test.

The way I learnt it, I can only really copy code if I write it down, i.e.
I can't copy by ear unless it is extremely slow, and I was only copying
about 70% to get 7/10 answers right. OTOH, I had to listen to code upto
25wpm to pass 20, but 30wpm just blurs together to my ear, to where I
can't really discern any characters atall.

I don't think for a minute that I would much enjoy a QSO if I could only
copy 70%, so I would probably have to slow to 10-15wpm for a real QSO. Of
course, this means that those who only passed 13wpm multiple guess would
have to slow down to something much slower than that, maybe 5-8 wpm. As
for the 5wpm test.... you get the picture.

Don't hold your breath, though. You aren't likely to hear me on CW anytime
soon.