RadioBanter - View Single Post - Ham Radio In The Post-Code Testing Era

July 16th 03, 04:39 AM

In article ,
(Brian) writes:

Brian:

No, I sincerely do not believe that this is "incentive enough." It
certainly
didn't cut any ice with me, during the period of my life from age 14 to
age 28 when I longed to be a licensed radio amateur, but couldn't be
bothered to learn the Morse code. The thing that made me start beeping
was the "incentive" to get on the air at all -- in any mode, and then start
yakking into a microphone as soon as I was able. The irony is, I soon
discovered that CW was fun and a challenge, and sitting and waiting my
turn to yak was a waste of valuable time.

Yet by learning Morse as a requirement to yak, you were still not
convinced that it was fun. How long did you spend in each amateur
grade?

Brian:

LOL -- my TIG for each license class was approximately 2 months as a Novice,
2 months as a Tech, 4 months as a General, 1 year as an Advanced, and the
rest of my life as an Extra (20 years so far as of Feb. '03). All these are
just
guesses, probably accurate to a few weeks or so, but I'd have to dig out my
old licenses to know for sure. Unfortunately, the only one I'm missing is my
old Novice ticket. I have it somewhere, but it's buried so deep in junque that
I haven't seen it since my Tech upgrade in 1981.

I probably did most of my phone operating as an Advanced, because it
was during that time that I had a mobile HF station in my '78 Plymouth
Horizon. However, I also did a LOT of mobile CW as well. I also operated
phone from Germany (two two-year tours) as an Extra, with a German
reciprocal license. But then again, CW operation outweighed phone by
at least 10 to 1. Phone is just too boring. When I'm copying CW, I'm
actively doing something besides listening to the same old crapola over
and over again -- even though what I'm copying IS the same old crapola!

I think I'm pretty safe in saying that it was the code testing requirement
that caused hams to learn the code -- not any innate love or appreciation
for the mode.

73 de Larry, K3LT

Nor the ultimate utility of "always getting thru."

What will it take to get people to use Morse?

I don't know. What would it take to get YOU to use it? For me, it took
a code testing requirement, which caused me to learn and use the code
in order to meet the requirement. You don't believe in the requirement, so
obviously, your mileage varies quite a bit. So tell us -- what would it take
to make you a regular CW operator with 20 WPM proficiency -- something
that I have no doubt you are capable of?

73 de Larry, K3LT