Leo wrote:

In response to the WRC 03 decision on Morse Code, Industry Canada
asked the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC, our ARRL equivalent) to
advise as to what Canadian amateurs want to do with respect to the
Morse testing requirement.

RAC set up an online survey on their website for the month of August,
and invited all Canadian amateurs (both members of RAC and non-members
alike) to voice their opinions. The results have been tabulated and
published, and has been presented to the RAC Board of Directors for
discussion with IC in the near future. The following web site has the
details:

http://www.rac.ca/news/mresults.htm

Basically, the majority (overall 66%, or two out of three respondents)
is in favour of dropping the Morse requirement for access to the HF
bands. Similarly, 69% are in favour of modifying the Basic exam,
presumably to increase its relevance to operating on HF. For those of
you south of the border, the numbers are quite interesting, and may
give you some insight into the statistics you might find within the US
Amateur community. I was surprised, for example, at the percentage of
Advanced with Morse (our 'Extra') licence holders who are in favour of
dropping it - 52% - and we're the guys who 'paid the dues' and made it
to the top rung of both theoretical and Morse capability!

The same process was used to review reducing the Morse requirement
from 13 WPM to 5 WPM a couple of years ago - Industry Canada went
along with the recommendation the Amateur community (via RAC) - it is
anticipated that they will in all likelyhood do so again, as this is
obviously the will of the majority. Not all of us, not by a long
shot - but clearly, the majority!

In short, it certainly looks like it is only a matter of time before
Canada drops the Morse requirement for HF. But we may have an
opportunity to raise the skill level of those who enter Amateur Radio
through more relevant (and maybe more rigorous) testing.

Well if you raise the skill level, it will just keep people out of Ham
radio. That has been one of the reasons cited for getting rid of the
code test. It won't do just to increase the entrance requirements, which
will partially defeat the purpose.

To close with a quote from a famous Canadian, Marshall McLuhan (the
media visionary and professor who conceptualized the "Global Village"
and the impact of high-speed communications way back in the '60s):

"The past went that-a-way. When faced with a totally new situation, we
tend always to attach ourselves to the objects, to the flavor of the
most recent past. We look at the present through a rear view mirror.
We march backwards into the future."

Perhaps being knowledgeable about RF matters is also in the past, Leo. A
person can pick up a rig, a linear and an antenna without knowing
anything about RF electronics. He/she can pay someone to put it up, and
can be talking in no time. Given this, why should there be any
requirements at all?

(suggested antenna is a 1/4 wave dipole) 8^)

- Mike KB3EIA -