"Carl" wrote in message
...
Why bother with SSB? It requires absolutely no skill and it's a lot
cheaper
to pick up the phone and call a neighbor.

The fcc ham license giveaway "exam" is a joke. The new transceivers can be
operated by an imbecile monkey.

CW is all that is left of our once great hobby that requires skill,
knowledge or discipline.

Long after the whiners and creeps have removed the CW requirement from the
ham license, CW will remain in the growing cadre of landline dialups. And
real ham operators will continue to practice their craft.

Find a good bug...you'll love it and it will be your friend for your life.

Carl


I suppose I must have "whined" some in the 40 years that cw seemed to
have
kept me out of ham radio but, I'm proud to have my Amateur Extra licence,.as
a result of one of those "giveaway joke exams" and greatly reduced cw
requirements. I'm still struggeling with cw, but I'm enjoying fixing up
whatever old boatanchor I can find a bargain on. I hope there's some skill
in that. I doub't that I'll ever
buy one of those newfangled, do everything, radios that's smarter than I am.
CW does seem to me to be part of the heart of ham radio but some of us
aren't well wired for it.
John

JOHN D wrote:

CW does seem to me to be part of the heart of ham radio but some of us
aren't well wired for it.

I am the poster child for that. I tried for 29 years to learn morse code,
even to the point of taking a key and oscillator on the train in the morning
and talking to myself in Morse code.

I tried every possible course that I could get my hands on and none worked
until I tried Code Quick. It was the best $50 I spent on ham radio.

The fastest test I took was 13wpm, because I have difficulty writing at the
same time I copy and can't really touch type. At my peak I could copy 35wpm.

To be honest, I no longer use it and can only copy around 10 WPM now.

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM
IL Voice: (07)-7424-1667 IL Fax: 972-2-648-1443 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838
Visit my 'blog at http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/