Landshark wrote:

If you can read 20 to 30 WPM, would you want to here somebody
pounding out only 5 WPM? Otherwise would you want to see the bands
allocated to certain speeds? Point being, it would be called a qualifying
test, to make sure you are able to operate in the mode you test for.

Landshark



I've always been able to read *much* faster than I can copy code. I don't
understand what you're getting at there.

No need to divide up the freqs for different speeds. Generally, faster is
lower in freq by gentlemen's agreement. Not always, but generally from
what I've seen. FYI, there's currently a proposal to divide up the freqs
based on bandwidth requirements.

What's the difference between someone who passed the 5 WPM code test and has
now forgotten it and someone who never learned 5 WPM? Neither operate the
mode. So why not just have some freqs dedicated to those who want to use
it and quit testing for it? If you can operate voice on 2M, you can
operate voice on HF. Why make people qualify for a mode they have no
interest in? If certain freqs are dedicated to CW, why make someone
qualify for it if they're never going to use those freqs?

There once was a time when the only way you could qualify for the highest
class ham license was to show you could copy 20 WPM code. Someone stood up
and said, "Hey, the international requirement is now at 5 WPM." So we did
away with element 1b and 1c. WRC-03 did away with code entirely. So why
are we still testing element 1a?

Guy