"Michael Coslo" wrote in message
...
KØHB wrote:

"Michael Coslo" wrote in message
...


No other part of the testing is a skill.


My point EXACTLY, Mike.

While there are many skills associated with our hobby, only one of those
skills is singled out for a required demonstration.

Interestingly, if that skill is so vital as to need a skill demonstration, it
would seem that no-one who had not been tested would be allowed to use it on
the air. Yet a basic Technician licensee is perfectly free to use Morse on
the air without having passed a Morse test. So much for the need for a
demonstration before a license grant!


I see it as a license progression thing. The Morse code is the skill
demonstration, and HF access is the carrot.


But the skill demonstration should bear relationship to the privilege granted as
a RESULT of that demonstration. In other words, USE of Morse should be
restricted only to those who have successfully demonstrated their skill. Or to
use your example, the USE of Morse should be the carrot offered as a result of
passing a Morse test.

But by FCC regulation, a code-free Technician is allowed to use Morse on the air
WITHOUT a successful Morse demonstration, and the "demonstrate BEFORE privilege"
model is disconnected; ergo the demonstration is not vital to the successful use
of the mode and serves no rational regulatory purpose.

73, de Hans, K0HB