On Sep 23, 1:53�am, AJ Lake wrote:
wrote:
Consider all the testing that doctors and lawyers go through to get
their licenses. Yet there are still some doctors and lawyers who are
"bad apples".

Exactly. Passing a license test does not prevent bad behavior.

Not exactly. Passing a license test does not prevent *ALL* bad
behavior. Just because a test isn't perfect doesn't mean it has no
effect.

Most of all, note that the bad behavior you cite was all on voice, not
CW/Morse Code. The bad apples may have passed a code test at one time
or another, but they weren't *using* the mode!

Exactly. Passing a code test does not prevent bad behavior.

Not exactly. Passing a code test does not prevent *ALL* bad behavior.
Just because a test isn't perfect doesn't mean it has no effect.

The exam procedure varied over time, and by the mid-1950s the person
giving both code and written tests had to be an FCC licensed amateur
or commercial operator. But it was all on the honor system.

Mid 1960s, not mid 1950s.

The following could give the mail order code test:
An Extra, Advanced, or General Class licensee, or
a Commercial Radiotelegraph Operators licensee, or
a Government employee of a manually operated radio telegraph station.

Yep.

And as I said before *any* adult (at least 21 then) licensed or not
could give the written exam.

And the person had only to sign the form saying the test had been on
the up-and-up.

What Bash did was to ask people leaving the exam sessions to recall
whatever they could about the questions.

Another piece of history I lived. I used Bash for my Advanced.

Why? The Advanced wasn't very hard.

Then budget cuts in the early 1980s forced FCC to
create the VE system, and the Q&A became public.
Which put Bash out of business.

Interesting how what was called cheating then is now a legit exam...

Been that way for more than 25 years. Complain to FCC; *they* changed
it.

Now, why were hams so well-behaved compared to cbers,

Because the hams had to ID?

CBers had to ID too. They had licenses, callsigns and everything.
Didn't stop them from misbehaving. Shall we eliminate callsigns and
licenses because they don't prevent all bad behavior?

If people know who you are many act
better. And if they didn't ID no one would talk to them.

Why didn't cbers do the same thing?

�Some did
bootleg though with false calls. I'll admit to bootlegging on CW
before my Novice ticket came.

Why? Couldn't you wait?

My buddies name was Kent, so I used
K7ENT. It wasn't issued yet so no harm no foul...

It was wrong nonetheless.

The way something goes bad is often not by massive changes but a
little here and a little there. That's how cb went downhill - a little
extra power here, a non-ID there, a cussword here, a skip contact
there, and pretty soon playing by the rules was extinct.

73 de Jim, N2EY