On 4/9/2014 7:51 PM, Michael J. Coslo wrote:
On Wednesday, April 9, 2014 12:08:00 PM UTC-4, Steve Bonine wrote:

The point I'm making is simple: Because I had to, I learned a skill
that provided me with a huge amount of enjoyment in my life.
Conversely, if I hadn't had this gun to my head, I wouldn't have gone
through the pain to do it, and I would have missed out on the joy that
cw has brought me through the years.

I got my Novice license in 1967. Same routine. Upgrade or die.
It was fun at 5 WPM and every QSO was special. "Oh hey, I'm
talking to a guy 100 miles from here. Pant pant."

Getting my code speed up to 13+ so I could upgrade was painful.
I passed the code test, passed the General test, then got told
"As long as you're here, take the Advanced test too." Passed
that as well.

Okies, got my ticket, and I did do some CW on 40 meters, mostly
with two friends of mine but it never really "clicked" with me.

Early in 2005, I took the Extra test and passed it. So here I
am. Every year I make it a point to do at least ONE CW contact
for Straight Key Night. It's still painful, but I do because I
can.

But in the context of old things that are of some value,
I learned the slide rule just before it was abandoned
for calculators. Until that time, I was pretty bad at math.
Then almost as soon as the first class started, something
Clicked, and clicked hard.

Summer of 1970 between my Junior and Senior year in High school.
Mr. Guest, our math algebra and geometry teacher had a summer
course on using a slide rule. Of course we had the ten foot long
rule hanging up over the chalk board.

I don't remember what happened to my 10" yellow Pickett, but I
still have my 10" Cleveland Institute of Electronics slide rule.
And I have a 6" mini that fits nicely in my pocket protector. ;-)

I have an HP-10C which I love dearly. But most everything I do, I
do with a pair of TI scientific calculators I bought 30 years ago.


--
Jeff-1.0
wa6fwi
http://www.foxsmercantile.com

"Foxs Mercantile" wrote

I got my Novice license in 1967. Same routine. Upgrade or die.
It was fun at 5 WPM and every QSO was special. "Oh hey, I'm
talking to a guy 100 miles from here. Pant pant."

Getting my code speed up to 13+ so I could upgrade was painful.

Everyone's different, and everyone has a different experience of it all. I
got my Novice as a teen in 1963. (Yes, "pant-pant!" for those "DX"
contacts.) My friend and I decided to go for our Generals a few months later
to beat the $4 exam fee that was to be instituted January 1964. (Talk about
"incentive licensing!") We worked on our code (not painful for us), and we
went down to the FCC office during Christmas vacation. We both passed. I've
enjoyed CW (and phone) to this day. Fortunately for me I still hear plenty
of CW on the bands. A good fist makes for good music.

Howard N7SO

On Thu, 10 Apr 2014 20:00:37 EDT, "Howard Lester"
wrote:

"Foxs Mercantile" wrote

I got my Novice license in 1967. Same routine. Upgrade or die.
It was fun at 5 WPM and every QSO was special. "Oh hey, I'm
talking to a guy 100 miles from here. Pant pant."

Getting my code speed up to 13+ so I could upgrade was painful.

Everyone's different, and everyone has a different experience of it all.

WhenI was first licensed in 1998, General required 13 wpm and Extra 21
wpm. I decided to get the no-code Tech. In 2000, the FCC lowered the
code speed to 5 wpm for both General and Extra. I decided that I
could do that, and upgraded to Extra.

I have never used CW on the air.

I became a Volunteer Examiner, and I had to administer code tests. We
had to monitor the code playing on the boombox to make sure that it
was correct. Fortunately, we had the text of the message in front of
us. I remember reading ahead on the text and thinking: "There is a Z
coming along soon. What the heck is the code for Z? Oh, now I
remember."

Also, I rarely operate HF. I tried some DX SSB, and did not care for
it, primarily because I could not separate the 2 to 3 voices I was
hearing all at once. My only ham shack is my auto, with VHF/UHF.

"Different strokes for different folks."

Dick Grady, AC7EL

On Thu, 10 Apr 2014 12:11:24 EDT, Foxs Mercantile
wrote:

I have an HP-10C which I love dearly. But most everything I do, I
do with a pair of TI scientific calculators I bought 30 years ago.

TI-35. Still have and use mine - albeit very infrequently - and it's
still on the original battery. It's twice as thick as my wife's
"smart"phone. (don't have, nor do I want to have, one of my own).

73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane

From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest
Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon