Slow Code wrote:
Dumbing it down cheapened the license, making being a radio amateur
nothing special. No wonder they leaving.


I'll bet that most of the folks "leaving" are simply not renewing being
SK. Code is in a way a dying art quite literally. Which is a shame.

We have to face it, this hobby doesn't attract a lot of new blood and
the existing stock is rapidly growing older. The advantage to me is
that I can find old ham equipment at estate sales for next to nothing
but that's not what I'm posting about..

I don't think things are all that "unfair" with the maximum code speed
we currently test being 5 WPM. Of course that's what I got tested at
so you can charge bias if you want. I currently don't operate CW (heck,
I don't operate at all right now) but all that spectrum space in the
lower part of the bands is starting to beckon. I've got a code
practice program and I work on my code from time to time so maybe
someday...

So where do I fall in this debate? I certainly don't favor the removal
of the code requirement for all license classes. Extra's surely need
to be tested at the current 5 WPM. But the fact remains that the
interest in this hobby as shown by the decline in the number of
licenses needs some attention.

We don't need to "dumb" down the hobby to get more folks in it, but we
do need to bring the requirements into the current age. Before the
advent of the personal computer 20 years ago, it would have been very
expensive to set up an automated CW send and receive station, but now
you can do it for next to nothing. One can actually send and receive
CW without ever learning it and get transmission rates much faster than
just about anybody can copy by ear, just hook up your PC to the rig
load the software and voila, the no code licensee is sending and
receiving at 25 WPM the day after he failed the 5 WPM test.

On the other hand, you guys that struggled to get their code speed up
to 20 WPM so they could get their Extra have my respect. I understand
that lowering that requirement seems like we are dumbing down the
hobby, but I hope you can understand that like AM, CW is being replaced
by other modes that you and your generation have pioneered.

My greatest fear is that the FCC will totally do away with code in it's
testing requirements, which will logically lead to a mass spectrum
reassignment to make more room for voice and we will likely loose our
valuable spectrum space in the process. But once the last license goes
to SK what's to stop the FCC from giving it all away?

May code never die, there are times it's the only option, but we have
to keep the hobby relevant or it will all go away when the hobby dies.

-= Bob =-
KC4UAI