wrote in message
oups.com...
I don't think things are all that "unfair" with the maximum code speed
we currently test being 5 WPM.

I don't think the code require is necessarily "unfair" somehow, but it does
seem awfully "arbitrary" these days. In *today's* world, it's just one mode
of many, and a rather unpopular one at that.

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.

If we're going to make people show a certain commitment to amateur radio
before giving them advance privileges -- reasonable enough --, to me it seems
that the study should be of something more people are likely to use... say,
error correction coding theory, or modulator design or something. Or maybe
something even more practical such as demonstrating the ability to perform
link planning (antenna selection, power selection, etc.). I imagine one of
the reasons CW testing remains is because it is so easy to test compared to
those options.

I think I'm pretty much in agreement with you... 5 WPM is not an unreasonable
barrier to entry, and I don't particular oppose keeping it around, but I do
think it seems awfully arbitrary, and this refelcts somewhat poorly on hams as
a group trying to present themselves as modern and professional.

---Joel Kolstad