wrote in message
ups.com...
Cecil Moore wrote:
John Smith I wrote:
No, the new generation of hams will make it obsolete and history!

Like AM?
--

The invention of the motorcycle did not make the bicycle obsolete. The
invention of the car did not make walking obsolete. Power boats did not
make all sailboats obsolete, although many sailboats were replaced by
power boats.

People still *run* marathons, even though they'd go a lot faster with a
lot less effort if roller skates were used.

AM did not become obsolete when SSB was invented. Morse Code did not
become obsolete when voice and RTTY were invented.

There will still be people who CHOOSE to use Morse if it's presented to them
as fun and they're allowed to make the choice without intimidation (and
without berating them)

Except for a few people who learned Morse Code elsewhere, most would-be
hams don't have any prior Morse Code skill.

True ...

The code test acts as a sort of Great Equalizer,

Absurd ... ALL that a code test does is indicate that you can copy Morse at
some specified speed. Nothing more, nothing less.

because almost
everyone starts out as a clueless newbie with the mode.

True ...

Morse Code cannot be learned by simply reading a
book, visiting some websites or picking up a little bit here and
there. A newcomer cannot cut-and-paste his/her way to a
new skill, or rely on past achievements or claims to get around it.

It's a skill that is easily measured and cannot be faked. And it puts
a Final Authority wannabe on the same footing as a Young Squirt.

It may be precisely this equalizing effect that makes some folks want
to get rid of it.

The implication above that everything about ham radio except Morse is
"cut-and-paste" is also absurd.

I was talking night before last with Ed Hare - remember the 3 page study
guide that he had for his novice test and compare that, as he does, to the
200+ pages of "Now You're Talking" - there has been NO "dumbing down" for
entry into ham radio. How anyone could assert with honesty and a straight
face that 200+ pages of material is "dumbed down" compared to 3 pages is
something that simply is unfathomable.

I think it's time to stop trying to attribute mythical powers to the soon to
be history Morse test. To continue only perpetuates the falsehood that
Morse skill is essential to being a good ham, capable of contributing, etc.

Have fun with Morse and promote it in a kind and polite way if you wish, but
please lose the attitude that Morse somehow is the measure of a "REAL ham."

73,
Carl - wk3c


73 es KC de Jim, N2EY

Carl R. Stevenson wrote:
...
Have fun with Morse and promote it in a kind and polite way if you wish, but
please lose the attitude that Morse somehow is the measure of a "REAL ham."

73,
Carl - wk3c

73 es KC de Jim, N2EY




Carl:

Right on!!!

Geesh, every one knows it is the size of his key which defines the
measure of a REAL HAM! chuckle

Regards,
JS

On Sun, 7 Jan 2007 10:14:17 -0500, "Carl R. Stevenson"
wrote:


wrote in message
oups.com...
snip

The code test acts as a sort of Great Equalizer,

Absurd ... ALL that a code test does is indicate that you can copy Morse at
some specified speed. Nothing more, nothing less.

IIRC, the Great Equalizer was created by Samuel Colt, not Samuel
Morse!

snip

73,
Carl - wk3c


73 es KC de Jim, N2EY



73, Leo

Carl R. Stevenson wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
Cecil Moore wrote:
John Smith I wrote:
No, the new generation of hams will make it obsolete and history!

Like AM?
--

The invention of the motorcycle did not make the bicycle obsolete. The
invention of the car did not make walking obsolete. Power boats did not
make all sailboats obsolete, although many sailboats were replaced by
power boats.

People still *run* marathons, even though they'd go a lot faster with a
lot less effort if roller skates were used.

AM did not become obsolete when SSB was invented. Morse Code did not
become obsolete when voice and RTTY were invented.

There will still be people who CHOOSE to use Morse if it's presented to them
as fun and they're allowed to make the choice without intimidation (and
without berating them)

And if there's available spectrum and other Morse Code operators.

Except for a few people who learned Morse Code elsewhere, most would-be
hams don't have any prior Morse Code skill.

True ...

The code test acts as a sort of Great Equalizer,

Absurd ...

Not at all.

ALL that a code test does is indicate that you can copy Morse at
some specified speed. Nothing more, nothing less.

IMHO, that's a rather shortsighted view. Consider this statement:

ALL that a written test does is indicate that you can pick out
at least the minimum required number of correct multiple-choice
answers in a test where all of
the questions and answers are freely available beforehand.
Nothing more, nothing less.

In addition, as long as you don't cheat, FCC does not care how you
get the right answers, nor which questions you get right or wrong.
They don't care if you memorized, or if you guessed, or if you
really understand the material. They also don't care if you have a Ph.D
in EE, etc. - you get the same test.

Note that FCC *eliminated* the multiple-choice Morse Code test option,
leaving only the one-minute-solid-copy and fill-in-the-blanks options.

because almost
everyone starts out as a clueless newbie with the mode.

True ...

Morse Code cannot be learned by simply reading a
book, visiting some websites or picking up a little bit here and
there. A newcomer cannot cut-and-paste his/her way to a
new skill, or rely on past achievements or claims to get around it.

It's a skill that is easily measured and cannot be faked. And it puts
a Final Authority wannabe on the same footing as a Young Squirt.

It may be precisely this equalizing effect that makes some folks want
to get rid of it.

The implication above that everything about ham radio except Morse is
"cut-and-paste" is also absurd.

I intended no such implication - because it would be absurd.

The point I was making is that *passing the written tests* is/was a
very
different thing from passing the Morse Code tests, particularly if
someone
had some background in electricity or electronics. Which is much more
likely today than someone having background in Morse Code.

The written exams, particularly Element 2, do not begin to cover
"everything about ham radio except Morse". Nor do they cover
any subject in much depth, IMHO.

In my experience, most people can accumulate a lot of "book learning"
type
knowledge by "here and there" methods. Skills like Morse Code
usually cannot be learned that way. Whether that's good or bad is a
matter
of opinion.

I was talking night before last with Ed Hare - remember the 3 page study
guide that he had for his novice test and compare that, as he does, to the
200+ pages of "Now You're Talking" - there has been NO "dumbing down" for
entry into ham radio. How anyone could assert with honesty and a straight
face that 200+ pages of material is "dumbed down" compared to 3 pages is
something that simply is unfathomable.

I have debunked W1RFI's "200 page" myth several times - including in
person.
I wish you'd been there for that one, Carl.

Comparing the "Now You're Talking" book to the Novice study guide in
old LMs is
comparing apples and oranges. Here's why:

1) The LM study guide mentioned was for the old 1year nonrenewable
Novice license. Today's Now You're Talking (NYT) is for the
Technician, which conveys
many more privileges.

2) The LM study guide wasn't complete - one also had to study the
regulations,
which were in the back of the book.

3) The LM study guides were in the form of essay questions and answers.

The NYT book gives the exact Q&A used in the exams.

4) Just *one* of the old LM questions could generate a whole raft of
possible
multiple choice exam questions. NYT gives the exact Q&A.

5) The old LMs weren't meant to be a stand-alone introduction to
amateur radio. They
were simply intended as a guide to what was on the exams, and the
procedures to
get a license. In truth they weren't even complete, because they
did not cover how to
learn Morse Code. (ARRL sold another fifty-cent book for that). NYT
is meant as a
complete introduction. It would be fairer to compare NYT with a set
of the old ARRL
intro books (the LM, "How To Become A Radio Amateur", "Learning the
RadioTelegraph
Code" and possibly "Understanding Amateur Radio).

6) The old Novice was a one-year one-time nonrenewable license. The
Technician isn't.
Try comparing the *content* of some of the questions - and not just
for the old Novice.

Nobody really knows how "hard" the old exams really were, because
they're not
available for comparison.

I will repost some study questions from the old License Manual -
they're the best we've got.

I think it's time to stop trying to attribute mythical powers to the soon to
be history Morse test.
To continue only perpetuates the falsehood that
Morse skill is essential to being a good ham, capable of contributing, etc.

It's one tool in the toolbox. That's all. A very useful tool, though.

Have fun with Morse and promote it in a kind and polite way if you wish, but
please lose the attitude that Morse somehow is the measure of a "REAL ham."

Please point out where I have ever written that one must have Morse
Code skill
to be "a real ham".

The "equalizer" idea is simply to point out that almost all hams who
try to learn it
start at the same place. That's not true of the written exams.

IMHO

73 es KC de Jim, N2EY

wrote:
...

All of your wasted verbiage (actually, text here) boils down to one
single question:

1) Who is most likely to make a contribution to amateur radio?
a) A person with a sound knowledge of electronics and mechanical
skills (such as antenna construction.)
-OR-
b) A guy who can send morse really well?

I am sure you can find a much better argument than your current one ...

JS

From the 1976 ARRL License Manual:

Study Question #31:
Draw a schematic diagram of a circuit having the following components:
(a) battery with internal resistance, (b) resistive load, (c)
voltmeter,
(d) ammeter.

Study Question #32:
From the values indicated by the meters in the above circuit, how can
the value of the resistive load be determined? How can the power
consumed
by the load be determined?

Study Question #33:
In the above circuit, what must the value of the resistive load be in
order for the maximum power to be delivered from the battery?

Study Question #34:
Draw the schematic diagram of an RF power amplifier circuit having the
following components: (a) triode vacuum tube, (b) pi-network output
tank, (c)
high voltage source, (d) plate-current meter, (e) plate-voltage meter,
(f)
rf chokes, (g) bypass capacitors, coupling capacitor.

Study Question #35:
What is the proper tune-up procedure for the above circuit?

These are just a sample. They're not the exact questions that
were on the old exams.

The actual exam was multiple choice, and would show a schematic of the
amplifier circuit - close, but not exactly like the one shown inthe
license
manual - and had 5 of the components labelled "a" thru "e". The
question would
be something like, "which is the coupling capacitor?" "which is an rf
chokes?"
"what is the function of the capacitor labelled ''d' in the circuit
above?"

How they compare to the current exams is a matter of opinion. IMHO
the old exams covered fewer subjects but covered them in much more
detail.










These weren't study questions for the Extra written test.





Nor were they study questions for the Advanced written test.





Nor were they study questions for the Technician/General written test.



They were for the 1976 *Novice* written exam.

73 de Jim, N2EY

wrote:
...

And, it is now, mostly obsolete, tubes are gone for all intents and
purposes.

Still handy, those voltmeters and ampmeters: I*E = W, I = E/R, etc. I
can't imagine the FCC dropping those!

Of course those tests have changed, who can solder smc components on the
micro-minaturized "new equipment." And, even getting parts is becoming
difficult to build your own equipment.

Mostly, hardware will be purchased from here on out. You will upgrade
your rig with new software (firmware), the exams will eventually have to
pose questions on computer programming! You computer will just hold a
couple of more boards--a receiver and xmitter plugged into the bus ...

Mostly, now you are arguing keeping irrelevant questions for those who
will have to deal with current technology--all you propose as a new
argument, as opposed to your old argument, is another based on insane
logic and reasoning?

I really don't even think you have a clue ...

JS

wrote:
Nobody really knows how "hard" the old exams really were, because
they're not available for comparison.

But the ARRL License Manuals are still around, e.g.
The unit of resistance is the ______.
A. Volt
B. Amp
C. Watt
D. Ohm
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com

Cecil Moore wrote:
wrote:
Nobody really knows how "hard" the old exams really were, because
they're not available for comparison.

But the ARRL License Manuals are still around, e.g.
The unit of resistance is the ______.
A. Volt
B. Amp
C. Watt
D. Ohm

.... and how did I memorize that resistance color code, Every Good Boy
Does Violet? No, let me see ...

chuckle
JS

Cecil Moore wrote:
wrote:
Nobody really knows how "hard" the old exams really were, because
they're not available for comparison.

But the ARRL License Manuals are still around, e.g.
The unit of resistance is the ______.
A. Volt
B. Amp
C. Watt
D. Ohm
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com

E. WHAT?!?

:-)

LA