N2EY wrote:
In article , Keith
writes:


On Sun, 27 Jul 2003 01:50:46 GMT, "Dee D. Flint" wrote:


A 5wpm code test does not discriminate against Americans with disabilities.
Disabled people have passed while their unhandicapped brethren have sat on
the sideline whining about the code.

Explain to me why a deaf person should now need to know morse code?


Deaf people have used Morse Code in ham radio.


When the
silly horse and buggy test was rammed down their throats by the US government
they could use lights. Now how is a deaf person supposed to use morse code
sitting in their home listening to the radio?


Simple. They rest fingers on a speaker cone and feel the vibrations. It's benn
done many times by deaf people. Just like many deaf people dance by feeling the
rhythm the music through their feet.

Also, many deaf people have some limited hearing. It is not unusual for them to
be able to hear single tones but not undersatand speech.


With modern digital
communications like PSK31, Pactor and RTTY a deaf person can enjoy ham radio.


Hams have been using Baudot RTTY for almost 60 years....


And as always they can use a computer to decode morse code as they have in
the past. But for them to learn morse code through some silly light system is
pure discrimination because the deaf have no way of decoding morse by ear.


Yet the various advocacy groups for handicapped people have never protested the
amateur radio test regulations. Indeed, the group "Handi-Hams" was AGAINST the
medical waiver rule change back in 1990, as I recall.


The morse code test for deaf people is pure discrimination and now that
s25.5 no longer requires a proficiency to know and send morse code the FCC
better move fast to remove this discrimination.


If you're going to go that route, then all of the questions in the written
tests about voice modes have to go as well, because there's no way deaf people
are going to use SSB, either. Take out the questions on PSK-31, RTTY, etc.,
because blind people won't use those modes. Get rid of the Extra and General
class written tests entirely because there are people who can't pass them, but
who can pass the Tech written. And since FCC says the Tech test is adequate for
all authorized modes, bands and power on amateur VHF/UHF, why is any more
written testing needed for HF beyond a few band-edge questions?


Don't you get it Jim? This is EXACTLY where they are headed. NTI is
undergoing birth! The no-discrimination angle is cute but flawed, but
hey, they are flush with their recent success, so the sky is the limit
now. And besides, they might get people to buy the argument.

- Mike KB3EIA -