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September 1st 03, 05:35 AM
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On Sun, 31 Aug 2003, N2EY wrote:
In article , (Jason Hsu) writes: I found this comment on eham.net: "I hold the OLD ADVANCED license and it is a matter of prestidge. I had to have 13 wpm to get to this level and now they want to do away with ALL CW? Keep at least the 5 wpm. It is too easy to pass a written exam. The code kept the CB crowd from gaining acess to our bands. " The fact of the matter is that simply having an Advanced is not proof of code speed. Since 1990, medical waivers were available for 13 and 20 wpm. Although true, the fact of a waiver is in the FCC's database (there's a field for it). As an excuse not to upgrade to extra, it's probably one of the lamest ideas around. Upon upgrade, one will still have the "prior class held" field that will say advanced, so with the combination of these two data fields, we will know that a person once held an advanced class license WITHOUT the medical waiver and thus officially passed the 13wpm code element. [Whether or not the person actually took the test or just paid for his license will generally never be known!] To me, the statement is more typical of some advanced class sourpuss who failed to take advantage of the transitional rule back in 2000 and obtain credit for the easier element 4B than the current element 4. Granted that was only for a 3.5 month window... What surprises me is this: There are still some people (the August 30 session I did had two such people) who are coming in for their pre-87-tech to general no test upgrades, 3+ years after the rules change went into effect.... Is this for real? Are there REALLY people with Advanced licenses who refuse to upgrade to Amateur Extra SIMPLY because they feel the need to prove they passed the 13 wpm exam? There are some misguided folks who think that, but in fact it's not a proof of code speed any more than my Extra is proof of 20 per. When it is known that a medical waiver wasn't used, it is (for pre April 19, 2000 extras). I know it's a free country, and there are also many Advanced licensees who decide that the extra privileges aren't worth going to the trouble of studying up and going to the VE session, but I find this hard to believe. If somebody wants to know my code skills and technical knowledge, I don't point to a license test I took in 1970. Instead, I just show 'em. Anyone who thinks Morse Code is that important should try OPERATING high-speed Morse Code and participate in Morse Code contests. We do! 13 wpm isn't high speed, tho. All the Advanced license proves is that you passed 13 wpm and the other exam requirements years ago. Not even that. Medical waivers, etc. ... |
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