"N2EY" wrote in message
...
In article , Robert Casey
writes:

Carl R. Stevenson wrote:

I don't see the 5 wpm for Extra thing as a problem - because I don't
think
it has a snowball's chance in

[expletive deleted]

Since when is "hell" (as refering to the place?) an "expletive"????

of getting approved by the FCC.

One has to ask the question of what the FCC gets out of requiring code
for extras.

That's the key question these days for any license requirement these days.
You
make an excellent point.

The problem is that it also applies in other areas, such as "what does FCC
get
out of protecting hams from BPL interference?"

As the
treaty requirement is now gone, and no other service uses it, why
bother.

Because hams *do* use it. Some other services use it too, but not to any
great
extent.

The FCC isn't
in the business of giving out gold stars for the

[expletive deleted]

Bob can defend his own use of the word "hell" :-)

of it.

Not about "gold stars". About qualifications. Of course there's
differences of
opinion on what qualified means.

Code isn't a lid filter,

*No* test is a perfect "lid filter". Particularly not a test given one
time.
There are bad doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc., who have been through
much
more extensive and rigorous testing and education, yet were not filtered
out by
those testing and education systems.

as witness
14.313 back in the days of 13wpm to be allowed to operate there.

You mean before 1990? (medical waivers)

Remember this:

All those folks on 14.313, 3950, W6NUT, etc., passed *written* exams that
included the rules and regulations. Most of them passed multiple written
exams,
yet they broke the rules anyway. So obviously those written tests aren't a
perfect lid filter either. Shall we dump the rules and regs from those
written
exams because they didn't do the job?

The written tests are not, and have never intended to be, a "lid filter."
ALL that they are meant to do is assess the applicant's basic level of
competence in the material the test covers ... they don't mean the applicant
is an "expert" in the field (not even the Extra test ...) ... they JUST are
a demonstration of the MINIMUM level of knowledge required for ENTRY into
whatever class license/privileges the test is for ...

I don't recall anyone claiming the written tests were a "lid filter" ...
however, many people asserted that the Morse test was (though the FCC
debunked that idea
back in 1989 or 1990 ...)

oh wait, that's what NCVEC is proposing for the entry level!

I don't favor the NCVEC proposal either (I prefer the ARRL proposal).

Carl - wk3c