What else should be here?



- Basic knowledge and skills for the basic level, more advanced stuff for the
higher license levels.

- Operating skills and practices

This would be an extension of distingushing between malacious
interefernce and
the "facts of life" on HF ham bands (that nobody has exclusive rights to
a specific
frequency and that both parties involved in QRM move away (up or down) in
frequency to clear each other. And that some bands have unexpected patterns
of propagation (like 10m has the usual circle of nearby coverage, then a
ring of
no coverage, and another ring of "skip". And thus you can QRM the reception
of a ham in the skip zone trying to copy someone you can't hear. So you
would
then understand why someone seems to be talking to himself.).

Also some basic knowledge of the "syntax" of a QSO. XX#XXX, this is WA2ISE.


- Morse code tests

Why this today? Back in the vacuum tube era, morse code (CW)
transmitters and
receivers were simple but required human encode and decode. Today we have
digital technology and such for automated encode and decode of modes
more robust
than old fashined CW. Morse can be a fun mode for those interested,
but should
it be required?

"Robert Casey" wrote in message
...





What else should be here?



- Basic knowledge and skills for the basic level, more advanced stuff for
the
higher license levels.

- Operating skills and practices

This would be an extension of distingushing between malacious
interefernce and
the "facts of life" on HF ham bands (that nobody has exclusive rights to
a specific
frequency and that both parties involved in QRM move away (up or down) in
frequency to clear each other. And that some bands have unexpected
patterns
of propagation (like 10m has the usual circle of nearby coverage, then a
ring of
no coverage, and another ring of "skip". And thus you can QRM the
reception
of a ham in the skip zone trying to copy someone you can't hear. So you
would
then understand why someone seems to be talking to himself.).

Also some basic knowledge of the "syntax" of a QSO. XX#XXX, this is
WA2ISE.


- Morse code tests

Why this today? Back in the vacuum tube era, morse code (CW)
transmitters and
receivers were simple but required human encode and decode. Today we have
digital technology and such for automated encode and decode of modes
more robust
than old fashined CW. Morse can be a fun mode for those interested,
but should
it be required?


Each and every mode will have conditions under which it will out perform
others. When there is a high static level and phase shifts induced by
severe auroras, voice fails and so do all computer aided digital modes
currently in existence. This was proven last fall with the large number of
major solar flares we had last fall. Code with human encode/decode held up
longer than any other mode under that set of conditions.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

In article , Robert Casey
writes:

So what should a candidate know to get a beginner, and upper level license?

As we are allowed to modify and homebrew equipment, we should have on
the tests questions on how such equipment works, and how to identify problem
areas like RFI, TVI, harmonic emissions and such.

Also RF safety issues, as we are allowed kilowatt levels of power.

electrical safety techniques, as much equipment use hazardous voltages
(also we should know not to wear wedding rings and such near car
batteries, a short thru a ring can burn a finger off).

Rules and regs. Like no business traffic. What constitutes malicious
interference and what is just normal life on the HF bands when conditions
are crowded.

Some knowledge of modes and bandwidth, especially why you don't
want to set your rig on 14.349 in USB mode.

Basically, we should know how not to trash the RF spectrum and
screw up other users.

What else should be here?


We should know how to utilize a highly practical, effective, efficient, and
universal non-voice means of communication which doesn't require any
computerized hardware to encode/decode the messages, and makes the
best possible use of the least possible power. This mode is, of course,
Morse/CW. It should be learned at progressive levels of 5, 13, and 20 WPM
for an entry level, intermediate, and full-privilege licenses, respectively.

Those who disagree are dumbed-down whiners whose opinions are invalid.

Anyone who receives a license without having passed the 3-level Morse code
proficiency learning requirement is incapable of providing a true emergency
backup communications service to the public, and therefore is not of any
value to the ARS.

73 de Larry, K3LT

ospam (Larry Roll K3LT) wrote in message ...

We should know how to utilize a highly practical, effective, efficient, and
universal non-voice means of communication which doesn't require any
computerized hardware to encode/decode the messages, and makes the
best possible use of the least possible power. This mode is, of course,
Morse/CW. It should be learned at progressive levels of 5, 13, and 20 WPM
for an entry level, intermediate, and full-privilege licenses, respectively.

You can plug a keyboard directly into a Patcomm HF transceiver. Cool

And Kenwood makes a vhf/uhf dual bander that lets you send text w/o a
'puter.

Those who disagree are dumbed-down whiners whose opinions are invalid.

Not necessarily. No more dumb than some code elitists.

Anyone who receives a license without having passed the 3-level Morse code
proficiency learning requirement is incapable of providing a true emergency
backup communications service to the public, and therefore is not of any
value to the ARS.

73 de Larry, K3LT

If that's true, then it's time to fire 99.999% of the 911 operators.
But yet, they manage to provide emergency communications daily w/o any
knowledge of Morse or Farnsworth code whatsoever.

So its probably not true.

Nice troll, Larry tRoll.

bb