John Smith wrote:

YEAH!!!

Hide all the answers and require 'em to come up with the answers
psychically!!!

ROFLOL! Get real, any college is test smart, any CS/EE technology
student will blow the doors off any test any panel can come up with in
damn short order.

I figure that the A+ Certified computer technicians at my vocational
school (whose ranks I hope to join by early next year) know more about
electronics theory and construction than the average appliance operator
ham. It seems to me that a lot of hams are old farts who were educated
on tube equipment-all this modern stuff, including microprocessors,
might as well be Chinese to them. I like the idea somebody had of an
over the air test, graded by a panel of judges situated around the
country. Of course, with today's appliance equipment one just has to
plug it in and hook it up. I'd like to see some stuff on electrical
engineering (basic theory and application) and maybe a hands on portion
where the prospective ham builds and operates a simple rig. That would
eliminate the "appliance operator syndrome". Of course, all this would
require a lot more commitment on the part of the FCC than just a written
test where the published answers can be memorized, but the FCC has shown
that they don't give a flying **** about amateur radio. Like the rest of
government, they're in business to give maximum profit to a favored few
(the NAB, in this case) and extract maximum taxes (fines) out of the
rest of us. All the FCC cares about is AM/FM broadcast radio (thus the
hefty fines handed out to FM pirates while SW pirates operate with
impunity for years) and TV. The FCC doesn't control cable or satellites,
which have been and are taking market share away from on air operators,
so the FCC is focusing on what it has control over. But SW? Forget it.
WWCR operates in the tropical bands, WWRB operates out of band, and the
FCC does nothing (and did I mention the pirates?). There's no profit in
SW, no NAB for SW, so the FCC ignores it.


John

"MnMikew" wrote in message
...

"beerbarrel" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 21 Jul 2005 14:39:12 -0400, dxAce
wrote:



John Plimmer wrote:

I couldn't agree more with dropping CW from the ham test.
It reminds me of the legal profession here in South Africa.
It used to be a requirement that lawyers had to pass Latin in
high
school
and have at least two courses in Latin for their law degree.
That was scrapped about ten years ago amid loud protests from
the
dinosaurs.
Today the law profession is flourishing more than ever before
with high
quality judges and advocates.
The only thing I have noticed is that the high and mighty no
longer
spew out
Latin quotations = R.I.P.

Our SARL (South African Radio League) ham club is diminishing by
the
year
and the once crowded ham bands are now empty.
We need to make it easier for new entrants to come into this
wonderful
hobby.

Why does everything need to be made easier? Can't the 'tards learn
the
code? If
so, WHY can't the 'tards learn the code?

If ordinary folks could pass the test in years past what is so
different
today?

Laziness?

dxAce
Michigan
USA



BINGO!

It seems everybody wants something for nothing these days.

What do you mean nothing? There's still a test. Remove the CW and
make the
tests harder then.







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http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

rd:

I don't know about the A+ test, in fact, I wasn't even aware that was
still around--last time I seen it was when it still seemed focused on
DOS...

However, any student in math, sciences, engineering, etc would have no
problem studying, digesting the information and regurgitating it on a
test--with excellent results... just fact...

John

"running dogg" wrote in message
...
John Smith wrote:

YEAH!!!

Hide all the answers and require 'em to come up with the answers
psychically!!!

ROFLOL! Get real, any college is test smart, any CS/EE technology
student will blow the doors off any test any panel can come up with
in
damn short order.

I figure that the A+ Certified computer technicians at my vocational
school (whose ranks I hope to join by early next year) know more
about
electronics theory and construction than the average appliance
operator
ham. It seems to me that a lot of hams are old farts who were
educated
on tube equipment-all this modern stuff, including microprocessors,
might as well be Chinese to them. I like the idea somebody had of an
over the air test, graded by a panel of judges situated around the
country. Of course, with today's appliance equipment one just has to
plug it in and hook it up. I'd like to see some stuff on electrical
engineering (basic theory and application) and maybe a hands on
portion
where the prospective ham builds and operates a simple rig. That
would
eliminate the "appliance operator syndrome". Of course, all this
would
require a lot more commitment on the part of the FCC than just a
written
test where the published answers can be memorized, but the FCC has
shown
that they don't give a flying **** about amateur radio. Like the
rest of
government, they're in business to give maximum profit to a favored
few
(the NAB, in this case) and extract maximum taxes (fines) out of the
rest of us. All the FCC cares about is AM/FM broadcast radio (thus
the
hefty fines handed out to FM pirates while SW pirates operate with
impunity for years) and TV. The FCC doesn't control cable or
satellites,
which have been and are taking market share away from on air
operators,
so the FCC is focusing on what it has control over. But SW? Forget
it.
WWCR operates in the tropical bands, WWRB operates out of band, and
the
FCC does nothing (and did I mention the pirates?). There's no profit
in
SW, no NAB for SW, so the FCC ignores it.


John

"MnMikew" wrote in message
...

"beerbarrel" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 21 Jul 2005 14:39:12 -0400, dxAce
wrote:



John Plimmer wrote:

I couldn't agree more with dropping CW from the ham test.
It reminds me of the legal profession here in South Africa.
It used to be a requirement that lawyers had to pass Latin in
high
school
and have at least two courses in Latin for their law degree.
That was scrapped about ten years ago amid loud protests from
the
dinosaurs.
Today the law profession is flourishing more than ever before
with high
quality judges and advocates.
The only thing I have noticed is that the high and mighty no
longer
spew out
Latin quotations = R.I.P.

Our SARL (South African Radio League) ham club is diminishing
by
the
year
and the once crowded ham bands are now empty.
We need to make it easier for new entrants to come into this
wonderful
hobby.

Why does everything need to be made easier? Can't the 'tards
learn
the
code? If
so, WHY can't the 'tards learn the code?

If ordinary folks could pass the test in years past what is so
different
today?

Laziness?

dxAce
Michigan
USA



BINGO!

It seems everybody wants something for nothing these days.

What do you mean nothing? There's still a test. Remove the CW and
make the
tests harder then.







----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet
News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via
Encryption =----

dx-boob:

Actually, I have a severe distaste for "roger beep." (indeed, I should
think I would dislike his whole family! grin)

However, my computers sound card, patched to a mic in is able to say
cutsie little mp3's, such as:
"Houston, I think we have a problem" and, "Maybe the dingo ate yer
baby!", etc...

I don't really do echo either, however the dsp software on the sound
card (written by myself, in C++) is able to provide a plethora of
strange/unusual and not-often-heard effects, it is one-of-a-kind, I
assure you... grin

John

"dxAce" wrote in message
...


John Smith wrote:

rd:

Personally, my auto-ident in CW will always be close to my heart, I
fail to even notice it anymore...

You got one of those on your CB? A 'roger-beep' too?

dxAce
Michigan
USA

http://www.iserv.net/~n8kdv/dxpage.htm

running dogg wrote:



But those aren't actually copied by the pilots,
instead a light goes on in the cockpit when the plane passes over a
beacon, so the pilot knows he's on course.

The code is there so the pilot can verify, if necessary, that he is
tuned to the correct VOR. The Morse characters are printed on the
sectional chart next to the VOR symbol.

"dxAce" wrote in message
...



The written test probably does as well. Should that also be dropped.

If one can't learn even a minimum 5 WPM then they have no business in
amateur
radio. 5 WPM is incredibly easy, heck, even the 'tards should be able to
master
that.

I think 20 WPM is easy. Maybe 20 should be required?

DeWayne


dxAce
Michigan
USA

"MnMikew" wrote in message
...


THATS MY POINT! Sure it might get crowded, I doubt it but it could happen.
Seems the more the merrier? So people get bored on 2 and 6m and eventually
drop out of ham radio. Perhaps if their interest was peaked with some HF
they'd get motivated to get the code. Or if they dont like HF, no biggie.

The HF ham bands are nearly deserted compared to 20 years ago.

I have to stay awoke tonight from 2:00 AM till 3:30 AM to watch that old
Joan Blondell,Ann Dvorak,James Cagney,The Crowd Roars movie on tv.I need
to buy me some kind of a gizmo to record them old movies I like.
cuhulin

"beerbarrel" wrote in message
...

CW is efficient because you only have to understand the signal pattern
and not the signal audio. The narrow signal also takes up little
bandwidth. Not only does this make CW very efficient but also the most
reliable form of communication for a person to use.

Sending at 5 WPM it takes a half hour to say what you can say on a mic in a
few minutes.

"Cmdr Buzz Corey" wrote in message
...
John S. wrote:


Yes, or require that prospective drivers be proficient in the use of a
buggy whip in addition to passing a written and practical driving test.


If they are going to drive a buggy, it might be a good idea.

As far as the 5 wpm code goes it's near worthless. It there was an emergency
the person would be more likely to die from old age by the time he got the
message sent or copied. If there's going to be a code requirement it should
be fast enough to accomplish something immediately rather than too late at 5
wpm. Let's start at 20 wpm and make everyone retest periodically so they
won't get rusty. But there probably wouldn't be many hams left that could
pass the 20. Actually I'd rather see the code dropped.

UP the FCC,Sideways! Frankly,George,I believe there are nothing but a
bunch of Fools and Idiots and Morons running the FCC nowdays.Let us
study for a moment.Wasen't it them Fools at FCC that was considering
broad band over powerlines.Yeah,and FEMA started b......g about it and
them Fools at FCC backed down.UP the FCC,Sideways! 100 hundred miles
Sideways!
cuhulin