Oh,I got my drivers license at Sears and Roebuck forty eight years ago.I
am cool to go.
cuhulin

I learned how to one finger hunt and peck type on this keyboard in five
minutes when I got internet access with my stupid webtv thingy in
October of 1999.CW ought to be a lead pipe cinch for me to learn.
cuhulin

I call my 1986 Ford LTD car my Pimpmobile.Bandolero! movie is starting
on tb now.
cuhulin

In article , says...
John Smith wrote:
All that can be taken care of with new bandwidth allocations. All we
do is benefit from is finally getting some new and interesting minds
to communicate with. Chatting with ancients farts gets old quickly...


Eleminating the CW test won't bring in any significant numbers of new
minds into ham radio. Ham radio just isn't interesting to the current
generation code test or no code test. All your yapping is for naught.



I don't know about that. I know two people that will probably get their
license as soon as the CW is gone. They hate it more than I do and have
no interest in anything but HF. It's not a matter of "laziness", it's a
matter of time management and not wanting to waste time learning
something the won't use. And partly pure stubbornness, I'm sure. Even
though I passed 5WPM in 73, I was totally put off by CW as a Novice, and
didn't get my license back until 90.

BDK

"Brenda Ann" wrote in message
...

The ARS written test has been a joke for years. All the answers are
published, all one has to do is buy the book and memorize the answers.. no
need to actually KNOW anything. How many of these damn 'appliance
operators' nowadays can actually build their own equipment? How many can
repair the appliances they buy from HRO or Universal Radio (beyond looking
on the internet for mods)?

Agreed. Much like the Microsoft MCSE tests were back in the NT days. There
much tougher now. The ARS could easily make them harder.

"Brenda Ann" wrote in message
...

No. My point is that nobody needs to know ANYTHING to get an amateur radio
license, because all the questions in the FCC question pool are published
for anyone that wants to look for them. I don't know about where you grew
up, but when and where I grew up, this was commonly referred to as
cheating,

Not really, an open book test perhaps.

"beerbarrel" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 21 Jul 2005 16:55:08 -0500, "MnMikew"
wrote:


"beerbarrel" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 21 Jul 2005 13:40:38 -0500, "Count Floyd"
wrote:

On Thu, 21 Jul 2005 17:02:22 UTC, beerbarrel
wrote:

On Thu, 21 Jul 2005 12:21:35 -0400, dxAce
wrote:


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.

dxAce
Michigan
USA



CW is not going to go away just because they drop the requirement.
Like Steve says, It's not that hard. Most anyone can learn 5 wpm in
as
little as a month or less. I think that something worth having is
worth earning.
That might have been true in Samuel F.B.Morse's time. Get real, code
is an archaic leftover from the "old days" and has been used merely as
a "stumbling block" to keep the hobby a closed society. In fact,
radio itself seems to be going the way of the dodo bird, what with
satellite, internet, etc. Code is about as useful as C.W. McCall'
song about CB radio back in the 70's. I am not sitting at a key,
wearing gaiters on my sleeves, a green visor and tapping out code over
the air while the ship hits an iceberg. Come into the 21st century
for Christ's sake. Should everybody go back to spark controls on an
automobile? Attic fans and no A/C? McGuffey's Reader? Face it,
people, technology and now rules, have to move on. Of course, I drive
a 1940 Chrysler, so what do I know!




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.

Perhaps. But efficiency dosent always equate to fun, which is the goal
here
isnt it?




But CW is fun...ever try it? I mean seriously try it?

No not really. I've tried to copy some 2m repeater CW but its a bit fast for
me. Is there someplace online you can try/practice it?

"beerbarrel" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 21 Jul 2005 16:29:47 -0500, "MnMikew"
wrote:


"dxAce" wrote in message
...


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?

It's like being certified in COBOL when you work on MSSQL, it's a waste
of
time.



But COBOL is still a viable language....

True, but it's popularity is waning.

"dxAce" wrote in message
...

Code proficient.

You're sure not phone proficient.

Wanna bet?

I didnt think you could say 'tard on the air.

The ARS written test has been a joke for years. All the answers are
published, all one has to do is buy the book and memorize the answers..
no need to actually KNOW anything

a bit of a strawman argument, as the other FCC exams are also
published. When I tested for my 1st Class lic back in 78 (now the GROL)
we learned the test by taking and retaking older tests, provided to us
at Brown Inst by the FCC themselves.

You still gotta know the maths to do the formulae, etc. But most the
other regualtory stuff is easy to whip by rote memory...

I don't see wiping away the CW req. to really boost the roles of us
hams, it's a slowily dying hobby, well not dying, I don;t think it'll
ever go dark on us, but it ain't what it was.

73 de Dave
N0TXW.