probelem with advice
 

junius wrote:
Telamon wrote:


Here is a tip for all posters to Usenet, when you respond to a post
pretend the original poster is in front of you and read your response
out loud before you hit the send button. Don't send it until you think
the other person will not want to take a swing at you after reading it.



Telamon provides some pretty sage advice here.

not bad except that many ofthe posters are not following it being the
only ;olite feelow in a crowd is very tireing

I have tried that from time to time

New Technician License
 

"MnMikew" wrote in
:

"dxAce" wrote in message
...

"No one has ever said that using CW is a total time requirement. It's just
like any number of other questions that have been on the test either now
or in the past. It's just a 'question' on the test. Just pass the test and
if you desire you need never use CW again. But, you can always renew your
license."




So why not replace the worthless code questions with more pertinent
questions?



Worthless ???? Only in your estimation. It's really a matter of comittment
after all. Want to be a ham radio operator ?? Take the test or sit on the
side lines whining about a simple morse code requirement and wait until it
gets removed. If nothing else, code requirements require effort on the
part of the applicant and for the moment if you want to get on HF, it is
required. It makes those who have gone before appreciate being a ham since
they earned it and were interested enough to buckle down and learn morse
and a smattering of electronics.

Should it be removed as a requirement? Possibly, but if so it should be
replaced with much stiffer technical examinations, including an above
average user levl computer component, than what currently exsists. The
notion that a ham radio license should be a minimum effort passport to
many Mhz of HF radio spectrum is utter nonsense. Wether or not CW is a
"useful" mode of communication is another debate entirely. However by
comitting to learning the morse code, and getting up to 10wpm minimum
requirement, I became a ham at age 13 (that was minimum age back then).
That ham license was a passport to a universe of excting possibilites that
have lasted a lifetime. Perhaps the policy should be changed so that you
could make a choice between a morse code exam or the code free more
technical exam. Either way it should take a commitment on the part of than
applicant that is more than just a desire for instant gratifcation.

If you want a no comittment radio service to be a member of that
already exsists. In fact these days you don't even have to have a license
for it, just buy a radio and start right being a "radio operator". With
the propagation cycle about to go up, 27Mhz should soon be
experiencing a huge upswing in talking skip.



--
Panzer

Hi Mike
 

"John S." wrote:

It's called taking up a hobby like listening to short wave radio, ham
radio, stamp collecting. He was interested in learning a skill and
broadening his horizons.

It's pretty rude to characterize someone else's interests as a waste of
time. What other people like to do has nothing to do with what John S.
likes to spend his time doing.

Here is a tip for all posters to Usenet, when you respond to a post
pretend the original poster is in front of you and read your response
out loud before you hit the send button. Don't send it until you think
the other person will not want to take a swing at you after reading it.

I was responding to the usual argumentative issuances from DXACE with
equally argumentative responses. Had he toned himsalf down initially I
would not have responded vehemently.

Uh-huh.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

Hi Mike
 

John S. wrote:


Yes, I know that is one of the oft repeated dreams of the ham
community...to be able to save the village being flooded or rescue the
family in the earthquake by setting up that is instant link with the
outside world when nobody else can. Sad truth is that it hasn't nor
will it ever happen.

Au contraire, mon frere...it can and *has* happened!

And you're sort of half right. Emergency communications by Morse is
quite rare (but not unheard of).

On the other hand, voice and digital ham emergency communications are
quite common. The final edit of a short video that I wrote and produced
regarding ham radio emergency communications for the Farmington Hills
(MI) cable system was just completed and is now being broadcast. Once a
few minor legal hurdles are ironed out, it should be available through
the ARRL.

In the meanwhile, let me refer you to the generally complimentary
article about ham radio emergency comms during Hurricane Katrina that
appeared on the *front page* of the September 6, 2005 'Wall Street
Journal'. (Commercial cell towers out, Telephone Company Central Offices
out, minimal interoperability between public service radio systems;
i.e., virtually all of the commercial stuff fell flat on its face).

As the ARRL likes to say, "When all else fails, Ham Radio!"

Carter
K8VT

New Technician License
 

"Panzer240" wrote in message
...
"MnMikew" wrote in
:

Should it be removed as a requirement? Possibly, but if so it should be
replaced with much stiffer technical examinations, including an above
average user levl computer component, than what currently exsists.

This has come up frequently in conversations I've had with long-time hams.
While I don't disagree with you in principle, there is no way the FCC is
going to toughen up the exams. They've been lessening the entrance and
upgrade requirements for years. I doubt the ARRL would support any tougher
test structure, as that would be detrimental to the numbers of newbies
coming into the hobby... to which many long-timers say good, because we
should value quality above quantity-- such would result in fewer, but more
knowledgable hams.

I have mixed feelings about his, however... perhaps too few people using our
allotted spectrum might give the FCC greater cause to take away what we've
got due to relative lack of use?

Jackie

New Technician License
 

Geoff:

How do you search the call sign directory -- is it set up by city -
name - ??

thanks for your advice. Preciate it.

New Technician License
 

"If he took the exam he must know some hams... ya think? It's not as if
he pulled
it out of a Cracker-Jack box. (Well, not quite) "


Yes, Ace you're very astute. However, I did just walk into the meeting
- a month before I took the test. So, while I have been introduced to
a few people at the meeting, I don't really know any very well. And
besides, one can never be too informed.

New Technician License
 

"If he took the exam he must know some hams... ya think? It's not as if
he pulled
it out of a Cracker-Jack box. (Well, not quite) "


Yes, Ace you're very astute. However, I did just walk into the meeting
- a month before I took the test. So, while I have been introduced to
a few people at the meeting, I don't really know any very well. And
besides, one can never be too informed.

New Technician License
 

" wrote:

"If he took the exam he must know some hams... ya think? It's not as if
he pulled
it out of a Cracker-Jack box. (Well, not quite) "

Yes, Ace you're very astute.

Damn straight.

Good luck.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

New Technician License
 

Maybe each State's Department of Motor Vehicles should do away with
requiring people to get Drivers Licenses too.Judging from the way some
people around here drive,running red lights and stop signs and failing
to yield the right of way and speeding and doing everything they are not
suppose to do,,, they might as well.Operating a motor vehicle on public
roads is not a Right,it is a Privaledge.It should be the same way with
Ham Radio Operators too.
cuhulin