Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
You're not a real ham if you never took or passed a Code test.
Al Klein wrote:
On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 08:45:57 -0400, "ohioradioham" wrote: Blow Code - your ideas will damn amateur radio and kill it. That's evidently why the number of hams kept decreasing until code was eliminated, right? The drop would have been far worse than it is now had the CW testing speed not been reduced. Oh, wait a minute - the numbers didn't START decreasing until code was eliminated. Sorry Al, but the drop of CW came around the explosion of the Internet. Young people see our hobby as outdated and the CW testing requirement reinforces that. What to see a huge drop in licenses? Bring back CW testing for all licenses and raise the speeds again. There will be hardly any new licenses issued if someone made such a gross and stupid error in judgement. Forcing CW onto newcomers will only turn them away from amateur radio since CW is seen by outsiders as old-fashioned and out-of-date. This is the 21st Century and people do not want to be forced to learn and use and communication method developed in the 19th Century. People today don't want to be forced to learn - whether it's CW, or how to build a trivial little interface between a transceiver (modern invention) and a computer (another modern invention), or some antenna theory. Just hand them a license and a radio and they want to be on the air. Grow up and face reality. Reality is that ham radio is turning into a multi-band CB - just buy a radio and get on the air without actually knowing how it works or how to use it. CW testing has nothing to do with knowing how the radio works or how it operates. Thanks for reinforcing some of my previous positions. The ham bands were filled with idiots when we had all that CW testing. CW testing has never kept out the idiots and never will. Besides, since the US is a democracy, the ham bands will turn into whatever we let it turn into because the majority rules and CW freaks like yourself are increasingly in the minority. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
You're not a real ham if you never took or passed a Code test.
On Mon, 24 Jul 2006 08:49:35 -0400, "J. D. B."
wrote: Young people see our hobby as outdated and the CW testing requirement reinforces that. What to see a huge drop in licenses? Bring back CW testing for all licenses and raise the speeds again. There will be hardly any new licenses issued if someone made such a gross and stupid error in judgement. The drop started MANY years before CW was dropped. Want to increase the number of hams? Eliminate cellular phones (a lot of people got on the air to have communications in the car) and the internet - since those are two of the prime causes of lack of interest in ham radio today. CW testing has nothing to do with knowing how the radio works or how it operates. But many of the same people who want to eliminate CW also want to eliminate any tests that would really test for knowledge. It's not CW they want to eliminate, it's effort. You can cheat on written tests but, since you can't cheat much on CW (although some have), they want it eliminated. Not just kept for one class of license. What's wrong with code-free HF, but an additional class with, say, a 20wpm CW test? It would have nothing to do with the number of people becoming hams. But those who are opposed to CW testing are opposed to ALL CW testing. Getting on the air - with the highest class license available is, to them, their right. It's like people who are adamantly opposed to having driver's licenses revoked because "driving is a right". Sorry, but getting on the public airwaves is not a right. Besides, since the US is a democracy, the ham bands will turn into whatever we let it turn into because the majority rules Democracy is a form of government that protects the minority from the excesses of the majority - the majority doesn't need protection from itself. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
You're not a real ham if you never took or passed a Code test.
....Would any of you say that Heathkit, of Benton Harbour, Michigan, maybe
perpetuated the glamour within the ham hobby of the recent past, or did the glamour of the ham hobby past perpetuate Heathkit until there was no more glamour? Jack "Al Klein" wrote in message ... On Mon, 24 Jul 2006 08:49:35 -0400, "J. D. B." wrote: Young people see our hobby as outdated and the CW testing requirement reinforces that. What to see a huge drop in licenses? Bring back CW testing for all licenses and raise the speeds again. There will be hardly any new licenses issued if someone made such a gross and stupid error in judgement. The drop started MANY years before CW was dropped. Want to increase the number of hams? Eliminate cellular phones (a lot of people got on the air to have communications in the car) and the internet - since those are two of the prime causes of lack of interest in ham radio today. CW testing has nothing to do with knowing how the radio works or how it operates. But many of the same people who want to eliminate CW also want to eliminate any tests that would really test for knowledge. It's not CW they want to eliminate, it's effort. You can cheat on written tests but, since you can't cheat much on CW (although some have), they want it eliminated. Not just kept for one class of license. What's wrong with code-free HF, but an additional class with, say, a 20wpm CW test? It would have nothing to do with the number of people becoming hams. But those who are opposed to CW testing are opposed to ALL CW testing. Getting on the air - with the highest class license available is, to them, their right. It's like people who are adamantly opposed to having driver's licenses revoked because "driving is a right". Sorry, but getting on the public airwaves is not a right. Besides, since the US is a democracy, the ham bands will turn into whatever we let it turn into because the majority rules Democracy is a form of government that protects the minority from the excesses of the majority - the majority doesn't need protection from itself. |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
You're not a real ham if you never took or passed a Code test. | Scanner | |||
Canada want to drop the code! | Swap | |||
New ARRL Proposal | Policy | |||
Why You Don't Like The ARRL | Shortwave | |||
Why You Don't Like The ARRL | General |