[TenTec] ARRL Proposal

[Joseph T. Price-O'Brien]

>From the viewpoint of an obviously biased Amateur Extra Class Operator,
I humbly submit my comments to the T-T reflector.  I know that there are
some of you who will agree and, no doubt, many who will disagree, but
this is an open forum and I am not trying to invite an argument as much
as I am simply expressing my opinion.

Like many of you, I followed the natural path from Novice, to General,
to Advanced and finally Extra between 1973 and 1975, stopping at each
level to learn what I needed to proceed to the next higher level.  When
I thought I was ready for my Extra Class license, already an Electronics
Technician in the U.S. Navy, I studied the theory requirements and I
thought I had enough experience with CW to maybe scrape by the "one
minute solid" rule in place at that time.  A little after 7 a.m. one
Thursday morning, at the FCC's Field Office in Norfolk, I put my pencil
to the paper and started copying pretty well until a nearly constant
string of dits spelling out "SHIPS AT SEA IN DISTRESS" (this specific
passage was unknown to me at that time) bleeped its way out of the
paper-tape driven Morse code generator in the classroom and I lost track
of everything that followed and I never managed to get back in sync.  In
1975, you were not given partial credit, nor were you allowed to
continue to the theory part of the exam if you failed the CW test.

One month later, more CW proficient than ever (thanks to discovering CW
traffic handling nets, namely the Virginia Slow Net and the Virginia
Net), I once again found myself at the FCC office, pencil to paper.
This time I copied more than my "one minute solid" share of CW and
confidently looked forward to my theory exam.  What I didn't realize was
that I didn't possess adequate knowledge to pass the theory exam and so
I could only look forward to returning a month later, again receiving
zero credit for having successfully passed the CW test.

In June of 1975, having orders to the island of Adak, in the Aleutians,
with an arrival date of early July, I visited the FCC office again.  By
now I had a lot of CW practice, attending the VSN and VN as often as
possible with the only goal of improving my proficiency enough to be
able to pass the CW test at the FCC.  Imagine my surprise, pencil to
paper, as my hand traced out the words, "SHIPS AT SEA IN DISTRESS",
reminding me of what had caused me so much distress at my first attempt
to pass my Extra.  I laughed aloud, which worried the General Class
wannabees (Novices and Technicians) terribly since the FCC's modus
operandi was to send the code at 20 wpm, rewind the tape and resend it
at 13 wpm, so they were well aware that what I was laughing at was
theirs next to copy.  Needless to say, after having failed the theory
exam the previous month, I spent my free time between the VSN and the VN
studying the Extra Class exam manual, hoping that I could remember
enough to pass.  The extra time paid off and I was rewarded with my
Extra Class license shortly after I arrived on Adak.

I can't say that getting to Extra Class was easy and I think that my
hard work and determination to finally succeed were rewarded by becoming
one of the minority classes who had access to every frequency available
to Radio Amateurs.  How did this benefit me as a Ham?  When I was a
Novice, I was always very careful to stay within my band limits, not
wanting a "pink slip" from an eagle-eyed O.O.  When I became a General,
I still had the same problem, operating an HW-101, with its 5 kHz tick
marks on the VFO dial, not wanting to operate outside my license's
privileges.

By the time I became an Advanced, I had pretty much figured out where I
could operate and didn't worry as much, but when I got my Extra I knew
that all I'd have to worry about was being outside of the band, and not
a particular segment.  Also, by that time, my interests had changed from
SSB to CW so I didn't have to keep remembering where the CW bands ended
and the phone bands began since I spent most of my time in the bottom 75
kHz of any band that I operated.  I think that was one of the most
rewarding aspects of becoming an Extra, not having to worry anymore.

I don't disfavor allowing HF privileges to anyone, solely based on their
ability to copy Morse code at any speed.  Twelve words per minute is
difficult enough to achieve that those who truly desire access to
expanded HF privileges will manage to upgrade.  For our hobby to enjoy a
fruitful future, in light of our ever-changing societal trends, it can't
be too restrictive or we will drive potential supporters away, "willing"
the hobby to a dwindling bunch of curmudgeons like myself.  What I do
disfavor is allowing those same folks access to one particular segment
on 80, 40, 20, and 15 meters, the highly desirable "DX window" known as
the "bottom 25".  Should these operators enjoy CW enough that they wish
to enhance their enjoyment by having access to the existing Amateur
Extra CW segment, then I think they should be required to pass a 20 word
per minute CW exam, much like the "one minute solid" variety, to prove
their true CW proficiency and not just their ability to guess the
answers to a series of multiple choice questions.  As far as the Extra
Class exclusive phone segments, I think you can already guess what my
feelings are about their future disposition.

72/73/88 -- OBIE, WA4DOX...
--
mailto:wa4dox@vt.edu

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