[TenTec] Real CW

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

On Wed, Apr 13, 2005 at 06:00:11AM -0400, kb2m wrote:
> I do get tired of the extra lite threads,  but this I have to agree with....

Yes, except he is wrong. Before I left the US (in 1996) this was considered
"cheating" and banned by the VECs.

And he is wrong too about people who can't learn code. Some people just
can't learn by being beeped at. I tried everything I could think for for
almost 30 years including taking a CPO with me on the train ride to work
and talking to my self in morse code.

AfterI was licensed as a no code tech, I even tried on the air QSOs to
learn and never could do it. I had a lot of fun with my 2m weak signal
station in SSB and worked several contests with it, but could not
reliably, as in 25 straight characters, copy even at 5 wpm.

I could send at about 12-15 wpm easily (the limit of my wrist on a 
straight key) but my local VEs the ARRL refused to let me do a sending test
(which was my legal right) without a doctor's waiver (which was not legaly
needed). 

Eventually I found a course called "Code Quick" and it was the best $50 I
spent on any hobby. It teaches you to learn morse code by converting the
letters to words. You then learn it as if you were learning a foreign
language, which is difficult for some people, but you only have to learn
about 35 words. 

Some people can pick up code taking 2 or 3 lessons a day, most need a day
to absorb a lesson (and pratice sending to keep it in their head), some
need to repeat the lessons several times to get them to stick.

I never got an extra license because no matterhow fast I could copy in
my head, which was around 30wpm at it's peak, I never could write or
type anything that fast, or make notes while I am listening to something
else. My brain is just not wired that way.

So I could have taken a 20wpm test and passed the multiple choice (or
fill in the blank) written portion easily, but it would have been
disqualifed due to my having copied nothing on paper.

I can't upgrade to extra now (I have US advanced license having passed
the 13wpm test) because Israel is one of the few countries in the world
that ASKED the VECs not to conduct tests here.

Wether you like it or not, the requirment for morse tests is going away
and in 5 to 10 years will be gone completely. With that CW subands, a
US invention the makes life difficult on 80 and 40 meters for the rest
of the world will go with them. 

If that is not something you want, I offer the following suggestions:

1. Move or limit digital transmissions out of the morse section of the band.
   For example, I'd  love to work the high end of 40m (just below 7100), but
   I can't because it is full of automated packet stations that come on
   and tie up a frequency using technology that was old 30 years ago.

   I wouldn't mind if there was a human behind them listening, but most
   of them are not monitored for traffic before use.

   IMHO the best option would be to make 7050-7100 a voice/cw band (no digital)
   in the US and allocate the cw only portion higher up. 

2. Far more easily, stop complaing about no code or "lite" hams and do
   something about it. Become active on 2m (or wherever the new hams
   hang out these days) and offer the use of your station to them,
   show them how much fun CW can be and go out of your way to elmer them.

   How many of you out there learned to copy CW in a vacum? Did you have
   an elmer? Did you take a class? Did you copy code practice sent by the
   ARRL? Did you listen to other hams on the air? Were you worked by 
   more experienced hams although you had a lousy fist and were bad
   at copying?

   Don't just sit there and complain. Stop spending time on the internet
   disparaging new hams, when you could be putting back into the hobby
   what you took out.

Geoff.
-- 
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm at mendelson.com  N3OWJ/4X1GM
IL Voice: 972-2-679-6896  IL Fax: 972-2-648-1443 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838 
VoN  Skype: mendelsonfamily