[TenTec] Real CW

[Duane A Calvin]

John Troster is a hoot.  I've missed his QST articles for years.  Have
bumped into him on the air a few times, and the first QSL I sent him, I
thanked him for all those articles which, in a humorous way, poked fun at
bad operating practices and helped me, as a Novice, to learn what NOT to
do!

        73,  Duane


On Thu, 14 Apr 2005 15:13:07 -0500 "John T. Gwin" <jtgwin at comcast.net>
writes:
> Does anyone remember a QST article of some 25 or more years ago 
> called "Sweaty Palms at the Old Post Office"?
> 
> By W6ISQ, as I recall.
> 
> How true it was.
> 
> -W4SK
> 
> 
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: Ron Notarius 
>   To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment 
>   Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2005 2:27 PM
>   Subject: Re: [TenTec] Real CW
> 
> 
>   Longer ago than I want to think about, back when the FCC actually 
> gave
>   exams, I was going for my General code at the quarterly Pittsburgh 
> PA test
>   session (at the now departed 'Holiday House' in Monroeville just 
> outside
>   Pgh, but I digress).  A candidate actually did attempt to copy 
> code by
>   writing down the dots and dashes, and was told by the examiner 
> when he
>   turned in his test that this was not acceptable, as it was not 
> "copying" the
>   code -- ie, comprehension was what was desired, not merely writing 
> down the
>   sounds and looking at it later.  (No, I don't know who he is/was, 
> though I
>   do also remember a buddy of his shoving a Bash book under my nose 
> on the way
>   out... and FWIW, I passed General and just missed Advanced that 
> day...)
> 
>   Thereafter, at every test session I took while shooting for my 20 
> WPM, I
>   heard the FCC examiners state during the instructions that writing 
> down dots
>   & dashes was NOT considered copying the code and WOULD NOT be 
> accepted.
> 
>   I've also heard (or said) statements to that effect at almost 
> every VE
>   session I've been involved with since the VE program was 
> implemented.
> 
>   Having said all this... I do agree with Scott's two basic 
> premises:
>   (a)  With few exceptions, copying 5 WPM is not that difficult
>   (b)  It's a shame that none of the OT's piped up and offered to 
> help
> 
>   And gang... those of you who've only had to deal with a VE team to 
> take your
>   exam(s) may not believe this, but trust me, those sessions are MUCH 
> easier
>   than sitting in front of a grumpy FCC staff person who'd rather be 
> doing
>   almost anything else at 8:30 on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning...
> 
>   73, ron wn3vaw
> 
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: "Scott / W4PJ" <w4pj at bellsouth.net>
>   To: "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment" <tentec at contesting.com>
>   Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 11:10 PM
>   Subject: Re: [TenTec] Real CW
> 
> 
>   > Five words a minute.
>   >
>   > Five characters times five in five minutes.
>   >
>   > The day I went in for my Extra, I carried paper and pencil, and 
> when they
>   > ran the code for the 5wpm, I decided to jot down every dot and 
> dash.  I
>   > filled the paper with marks for  twentyfive 'words' on the 
> paper,
>   > containing
>   > dots and dashes.  I didn't try to copy what was sent, just put 
> the dots
>   > and
>   > dashes on the paper at five wpm.  Guess what?  No Problem!
>   >
>   > Since the current test has no time limit, anybody who says they 
> can't take
>   > the 5wpm test just doesn't even have the ability,, er, I mean 
> desire to
>   > jot
>   > dots and dashes down on a piece of paper and then translate the 
> text at
>   > their own liesure.  That person just doesn't want it. At all.  
> C'mon, the
>   > difficulty level of jotting the dots and dashes down on paper 
> only takes
>   > hand motion, not mental ability at all.  You don't even have to 
> be able to
>   > "copy" code at 5wpm.
>   >
>   > You gotta be too much more than just lazy to not get 5wpm at 
> today's
>   > standards.
>   >
>   >
>   > PEACE
>   > Scott / W4PJ
>   >
>   > P.S. It's too bad no OT piped up and said, "If you want some 
> help, I'll
>   > work
>   > with you."
>   >
>   >
>   > ----- Original Message ----- 
>   > From: <K4IA at aol.com>
>   > To: <tentec at contesting.com>
>   > Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 4:33 PM
>   > Subject: Re: [TenTec] Real CW
>   >
>   >
>   >> Our local club usually runs a General class but the last time 
> we did it,
>   >> everyone passed the theory and in a full year, no one passed 
> the code.
>   >>
>   >> This year when someone asked when we would be running the 
> General class,
>   > one
>   >> esteemed Elmer piped up, "When you pass the code, we will hold 
> a General
>   >> Class to cover the theory."  The silence was deafening.
>   >>
>   >> Radio  k4ia
>   >> "Buck"
>   >> Fredericksburg, VA USA
>   >>
> 
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> 


--------------------------------------
Duane Calvin, AC5AA
Austin, Texas

http://home.austin.rr.com/ac5aa