edr (12/03/82)
Thank you Phil - KA9Q/2. I too support the concept of a code free license for people interested in "exotic" communications techniques if they are required to show a technical proficiency in this area above and beyond the regualr Ham requirements and they were restricted to 220 Mhz and above. In fact I would like to see the regular ham exams updated and expanded. The argument that knowledge of code has saved many people's lives is to a certain extent an emotional one since in most cases the mechanism of communication was not ham radio. In that case all citizens should know the code and even more lives would be saved. We could make it a requirement that you must be able to receive 10 WPM in order to get a Social Security number. Yes 5 WPM is easy. It only took me 1/2 hour per night for three weeks to send and copy 7 WPM ( thank you W1AW ), but I know friends of mine who, for various reasons, wound up taking over a year to get the proficiency neccessary for a tech license - ARGHHH. It's all rather meaningless if all they are interested in is computer communications, packet radio and electronic mail. Flame over, please also enter my name in to the net call book. Respectfully yours, Ed Reuss KC7AK teklabs!edr Computer Research Group, Tek Labs Tektronix Inc. PO Box 500 MS 50-384 Beaverton, Or. 97077
sjb (12/05/82)
There is an article on page 55 of the December, 1982, QST written by Vic Clark, W4KFC, President of the ARRL, on the subject of code free licenses. I probably don't have to tell you it's anti-code-free. I will not summarize the article, but he makes a few major points: [The following, labeled with *'s, are taken directly from the article --Adam] * An orderly growth of the US Amateur Radio Service -- perhaps at a rate of 7 to 8 per cent per year -- is desirable * New ways need to be found to attract intelligent youngsters to this rewarding and educational avocation. * The Amateur Radio Service, which has long enjoyed a reputation as orderly and efficient in its use of the radio spectrum, must continue to deserve that distinction. Among his arguments again the code-free license, he says: * It is a unique, intimate, concise and effective communications skill employed throughout the world. * It is the most efficient mode in terms of power required for long distance communication, least susceptible to interference, and conserving of the radio frequency spectrum. * It involves no accent or pronunciation problems, providing a widely understood international language. * It employs simpler, more reliable and easily maintained equipment than any other communications mode. * It is an equalizer, negating age, speech impediments and dialectical differences; it provides for ready acceptance of youngsters in an adult environment. * It is the ONLY radio communications mode that is understood readily by both man and machine.
Stephany.WBST@PARC-MAXC@sri-unix (12/06/82)
re: Code free, Ed , KC7AK One short comment on your code free licese message: If the people that get their licese are only interested in packet radio, computer communications, and electronic mail then they do not belong in Ham radio. Ham radio exists solely for public service and has little other justification. It is essential that all Hams, to be Hams, are trained for that last ditch stand that can be offered by a flood, huricane, etc. There is no room in Ham radio for people that wish to reep the benifits without developing the skills for disaster work. The fact that 300,000 Hams are licesed in the US, and can all (supposidly) send and received CW at some minimum level, is the greatest disaster preparedness you can have. Do you wish to do away with this and have Hams that can only push buttons on computers ?? What happens when the lights go out and all you have is .... ???? Do you call that a justification for Ham Radio ? The feds would take over our frequencies for their own version of disaster if it were. Joe N2XS (Spark Forever !)
NBarbieri.es@PARC-MAXC@sri-unix (12/06/82)
I agree that ONE of amateur radio's basic purposes is public service. The government would like to believe that is the only purpose. But as all of us licensed know, that is not OUR primary purpose for operating with an amateur license. Nick KB6QI NBarbieri.es @ PARC-MAXC
rob (12/06/82)
I got my novice one year ago. I saw a friend with a 2 meter hand-held and was very impressed. I wanted in. I bought books. A friend gave me a copy of the W1AW schedule and lent me a receiver. I listened. I copied. I got my ticket after about 1 month of work. It has now been a year, and I thought the code would be the hangup for the tech lisence. It was easier learning the code, than the theory. I vote for keeping the code requirement in. I do think it is a worthwhile sifter. Rob Wood KA1GNG
Stephany.WBST@PARC-MAXC@sri-unix (12/07/82)
The Captain cried, "Another blast from those $%~#@ Xydjfs !!!! Its carried away our radar and communication system !!! But we can outmanuver them !!! Turn on the foreward thrusters and get to excape speed !! We can warn Earth of the coming Xydjfs invasion if we can get a message off in time !! Call Rick Snafu, Electronics Genius, He can do it if anyone can !!!!" Rick Safu amples in, sits down, puts his feet up on the rocket ships control panel. "Whatdaya want cheif ?" "Rick," yells the chief, " its up to you, Earth will be destroyed if we don't warn them. You are the only one aboard that can do it. We must communicate with Earth." "Nothing to it, Chief. I have already looked through the ship and the only thing left is one old 2N2222. I can wire it up in a giffy, nothing too it. I leaned the morse code as an Eagle scout so we won't have any trouble keying it by shorting these two wires togeather !!!" "A Genius !!! Rick, you have done it again. The Earth will be saved from the dreaded Xydjfs !!! and we owe it all to you !!!" "Remember that on my next review. Well, here goes." SOS SOS SOS de Space Ship Beagle SOS SOS SOS de Space Ship Beagle "Blazes," cursed the captain, "Why don't they respond ? Your signal must be getting through. I can hear them all yacking away on 2 millimeters." "Aw nuts, " said Rick, "don't you remember ?"No Hams copy code anymore, particularly on the downlink frequencies. They all have code free liceses now !! The four to eight hours needed to learn it was just too much for their poor little brains." "Then Earth is doomed," said the Captain. "Yes, " said Rick, "The future is theirs that prepare for it. The settlements on Sirus B require code for all licenses. Lets head there and warn them on the way. No point in going back to Earth. Shows you what happens when you depend too much on technology you cannot really control. When something goes wrong you have to drop to a lower technology. "Well," mused the Captain, "Thats the law of life, survival of the fittist, not the most sophiticated." Joe, N2XS (spark forever !!)
edr@Tektronix@sri-unix (12/07/82)
Thank you for your message Joe. One of the best parts about it is that you replied by mail rather than a net posting. The subject is getting rather tedious and it's good that we keep the crud down as much as possible. However, I catagorically disagree with the statememt that Ham radio exists solely for the public service and has little other justification. In fact, in the first part of the Communications Act of 1933, which is the canonical piece of legislation for Ham radio, it states that the purpose for the Amateur Radio Service is to promote the state of the radio art and provide a public service in times of need. If CW requirements merely impede the promotion of the state of the art by keeping out those people that would otherwise provide a valuable(?) contribution, then the CW requirements are meaningless and should be removed. Then these people would truely be engaged in promoting the state of the art and would therefore in the truest and most conservative definition of the term, be Amateur radio operators - Hams. Also, it has been my experience that in this day and age, very little true public service is provided by an Amateur's actually knowing the code. There are alot of CW traffic nets running around on the HF bands which have become "grandfaloons" ( A Kurt Vonnegut term meaning a proud but meaningless organization of individuals such as the Veterans of Future Wars, or the Portland Radio Club). Some bands have become grandfaloons altogether and provide little to the promotion of the radio art or the public service regardless of the activity on them. Most Amateur public service comes from a bunch of radio nurds running around with 2 metre HTs in their hands or mobiles in their cars. Occasionally, in the case of a large disaster, this is augmented by one or two base stations relaying DX traffic around the country on the HF bands, some of which is done - quite efficiently - in the CW mode. But the actual amount of public service provided by the CW mode, when compared to the public service provided by other means, is only a few percent. I, therefore contend, that if we intend to keep our frequencies, we better start letting in those people with the real talents neccessary to make Ham radio a true and meaningful public service, before the FCC starts to catch on as to how much Ham radio is becoming an anachonistic grandfaloon. Again, I thank you so very much for your response. Ed KC7AK ...-.-
karn (12/09/82)
To Joe, N2XS ("spark forever"):
I am not going to answer all of your arguments, since I already
addressed most of them in my previous message, and that Jeff
Duntemann adequately addresses the Japanese code-free license.
However, I do have a reply to an assertion you made:
"All Navy opoerators are still trained in CW and there will be no
change in the future despite satellites and backscatter."
This is untrue. The wife of a good friend of mine was a radio operator
in the Navy until several years ago. Here is the reply I got from
I asked about the Navy requirements:
"You were right about the Navy radio operators. Only the submarine
operators go to code school, Judy says -- it's a special school distinct
from the ordinary radio operator's school. Whoever told you otherwise was
probably in the Navy many years ago; they might have done it that way then."
Again, I am not denying the usefulness of CW in many situations; I am
only pointing out the opportunity costs involved in making it a forced
requirement for an amateur ticket.
Phil Karn, KA9Q