--- In digitalradio@yahoogroups.com, "Danny Douglas" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > we should require EVERYONE that wanted to work CW, to take a test in that > mode. Unlike any of the other modes, it is a SKILL SET, and not just > something from memory,
Whatever next Danny? Should we be able to read punched paper tape at 20WPM before operating RTTY? Coastal Radio operators had to do it for their licence. Or perhaps touch typing at 60wpm before any permitting other Digital keyboard mode, or a Photography course for SSTV? Considering some of the accents I've heard from the USA, perhaps an assessment by a speech therapist before being permitted Phone? ;-) I too, have always hated the compulsory nature of CW being a hurdle and keeping me away from the bigger chunks of HF, but I passed it 18 years ago and never used it since. Now, I find it more interesting and am considering practising again. I've never understood what was so special about Morse Code that it required a separate exam of it's own, and why so many hams were ready to preclude so may other good operators from HF because of it. It sounds like religious snobbery. This time, new operators will be on CW because they love it, not because they HAD to learn it. By the way, it's always good to bear in mind the dictionary definition of the word Amateur. It doesn't mean Unprofessional, as some may think. Brad VK2QQ
