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Mike Coslo wrote:
"art" wrote in
ups.com:

John Markham wrote:
I feel reborn. At long last I will be able to be a real ham. Thank
you, FCC.

73 from KD6VKW, AKA Sal M. Onella
Congrats John you join the club at a unique time where computors are
being used to further the hobby, new horizons that bring challenges
that us old guys never had to deal with. There is nothing like
plunging into unknown brush for miles and miles to come upon a scene
that has never been seen before. Those who take only an easy path will
not get all those scratches and bites that you got on your journey
but you will be the first to get to the top of the mountain before all
the followers and that is the joy of ham radio.
Welcome
Art

A little bit of a different perspective if I may.

I am quite hard of hearing. Tinnitus is the main problem. Imagine
trying to copy code with 20 over 9 noise. Haven't experienced silence since
I was 18 y.o. Plus I have several frequency holes in my hearing, estimated
at over 100 db deep.

I studied Morse code for over 6 months, several hours a day. All that
to get to around 7wpm, a level at which a number of code proficient hams
won't even bother to communicate with me.

Flunked Element 1 the first time, a bit of humiliation for a person
who is used to reading something once, then aceing the test.

After passing, I try a bit of CW Morse from time to time, but mostly
do things like PSK and RTTY, which are visual in nature. I can also contest
on SSB and PSK/RTTY, and am very active in Amateur radio, including public
service, and am the chairman of the premier State QSO party in the country.
Not too bad for a person who could barely pass the Morse code test -
according to some, the litmus test of worthyness. Yeah, I'm a nickle extra.
Big deal. I only passed 5 wpm, and you're a jerk.
(those who would determine worthyness in relation to the speed at which
they can swipe a paddle)

I am the poster child for elimination of the Morse code proficiency
requirement.

But!

When I first got involved in Ham Radio in 1999, a lot of people told
me that I should hold off on the upgrade, because Morse code proficiency
was going to go away "soon".

I didn't listen to them, and I'm glad, because all I would have done
is cheated myself out of 8 maybe 9 years of the best hobby I've ever found.
It was worth all the trouble and more.

So if you have waited for the Morse code testing to go away to upgrade,
then congratulations, and welcome to the fraternity, but please accept my
sympathy for cheating yourself out of a few years of this incredible hobby.

Finally, if KB7ADL is indeed "Slow Code", I would suggest that you
look at your own behavior and decide if it is consistent with the type of
people who are in amateur radio who know Morse code well. However nothing
is entirely good or bad. The "Slow Code" crosspostings finally got me off
the stick to get a newsreader that could filter out the Morse code drivel
and the bizzare crosspostings from people with *serious* issues. Thank you!

Morse code testing is dead. Long live Morse CW!

- 73 de Mike KB3EIA -

with one legit crosspost to rrap.....
I PUNCE

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