I just got an email from the ARRL stating that the FCC is dropping code requirements. Anyone else hear of this? I know we’ve at least one General operator around here, a fellow who probably went through a lot of work to learn Morse and now I can come along and take the written test (again, passed it once but never got around to learning code) and get the same privileges. Probably not fair, but I’m gonna do it.
Anyone else have a thought?
Mods, this could end up a MPSIMS, but holds the possibility for some IMHO… Sorry if it’s in the wrong place
I was wondering if a thread would show up.
I learned 5WPM to get my novice at college and upgraded ti Tech soon after (this was before no code tech.
I briefly got to 13WPM to get to Advanced.
When the Morse requirement dropped to 5WPM I took the Extra written.
I’ve never used Morse to communicate. I do use it to ID aviation beacons (NDBs and VORs) which ID at like 1 WPM.
Kinda sad to see it go, but at a certain point it is like asking people to knap(sp?) flint before getting a hunting licence.
I got my Advanced, then couldn’t manage the 20 wpm code for an Extra (did the theory, though). Always meant to buckle down and make the leap, so now that there’s no additional code to learn maybe now I’ll give it a go. Never used it, so I can’t say I’m sorry to see it go. Let’s face it, even the military has long given up on morse code. Note to cranky oldtimers: don’t gimme any of that crap about how, “these lazy kids today, blah, blah, blah…” Ham is dying. The popularity of computers probably has a lot to do with it. The encroachment of commercial interests on the ham bands gets harder and harder to turn away every year. Count your blessings that you have any bandwidth at all anymore.
BTW, how’d this happen? The Morse code requirement was by international agreement for frequencies generally used for international communications. How’d the FCC justify breaking that agreement?
I’m not entirely sure I agree with this - ok, maybe General, but Extra? It’s tradition… it’s something to aspire to… it’s … I don’t know, it’s something else that really sets the old timers apart. I’d hate to see it die out completely, and if it does it’s because of people like me. Can’t be bothered to put forth the effort to learn it so I wait until they change the rules to accommodate me.
Maybe they’ll make the written harder.
Will it really get more people involved? I know it’ll get me more involved, and maybe a herd of other people will upgrade. But will it bring in fresh meat?
Betcha Yaesu and Icom make a little more money.
Looks like it’s not in effect until February or so, plenty of time to study and save for a new toy.
Morse code has been on its way out for many years, possibly dating back to the reforms of 1993 (which removed the code requirement from the Technician license).
I got my Extra back in 1995 under 20 wpm rules… and I’ve let it slide since then. I can’t keep up at contest speeds.
okay, I just have to ask :
What do you ham radio people do that you enjoy it so much. I know nothing about ham radio–but it seems to me like a bunch of squealing noises , and a few barely intelligible code words. What’s the point?
I’ve often thought about getting into ham radio (The movie Contact and the books Alas, Babylon and Atlas Shrugged helped). The thought that if something does happen (Hurricane, war, etc) Ham radio would be very useful. I’ve been meaning to research if Ham did anything for the Katrina folks, although I’m pretty certain it did.
Why, oh why is it so expensive to get started? It’s not FAIR!
Auntbeast, it’s not expensive to get started (well maybe, expensive is a relative term). The test is cheap and a single band 2 meter handheld like the VX150 runs about $150. 5 watts will hit just about any repeater in town, even with the hills and valleys we have around these parts I’ve hit the Longmont repeater (min 25 miles) with very little noise.
Want a killer 2 meter? Icom 2100 makes a great mobile or base (although you need to pony up some cash for a power supply if it’s not in a vehicle) and has more power than I’ve ever needed. Looks like the new model 2200 is out for about $160 at HRO.
That’s to start out, if I upgrade my license I’m looking at $500+ for a radio, but 2 meter and even dual 2m/70cm radios aren’t terribly expensive. Especially if you watch for swap meets right after a manufacturer comes out with a new model (or after all of us upgrade and need to fund an HF rig ) chappachula it is kind of like SDMB. No code techs like myownself generally speak fairly standard English on the air. A group of people that kind of know each other (probably haven’t met face-to-face) with a similar interest, often chatting just to pass the time going to and from work.
Some of the stuff I’m interested in, but couldn’t do because of my lack of Morse, is going for distance. With just the radio in your basement and the antenna that you built, try to contact another ham in Russia, or Australia, or Iraq.
Or relaying messages for disaster people - I hear this happening all the time. Hurricane or earthquake or something, phones are down, there will be a ham around somewhere with a battery or generator powered rig taking messages - “Bill Cody from Denver needs to reach his wife - he’s safe but stuck. Phone number is xxx-xxxx” Really makes a person feel good to pass on a message like that.
I’m not sorry to see it go as a requirement, but that doesn’t mean that it is no longer a valid mode on HF or anywhere else. The EME and meteor guys use it a lot, and it is the (acceptably) preferred mode of many hams (as has been mentioned above). I will probably work on upgrading after I get my MS degree.
I have a generic laptop running Win 98 an MixW for digital modes. The digital modes should be part of license testing (do you know how easy it is to overdrive a radio when you use the sound card for digital modes?), especially since the bands are being reorganized around the bandwidth of your signal (which is wider: SSTV or MFSK63?). Other technological changes need to be addressed, like turn off your DSP and listen with the receiver wide open so you don’t walk all over an adjacent station, because you couldn’t hear them with the DSP on. I’d also love to see a practical test: for any license, the applicant is given a radio, coax and antenna (already installed), tuner and SWR meter. With those, they would have to connect everything and briefly transmit a clean, non-interfering signal on an unused frequency that won’t cook the finals on the radio.
Anyhoo, that’s my $0.02. I’ve gotten really tired of hearing about “welfare” hams who didn’t pass 13/20 WPM (like me). People like that will kill the hobby faster than anything else.
What High School did he go to?
I’ve been licensed since 1997, and I grew up here, with a hiatus between 1981 and 1997 (I was gettin’ educated and gettin’ married and startin’ a family).
I would encourage anyone interested in Amateur Radio to follow up with it. Contact me or the other hams on the board and we will help you. Amateur radio is about knowing how to use your equipment correctly and making contacts locally as well as around the world. It’s about hearing a meaningful signal cut through the static on HF or relaying a report of a funnel cloud to the local Skywarn Net. For me, it has been about getting involved with the Red Cross by being a member of an ECRV crew (a Ford Excursion with a satellite dish for Internet linkage and 14 different radios, plus more), being a Skywarn net ops (nothing like seeing “U.S. Government” show up on caller ID when the NWS calls me in), and logging contacts in most of Europe, South America and Japan. It has a lot to offer, and room for any level of expertise or ability. Even deaf people can be hams.
The amateur boards are jumping with hams declaring that the hobby is dying, that they are going to sell their rigs and turn their license in, and worse.
This General Class licensee (since 1983) thinks this is a good thing for the hobby. We won’t see an influx of new hams, rather, a trickle. If they don’t want to be hams now, just because we drop the code won’t change their minds.
The local repeaters around here are filled with the doom and gloom sayers who think that we’re going to hear CB lingo on the ham bands very soon. I feel they’re full of shit. If new hams are properly introduced into the hobby and respect the tradition, we’ll be just fine.
I went to QRZ.com the day after the announcement just to see how the comments were falling. I got disgusted after the third page. I don’t listen to the local repeaters much, so I haven’t heard any comments. However, the KYHAM listserv I’m on has been oddly quiet.
Off topic again, but is anyone interested in an HF QSO party (sorry Techs - unless I can resurrect my Echolink account)? Nothing extended, but just to see how many of us can make contact? I can do phone, PSK, SSTV, and I’d love to make some Hellschreiber contacts.
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