[CW] One Day to Extra Class

[Patrick]

Oh great, here we go. I predicted this years ago. We won't stop with
demanding to know if a person took the 20 wpm test. We will demand to know
if the op took the test at the FCC Office. I can hear it now. "The only real
hams are the hams that took the test at the FCC building. The one that was
5,000 miles from my home, and for some reason was in a place where it always
snowed and was uphill both ways. Not the warm and friendly VEC place where
the nice guys gave you the test and for a deposit of $10.00 and a wink would
just give you your license.

I know all the stories. "That mean old FCC Examining Engineer held a gun to
my heard and told me that if I made one mistake in my copy he would blow my
brains out, and send my family to a Gulag in the Soviet interior. He then
made me copy the code with one hand because I had to listen to the code
record by holding a hand rolled paper cone with a needle stuck in it up to
my ear with the other." Then, I had to construct an entire Class A amplifier
and invent a particle beam anti missile device from a lump of coal.

73, Patrick AC6YD

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	cw-admin@mailman.qth.net [mailto:cw-admin@mailman.qth.net]  On Behalf
Of Gerry Maira
Sent:	Saturday, April 20, 2002 4:16 PM
To:	CW Reflector
Subject:	Re: [CW] One Day to Extra Class

I think there should a way to distinguish the "old" extras and generals from
the new, 5
wpm folks. I think a very good way to do this would be to require a "5"
after the number
in the callsign. For instance KA2MGE as 5 wpm general or extra would be
KA25MGE. After
taking an optional code test (13 wpm for general or 20 wpm for extra) I
could drop the 5
from my call sign. Extras would also have to pass an old-style written test
to lose the
5.

It sure would make it easier to tell them apart, especially on phone. You
wouldn't have
to wait and see if the op gives his "first personal", describes his "working
conditions", shows poor operating practices or a complete lack of technical
knowledge.

I should add that this is a joke - some of the 5 wpm guys might not realize
it.

73, Gerry KA2MGE
_______________________________________________
CW mailing list
CW@mailman.qth.net
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/cw