[Fwd: Re: [CW] Dumb down not justified]

[Ken Brown]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [CW] Dumb down not justified
Date: Sun, 06 Jul 2003 10:22:45 -1000
From: Ken Brown <ken.d.brown@verizon.net>
To: John <n4joh@bellsouth.net>
References: <3F079E6D.10703@verizon.net> <4432.030706@bellsouth.net>



>Could it be that jealousy is the motivating factor in some of these
>opinions??I have just passed the 5WPM CW requiment,
>
Good for you, congratulations. I believe that should be sufficient 
(along with some knowledge of regulations, operating practices and 
technical details) to allow you to get on the air as a Novice so that 
you can increase your skill.

>What is the
>difference really, 5 WPM or 13 WPM ?
>
The difference is that 5 WPM is so slow that it is tedious, sleep 
inducing, and the letters are heard as sequences of dits and dahs that 
can be counted, compared with a look up table and translated into 
letters, instead of being heard as a complete character unit and 
recognized as a letter imediately. Part of the reason so many people 
hate CW is because they think 5 WPM is the way CW really is. I suppose 
they think that faster speeds are just a quicker torture. What you 
cannot know until you have really learned to use CW is that when you get 
up into reasonable, really usable speeds, it becomes enjoyable.

> Will not the Amateur that is
>interested in CW , at some time be up to 13-20 WPM?? On the other hand
>the Amateur that is not interested in CW, let it fall by the
>Wayside??? 
>
No, not at all. I am not advocating anything like "upgrade to General 
within the one or two year term of your Novice or you're out" I advocate 
letting hams who have passed a 5 WPM test get on the HF Novice bands, 
and what the heck why not the phone bands too, just keep them off the 
Extra subbands until they really learn CW at a usable speed.

>I too would be jealous, I understand the animosity, but in
>reality is this not a Hobby? Everything changes, we do not drive Model
>T,s any more, Progress Progress maybe not in the right
>directions,BUT,,,. Can,t we all just get ALONG???? 
>
Yes, absolutely we can all get along. No we don't drive Model Ts. We 
still ride bicycles. We'd be a lot better off if more of us did. The are 
much more efficient, use less fuel, take up less space and the excercise 
is good for you. There are bike lanes on many of our roads that are set 
aside just for bicycles to help bicycle riders and automobile drivers 
get along. I think maintaining some subbands for those who have put in 
the effort to learn a skill would be a way to help the operators of 
various modes get along. Just as I would not suggest using bicycles to 
deliver semi-tractor trailer loads of merchandise to Wal-Mart, and I do 
not suggest riding a bicycle in the fast lane on the interstate highway, 
I would like to not have SSB and PSK-31  or some wideband high speed 
data mode in the Extra CW subbands. And I would like to continue to have 
bike lanes so that if I so desire I can ride my bike to Wal-Mart and 
pick up a small purchase. I would not like the notion that full 
semi-tractor trailer rig loads are so much more efficient way to move 
materials, that we should just ban all smaller vehicles from the roads, 
or allow the big trucks to drive in the bike lanes.

> Once again let me emphasize, I am also jealous, I wanted to be
>able to build my own Radio.
>
You can  build your own radio. Fairly easily and quickly. It will be 
absolutely useless to you unless you learn the skill of CW operating. 
Without that skill you would have to build a much more complicated radio 
that would take much more time and more parts and probably more 
technical expertise.

Ken N6KB

>
>  
>



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