[CW] 99% correct - but still a failure!

[David J. Ring, Jr.]

I applied once to ARRL for a code proficiency certificate, it is difficult
to copy 40 wpm over the air, especially on 80 meters where the static bursts
can eliminate a letter (of course right in the place that you would need it
to get "one minute solid".  I was on a ship and heard W1AW so I started
copying it.  Of course, I got just short of a minute and then the blasted
QRN broke my copy.  It may not sound like much, but the five minute run has
1000 characters in it at 40 wpm, but you need to copy 200 of those in a row.
I was getting five or six errors in a run although sometimes quick letters
like "THESE" would fumble my fingers and jam my typewriter.

So after a few "Qualifying Runs" from W1AW, I finally got some copy without
the fast dots in a row and without the QRN bursts, so I submitted it to
ARRL.

So I got my first CP certificate from ARRL - no stickers - just plain "40
wpm" on the page!

Now I wish I had those cute stickers!

Incidentally, if you calculate the percentage of my accurate copy, but still
FAILED performance (6 errors in five minutes, or 1000 characters) my
percentage of correct copy was 99.4%.

But this was still a fail.

Those were the rules - and the same standard applied to all.

I don't understand some of the people who whine about the code requirement
saying it is too hard, when before you could have 94% "perfect" copy (six
wrong at 20 wpm - or 6 out of 100 wrong) and FAIL the exam.

This makes no sense to me and others!  Don't they understand that WE found
the test difficult too?

73

David Ring, N1EA