[Elecraft] start with straight key or paddles?

[n2ey at aol.com]

AC7AC wrote:

>The FCC examiner sat there and listened to you send, and
>judged whether the sending was acceptable or not - both speed
>and accuracy. 
 
Yep. FCC supplied a straight key, but you could bring your
own bug or keyer *if* it could interface to the FCC's 
setup easily.
 
>I'm sure that's why the sending test was dropped. 
 
IIRC, the stated reason was that very very few people 
passed receiving and failed sending. IMHO the real reason
was that FCC had a limited number of qualified examiners.
 
>There wasn't a decent way to quantify the test
>so it could be administered by VEC's. 
 
I disagree! IIRC, the sending test ended in the late
1970s but the VE system didn't appear until the 
early 1980s. About a 5 year gap.
 
Exams by mail existed before the VECs. Novice,
Technician and Conditional exams could be given
by a volunteer examiner (no caps) if certain conditions
were met. Testing included code sending and receiving,
and proctoring the writtens. So FCC figured that any
ham qualified to be a volunteer examiner was qualified
to judge at least 13 wpm code.
 
73 de Jim, N2EY