[Elecraft] Dropping the Code Test

[N2EY at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/3/05 1:19:06 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
jackbrindle at earthlink.net writes:


> The Extra written exam is significantly harder today than  
> it was 30 years ago.

That all depends on what you mean by "harder".

With all due respect, the youngest Extra on record was 8 years old
and in the third grade when that license was granted. And that was the
old 5 written test 20 wpm code test Extra of 1996 or so.

 There is a lot more detailed EE theory in it now  
> 
> than there was back then. I took the test twice - in 1974, when I  
> didn't have the EE knowledge (but _was_ a student in EE), and last  
> October (well after earning my degrees). This one was far harder than  
> the first try, even if I did miss only two questions. The degrees, 25  
> years of EE/CS experience and a lot of advanced experimentation in  
> digital communication modes (both in ham radio and professionally)  
> really helped. 

The current Extra exam contains very little EE level material. What it does 
contain is a wide spread of subjects covered in very little depth. 

For example, the most complex Ohms-Law-for-DC problem I've seen on the Extra 
is a simple Thevenin equivalent. The 1970 Extra had lots more complex problems 
on the same subject. 

A lot of the exam is rules/regs, too.

Plus the current 50 question Extra contains everything needed to go from 
General to Extra. Between 1967 and 2000, the step from General to Extra took two 
written
exams totaling 90 questions. A valid comparison would look at the combined 
Advanced/Extra of the past vs. the current Extra.


The only way I could see non-technical folks passing  
> 
> the exam is to memorize all the questions/answers.

Not at all. Consider the test *method* as well as the subject material. Were
all your EE tests multiple choice from a published pool of Q&A? Could you 
take the tests when you felt ready, and get a second or third try on the same day 
if needed?
Would a grade of 75 be the same as a grade of 100 for all practical purposes? 


> 
> I believe that it is important to keep the Extra test hard - with  
> advanced technology questions. 

Why? And who decides what is "hard"? 

>But is CW important for the exam?  

Yes. Because hams use Morse Code extensively.
> 
> Probably about as much as knowing which PN codes are the best for  
> Spread Spectrum, and why. Or maybe why FEC is used in data  
> transmissions and how to design a good scheme. Perhaps things like  
> that should be on the exam...

How many hams use SS compared to how many use Morse Code?
How many hams design data modes for use by hams, compared to how
many use Morse Code?

Should the license exams be aboout what hams actually do? Or should they
be about what some people consider "advanced technology" regardless of
whether such technology is used in amateur radio?

Why not questions on HDTV? 

One of the biggest arguments aimed against the Morse Code test is: "why 
should someone have to learn Morse Code if they don't intend to use it?" That 
argument has apparently gained favor with FCC despite the fact that Morse Code is 
the second most popular mode on the amateur HF/MF bands, and is only tested for 
licenses that grant access to those bands.

How are you going to argue against someone who says "why should someone have 
to learn those advanced technologies if they don't intend to use them and they 
are not very popular in amateur radio?" 

> 
> The use of CW is an important and very enjoyable part of ham radio,  
> just as much as any other mode. At this point it is important for us  
> to once again fill the bands with CW, voice and data transmissions or  
> we will start to lose them (as is being attempted by the BPL folks).  
> If it takes deleting the CW requirement to accomplish that, then go  
> for it!

But will dropping Element 1 cause the bands to be "full"? Is the Morse Code 
exam so difficult that it stops large numbers of would-be hams?

Look at the growth in US amateur radio from 1977 to 1991, and again from 1991 
to 2005. Which period had greater growth, both in numbers and percentage? Yet 
before 1991, *all* US hams had to pass at least 5 wpm Morse Code. Before 
1990,
there were no code waivers, either. 

Or are there other things going on, like changes in people's lives, 
difficulties setting up a station, competing activities, and even stuff like the 
sunspot cycle? 

Just two examples: 

- How much time did most people spend on their cell phones and home computers
10 years ago? 15 years ago? 20 years ago? today?

- How many hams live in "traditional Ward and June Cleaver" families where 
one spouse works a 9-5 job and the other does most of the care of home and 
children?

---

There's an Elecraft connection to all this:

Look at the success Elecraft has had with their products. Yet most of them 
are
Morse Code only! A full-up K2/100 *kit* costs more than many manufactured 
transceivers, and lacks some of the "standard features" like general coverage. 
Yet with almost no advertising (compared to Ikensu), thousands have been sold 
and put on the air. 

Could it be that the sort of folks who really want to be hams are looking for 
a 
challenge, and not the easiest path?

73 de Jim, N2EY