[Elecraft] OT: Decoding high speed CW

[w7aqk]

Hi All,

I think all the FCC code exams were plain text, not code groups--at least to 
my memory going back to the 50's.  The reason may be obvious, in that the 
examiner had to check them "on the spot", and code groups would have been 
too difficult to check.  I took the Extra Class exam in front of an FCC 
examiner, and I know that was plain text.  I think those guys had the test 
material memorized, because they were checking them off pretty fast!   On my 
test I bracketed a big section I knew was right, and showed it to the 
examiner.  He looked at it for about 3 seconds, and said, "Yeah, you 
passed"!

In the Army, all we used were 5 letter code groups, and those were a bearcat 
to check!  I had that job for a while, and hated it!  Sometimes the hardest 
part was even deciphering what had been written down.  Unfortunately, 
penmanship was never part of the curricula!

Dave W7AQK