[Elecraft] kxpd3 question

[Edward R Cole]

The purpose of requiring CW was perhaps not to be restrictive - but 
it had exactly that effect.

I was twelve when I discovered "hams" talking on 75m AM.  It was not 
the morse code that attracted me to ham radio - it was talking.

But I quickly found out that the gate to getting into ham radio 
required learning morse code.  I got 5wpm pretty easy and became a 
Novice at age 14.  A year later I took the General Class written exam 
and became a Technician.  Several attempts to pass 13wpm which 
involved a 68 mile drive to FCC in Detroit resulted in failure.

I started college as an EE student, way too busy for working on code, 
graduated to start my career which included nine years working for 
JPL-NASA where I became a senior engineer at age 32.  I got to help 
several missions to the planets, but I was "not qualified" to be a 
"real ham" because of code.

Finally in 1982 (age 38) I spent the effort to pass the 13wpm test 
(which then only required answering 7 out of ten questions vs 1 
minute perfect copy of five character random groups).  I took my 
Advanced test and passed (never had a General).  In 2000 FCC lowered 
speed requirement for Extra to 13wpm and I passed with two wrong 
answers.  BTW I took and passed the 2nd Class Radiotelephone in 1971 
(which is way harder than extra).

24 years I had to wait to become a "real ham".  Well the good result 
was that I got interested in 2m (where I could talk) and that lead to 
microwaves and eme.  EME required CW when I started in 1998 but 
fortunately digital arrived (JT44) in early 2000's which I have been 
using on 2m and a little on 1296.  I will eventually get up to 15wpm 
because I want to work eme stations that only do CW.

But as a boy, I just wanted to talk on ham radio.  Eliminating CW as 
a requirement does make it easier today.  Longevity of ham radio does 
not depend on it.  My local club has only 2-3 members that are not 
retired.  No youngsters under 35.

I am currently learning about using a Raspberry Pi in a autotracking 
system for my eme antennas.  Plans to install dual-yagis for 6m-eme 
and a 100w 3400-MHz system on my 16-foot dish.  Guess some of the 
engineer remains, as well.

73, Ed - KL7UW  _._

From: Jim Brown <jim at audiosystemsgroup.com>
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] kxpd3 question
Message-ID:
         <b89b5db6-b0d6-31d4-0b42-88a041688bd1 at audiosystemsgroup.com>
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On 11/11/2017 9:45 AM, dyarnes wrote:
 > I don?t think it is accurate to suggest that CW was used to keep 
people out of the hobby.

For at least the last 20-30 years of the 20th century, CW was used as a
means of keeping the hobby "pure," a "rite of passage" that all current
licensees had had to take, and that, anyone else wanting to enter their
hallowed ground must also take. You had to be not paying attention not
to be aware of this. It was easy to not be paying attention -- many of
us, including me, were on and off the air for decades at a time as we
lived our lives with jobs, families, even other interests. This was not
unique to the US -- the CW requirement was from international
governmental bodies.


73, Ed - KL7UW
   http://www.kl7uw.com
Dubus-NA Business mail:
   dubususa at gmail.com