[Fists] Honey vs. Vinegar

[Robert Block]

fists-admin@mailman.qth.net wrote on 04/22/2004 05:46:04 PM:

> Very nice. Unfortunately with the reduction of requirements to 5 wpm and 

> sooner or later possibly the dropping altogether of Morse, think of 
> how many would 
> be CW ops will never know if they like it or not, because they have 
either 
> learned just enough to "get by" or none at all. The common yelp 
> among these poor 
> abused folks is that it is too hard etc etc, or it is an old mode no 
longer 
> needed. 

I reject the logic of the above posting; love of CW comes from the 
effectiveness and pleasure or using CW.  Further, while I encourage all to 
learn and use CW, it is no more essential to learn CW before using voice 
modes than it is to master using a manual transmission before learning to 
drive a car with an automatic transmission.  This is not a popular 
position within FISTS, so let me explain a bit of my own history.

Many years ago, I received my Novice license in my early teens, but was 
not able to get on the air.  Unable to master the jump to 13 WPM, I got my 
Technician ticket and stuck to VHF.  Fast forward to 2000.  With $6.50 and 
my old license, I became an instant General with no intention of using or 
learning CW.  My R-4A receiver turned out to be the "stone" in "stone 
soup" (another story), but in a few months I did get a pair of Drake Twins 
on the air, by this time having upgraded to Amateur Extra, and still no 
code.

I soon realized that running 100W SSB to a simple antenna often leaves you 
out of the running.  So I decided, I was going to learn CW - not because I 
had to, but because I wanted to.  After playing the CD (produced by the 
Newington No-Coders) on the NYC Subway I came to the delightful conclusion 
that I didn't need to learn code, at least not at 5 WPM, I already knew it 
(never having used it for a QSO, and last tested in 1965).

With a bit of effort, I configured my Drake Twins for CW - those of you 
with modern rigs may wonder what I mean by 'configure'; trust me, changing 
modes on a classic rig can be an elaborate procedure, especially the first 
time - and made my first CW QSO in early 2002.  Soon, I reconsidered my 
decision not to get an Elecraft K2 (which was limited to 15 Watts at that 
time) and got one.  I do have the 100 W PA and Tuner sitting in my shack, 
but 15 Watts of CW is very effective, so I'm not particularly rushed to 
install them.

It turns out, at least in my experience, that while learing 13 WPM from a 
record, tape or class may be difficult, once you start making QSO's at 5 
and 6 WPM, you quickly jump past 10, 13, 15, without effort.  Of course, 
where did I make these QSO's?, near FISTS QRG's, and soon I joined FISTS. 
In about a year, I pushed my code speed to near 20 WPM and earned my 
Century Club certificate.

And all the while, no one ever required, mandated, or demanded anything of 
me.