Feedback (Re: [Fists] FISTS vs. the ARRL)

[YoDoc@aol.com]

In a message dated 01/15/2004 3:03:59 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
fists-request@mailman.qth.net writes:

<< > We now face a future ARS in which Morse/CW will be in grave danger of 
 > becoming a "lost art," and it could very well be thus because the FISTS,
 at the time, 
 > didn't have a charter to be a "political action group."
 >
 
Hans:

 >Well spoken, Larry.  

Thank you, my friend!  Coming from you, that is very comforting praise, 
indeed!

 >And while we're waiting for that NRPM and collecting
 our thoughts about how we'll respond, I'll offer the following thoughts.
 
 In a sense the need to 'preserve the art of Morse' is very much a
 'missionaries' task, where we need to go out and seek 'converts'.  I don't
 think FISTS is doing a very good job of that at all.  
 
 In fact, rather than acting like missionaries, the typical FIST member acts
 more like a cloistered monk.  Most of them sequester themselves on
 frequencies ending in "58" and seek to meet only with other members with
 numbers to trade back and forth. It's becoming a closed society, and
 nothing will end a QSO with the faithful more quickly than saying "I dont
 have a number".

Brother, have you ever hit that nail right on the head!  FISTS is quickly 
acquiring
the "organizational attitude" I experienced from the Ten-Ten organization 
twelve years ago, which, BTW, pretty much put me right off any further SSB 
operation.  And, lately, I've noticed that I've been spending quite a lot of my OTA 
time on PSK-31, RTTY, and other digital modes!   Hmmm -- maybe I should start 
an "International PSK-31 Organization," give my "members" their "numbers" and 
start a lengthy series of awards programs for digital mode users!

One of my biggest problems with a lot of my fellow FISTS members is that they 
have very lousy "fists."  I find it personally discouraging to take the time 
and effort to send clean, well-spaced code with proper spelling and judicious 
use of abbreviations, only to have to contend with the usual, dreary, 
run-together high-speed slop eminating from the assorted keys and keyers of my fellow 
CW enthusiasts.  Whatever happened to "Accuracy transcends speed" anyway?  
 
 Let's abandon all these quests for the holy numbers, and start a new award
 for the best recruiters.
 
 73, de Hans, K0HB >>

That's a nice thought, Hans, but my long-held belief is that all but a very 
few exceptional hams will be attracted to Morse/CW operation on it's own 
merits.  I personally spent 14 years, from the time I became aware of ham radio, to 
the time I finally got my Novice ticket, railing against the code test 
licensing requirement.  I simply could not understand why, in an age when we were 
putting men on the Moon and had computers that could fit in a single building, we 
still had to learn how to "beep" at each other.  It wasn't until my desire to 
be a ham exceeded my objections to learning the code that I finally decided 
to simply meet the licensing requirement, get my ticket, and then go on from 
there.  However, in the process, I became an enthusiastic, and ultimately 
proficient, CW operator.  My experience is exactly the same as that of other hams 
who have given virtually the same narrative history of their ascent to ham radio 
licensee status and Morse code use.  Thus, I am convinced that the only thing 
that will continue to create CW operators with any degree of certainty is a 
continuation of Morse code testing as a licensing requirement.  Unfortunately, 
I don't see much future in that.  

I am pretty skeptical about what FISTS can do as far as recruiting new CW ops 
for the very reasons you expressed about ours being a "closed society."  And 
I don't see that changing much, either.  

73 de Larry, K3LT