[Fists] ARRL, FCC and elimination of CW testing requirements.

[W8FAX]

Boy this is longer that I expected......deal with it or delete it.........
I believe Dan is right about this. CW TESTING IS OVER. As hard a stone as it 
is to swallow, we either have to gulp it down, leave ham radio, or make 
everyone around us miserable. I do not feel that I have much of a problem 
with new hams entering and not having to prove Morse proficiency. I think I 
have MORE of a problem with those that held tickets, but didn't have 
whatever it takes to get past the CW test.  Look at the miraculous growth in 
Extra Class after the test was dropped to 5 WPM.  A very large part of them 
Advanced class holders. But they did what they had to do I guess.
Way back when, I do NOT recall ever hearing ANYBODY want to lower standards 
for entry into ham radio, nor did I ever hear of Morse being called a 
"filter". If it was supposed to be a filter it , sadly, did not work. But I 
don't for one moment belive that in the beggining it was SUPPOSED to be a 
filter. A lot of folks complained, and a lot of folks didn't really 
understand WHY the test, but everyone just studied and took it because it 
was a challenge, and was required. The world has rotated around many times 
since my Novice days, and everything changes. Not all for the better. I do 
not belive that the ARRL wields anywhere near as much power with the FCC as 
they would like us to believe. They are an organization that has seemed to 
have lost it's way, for whatever reasons. I don't want to turn this 
discussion into an ARRL bash-fest. There is plenty of that already. I am a 
member, but for the last few years, I don't think I could really truely tell 
you why. The BEST way to make sure CW is with us is to get folks interested. 
As someone eles noted....at Field Day when kids came around, they were not 
interested in SSB or digital stuff. Why would they be??? They know more 
about that stuff than most hams anyhow. No....they are ALWAYS drawn to the 
guy sitting there with a Morse key sending and receiving those dits and 
dahs. A friend of my wife stopped by not long ago, and she had an 11 year 
old girl with her, She wanted to see the radio that was hooked to the big 
tower in the yard. I brought her in the shack, and within MINUTES she was 
drawn to Morse. Within a half hour she could send her first name, and 
recognize it when I sent it, plus a few other letters. She went back to her 
parents in N.C. and I didn't see her again, but maybe a seed was planted. WE 
ALL NEED TO PLANT THESE SEEDS. An ex ARRL director was expressing his 
displeasure at hams such as FISTS collecting numbers, and felt it served no 
purpose. His exact words were "I have no idea what an SKCC member is, but my 
guess is that it's somebody who really doesn't want to chat but just wants 
"my number".  Well, I've decided that I forgot "my number", ....". We as 
FISTS and ham operators CANNOT afford to alienate folks. When your on the 
air ASK THE GUY IF HE IS A FIST, or whatever. Send him a couple of Keynotes. 
SLOW DOWN so the other fella can copy. Don't discourage ANY kind of legal 
activity on CW. If a guy is having trouble, see if you can email him or 
snail mail a note to set up a sched and help out. Not a one among us came 
out of the womb hammering 20 wpm, and others helped US when we were starting 
out. Sure, guys don't have to go to the FCC office to take tests anymore. 
Who in the heck would want ANYBODY to go thru that stress. Lets get rid of 
this "us verses them" crap. I have been guilty of this too, but I realize it 
is destructive to what we want to preserve. Minimize the snipe remarks and 
make younger hams WANT to seek us out for info, and not avoid us because we 
are just too hard to get along with. Right now the future belongs to us. I 
think it is UP TO US to preserve it, and not foolishly throw it away because 
of ego problems. I will now retreat back to my hole. 73 and best of 
luck..........Al Tanner W8FAX Fist 2192   DXCC, WAS etc etc blah blah....all 
CW.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dan KB6NU" <kb6nu at w8pgw.org>
To: "FISTS" <fists at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, January 08, 2007 3:49 PM
Subject: Re: [Fists] ARRL, FCC and elimination of CW testing requirements.

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