[HCRA] Code or No Code?

[Peter]

Mike and the list,

I have to weigh in on this one.  Up front let me say that I don't think 
code is going to go away tomorrow or even next year.  Will it ever go away 
completely?  That chapter is yet to be written.  I say this as I struggle 
to get back to the point where I can make a cw contact with skill using my 
new FT817 for which I purchased (for a hundred bucks) a real tight CW 
filter to help me separate those signals in tight band situations.  I am 
truly looking forward to feeling comfortable conversing at 20WPM and 
higher speeds using my own brain rather than a computer to copy it for me.  
Alas, code has been one of my pursuits for a long time.  I worked hard to 
get my code speed up to 20WPM so that I could pass my Extra class license 
exam.  Yes, code means a lot to me.  The emphasis on the ME in that 
previous sentence.  There are many opinions out there.

In case you haven't been monitoring the bands lately, the code sections of
the bands are rather sparsely used except maybe during certain contests and
even then you can usually find a spot to call CQ in between all of the
other action on the band.  By taking the Morse code proficiency
requirement out of the International rules for HF, the hobby is now
irreversibly changed the world over.  Will this mean that code will go 
away?  Absolutely not.  Will it continue on its downward spiral?  
Absolutely.  Will there come a day when the band will be declared to be 
phone over the whole band?  Probably.  Will that spell the end of code?  
Probably not.  I envision a time when code sections on the bands will be 
included in the band plan as preferred areas in which to congregate for 
that type of contact.  Will the FCC eventually drop  the code test from 
all of the licenses?  Probably.

I see all of this as just another change in a hobby that has been changing
since its inception.  As innovations occur, they are included in the 
hobby.  Some of the innovations in communications come as a result of 
experiments conducted on ham radio.  This hobby has always been an out 
with the old and in with the new hobby.  Just think about all those spark 
gap transmitter operators of yesteryear.  What they must have thought of 
the hobby as the vacuum tube made inroads.  I wonder if there were any 
that just didn't want to give in to the trend to abandon their old 
transmitters in favor of the new technology of the time.  Fire one of 
those old transmitters up now and everybody within a thousand miles and 
further would complain as you interfered with their communications.

Morse code proficiency has never been the determining factor in what makes
a great ham radio operator (except maybe when that was the only mode) but
even then there were LIDs (sorry Larry..no pun intended).  I think what
has always made a great ham radio operator is adherence to the rules,
devotion to the pursuit of the art, and public service among many other
factors.  If I live to be 90 years old (or older) and still have many of
my noodles left, I will probably still be using my skills in Morse code.  
I may be one of the very few left at that time who will bother with the
code but who knows what ham radio will be like at that time.  Why even 
worry about it.

For the present I can see the FCC at the very least allowing some
privileges on HF for the no code technicians.  Possibly eliminating the
distinction between the tech and tech plus license classes.  I don't think
that giving the tech no code class licensees HF privileges is such a bad
idea.  It will give them an arena in which to practice their code in the
CW portions of the band in order to be able to upgrade their license.  At
the same time it will give them a taste of phone privileges on HF.  
Another incentive to upgrade.  I believe that because of the distances
that HF frequencies carry over, once a technician has had a chance to use
it, they will want to upgrade.  To gain greater privileges on HF.  

Eventually, who knows, band adjustments for phone in the CW portions?  
Maybe two classes of license one no code and one with?  Fifty years from 
now we will probably be surprised at what the bands look like.  One thing 
we shouldn't fear is change.  The hobby has been changing since its 
inception.  The only thing that we should fear is extinction.  If nobody 
comes into the hobby...if we make it so hard to get in...then extinction 
is not out of the question.  The fear that usually comes up is that if it 
is made too easy to get into the hobby then the hobby will deteriorate 
because of poor operators.  Poor operators have been a problem since the 
beginning of the hobby.  Why should our generation be any different?  Poor 
operating has been dealt with by our forefathers and will be continually 
dealt with through the ages.  Extinction however would end all of that 
including the poor operators.  Think about how we can move the hobby 
forward rather than how we can restrict it.  Maybe then you can see the 
possibilities of what the hobby would look like without the code 
requirement (not eliminating code).

73 de KI1I,
Peter





On Sun, 27 Jul 2003, Mike DeChristopher wrote:

> ______________________________________________
> -------Hampden County Radio Association-------
> -----------e-mail list (reflector)-------------
> ______________________________________________
> WHAT???????  NO CODE?
> 
> If the very simple and very easy to pass Morse Code requirement is taken
> away for operation below 30MHz, it would be an insult and an outrage.
> 
> HF without code is like 18 holes with a pitching wedge, or camping without a
> tent, or skiing without boots.  It is like sneezing without a tissue or
> bathing without soap.  I even venture to say that it is like operating
> without an antenna.  In fact, it is like operating without a license - which
> in fact it darn well is!
> 
> I apologize to all the new technicians who are looking forward to general
> class, but regarding the code hurtle as a major roadblock.  Sorry guys and
> gals, but you need the code.  Don't worry, though, I can level with you all.
> 
> It took me so many tries to get code, it was rediculous.  When I finally did
> pass, I only did by a solid stream of 26 characters - one more than
> required!  It is a major rock to climb on your road up.  At the time I was
> 12 years old (now 14), and felt the same way.  "Code?  Who needs it!"  Well,
> when I finally did see HF, I realized why people were so adament about it.
> 
> HF is becoming something of a VHF.  I am not against VHF, but am seeing that
> it is nothing more than a group of politicians knocking it out on the local
> level (not everyone, but a few cases).  I enjoyed that for a while until I
> saw some of the true colors associated with certain modes, or what have you.
> So I moved to HF.  I noticed the same thing starting.
> 
> At least 5wpm, please.  At least.  It is the best thing we can do to keep
> our airwaves clean, and make it just that much harder to get, and that much
> better a feeling when you do get it.  Thank you.
> 
> 73', de Mike DeChristopher, KB1FWN
> 
> 
> ------Hampden County Radio Association-------
> An ARRL Special Services Club for over 50 years
> ------------http://www.hcra.org------------
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