[Milsurplus] Code Requirement to be Eliminated

[Richard Arland, W3OSS]

I agree with Mac, Jim. Very well said, indeed.

I, for one, will be awaiting your arrival on the HF bands as soon as you can 
get there. Should you ever get to this side of the US, you are always 
welcome at The Arland Ranch....we don't stand on ceremony, or CW, for that 
matter (and "yes" I am a 20WPM Extra and do a lot of CW work on the QRP 
bands). The Beautiful and Talented Patricia, KB3MCT, my wife of 25 years 
(yes, Mac....I DID find someone who would put up with me!!) is anxious to 
upgrade to HF also, although she has no problems with the CW 
requirement....she learned it before we were married and we used it to spell 
things out that we didn't want the kids to hear!!!

Glad you stayed with it and realized your goal of becoming a ham. We are all 
a lot better off for it.

73 es Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Rich & Pat Arland
W3OSS & KB3MCT


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Falls, Jim" <Jim.Falls at conservation.ca.gov>


Hi everyone - My 2 cents worth: I have been wrestling with this issue for 
years. I didn't really become interested in "Ham Radio" until late in life 
because of the "Geezer Factor" (I'm 50 and on my way to becoming one) - The 
few hams I met years ago were not very welcoming. This was their brotherhood 
and I felt like a Johnny-come-lately who didn't quite pass muster. When I 
decided to learn Morse and become a Ham, I couldn't. I tried all the systems 
(except hypnosis) but it wouldn't stick long enough for me to pass a test. 
Even 5 wpm was too fast. New languages are harder to learn as an adult.

Even more insidious was that maybe it was really because I was lacking in 
moral character, maybe I just didn't have "IT". "If you REALLY want to, you 
can do it. If you can't, then there's something going on with you and we 
don't want you" was the subtle message. Then, several members of the local 
club befriended me after hearing of my crystal set building and they told me 
to try for the Codeless Technician license (which was news to me). They are 
a friendly, gregarious group and I'd never had anyone take the time and keep 
after me about the upcoming exams. I studied, took the test and aced it 
along with a friend.

Yeah, I can hear the "Big deal, they're giving them away to cereal boxes 
these days", but they still kept after me once I passed and I discovered a 
whole new batch of friends I would have never met otherwise because of the 
code. I am active in our local VHF/UHF ARES nets, love to help out with 
public service, and served as the VP, then President, of our club three 
years ago.

I love tube-filled BA's but was limited to only SWLing with them because of 
the code requirement (that pesky "proper attitude" again). I have an active 
four year-old who serves very nicely as a "neural neutralizer" and, frankly, 
I had little hope of passing the 5 wpm requirement for the Tech Plus until 
she was at least 10 and less of a handful (if ever).

I have a complete TCS-8 set-up and a pair of Swan transceivers (a 350 and a 
Cygnet with a linear amp). All of these work, but none have ever had RF 
coming out of them into an antenna because of that "proper attitude" again. 
I don't think myself as a mere "appliance operator": I have worked on 
several of these with the help of my Elmer and have a BC-342 slowly coming 
back from the dead. I want to build my own MOPA rig and jump into some AWA 
Straight Key Night with my "J-38".

I take "The Amateur's Code" (Paul M. Segal, W9EEA, 1923) VERY seriously and 
consider myself a good Amateur Radio Operator. CW is a remarkable system to 
get the word out with low power under noisy conditions and I intend to get 
there. But - I also live in an active part of the world; we have 
earthquakes, big storms and floods. Power often goes out because of downed 
trees; highways close because of rockfalls. We need good ARES operators on 
HF to get the word out over the mountains when the repeaters go down but I 
am locked out of HF indefinitely because of that "proper attitude" again. I 
have plans for an NVIS antenna ready to go but no hope of ever using it or 
helping my family and community in time of emergency by being able to 
communicate with the outside world. When the new rule takes effect, I will 
be in the first VE session I can find and on the air on HF as soon as the 
FCC says, "GO".

Peace and Health!

Jim Falls
KG6FWT
Eureka, CA