[OKDXA] INTERESTING MORNING

[Kim Elmore]

I wish I could see it so simply, but I can't.

I love CW. I'm a FISTS member. I wrote a sappy Christmas story for CQ 
that featured CW as epitomizing Real Radio, though I didn't hit any 
one over the head with it. For me, CW is the *One, True Mode.*

That said, it's simply a  mode, like RTTY, PSK31, AFSK16, SSB, AM, 
digital voice, etc. As much as I love it, I can't justify testing a 
prospective ham on it without all the others.

Rather, I think it's more a sign of the times than the result of a 
change in the way we're licensed. The nature of society has drifted 
to a less polite, more self-serving "what's in it for me?" attitude.

"Elmer? I don't need no steenking Elmer!" Everyone is an expert at 
everything -- just ask. If they have the highest class of license, 
then they're de facto experts! They don't need to read about any of 
this because... Yes! They're experts! Culturally, we are driven by 
certification and they have the highest possible class of license, 
hence the highest certification.

Add to this that we have no patience anymore. Way back when, one had 
to be licensed as a General class or higher for a minimum of 2 years 
before one could even sit the Extra class exam. Forget the code!  You 
had to have actually had the license for two years. But did this 
guarantee that you knew anything about radio? Or procedures? Or how 
to chase DX? No, but it arguably raised the odds a bit. Do I think we 
should do that again? It probably wouldn't matter because the problem 
goes deeper than this could address.

My point is that this has less to do with our licensing system and 
more to do with our current culture.  In the end, it's still up to us 
to educate our newbs. We have to own this problem, make it ours, and 
address it with tact and diplomacy. Even then, we must do it with a 
complete understanding that you can lead a horse to water, but you 
can't make it drink. Some people are not interested in learning, but 
most, by far, really are. They simply don't want the lesson to start 
with "You (no code/non-CW/multiple choice/ricebox 
operator/keyer-using/keyboard slinging) jerk!"

Kim Elmore, N5OP

At 08:33 PM 2/10/2008, you wrote:
>I don't think it took Nostradomous, Edgar Cayce, and
>Miss Cleo to see this coming.
>
>When the ARRL and CQ are constantly screaming that we
>need a trillion new hams on HF or we will loose all of
>our bands (funny how no one has actually tried to take
>an HF band from us, and instead we keep getting new
>ones, including the 136khz band at the latest WRC),
>and the licensing standards get reduced to the point
>that someone can go from no license to having an extra
>with a weekend of study, it only figures that you will
>end up with loads of people on the air with absolutely
>no clue as to what they are doing.
>
>Now of course we hear that we are supposed to "elmer"
>them, but even that is becoming impossible.  The first
>time you point out to them that they are doing
>something wrong you hear about how your attitude is
>driving new hams away, etc.
>
>I guess we only have ourselves to blame for this mess
>since we didn't fight harder to preserve the standards
>we had.
>
>73s John AA5JG
>