[QCWA] FCC Drops Morse

[Jeffrey D Angus]

newsline at ix.netcom.com wrote:

>With all due respect, I submit that today is not the
>"day the music died.".
>
I have to go with Bill on this one.

The point everyone misses is that unlike Spark Gap technology, NOBODY
has suggested arresting anyone caught sending morse code.

What it means is that the proficient use of Morse code is no longer an out-
dated requirement for an FCC license grant. When the ONLY technology
out there was sending code, yes, it made sense. When the majority of
equipment out there was code only, yes, it made sense. When a majority
of commercial and government radio applications required proficiency at
sending and receiving morse code, yes, it made sense.

Just like driving a car and getting a driver's license, they no longer 
require
you to know how to hand crank a Model T, nor expect you to know which
end of a horse to put the hay in. Of course, with SOME of the drivers I
have to deal with in Los Angeles, an artificial barrier like that would be a
"Good Thing(tm)".

Morse Code, and the proficiency to send and receive it will ALWAYS be
an important heritage of Amateur radio. It just isn't the ONLY way any
more.

Jeff
wa6fwi
Who after upgrading to a "voice also" license in 1968 STILL enjoys being
able to send and receive (albeit badly) morse code.



-- 
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin
"A life lived in fear is a life half lived."
Tara Morice as Fran, from the movie "Strictly Ballroom"