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FCC Proposes Abolishing Morse Code Requirement
TaxSlave writes "According to this ARRL article, the Federal Communications Commission has finally decided which path it wants to take with the Morse Code requirement for an amateur radio license. International requirements for Morse Code were done away with some time back, and several countries quickly abolished the requirement. Now, the FCC has proposed doing the same thing. Next step, months of comments, discussion, and navel-gazing."
The Commission said it believes dropping Element 1--the 5 WPM Morse examination--would "encourage individuals who are interested in communications technology, or who are able to contribute to the advancement of the radio art, to become amateur radio operators."
Was learning Morse so much of an obstacle for new members? Personally, I had to learn Morse long time ago, and it's not hard at all.
On the other hand, maybe with the development of the digital technologies, the analog radio technology potential members are just not bothering looking into it.
The FCC said it did not believe a new entry-level license class was warranted because current Novice and Tech Plus licensees already can easily upgrade to General. "We also note that, if our proposal to eliminate telegraphy testing in the amateur service is adopted," the FCC continued, "a person who is not a licensee will be able to qualify for a General Class operator license by passing two written examinations, and that a person who is a Technician Class licensee will be able to qualify for a General Class operator license by passing one written examination." The FCC said it does not believe either path to be unreasonable.
Written examinations? Nobody has to type the Morse anymore? Anyone here who got his license recently care to shed some light on this one?
But if nobody learns morse code, how are the people trapped underground going to tap out a morse code message to ask for help? What about those people in deep space who cannot communicate due to interference and need to revert to morse code? Won't somebody please think of Hollywood!
...NO!
Roger, over and out.
So how are we going to tell all the other countries how to bring down the alien flying saucers?
Wasn't this posted a year ago? /. story.
I'm too lazy to look up the
morning DJs can ONLY transmit in morse code...
It'd probably at least be funnier that way...
How hard can it be to learn morse code anyway? I guess next electronics will be unnecessary as well.
Why don't they just create a different liscence for ppl that think it's for disc jockeys?
I had to learn Morse code (5 WPM), and so should everybody else. Meh, now where's my prunes?
Beep. Boop. Beep. You have questions. I have answers and your home address.
dot dot dash dot dot dot dot dash dot dot dot dot / dot dash dash dot dash dash dash dot dot dot dash
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
Morse code can be transmitted even in high-noise situations - as you're not trying to hear someone yelling CQ! THIS IS QC! OVER!!
Clicks, beeps, bloops, etc -- easy to hear over static.
= Grow a brain...
just as soon as Morse is found to be better than another technology (little bitty thumb keyboards), it's considered unnecessary? I sense a little more than irony here...
The difference between spam and poop is that you don't have to dig through septic tanks looking for real food. -- Me
This story ripped off from Technocrat.net
It is here.
Also, few transmission methods can so easily slice through poor radio conditions as Morse. After all, it is one of the earliest forms of digital communications.
--Lord Nimula
That Morse Code requirement always sounded like tit for tat to me.
bash$
Morse code will go the way of the dinosaur perhaps as it should have long ago, yet not without many noting its departure with a particular reverence for the past. Morse, however, is still a viable means of communication. For example, it is certainly faster than SMS. At any rate, perhaps the FCC should instead focus upon more pressing matters: cleaning out the clutter in the increasingly crowded radio spectrum and speeding along the many pending standards that would make communication on the whole an easier matter.
Blasphemy I say... ... oops, I mean:
(Dots and dashes spelling: b l a s p h e m y fullstop)
I wish I could have posted it but I got this message from Slashdot when I submitted the post:
Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!
Reason: Your comment looks too much like ascii art.
Well Fuck you slashdot and your anti-morse code agenda!
dashdashdash dotdotdotdot dashdot dashdashdash dot dotdotdot!!!!!!11!!1one
On the Internet, you can talk to almost anyone, anywhere as long as you have paid your monthly fee to the Internet service provider (ISP). The charge for talking via the Internet is free, once you have paid your fee to the ISP.
I think it might get more people into the hobby to get rid of the requirement. It's not hard to learn Morse code, but it does present a *seemingly* daunting task to anyone who gets an interest in amateur radio. Not mention you can automate both the transmission and reception of it.
I can't believe .--.-.! .--. .--...-- really does exactly .-.--.---.-., and believe me, .--..- .--.- soviet russia .--..---...-.. profit!
If they're going to get rid of the Morse requirement, then we're going to need some similar obstacle which is trivial but which drooling idiots think is hard, to keep them out. Morse code has done a wonderful job of limiting ham radio to people who actually care about radio. If you drop all the standards so that anyone can walk in off the street and start yacking like it's a chat room, you get CB. We already have CB, and it's a total failure. Well not like it matters, all HF radio will be wiped out when BPL comes through, thanks a lot FCC. / DE KC1P
This could really help out ham radio far more than the no-code beginner's license could. Personally, I still have my basic Tech license. It's not because I'm lazy or incompetent, but I really have no intention of ever using code.
The way I see it, morse code is more of an impediment to ambition than a sign that someone isn't intelligent enough to learn it. For instance, my no-code Tech license does just about everything I want to. I can already do lots of voice and data comm stuff that I find interesting. I could have "upgraded" to a license with a code requirement, but it really doesn't get me anything I'm looking for.
To me this isn't a sign that ham radio is "dying" like some people would have you believe, but a sign that it is adapting to the times. The more people there are interested in radio, the better the chance is that someone will come up with something interesting and break a few decades of stagnancy.
"There is a reason we adopt new communication technology, because generally we can completely replace the old w/o ever missing it."
The problem with that is that emergency situations have the uncanny ability to find your weak points.
I just got my technician's license (this used to be the old novice license that required morse code). It does not now require morse code, but the morse code test must be passed for other licenses.
I would like to get my General and or/Extra Licenses to be able to use more FM bandwidth but they require the morse code tests.
My feelings are that the three licenses should not require morse code but that some frequencies still be held exclusively for CW (morse code) for those having passed the morse code element test. This would in effect make passing the morse code element the highest licence (able to use ALL amateur frequencies - CW and Voice ) and not making it mandatory for General and Extra which is now the case.
This would attract many more amateurs who mostly don't need or care about morse code and still offer an incentive for morse code usage which in my opinion is valuable due to its very low bandwidth and power requirements which sometimes allow CW transmissions to work when other modes are having problems.
This stupid code requirement has kept me from ham radio for 30 years. Had a FCC 1st class at 16. Went to military comm school, after a extra month in class learned to type (5 letter code groups perfect) but could not learn morse. (dyslexia)
Drop it TODAY!
In GOD we trust, all others we monitor.
Here you have a teenager versus an experienced vetran, who had formerly done this professionally. Also, the coder had ideal equipment, a good key and the whole 9 yards. A cellphone isn't the ideal pad for text messaging.
So I say ok, if it's all based on what's faster let's take me a good secretary the keyboard with anyone on the other end versus the coders. They can push past 200wpm when they really get going. Want to try and do that in Morse?
Back in 1967, when I was 17, I used to hang out in Greenwich Village on Friday and Saturday nights. There were many stores, including many music stores. One night, while I was walking down Bleeker Street, I heard music coming from one storefront and it went like this... "Oh dear Miss Morse. I love you. Yes I do, really do. Dit dit dah dit. Dit dit dah. Dah dit dah dit. Dah dit dah." They really sang the dits and dahs. The group was Pearls Before Swine and the song was "Miss Morse." Without my knowledge of Morse Code, I would have never known the four letter invective Pearls Before Swine was belting down this crowded block. And now you know the rest of the story. Please don't take away my Morse. de WA1U
Ham communication was used quite a bit on the 9/11 attacks in the US. The PSTN and Internet in New York were slammed and largely unworkable because one of the major hubs had been destroyed (the Internet isn't as redundant as we'd like, despite it's technical ability to be so).
Ham communication is quite robust because it's essentially a mesh network, every node connected to all other nodes. Since the signal propagates in all directions, and on some bands nearly all over the world, anyone tuned in on it can hear it, with no physical connection. A single transmission can reach many listeners, who can then contact others through any number of means.
But why should it be required for amature radio operation? The question isn't why use Morse Code, the question is why require that you know it for higher levels of amatuer radio licenses?
I imagine that Morse Code will be kept alive for a long time to come, and indeed there may be situations where it's still the best, but that doesn't mean HAM operators should be forced to learn it. HAM is having enough trouble as it is because of the Internet.
In my teenage years, I had a real facination with amatuer radio. The electronics/geek factor was a lot of it, but the wide range of communications was another. The ability to communicate with those all over. At the time, there was no way I could get the equipment necessary to do any HAM stuff.
Well now I have the money and the ability to do it, but I don't. Why? The Internet. I can communicate all over the world, with a speed and accuracy not imagined in the HAM world.
Well given the Internet as competiton, HAM sure as hell doesn't need any more barriers liek learning Morse Code. Yes, some people find it really easy and don't see the problem, however many people are not so proficient with lingusitic learning and have a lot of trouble with it. No reason to arbitrarily exclude them form the HAM world.
dot dot dash dot dot dot dot dash dash dot dot dot dash dot dash dot dot dash dot dot dash dot dot dash dot dot dash dot dot dash dot dot dot dash dot dash dot dot dash dot dot dash dot dot dash dot dot dash dot dot dash dot dot dash dot dot dash dot dot dash dot dot dash dot dot dash dot dot dash dot dot dash dot dot dot dot dash dot dot dash dot dot dash dot dot dash
and I am sure you all agree with me on that!
[w/ apologies to Kenny on South Park. ]
Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23
"Of course, an amateur could build a ham radio from discrete pieces, but certainly not a Blackberry."
I'm reminded of that TOS time-travel episode were Spock has to build an add-on to his tricoder using "stone knives and bear skins" to find out if Edith should die or not.
The point is that building a primitive radio is very easy (spark gaps and contact wiskers) It will not be the best, but it and Morse Code will get the job done.
With all due respect, blah.
You might as well say "In my day, we walked to school - uphill both ways!"
I thought we were going to just shut down ham radio altogether so we can all have powerline broadband??? what the heck is this?
-Lod
in unrelated news, morse code version 2.0 will now feature "slash" in addition to "dot" and "dash"
As a no-code tech who has always wanted to upgrade to general, this would be great news. The code requirement was always a stumbling block for me. I got the tapes and practiced but I could not get it. My license expires in 2011 and I was going to just let it expire because I carry a cell phone all the time and use the computer to chat internationally and nationally... and since hams usually just talk about the weather or their gear (thanks to strict codes about not talking about anything interesting), I still may just let it expire. But its tempting to just go for general if they remove the code requirement.
You notice that the morse story was posted right after the Patriot Act one? Well, there's a reason. The NSA can't find its friggin' Boy Scout's handbook on morse code, so can't afford to let anyone use it any more.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
"Navel-gazing," huh? This topic would get a triple-X rating and pulled offline if the ESRB had anything to say about it.
dot dot dot dot space
dot space dot dash dot dot
dot dash dash dot me!
Dotdotdashdot dotdotdash dashdotdashdot dashdotdash the FCC! ;-)
In other news, spur's no longer required equipment to get a drivers license.
Hello, Hello, the 1800s are calling and they want their communication method back.
Each winter, just after the Christmas holiday, the airwaves become cluttered with lids/morons who got a ham radio but don't have a license. Because of the license requirement, the airwaves are used by folks who have all read the same rule book. Is learning code a necessary thing? The code test (aka Element 1) is at 5 wpm. Think about that. FIVE words per MINUTE. That's not a test of skill, that's a test of patience. Will the removal open the airwaves to all the lids/morons who otherwise wouldn't take the tests? Maybe, but I doubt few of them will get past the Tech. The 2m repeaters are plentiful as are other bands. The General test isn't too difficult, if you read the book. I have my General Class license and am studying for the Extra. I have been for a while. The amount of information needed to learn from Tech to General is not too bad. But to me and my Southern Blonde Brain, the leap from General to Extra is a stretch.
okay, forgive me the flashback, I'm old, remember?
Anyway, since I went to all the trouble to learn CW and get that license, it would be reasonable to conclude that I'd be a strong advocate for retaining the code requirement.
Nope.
I have always thought that the code requirement was dumb, dumb, dumb. As a nerd boy who eventually became a professor of electrical engineering, it was blindingly obvious to me that The Code was a charming bit of history that had no business in modern radio practice. Those who would argue, "but with duct tape, batteries, a couple transistors, I could send an SOS after being shipwrecked on an atoll!" I'm sure you could, and that would have been an interesting argument until about 1975,
But how many of you Slashdotters have cell phones, or some other wireless gadget? When is the last time that any of you actually held a three-lead transistor in your suspiciously sticky hands? And even though it's true that some Righteous Code Dudes have recently out communicated some Valley Girls in a Morse Code/IM Slugfest,
A few days ago, someone showed me a computer parsing some BPSK on 20 meters in a 31 Hz wide channel (not a typo!), passing perfectly good text, with a quality that I claim could rarely if ever be achieved by a human ear.
I'll probably do some CW again soon --- but it'll be for Art's sake, and not because of a misguided notion that it is important to maintain a pool of practitioners skilled in Morse Code.
Because it isn't important. If you think it is, then let me gently suggest that you send a handwritten note across the continent you're on, by horse.
73 de Inspector Lopez
WB7NWP
I am a pilot, and my hobby has been ruined by "modern" thinking - We can't do anything anymore without being considered terrorists, the public thinks we're an irrelevant waste of time, and lately everyone wants to run our hobby into the ground or shut it down.
I see no reason why ham radio should be any different. You can suffer just like the model rocketry fans, aviation photographers, and computer hackers. The government doesn't like your hobby and wants to destroy it for it's own percieved benefit. Deal with it.
Everybody should be able to read/write that fluently from a carrier ... 1 00111101010100 !
0101001101001100010000010101001101001000010001000
I'm a "lowly" no-code tech ticket holder. As my more 'estemed' HF brothern might call me, a 'tech-lite' operator.
Still, who is it these 'extra class' operators go to when their windows 98 PCs can no longer retrieve their email over their dial up AOL connections due to SAM ware infestation.
Who do they call when they decide to try DSL but can't figure out where on their PC to connect the ethernet cable.
Who do they go to when they receive some e-mail attachement and can't open it (often because their pirated copy of MS Office gorked) - or do manage to get it opened and gomer their system with the worm de jour.
Who is it they go to when they *finaly* decide to try and do something other than whine about hemeroids and the good old days on 20m SSB and connect something like a TNC to their radios, but just can't seem to figure out the lines of an RS-232 link - let alone the pins of a DB-9 (don't ever show 'em a DB-25, they'll stroke out!).
Who is it they call up when they need someone to climb their tower, install a new rotor, replace cable or other maintenance.
(I've got dozens more, but I'm trying to be reasonable here)
And yet - who is it that's not allowed to use HF simply because I refuse to learn an out-dated mode championed by these same 'Technical Leaders'.
I've passed the General written 3 times waiting for this stupid rule to be changed. FINALLY some sense!!
If you love CW, cool - keep on using it. There's NOTHING that says or will say it can't be used. And there'll be many that choose to learn it and continue to operate CW, if for nothing else, the novilty. Enjoy it. But for crying out loud - increase the difficulty of the question pool, tighten the passing score, up the number of questions, make the questions more technical, don't make the question pool public - something applicable to today. Don't rely on a CW test to be your LID filter! Checked 20m lately? It didn't work.
Using CW as a 'barrier' to HF access is about like saying you can't use email unless you can hand code a TCP/IP frame. Or you can't drive a car unless you can cast and machine your own piston rings.
Some of these guys were the gurus of the hollow state erra. But dammit - if you're going to be in a technical hobby, at least TRY and stay current to the last decade's tech! It's about time the license exams became pertinant.
You know - what's worse is what I anticipate happening when the first batch of codeless Generals hit the air. These old hams will use the same tricks of the CBers to try and discourage their new neighbors from using *their* spectrum. Insults, language, over driven amplifiers, intentional interfearance, dare I say - echo mikes...
Instead of a CW exam, every hf operator should be forced to pass an operational review - every freak'n year! Where're the OOs? Where's the log review? Where's the 'self policing' of the hobby? Oh - that's right - you've had a CW exam to take care of that.....
Yea, I posted Anonymously - if some of these HF rag-chewers ever found out who I was, they'd never call for help next time they get phished, gorked a drive, accidentaly deleted their system directory, tried to make a wireless keyboard work, had to install a VOX chip into their new rig, couldn't remember how to program their HT, wanted to update the club's web site.....
I believe that the Morse Code should not be a requirement just to to operate on the HF bands. At one time it made sense, but with today's digital encoding methods, you can have reliable low bandwidth communication on the HF band. Even the ARRL plans to file a petition with the FCC seeking the regulation of amateur subbands by bandwidth rather than by mode of emission. http://www.arrl.org/announce/bandwidth.html
And for all you old timer hams, eliminating element 1 as a requirement for General and Extra Classes does not mean that they are abolishing Morse code. It will still probably be used for decades to come, it just will not be a requirement for those who just want to do SSB or digital contacts.
76 KH2YF
I would be willing to bet $100 that no slashdot mods use crack cocaine. Not a one.
"On the other hand, maybe with the development of the digital technologies, the analog radio technology potential members are just not bothering looking into it."
Ya think?
I do a bunch of radio-related research, and hold a Novice license. I have easily passed the technical portion of Tech Plus and General practice tests. However, I haven't the time to devote to learning Morse, and I haven't the slightest inclination to memorize a bunch of frequency bands that are readily available in tabular form. As a result, I must rely on my colleagues with more time and energy for key portions of my work. This is a pain for them, and accomplishes nothing positive for society as far as I can see.
I also can't use reasonable (digital) modulation schemes in any amateur band. Sending high-speed data would be really nice, and sending voice as digital data is way more spectrum-efficient than any allowed analog modulation method, but no...
By all means, let's get rid of the Morse requirement, and change the test to cover more meaningful material. Let's make room for reasonable digital amateur transmissions. Either that, or give the valuable and currently mostly-dead amateur bands to someone who will make more sensible use of them.
Why does Morse matter? We have so many other modern modes avaliable to us now. Morse is just one of many different communication applications avaliable. It doesn't make sense to require knowledge of it just as much as it doesn't make sense to require people to learn how to drive a manual transmission car.
I see this emergency crap being spun around.. To the average person who gets a radio license and learns code just to pass the test, how well do you think they will retain their knowledge to be able to use it?
In these hypothetical situations, they would be just as well off using a morse code chart.
As for emergencies, Ham Radio only plays a very small role. We have modern and sophisitated professionals (FEMA, National Guard, police, etc.) that do a better and more effective job and are prepared much better than the amateur will ever be.
All the cool stuff being done with ham radio is with experimentation. Ham Radio is sort of the "playground" for engineers, future engineers, and hobbyist/tinkers alike. I think its terrible to marginalize this group of people when the stubbron morse code advocates are largely geriatic curmudgeons who don't do anything useful themselves.
If I sound a bit cynical, it is because I am. I got into ham radio when I was a teenager and I got a very cold welcome into the hobby by the "old timers". The older folk who populate ham radio are largely anti-social "nerd" types who don't like people who do not follow their "playground rules". When I got accused of causing QRM on air by a local operator who used to run a very well-known net, that was pretty much it for me (though I was sorta naive at the time and didn't really think much of it until later).
Basically, my point is that there are too many people out there who think ham radio is some sort of clique and use it as an excuse to cop up an attitude about "what" exactly ham radio is or isn't.
I'm still licensed, though I haven't been doing anything for years because of the type of people I describe that populate the airwaves. Maybe if they ever remove the Morse requirement, I can get on HF and chat with non-Americans on HF. It would be a good oppritunity for me to go back into playing with electronics and circuits in a serious/interesting way.
What I find really ironic here is that hams want to moan and groan about learning morse, but they don't seem to give a shit about electronic theory. It amazes me that they don't complain about the overly easy question pool. I also wonder why they think Morse is the holy grail but don't ever talk about the things EE talk about.. Maybe its becuase so few hams are versed in it beyond the basics. Seems kinda hypocritcal to me.
Not sure what written means, unless it is essay questions which I doubt. So if still multiple choice, I dont see how anything has changed as far as the exam requirements Back in 2003 went from tech licen to extra class in about 3 months, and took morse code. After meeting a lot of old hams where I live, never interested in getting on the radio These guys are dinasaurs. A few are nice and I am friends with. But most resent the fact that I passed the tests so fast when it took some of these dummies ten years to do so. They constantly harp on the fact that my cw test was nowhere as difficult as theirs. And that makes them more of an expert then me. When was the last time they used cw? They cant remember. CW manually is extinct except for fools over 60. Do most of these "hams" know anything about aprs or psk31, not to mention doing cw on computer? Sadly many dont. Really sad. Amateur radio licensees use to be in the vanguard of science. Now they are like the flat world society.
Dah dah dit / dah dah dah / dah dah dah / da di dit.
This is my post. There are many others like it. If you don't like what you read here, go try one of the others.
slashslashslash dotdotdotdot slashdot slashslashslash dot dotdotdot!!!!!!11!!1one
Speaking as someone who passed the 5wpm test, I'd say Morse code is a great art in its own way, and I have a lot of respect for it. But it's just a hurdle that covers a part of ham radio that most people will never use.
Look, the FCC isn't saying you can't do code...it's just not requiring it. Make the written tests as hard as you want if you want to raise the bar of entry. Hell, give usage tests to make sure people obey all the laws. Whatever. And people who really like Morse Code will learn it anyway.
I'd request the FCC give tests that are applicable to the current state of ham radio. I don't think that's so unreasonable.
The nice thing about ham is it's long range with little power and equipment requirements. In the event of a real emergency, it's nice to know that there are some extraordinary geeks with the ability to communicate quickly and clearly. In an emergency, things don't always work correctly. Microphones get lost or broken. Injuries result in a loss of the ability to speak. Who knows what might go wrong? Particularly due to the fact that Morse Code operators beat out the most popular method of handheld text-based communcation (short of e-mail or IM, anyway), I think this skill is highly undervalued. Personally, I like the idea of a bunch of knowledgable nerds out there, who can communicate almost as fast (or faster) with only pulses of noise than most of us could communicate with a microphone.
Actually, I smoke crack all the time.
...
Undoing moderation
Assume I was drunk when I posted this.
It wasn't morse code that kept the CB types out of Ham, it's the theory. This attitude elitist attitude about code has aided in the dwindling popularity of HAM and by extension, the loss of political power of HAMs. For this reason, I think this is a good thing.
It's not really that hard to learn. Stop trying to count dots and dashes and concentrate on the sound of the character. Spend a little time with farnsworth tapes, listening to the sound of the character. Forget about dots and dashes. Anyone can learn it if they really want to badly enough. That said, Morse as a modern communication method is about as usefull as a spark gap transmitter, or 1200baud packet radio. It will work and is actually pretty cool when you know it, but if it is blocking advancement of amateur radio, we need to reconsider. I do believe, that a more technical written exam should be given, not just those question pool tests that amount to pretty much nothing.
>I think it stinks that I can get all the theory,
>build circuits, program PCs, and fix just about
>anything, but I can't transmit below 50MHz because
>I can't seem to learn a 150 year old communications
>method.
As someone who passed the 20 wpm a decade ago and who actually does use cw more than any other mode when on the radio, I couldn't agree with you more.
Sure, there are instances where cw is really important - say, passing emergency traffic when conditions are poor - but it's absurd to suggest that such a thing happens often enough in the average ham's experience to justify hundreds of hours of study.
For half a century the code test has served primarily as an artificial barrier to licenses.
One could argue that's a worthwhile purpose in itself; adding a challenge to entering any field, however meaningless, can serve to weed out a lot of people who aren't serious about the hobby. An ear full of most CB conversation is enough to convince me that some barrier to entry is probably a good thing. (Although I'm all in favor of having more free-for-all unregulated spectrum out there which anyone can play with than we currently allow.) Our world is full of hurdles put in place solely for the purpose of turning away those who aren't serious about pursuing something. The subject specific GREs are an obvious example from academia. It's never ideal, but it sometimes can serve a worthwhile purpose.
None the less, there are some very good reasons that a code requirement is a bad idea.
First of all, it places an unequal burden on people. I had a pretty easy time with the code - a few tens of hours to get to 5wpm, and an easy couple hours a week after that on the air to get up past 20. But a lot of people have much more difficulty with it. The guy who taught me everything I know about electronics was unable to get a license until the no-code techs came out because dyslexia made learning the code impossible. He's not only an awesome person to chat with and a friend and advisor to many, but has spent countless hours volunteering for emergency communications groups. By any standard, Amateur Radio lost out by keeping him away for so long.
Even among those without learning disabilities, there are many for whom code is really hard. It's unfair to force them to jump what turns out to be an outrageously large hurdle in order to attain something for which actually knowing code isn't necessary.
Second, if we're going to force people to spend hours studying something in order to get a license, there are a lot of more useful things they could study. At least 90% of the hams I meet on phone study code, pass their tests, and then never use it again. What a waste of effort! Instead, why not beef up the technical tests (or get rid of the pre-printed "suggested" multiple choice answers that every VE uses).
Or - if you really want to do something useful - how about requiring something like first aid certification instead? If every ham who spent a hundred hours learning code and then never used it again spent their time learning CPR, just think about how many extra first responders we'd have walking around our streets!
The only remaining question is, what will become of CW when no one is forced to learn it? It's true that I might not have ever learned code if it weren't required, and it's true that I'm glad I did learn it. But there's got to be some other way to provide an incentive to keep at least a few people out there on the bands.
Perhaps you reserve some choice CW-only spectrum for those who've passed code tests. And, so long as there's a strong and active community of code lovers, we can always work to create other incentives with cw-only special event DX stations, extra cw points and freeby stations in contests, and so on. Is that enough to keep the hobby alive? I'm not sure. But if it isn't, then perhaps keeping cw alive isn't worth the cost.
.-- - ..-.
How about some legible Morse Code please?
Your lameness filter doesn't allow even a single word of morse code, you insensitive clod!
They obviously didn't watch Independance Day. If they did, they'd know all too well that the only way we can communicate with each other without letting any invading aliens in our counter-attack plans is by using -- --- .-. ... . .-.-.-
Where are those navels that you speak of? I would like to gaze at them too.
Set up a satellite phone, a small tower connected to a repeater, and hand out HTs to people who need it. Mostly solved.
Where would the amateur infrastructure help here? Hope that an amatuer operator has a suitable tower, then hope he's running a repeater, and then hope it actually works in practice?
I'm not an amateur. I use GMRS. I use it because my main goal is talking to people I know, and using my radio equipment for specific purposes. It is a self-serving hobby, and I admit it. That is how I am different from many amateur operators. They do not admit that their hobby is mostly self-serving, because they would quickly lose their spectrum that way. If enough people will think they're required, they won't get too much hassle.
I don't think all amateur radio services should be dissolved, or that the HF spectrum should be polluted by BPL. I'm just saying that the amatuer excuse for existance is not viable anymore. They are not a vitally required emergency communication infrastructure. They are also not the driving force behind radio technology advancement. Admit that your hobby is a hobby, and with open arms embrace new members of your community. Invent new packet radio systems, and design neat antennas. But don't bullshit people by saying that without you, we'd all be screwed.
Now, if you want to talk BPL, that's another subject. Blocks all of the shortwave band. International and independant news broadcasts. Funny, that.
Flame suit on. Callsigned peeps feel free to rip me a new one.
I think that it's very nice of FCC to publish a Notice of Proposed Rule-Making, as the FAA has apparently decided that such things are a waste of time. In fact, it doesn't even publish the rules anymore!
=============
"except for spilling, graph coloring register allocation did well"
ok - gimme a break - have you seen the prices iridium charges for a phone or the minute ? hamradio costs just a fraction thereof - and if a radio breaks, i can repair it with normal `tronics toolkit - cellphones are overintegrated tech, i do not want to repair it in the gobi desert or the himalaya if it`s my only chance of survival if all else fails. also - iridium relies on those pesky satellites... ham does not. any kind of radio signal infact doesnt. they go straigt LOS / line of sight, and using the right weather you can even go trans atlantic with those, by backscattering in the high atmosphere.
morse code also has its survival advantages. I am working for the german civil rescue "THW" (belongs to ministry of interior), and our experience is that people covered in fallen buildings or tunnels that know morse are a lot easier to find or recover, they can give you quite good instructions to find them, input on their state etc. by knock signals.
Last seen that in the asian tsunami rescues.
(foot note - i have no ham license, i`m a licensed BOS radio operator/Command Communications)
boop boop boop boop beep beep beep boop boop boop boop
I for one can't recognize the difference between the touch-tones on a phone without a pitch-pipe. Don't know how easy it's going to be over static.
Indeed knowing morse is practically useless in these days of extremely easy communications and the practice needed to become moderately proficient seems enermous.
But it's only relative to the application and the individual.
Consider all one needs to use morse code is
1. a medium
2. a way to modulate the medium into discrete intervals
3. either a couple of hears (sound morse) or eyes (light source morse) and probably a couple of hands to modulate the signal and write down letters
That's enormously flexible. The assumption that only because we now have very convenient technology then we should drop far more resilient instruments like morse is dangerous...expecially when one considers morse is useful only if there's many people using and operating it (exactly like phones or internet).
Maybe I'm old fashioned but I like things I can do without relying on a lot of technology I can't possibily always own.
It's dumb to see the morse code requirement go.
I remember a couple scenarios where it was critical to life safety:
First, there was a time when my buddy was captured by enemy soldiers and stuck in front of a TV camera to communicate propaganda. He was able to send a patriotic morse-encoded message to the public by batting his eyelids.
Later, when in a POW camp, I was able to bang morse on the heating pipes to communicate with my buddies and stay sane. That lasted until our captors realized that POWs don't normally get baseboard heat.
Finally, I was out on a multi-year mission when some of our colleagues ran into trouble, and suffered some kind of communications failure where they could no longer transmit by voice. They improvised and started to use some ancient signaling system. Fortunately, the captain was able to recognize it as morse and decoded the message, and we were able to rescue them.
Kids who don't learn morse now will certainly be disadvantaged in the future.
Grumble. I passed my 5 and got my Extra two months ago, after studying the code 2 nights a week for 6 weeks.
I had a feeling the FCC would be getting rid of the requirement as soon as I had passed it.
However, I still plan on practicing when I get my HF antenna set up, and when I can afford to get an HF rig I may very well do some CW just for grins.
Within the amateur community, there is a school of thought that having a barrier to entry will keep the cildrens' banders and other scum out. To them, I have a three word response:
seventy-five meters
Which, for those of you who are not hams, is roughly the equivalent of reading at -1 - there have been a lot of right assholes on that band who have done just about every "don't" in the book - transmitted music, cursed, jammed other stations, etc. And that band is only open to Morse qualified operators, and when the troublemakers have been tracked down, they were indeed Morse rated.
(and I *was* going to sign this with my call in Morse, but the stupid lameness filter won't let me.)
www.eFax.com are spammers
On the negative side, there is: "I had to. Why shouldn't everyone else?" With some dyslexia, writing down 65 characters/minute was one of the hardest tests I've passed.
But, practically, it would be a shame not to promote a universal basic level of morse because:
1. You can build a transmitter with a handful of primitive components. It's cheap. It's good for the third world.
2. It's simple. Building a transmitter is a good way for kids to play with electronics.
3. It's efficient as all heck. I believe they figure it broadcasts 10 times as well as voice. A hundred watt transmitter can get you around the world comfortably where a 1000 watts might be desirable for voice. Good on several fronts.
4. It's efficiency is multipled because it's small bandwidth means many people can use the spectrum that one voice amateur takes up.
5. Simplicity is good for emergencies. If the tidal wave has arrived, that is a bad time to discover that the morse keyboard has a short. "Let's see now. H --- E --- L ---- P ---- !"
6. A good part of the reason for an amateur service is for emergencies. Isn't it the zen of every superhero to be able to whip up a temporal viewer out of "stone knives and bearskins" like Spock when the need arises?
It isn't required but it isn't illegal.
So continue using morse code and shut up already.
Fuck, christ almighty you'd think the world was coming to an end...
Tom
Someday, I'll have a real sig.
It's like a spoken word. If you know a few thousand sounds that mean something then learning a few dozen more can't be that hard. About forty sound patterns in fact. Didah as A is no more difficult than weasel as a furry rodent. You have to learn the word then learn what a weasel is. Same thing with code sounds. Didahdahdahdah as 1 isn't much different than learning a dozen variations of words for a bowel movement. Or learning to play a horn or other musical instrument. Practice makes familiarity and speed. Why are people so afraid of learning? Beats me. My morse is only a small part of my language skills that include English (native speaker), some Latin - Spanish - French combos , and a thousand or so Chinese and Japanese words. And Taekwon Do Korean. Plus jargon for the techno weenie trade and some other hobbies. Words are just sounds and can be translated into a meaning. So morse is just sounds that also convey meaning. Try it folks, it ain't hard if you don't let learning something new get in your way.
How about a broadcaster broadcasting to completely anonymous listeners? That's a trick the Internet has yet to pull off as flawlessly. In this age where the Patriot Act looks to get re-affirmed, and your movie rentals, Tivo watching habits, books you buy or check out of the library, etc. etc. are all being scrutinized... it's nice to know that a long established technology (radio communications) still defies being able to track listeners.
If I'm wrong, I'd love a link to related information on tracking radio listeners, Ham or otherwise.
I8-D
what happens in the next alien invasion - I mean, look at ID4. Without morse code, we'd have never been able to sync up our rebellion against those scumsuckers. And just think how boring the next sub flick will be 'Bob, I think I hear something - ah it's my underwater cellphone ringing. They are stuck in the after compartment and are still alive!'
Must be the first time ever that a post consisting of one meaningless word was modded +5.
One of the things that the morse tests were most useful for was a weed-out factor. It's the people who were really dedicated to learning and participating in amateur radio that were willing to devote the time and effort necessary to learn the code. That preserved the HF bands for those who are serious about radio.
Aside from that, Morse Code (or CW, as it's also known) is one of the most reliable methods of communication out there. If absolutely nothing else will get through (voice, packet, etc.), Morse Code will. Heck, you don't even need a radio to use Morse Code to communicate in emergencies (see MacGyver, pilot episode, or the Titanic's last desperate attempts (NOT the movie)).
As far as I'm concerned, the primary reason for continued existance of amateur radio, is for training a pool of professional operators for times of disaster, or general need of the public. To remove a tried-and-true, absolutely reliable method of communications from that pool of training is a mistake.
While I got my extra class license after the code requirements were dropped to 5WPM, I am glad that I still had to learn the code, and would have gladly worked it up to 21WPM if it had been required. Also, the new legislation makes it an automatic upgrade from Tech to General if this movement is passed. That's rediculous, there was a testing requirement too! The knowledge of FCC rules, antenna theory, and electronics needed to get a technician class license is nothing compared to that needed for a general class license, they should not automatically upgrade techs to generals, make them study for it at least, don't just go handing out free priviledges.
I think the FCC will be making a monumental mistake if they remove the Morse Code requirement.
(rant mode on)
/.
Well, I don't sit around talking about my hemorrhoids while eating prunes, as some here posted. I was first licensed in 1969, and hold the same call sign since 1972. Guess what, I'm the guy up high enough in the company to decide whether or not you get to practice all that new knowledge your brand new CS degree says you have. You'd be surprised to find where all those old farts are in business. Oh yeah, I'm a well known open source contributor as well. So much for all that "only new brains can be creative" crap typical on
(rant mode off)
Hopefully, the preceding rant will attract attention and folks will read on. I'm not going to rehash how amateur radio is there in emergencies, how local hams contributed to 9/11 or the last devastating weather event, earthquake, etc. Nor am I going to debate internet versus amateur radio. These are tangents to the real discussion.
As I mentioned, I learned Morse code a long time ago. Frankly, I found that I could do 5 WPM by simply memorizing the dits and dahs and matching them to what I heard. Most of the hams I know would probably agree as to how simple 5 WPM really is, but that should not be a reason to keep the code requirement.
I think that most hams see it as a barrier to entry, not for people who want to be hams, but all those morons who rush out to buy CB radios and want to play "good buddy" with all the truckers. I can safely say that no ham will ever tell anyone who is interested in amateur radio to go away. In fact, most hams I know talk about how to attract more young people into the hobby. No real ham will stand in your way. If he or she does, I'd like to see that individual's license taken away, not support the individual.
For me, amateur radio was how I got hooked into getting an engineering degree. Even now, it is a place for me to experiment with hardware and software in communications settings. By September, I'll have an experimental software defined radio on the air and have some fun as I learn some new stuff. Do I need Morse Code for this? Of course not.
Will I use Morse Code in the future? Sure will. In fact, as more and more people forget code, I'll cherish my ability as something that differentiates me from the masses. In fact, after a long hiatus, I just recently returned to code and enjoy every minute of it.
As a ham, I think the code requirement is dated. It doesn't really stop morons from getting on the air. A scan of the 75 meter QSOs any evening should help you get over your fears that no code will allow irresponsible individuals to run rampant and spoil the hobby. I would not advocate removing the code only portions of the HF bands, which is the next logical step in this process. CW and other digital modes need the spectrum allocation to prevent potential interference from the wider bandwidth modes.
In a related step, I'd like to see 11 meters taken back into amateur radio as a band for an entry level, no test license. Other, better services exist to fill the need CB radio originally addressed and 11 meters would make a great place to get people interested in the hobby.
OK folks, flame on!
I've had my amateur radio license for 13 years now. Went from no-code tech to extra in the space of a year.
How I managed to learn morse code is interesting. You see, I'd purchased the Gordon West series but never had a solid block of time to sit down and practice.
Then came a 4th of July camping trip. All it did was rain all week. I had my walkman, plenty of batteries, and the tapes, books, etc. as I was also studying for the General license.
By the end of that week I was proficient at 5WPM. Got some practice on HF, as I operated exclusively CW for the first 8 or so months I had my license. Fortunately I had friends who were Advanced and Extras so I could operate in those bands with them as control operator.
From there I took a new test about every two or three months. A year to the day of getting my no-code I had my extra. Hey, I even have 2x1 call. Kilo Delta One Sierra. Yeah, yeah, I got it under the vanity program. I also hold WE1RD as a club call.
So getting my extra the old fashioned way gives my bitching rights. If I did it, they should have to do it.
You can bet I'll be commenting once the NPRM comes out. And it won't be in favor of abolishing morse code. Hey, look what saved the world in the movie Indepence Day. Dah-dit-dah.
Navaids broadcast their identifier using Morse. That's how you verify you've tuned in to the right facility.
The code for each navaid is printed on the sectional chart. It's very easy enough to figure them out without really *knowning* Morse code since the identifiers are only 3 chars long and are transmitted very slowly.
The days of those navaids are numbered too. NDBs are dropping like flies already, and are not being repaired/replaced as the 30-50 year old hardware fails. Discussions for end-of-lifing VOR/VORDME/VORTAC/TACANs have already been in the works for a few years too.
didah dahdididi dahdahdah dididah dah - dah didi dahdah di didahdidahdidah
``Tension, apprehension & dissension have begun!'' - Duffy Wyg&, in Alfred Bester's _The Demolished Man_
You need to know Morse code. What if you get stuck in the brig of a starship in the 23rd century, and someone is trying to break you out (a la Star Trek 5: The Final Bomb)?
The radio amateur bands are now getting cluttered with non-technical everyday walkie-talkie people....you know ...those found chatting about your toaster for hours on the CB bands
Im one of those that grew up with components & tech stuff for everyday purposes...the type thatd run down to radio shack for some electronic components to fix your video.
The Radio Amateur hobby was another way to learn more and to build your own stuff without getting it trough the system and we could communicate with the likes of us...in other words other people with tech-knowhow. That was a lot of fun.
When the Morse license where removed here in Denmark...a lot of new potential radio amateurs came in...and we thougt that would be great....
Unfortunately things wherent as great as weve hoped for. Most CB-Banders that have no interest in technical stuff...are just interested in more channels and more people to chat with, they have no interest in the traditional ham-radio...just using the bands. They have no interest in buliding stuff,...and they just saw the license as a new playground.
Over time...the serious radio amateur dissappears..and the bands get "Bullied" by the "CBers" who have an entirely different culture than "our own"...No polliteness...no logging...no organization...in other words...they dragged along their habits from the CB bands and litterally destroyed Ham Radio for what it was worth.
The demands for a "Morse code" license for the additional bands wherent just merely about morse...it was serving as a "Filter" to sift away those that wouldnt bother with the effort it took to learn it.
What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
As a kid, I wanted my ham radio license. Knew the technical stuff well enough. Thought I had Morse code down adequately (not well, but enough to pass); went to take the test, listened to a few minutes of beeps, scrawled a few words, missed too many, failed the test, and just plain lost interest.
... but fact is it was Morse code that discouraged an otherwise eager and knowledgeable teenager from joining the ranks of Amateur Radio.
... but that's the kind of thing that those actively in the hobby may choose to take up later; it's such a lame and rarely-used yet required starting point that it just turns off a majority of those who might otherwise become enthusiastic participants. It sure turned me off at an impressionable age.
Everything about the test seemed geared toward discouragement. The most obnoxious part of the test - Morse code - was first, not even letting me get far enough to succeed in part of the test (electronics was no problem) and develop a desire to finish it. The audio used was significantly different from actual radio tones - enough so that the other guy taking the test complained loudly. I learned the code visually from books, which was encouraged yet doesn't translate to another sense very well. Yes, I could have done it and my complaints can be explained away
Later the no-code license became available - but that was too late (having already been burned/discouraged), and was limited to a minimal license which is sneered at in ham radio circles.
Yes, Morse code has its use as a resilliant noise-tolerant bare-bones comm method
Can we get a "-1 Wrong" moderation option?
Time and time again the Morse code people send messges faster than those using cell messaging or Blackberries. Sometimes desktop touch-typing can be faster.
It's about time the morse code was dropped. A lot of old farts are convinced the world is ending, because they had to take a test in 1960 in front of the FCC, and want the rest of us to go through the same thing. These are the same folk who dislike www.hamsexy.com, proving hams can laugh at themselves, and that there is a young side to the hobby too. There are still the written tests, which will keep the CB'er out. Most hams on voice admit they can't remember enough morse to operate...so whats the point ? Way back when CB was cool, I went to a ham club. They were all very nice, and explained that if I learned code, I could communicate worldwide. Since it was the peak of the sunspots, I already had most of the lower 48 states without trying too hard (50 watts) on the CB. It didn't make sense to have to learn 13 words per minute (real literacy of code) to be able to use voice again, to talk mostly the same distances. Now, a technically minded person can see the wonder of radio communications, and get involved in worldwide contacts with only a battery radio and wire. No dial tones or cable hookup needed ! And, if they get really interested, are NOT told, you have to learn Mandarin (er, morse code) to get a licence. Google "Yaesu VX-2R" if you want to see what ham radio is up to. Any computer geek reading this can pass ham exams with a little study-and it makes a lot more sense than computer language.
The benefits of Morse Code are that it will work with the least amount of power, and over the longest and the noisiest channels out there. It is digital communication in its most basic form. Because Amateur Radio is used as an emergency service, it makes sense to me to ensure that operators of that service can communicate over such channels - it doesn't seem like a good idea to trust that in an emergency situation, that you'll have all the supplies you need (e.g., electricity), or that you'll be anywhere close to assistance.
Amateur Radio operators need to be able to understand Morse, even if they don't intend to use it themselves. Why? Suppose that someone is in a situation (perhaps in emergency or distress) and Morse is the only method they can use to communicate. Go on, use your imagination, I'm sure you can think of situations where this might be the case - not in the first world, but perhaps the second or third. Now imagine that Morse isn't required for obtaining a license so nobody needs to knows Morse anymore. How many people are going to understand, much less respond, to that distress signal? Exactly.
If you're going to get an Amateur Radio license, it makes sense to learn some Morse. It's important, really, it is. Saying you can't, or that you don't want to bother, is sheer laziness - go use the Childrens - er, sorry, Citizens - Band instead, if you don't want to put in the effort. There are computer programs out there you can use to learn Morse, it's not really that hard. I mean, when I got my General's license, I had to copy at 13 WPM, outside, with distractions. 5 WPM, indoors, without distractions is cake compared to that.
Matt (N1VSB)
I had to learn Morse long time ago, and it's not hard at all.
Good for you.
I don't learn such things particularly well, I did try to learn Morse, I did take the test, I did fail it, and - beeng a teenager then - just plain lost interest. I would have aced the rest of the test, and gone on to be an enthusiastic ham operator, but having to learn an archaic, slow, uninteresting, unfamiliar, (for some) nearly unlearnable, and largely unused comm protocol just shut off my interest entirely.
Imagine having to get a "amateur computer programmer" license today, having to know Z80 machine code to pass the test. May be interesting for advanced programmers, but it's just pointless and discouraging for bright-eyed newbies.
Imagine "sure we'll let you use this nifty new Pentium M notebook - but to get permission you'll have to punch the right holes in this paper tape to make a PDP-8 boot." You'd lose a lot of bright beginners right there.
Can we get a "-1 Wrong" moderation option?
Huh. They'll be removing the requirement just in time for the morse code revival: Morse on cellphones.
Who woulda thought?!
...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
Each winter, just after the Christmas holiday, the airwaves become cluttered with lids/morons who got a ham radio but don't have a license.
Where do you live? I've been a ham for about 23 years, active on HF, VHF and UHF, and I have never observed this phenomena.
However, starting each January 1st, and ending on December 31st, you can tune around the 75 meter phone band, and hear a bunch of lids/morons who got a ham radio, and shouldn't have a license! Note: all of these guys passed a code test, so don't tell me that a code requirement keeps out the riff-raff.
73, N0EYE
I'm angry, and I Meta Moderate!
One thing that I haven't seen mentioned in the comments so far is that it is possible for a beginner with limited funds to build transmitters and receivers that are useful for c.w. operation from scratch. This is not the case with equipment for f.m. or single sideband voice operation. Thus, although learning Morse code is a hurdle that is formidable to some, once mastered it opens up many possibilities for technical experimentation.
I've now been a ham for over forty years. In my youth ham radio was for young geeks what computers have become now. My friends and I built our transmitters from parts scavenged from old radios and televisions, and in the process learned skills that later helped us when we built our own computers.
Some say learning Morse code is easy. For them that may have been true, but not all people learn things in the same way. As a teen-ager it took me two years from the time I decided I wanted to be a ham to the time I could pass a 5 word-per-minute Novice code test. It took me a full year to pass the next hurdle, the 13 word per minute test for a General license. It was almost 15 years more before I could pass the Extra Class 20 word per minute test. So I am completely sympathetic with those who say learning Morse code is a barrier. For some that is certainly true. I say let them into ham, radio, let them see how hard it can be to make yourself heard with a 100 watt transmitter competing on crowded voice bands, and then let them meet some of the operators who regularly succeed with 5 or 10 watt homebuilt rigs using Morse. Some may then decide it's worth the effort.
I think we're overlooking a major point here...if morse dies, who will translate the linux kernel panic messages for the rest of us?!
I am a licensed no-code tech. I keep on meaning to upgrade, but I really don't like morse code. I'd upgrade in a minute if the code requirement were eliminated.
But I thought the written test for technician was too easy. General is a bit tougher, but I think there needs to be more modern questions, i.e. things about psk31 and mfsk16, etc. These are the modes that newcomers will most likely use on the HF bands.
Amateur Radio does need a shot in the arm. THe kids that used to get interested in Radio and become licensed and active hams how are more interested in the Internet. Even though there are still people getting their license at a young age, many of them are not active.
Speaking of being active, I am going to go get on the radio. I wonder how 6 meters is doing. See you on 52.525!
I have had my license for 22 years. I sat in on the first exam back in Oct 1982. At that time, the exams were done by the FCC and not the ARRL. For Indianapolis, the visit was every 3 months. I failed it the first time even the novice 5 wpm. When the FCC testers returned, I barely passed the 13 wpm test which allowed me to sit on the Novice/General Exam elements. The morse code test was a 10 question exam and I got 7 right. When I satr previously, I barely failed the novice 5 wpm and really flunked the 13 wpm exam. Within a year, I sat for the Advanced license exam but failed it. With College coming up and other things, I never had the chance to retake the Advanced until 1992. I was looking at sitting in for the Extra but have yet to get to it.
One guy I knew in grad school attempted and passed the Extra license examination before the 20 wpm morse code requirements was lifted. He did not want to be called "Extra Lite".
An intersting thing is up until the early 1960's, Amateur Radio was thriving especially businesses selling the equipment. Around 1963, there was something called "Incentive Licensing" where if you have given privileges, unless you upgraded, they would be lost. Novices had a couple of phone bands where afterward, if you were a Novice, you could only do CW and no phone, SSTV or any other mode. The Incentive Licensing was a dabacle where quite a few businesses and magazines catering to Amateur Radio went out of business.
Today, even though I have the Advanced Class license, I do mostly VHF/UHF/SHF stuff these days. I don't have the property to put up a good skyhook. I would like to do some 160m but it requires a long antenna.
Once again we see the absurdity of the FCC. Anyone who wants to can get a radio, it's the "law abiding" who are stuck with all the hurdles and bureaucratic handstands required to get "licenses", just like "criminals" attaching amplifiers to their CB radios.
Here's a great article on the subject:
http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?Id=1662
"The Spectrum Should Be Private Property."
Bob-
The Ludwig von Mises Institute. The reasoning individuals economics
Im generally an optimist, but if you all cant see the state of the world today and realize that within our lifetimes (im 28 BTW) we will see another civil war or some type of large scale battle take place on american soil, then you are sadly misguided. When whatever fate that is going to befall this nation happens (and it will) i and all of you will be looking to the people who know how to survive, rebuild, and genarly carry on because they just know how to do "stuff". A few people out of the population who know Morse in a time of crisis will be invaluable. Everytime we loosen testing, remove protocols, and drop required knowledge from our standards, we are just proving how ignorant we are as a society. At some point everything we take for granted will be taken away or just wont work, and will be forced to fall back to older practices....which no one will remember. I was reminded of this in the simplist way, a week ago while watching the craptastic summer blockbuster "War of the Worlds" when the car mechanic is the only one who can get a functioning vehicle to leave town.
Don't ya hate it when the correct spelling of your favorite screen name is taken?
"Because it isn't important. If you think it is, then let me gently suggest that you send a handwritten note across the continent you're on, by horse."
Kevin Costner in The Postman.*
The point being is that while we don't need this or that when the world is perfect, and going our way. When the shit hits the fan. THAT'S when you find that all the skills you blew off, you suddenly need. How many people here have read the FoxFire series of books? There's tech right there that the majority don't know or care about, but I can guarentee you if civilization ever collapsed? You'd be glad that someone didn't blow it off, because it was old-fashion.
As a new ham myself...maybe a year and a half on the air now...I think it's fair to say that the morse REQUIREMENT should die.
The reason is simple. The morse technique can still be used to send packetized data, ala 300 baud modems and the like. Simple enough to keep a psk31 setup and use that instead of code. What I'm saying is that automatic code sending and recieiving is so inexpensive these days so as to make the real use of code by humans...less relevant.
Dont get me wrong, I admire those who can send and recieve code. The purpose of the amateur service is, however, to advance the hobby and science of radio telecommunications. Morse is well established and it WILL be a matter of pride among hams to learn, build, use, and compete with code. It does not serve to advance the hobby, the art and science, or the emergency services nature of ham radio to limit it to those who can master the morse code when we have such advanced radio technology.
In short, I dont need code because more advanced technology is affordable. We dont need people to experiment with code keys anymore, we need people to experiment with last mile solutions. The only way to encourage that is to change the focus of the license.
73's
Morse is fine for a communication backbone format. But it should be done in the background. With microcontrollers selling for 25 cents each that can convert Morse to ASCII and back, learning the code isn't really important any more. ..." becomes spoken 'A'-'M'-'O'-'S' and back again.
Microprocessors aren't going to go away. They're going to continue to get more powerful, more reliable, and cheaper. There's no real need to rely on century-old technology forms to ensure reliability in amateur radio communication. Just put in a 50-cent uC that converts Morse to voice
".- - ---
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"Look! There! Evil, pure and simple from the Eighth Dimension!" --Buckaroo Banzai
Although that's reason enough for me, consider times of extreme emergency. It's awful nice to have a supply of well equipped radio geeks handy.
Blogging because I can...
This is my chance to say how great (or bad) Morse code is.
Hang on... I'm trying really hard to care.
Still trying.
Ah nevermind.
Next topic: which type of clothespins are best? The regular ones, or the springy kind?
The hams were most likely in complete compliance with FCC regulations. The fault is in your appliances that were poorly designed so as to be susceptible to external interference. Most hams are more than willing to work with interference complaints and help you install proper filters on your equipment. See the ARRL information about interference here .
This is also one of the reason that I use code in conjunction with low power so as to avoid this sort of problem. The other reason is that it's so much fun.
I am in agreement with the other poster who proposed that the code requirement be lifted except for the Extra class license. That way the majority of licensees would have HF (Shortwave) privileges without having to learn code.
"Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
The quote "The Commission said it believes dropping Element 1--the 5 WPM Morse examination--would "encourage individuals who are interested in communications technology, or who are able to contribute to the advancement of the radio art, to become amateur radio operators."" If someone doesn't even have the drive to learn the measly 5wpm required do you really think they are going to 'advance the radio art!??" God the fcc is lame.
I'm a general class, and actually making most contacts now via CW, PSK31, and Hellschrieber (check out THAT mode for a bit of history).
c =1) and getting rid of BPL.
It turns out the jammers and freaks on HF and VHF present a representative sample of both old and new licensees (with more freaks on VHF just because there are so many more VHF-only licensees). Dropping the code to 5 WPM hasn't made one bit of difference one way of the other. Plenty of these jerks are advanced and extra class.
The real controversies that are worth fighting for because they will really make a difference are regulation by bandwidth (http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/07/19/3/?n
-Wiley KF6IIU
I should go and transpose this and decrypt it.
I did it! It says:
"Morse code was invented by the Babylonians, during the great war betwixt Marduk and Tiamat. Since then it has served mankind well.
I order Beer at the pub by saying deet deet deet dooot dooot daaaaa deet deet.
I courted a lady back in ninteen-ot-five with Morse, back then it was known as "sparky code".
Many people think that Morse code Rubella. This has never been proven.
Often times I sit in my garage with a 40 ounce bottle of the beer and send out radio signals and watch DVDs of animation of Japanse girls carrying guns."
I don't see what all the whining is about. 5wpm isn't a big deal. So what if you never use it? I never use any of the ancient programming languages they made me learn. CW has its merits, it's fun, it's simple, it's rewarding, it doesn't require a computer (which is nice when the power is out).
On the other hand, most of the people you talk to on HF anymore already don't know the code well enough to use it, so there's no really difference. Those who still want to use it will, those who don't, won't. Getting rid of the requirement won't change that. It's the combination of that and changing to regulation by bandwidth rather than mode that might lead to the death of CW.
So quit whining about being denied HF privledges because you simply don't want to learn morse code, and quit whining that your bands will be overrun by no-code n00bz because they're already there and you don't have to talk to em if you don't want to (in fact, you _can't_ talk to em if you're using CW).
....but:
Turns out he'd landed at the Wilmington International Airport.
Holy crap! (coming from someone who knows nothing about hang gliding)
Do not fold, spindle or mutilate.
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:)
Sorry I just couldnt help it
I look at it in pretty much the same way as those who insist on riding horses. Yes, there are places and applications where this sort of thing is still the best fit for the job. But for the most part, we're talking about a hobby here.
I say this as one who passed the original 20 word per minute test and who can still converse comfortably at 25 WPM on the air. I don't understand what all the fuss is about.
The important question here is not whether there will ever be anyone using morse code. The question is whether the Federal Communications Commission should have any interest to perpetuate this mostly impractical mode of communication. To wit: Do examiners demand that you demonstrate a proficiency for riding horses before issuing you a motor vehicle license?
The ARRL has in the past issued certificates for those who can demonstrate the ability to copy morse code at speeds of up to 40 Words Per Minute. It can be fun to prove that you can pass such a test. Thus, there always can be achievement tests for those who seek to prove a degree of totally impractical performance. Hey, we still have horse races, rodeos, trail rides, and fox hunts. But almost nobody seriously uses a horse to commute to work.
My question for the FCC is basically, does this test have sufficient value that we should maintain it as a prerequisite for receiving a federally regulated license? Or can we finally say that, despite the few applications where it might be useful, that Morse Code performance should be relegated to a hobby interest?
Nearly fifty percent of all graduates come from the bottom half of the class!
CW (the mode used to transmit Morse Code) is not only easily propagated through the air, it's also the easiest to set up equipment-wise. One of ham radio's primary purposes is emergency communications, isn't it?
I'm sure the CW requirement does discourage people from coming into ham radio, but no more than it always has. The problem is just the human race which is evolving into different things all the time. Now the radio hobby has always existed with me side-by-side with computers, and I was interested in computers years before I became interested in the radio hobby. But I'd say since most people do not own a ham radio license, most people of this era just don't care. Perhaps it will come back as a fad. Who knows?
Don't pull the code. It will greatly harm emergency efforts in the future, and it won't make that much of a difference in the rate of new applicants.
73 DE K3DRQ
I have mixed feelings about the abolishment of morse. I have been a licensed Ham for over 40 years, but more-or-less lost interest when I discovered computers 25 years ago. Since then I have occasionally operated a station, but not in the last five. I'm starting to get the bug again. Maybe I'll drag out my old Yaesu and get back on the bands.
Morse is an artform, and one that is often useful as well. It requires regular practice and a certain gift, or talent to do well. But low speed Morse can be mastered by anyone who really wants to.
Requiring Morse for Ham operating no longer makes much sense in the real world. But it's advantages and capabilities make keeping a pool of Morse operators around a good thing. To that end, while I would like to see it eliminated as a barrier to entry for the Ham bands, I would like to see it kept as an endorsement for extra privileges and recognition.
I would like to see each class of Ham license require only a written exam to pass, and the licensee have full privileges, except for a tiny sliver of bandwidth on each band reserved for Morse operation. A simple 5 WPM morse test would add the necessary endorsement to gain access to that sub-band. There are already code segments on the bands, so this wouldn't really be much of a change.
I would even support a second code endorsement at 13 WPM purely as a vanity thing. In other words, passing the faster test is something to brag about, but doesn't really add new privileges. Maybe granting access to a couple more code sub-bands, just to give a little incentive, but the "Basic Morse" endorsement and the "Advanced Morse" endorsement would mostly amount to the same thing.
Morse's glory days are past, but that doesn't mean we should completely bury it. It's an efficient and capable tool in the communications armamentarium, and encouraging those already so inclined to maintain and develop those skills is desirable. But keeping it as a requirement for entry to the august world of Ham Radio is ludicrous.
Nat
That was just beaten into us. The identify portion involves verifying you have the correct station by listening to the morse code identifier.
I'd like to see the FCC drop the requirement for general, but require something faster than 5 wpm for Extra and for Morse bands. The reason is that high-speed (30-40wpm and above) and low-speed Morse are quite different. At low speeds, you hear each individual dot and dash, whereas at high speed, each letter is a different squawk. Learning low-speed Morse does not make learning high-speed Morse much easier; you just get blocked at 20wpm when you can no longer parse the sounds quickly enough.
To ramp up with high-speed Morse code, you need Farnsworth mode, i.e. each letter is transmitted as though it were 50wpm or so, but you leave space between them to reduce the overall speed to 5wpm or whatever you can parse.
I hereby place the above post in the public domain.
Can't post any damn morse code because the Lameness Filter thinks it's ASCII art. Guess /. needs this rule change as much as anybody.
RETURN without GOSUB in line 1050
Don't most repeaters still identify themselves in Morse code? I don't think being able to send Morse is a usefull skill, since it is so easy to get a PC to do it for you. But being able to parse the Morse code you are hearing is still a usefull skill.
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
I must say, quite off-topicly (that's a word now, because I said so), that I visited an FCC office the other day, and the navels do look very nice. Well-kept. Not a piece of lint in the building. It's really no wonder that they do so much navel gazing. If I had one like theirs, I'd have a hard time taking my eyes off it.
Oh, the humanity!
I'm having a terrible time learning morse.
And I learned morse code three times. First time was when I got a pair of Radio Shack walkie-talkies when I was six. They had the code right on the radio and had a beeper. My friends and I got fairly proficient. Then, twice agian, a few years apart in Boy Scouts. At that time, I never used it beyond the specific functions I learned it for, so I forgot it after the first function and have since forgotten it again.
Some things stick really well in my long-term memory but Morse code isn't one of them. I'm the same with Palm Graffiti.
I have no doubt I could learn it again in a couple days to take a Ham test, and probably do darn well on it, but then I'd just never use it and forget it again. So I'm a different kind of example of why the test isn't such a wonderful idea.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
To tell the truth, I do not want to learn morse code. What excites me is the ability to build legal transmetters, and also getting digital data via RF.
But I don't want to see the 2 meter band turn into CB radio, either. It is pretty bad in some places as it is now.
Morse code is sort of a bozo filter.
interesting.
-
When the public electrical power system is compromised, most hams will be unable to communicate, because all they have is a little handy talkie that can barely reach the repeater base stations (which are themselves offline). Sure, some repeaters have battery backups. But so does the public telephone network and the Internet. And what volume of traffic and kind of traffic do you suppose the hams will be transmitting, even if the repeater facilities are operational?
- If one is suggesting that ham radio is critical for the authorities to communicate, wouldn't it be better to rework the official emergency infrastructure so that it doesn't go to pot in the event of the kind of emergencies that it's intended to respond to? (Is it really, in fact, so vulnerable, that the officials will all be helpless, wandering around and hoping that they encounter some amateur radio hobbyist who can save the day?)
Maybe the reality is that ham radio isn't a significant part of the official emergency infrastructure, but only augments it. Primarily, for private messages. In that case, what sense does Morse Code make? I am sure we can make rugged (even EMP resistant) computer-radio systems that work reliably in poor reception conditions and so on. Why not allow anybody at all to access the citizen-use emergency frequencies using a modern encoding system such as voice or data packets, and without needing any license?On the other hand, if ham radio is just for education and entertainment, why not limit it to exclusively Morse Code transmissions? Or at least that the operators only use "experimental" home-built equipment (which used to be tubes, but nowadays might be mostly-software kits)? These hobby hands would be for licensed hobbyists and expiermenters, not for people who are walking around with what amount to low-quality party-line mobile telephones they bought at the store.
My comments above were written with the USA in mind, not third-world or wilderness countries that don't have modern communications systems everywhere. But those places have perfectly good satellite phones, anyway. Maybe the civil defense authorities everywhere should issue some kind of satellite phone, so there's always going to be one nearby (in your village, out on your ranch, or on your suburban block, and in someone's nearby vehicle) for when you really need it. And there could be regional emergency telephone centers that switch the calls, point-to-point, from the various satellite, land-line, and mobile calls. These distributed emergency centers could be made to withstand any emergency situation. Of course, the message capacity would be very limited, but not so limited as the ham radio system.
As someone who took and passed both the 5 WPM Morse Code test and the written exam in order to obtain a Novice class license, which I might add, I still hold, I believe those Novices and Techs who had to take and pass the code requirement should now receive an automatic upgrade in class of license to General, if this becomes law/regulation.
IT IS AN ISSUE OF FAIRNESS, since someone coming off the street if this becomes law/regulation would not have to take a code test, while people like myself, had to.
arrogant, overbearing, overstepping, corporate stooge of a Federal bureacracy that no longer seems to grasp the impact of the technologies it purports to regulate, while operating in a matter diametrically opposed to the will and best interests of the American public should be done away with instead.
But hey, that's only an opinion.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
--- .... -. ..- . ...
.... -. --- . ...
(oh nuts)
instead of
---
(oh nots)
gewg_
I agree that there are always a few rotten apples. Over the 48 years I've had my license, I've observed a few of them, too. For the most part, the Hams do a pretty good job of policing their own ranks whenever possible. It's certainly to our own benefit to do so.
"Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
Get the C2 Morse Trainer from here. It's really quite amazing, and totally beats the G4FON one.
It all goes downhill from first post
It aint about a barrier to entry.
It's about being able to get a message thru in distress. Say someone was trying to *JAM* a frequency - I can *STILL* get thru with morse and tone, where I can't get thru with phone (VOICE).
So stop bitching about the code requirement. If you want to be able to communicate around the world in a nuclear emergency (See remarks from Chinese general), then you just need to put up and shut up and learn morse.
I learned back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, but I hear that a new technique makes learning easier. Individual characters are sent at a 25 wpm rate, but the spacing between characters is left such that the overall rate is 5 wpm or even lower. You supposedly learn the "sound" of the character and not the individual dit dahs. Might be worth a try. I'm sure that there must be freebie programs that will run on a PC that do this.
The ones that understand basic courtesy might be able to teach you something.
They've enjoyed their hobby for 60+ years, respect that and be a little nicer about how you talk about them.
They probably also had "manners" back in the day when CW was popular.
While I agree with some of your basic sentiments, you're so rude I wouldn't listen to you if I were them either.
+++OK ATH
FYI Nate never tried to talk with them. And none of them dislikes me. Could go to their field days, stupid meetings, and join the clubs. Sorry if giving my opinion is rude to you. If you want me to really be rude, I can. But your overreaction is just the typical myopic stupid attitude that most of you deadheads have, and quite frankly you ruined ham radio which must have been nice at one time. Was that rude enough for you, lol? Have a nice weekend. 73
Take it or leave it. Your call.
I think you're missing the point - there are hams out there that don't act like those. You're not going to find them until you get involved and look for them.
Hint: Easiest way to find really smart people in Ham radio? Pick any band there are NO commercial radios available for them at any ham radio store, and figure out how to build/modify a radio to get on them. You'll find them there. Only once in a great while do they wander aimlessly onto the local 2M repeater.
+++OK ATH
Nice of you to care Nate. But what does "pick any band there are NO commercial radios available for them at any ham radio store" mean? I am not Harry Cohen watching the Lady from Shanghai, and I will not pay anybody $10k to explain it to me, but if someone besides you knows what you wrote, they are a smarter person than me Gunga Din. Hint-read what I posted. It said I had some hams as good friends. And these guys really really know radio and tech. They also pretty much have the same opinion as me about a large segment of hams. And what the hell is wrong with the 2M band? Just because you and I dont use it, does that mean something is wrong with people who do? That's what you seem to be implying to me. Man, now I am going to be polite, and just say it is better to pass over in silence that with which we can not recall without sorrow. Give it a rest, Nate 88
Really -- for most people, 5wpm code is really quite easy. It just takes a bit of practice. The former 13 and 20wpm elements took quite a bit more skill, but at 5wpm, you have plenty of time between each letter to think of what it is. There's a real plateau at about 7-8wpm, which is overcome with quite a bit of practice. That's why the initial test was set at 5wpm, which just demonstrates knowledge, not proficiency.
I'm gonna get modded down for this for sure, but the code requirement is basically just there to keep out the radio equivalent of the AOLiens. Amateur Radio, by and large, is a lot more civilized than Usenet or most Web-based forums. (Even Slashdot, with the benefit of its moderation.)
I haven't used Morse in years. (Then again, I've hardly been on the air in years. But I'd bet you dollars to doughnuts I could still pass a 5wpm Morse "test" easily. It's just not that difficult, people.
de KB4QPV
Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
(and that should be obvious)