Phil -

I _knew_ that you were one of the guys for whom that "announcement" was 
probably a breath of fresh air. I don't denigrate CW and have a great 
respect for guys like you for whom it seems to come naturally, but I have a 
tin ear (despite the stereotype, I'm about as completely unmusical a blind 
person as you'll ever see) and it was never easy for me, except at the 
original 5 wpm rate, which I had no trouble with. I hit the 11 wpm plateau, 
though, and had a really tough time getting to 13 to pass my General exam. 
In fact, I took a hiatus of almost a year away from ham radio and then, when 
I came back, I was able to get over the hump. I used to dream about an Extra 
ticket, but knew that the code requirement would always make it impossible, 
but maybe it's not completely outside the realm of possibility now.

I am glad that CW is no longer a _requirement_, though. For those, like you, 
who love it and use it, that's great--and I'm sure that there'll always be 
hams who'll continue the tradition. The original reason for it being 
required, however, is long gone and never to return. What I _would_ favor 
would be some kind of special privileges for the true CW operators. Of 
course, they already have the incentive of being able to use the CW portions 
of the bands (and I hope that there won't eventually come a day, as I fear 
there will, when pressure starts coming to pare down those frequencies and 
turn them over to phone ops), but maybe some kind of CW ticket or 
endorsement would be appropriate for those who want to make the effort.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, April 01, 2006 10:43 PM
Subject: Re: FCC Morse code announcement


Amanda,

CW was way easier for me than learning the theory and that was true for all
three classes of testing I took.  Shoot, my examinor in 1966 told me I was
copying 10 words a minute when he tested me for the novice code requirement.
When I took the extra years later at 20 words per minute, I was at about 50
words per minute.  The written test was the incentive for me.  I really
wanted all my band space back they took away when they created incentive
licensing.  So that pushed me more than anything.  It bugged me to no end
when they took large chunks of my band away for both phone and the code.  I
hated to see it drop to 5 words a minute and I will hate it when they drop
it all together and they will, too.

Phil.
K0NX