There used to be a code requirement for ALL licenses - even Novice - until a decade or so ago when they started removing the requirement in a bid to get new people into the hobby.
Frankly, I think this is stupid. The higher ranking licenses should still have to learn CW - partly out of historical purposes, but also because its an extremely effective way to communicate in very low power situations, or in cases where you simply don't have voice available. Hell, if you can flip a light on and off, you can communicate in Morse.
Also, in the era of disaster preparedness awareness, you'd think a lot more people would be becoming hams - and CW should still be a part of that in some part. Someday, a hurricane or terrorist attack is going to hit - and people will be staring at their dead cell phones in panic. Without hams, there would be little to no disaster communication in the affected areas.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dave @ Dec 17th 2006 7:39PM
There used to be a code requirement for ALL licenses - even Novice - until a decade or so ago when they started removing the requirement in a bid to get new people into the hobby.
Frankly, I think this is stupid. The higher ranking licenses should still have to learn CW - partly out of historical purposes, but also because its an extremely effective way to communicate in very low power situations, or in cases where you simply don't have voice available. Hell, if you can flip a light on and off, you can communicate in Morse.
Also, in the era of disaster preparedness awareness, you'd think a lot more people would be becoming hams - and CW should still be a part of that in some part. Someday, a hurricane or terrorist attack is going to hit - and people will be staring at their dead cell phones in panic. Without hams, there would be little to no disaster communication in the affected areas.