No-Code Techs have good company

[Sonwatcher]

On Eham I found some info-

Here we go again another Morse code argument I guess. And the lack of intelligent folks that don't use it right? Funny that the 5 current astronauts that are in space now whom posses a ham ticket our no-codes. Very interesting is it not?

Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ
Stephanie Wilson, KD5DZE
Lisa Nowak, KC5ZTB
Michael Lopez-Alegria, KE5GTK
Sunita Williams, KD5PLB

http://www.eham.net/articles/14293

Seems with all the comments in Hamdom about no-codes being lazy in their desire to earn their way I think these Hams would disagree. I think the upper class hams need to remember a new Tech has no choice but to be a "no-code" The FCC is the one that made that choice not the Tech. To belittle them because they didn't take a code test really ignores the facts of why. They shouldn't be labeled lazy and portrayed that they just didn't want to earn their way. They just followed the rules the FCC made. Just like when the code requiremnts changed when some of them had to do less wpm than others.

 

[W4GSK]

I read these comments about "NCT's" being lazy and it really ticks me off. For anyone who has looked at my profile, my occupation is "Stay at home Dad", aka "Mr. Mom". I have two kids, two cats, a dog and a rabbit, a house to keep clean, meals to cook, laundry PLUS all the normal "Dad jobs" like mowing, car repair, house repair, etc. Lazy? I don't have the time to learn the code and upgrade to General!!! I literally work 24/7, or it seems that way sometimes. I rarely get any time to get on the radio or internet much less study for a code test.

I'd like to see some of the O.F.'s that complain about us NCT's being lazy do the job I have! I doubt most of them would survive it!

 

[C2]

Most of the code thumpers can't even wipe their own, let alone an unruely child's.

 

[W4GSK]

Most of the code thumpers can't even wipe their own, let alone an unruely child's.

Fortunately, my kids are past my having to wipe their's!

I'm wondering when the FCC is going to "drop the bomb". I have this gut feeling that the no code test announcement is any day now. The code thumpers will have a mess to clean then! By the way, I'm not trying to stir up a debate. Personally, I don't care if the test stays or goes. I'm trying to learn the code anyway (when I can get the time) so it just doesn't matter to me. I'm just not going to be fanatical about the code.

 

[todt061458]

Bravo now lets hear the hams that took the "CODE" test talk down to the no code hams.
The times are a changing eather get on the bus or get left behind. Now lets encourage more new hams by using this example instead of always moaning about cbers and incursions into ham terrority ect. Lets show a positive attitude and not the grumpy ham image you get on the web.

 

[C2]

Well, I shouldn't have said that.

I think code for Extra would be fine.

It's just easier to get rid of it and the FCC will not have to hear of it again once they do.

 

[CDX8412]

I don't want everyone to get the idea that morse code is a terrible thing that only old gomers use it. I think morse code is interesting and I am not an old gomer (yet 8) )

Ok, so here is the important part. HF privileges definitely expand your amateur radio experience. 6 meter and 2 meter sideband (weak signal) work is great and I like it a lot, BUT there isn't enough of it (unfortunately) to keep your interest peaked. So what you are left with is V/UHF FM repeater or simplex operation.

While not bad, that alone could be fairly utilitarian and sometimes dull. I have heard many many boring QSOs on 2m repeaters with octogenarians droning on about something for some long, the forget the point of what they meant to say.

HF, however, has much of what draws radio hobbiests to CB.
Impressive, all mode HF rigs with unlimited antenna options, large power output, and DX, DX and more DX.

So, we can complain about the morse requirement, complain about the amateurs who want to hold the hard line and keep code, and complain about the FCC dragging it's feet on a decision...OR, you can try to learn code while the requirement exists and get it over with and get on HF now !

I am willing to try to help anyone learn code with practice sessions via Echolink because I want to enhance my sending and receiving skills (yes, I passed the 5 wpm test, but I actually want to learn and use code and get to at least 13 wpm someday).

Some may believe that code is worthless or at least not worthy of learning. I would personally disagree, but as for as a testing requirement, my vote would be to modify the current requirement as suggested by some other members. But don't dismiss morse code as a useable means of communications.
I hope many of you that have Tech licenses get your HF privileges, one way or the other, and decide to learn and use morse code as another mode of transmission, along with SSB, AM, FM, PSK31, RTTY, Packet, etc.

73 and I really do hope to hear you guys on the air.

 

[cyclops1970]

Funny that the 5 current astronauts that are in space now whom posses a ham ticket are no-codes. Very interesting is it not?

Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ
Stephanie Wilson, KD5DZE
Lisa Nowak, KC5ZTB
Michael Lopez-Alegria, KE5GTK
Sunita Williams, KD5PLB

http://www.eham.net/articles/14293

Wellllll.....it might be that the reason behind this is that there are no HF rigs on the Space Station or Space Shuttle.

There are lots of people who get their ham tickets (NCTs) just because it's there. EMTs, fire, computer geeks, etc. get them and never use them. I'd say that for astronauts, it's just something that just comes along with the spacesuit. There are a few that really enjoy it, but for most, it's probably just something they picked up along the way.

Trying to read something into who has and hasn't gotten a certain class of license is, at best, ludicrous.

 

[Sonwatcher]

I wouldn't call them "lazy" is something that stands out to me.

t's just something that just comes along with the spacesuit

I doubt it. But being a NCT IS something that comes along with a Tech license whether I like it or not.

 

[W4GSK]

I don't want everyone to get the idea that morse code is a terrible thing that only old gomers use it. I think morse code is interesting and I am not an old gomer (yet 8) )

Ok, so here is the important part. HF privileges definitely expand your amateur radio experience. 6 meter and 2 meter sideband (weak signal) work is great and I like it a lot, BUT there isn't enough of it (unfortunately) to keep your interest peaked. So what you are left with is V/UHF FM repeater or simplex operation.

While not bad, that alone could be fairly utilitarian and sometimes dull. I have heard many many boring QSOs on 2m repeaters with octogenarians droning on about something for some long, the forget the point of what they meant to say.

HF, however, has much of what draws radio hobbiests to CB.
Impressive, all mode HF rigs with unlimited antenna options, large power output, and DX, DX and more DX.

So, we can complain about the morse requirement, complain about the amateurs who want to hold the hard line and keep code, and complain about the FCC dragging it's feet on a decision...OR, you can try to learn code while the requirement exists and get it over with and get on HF now !

I am willing to try to help anyone learn code with practice sessions via Echolink because I want to enhance my sending and receiving skills (yes, I passed the 5 wpm test, but I actually want to learn and use code and get to at least 13 wpm someday).

Some may believe that code is worthless or at least not worthy of learning. I would personally disagree, but as for as a testing requirement, my vote would be to modify the current requirement as suggested by some other members. But don't dismiss morse code as a useable means of communications.
I hope many of you that have Tech licenses get your HF privileges, one way or the other, and decide to learn and use morse code as another mode of transmission, along with SSB, AM, FM, PSK31, RTTY, Packet, etc.

73 and I really do hope to hear you guys on the air.

Hey Paul, I couldn't agree with you more. Especially the part about VHF/UHF. It didn't take me long to get burned out on repeaters. Ironically, I just bought a new HT too! 6 meters is kind of like a car I used to have. A heck of a lot of fun when it ran. Problem was, it didn't run very often!

Like I said earlier, I'm trying to learn it. I've got about a dozen letters so far. Just gotta find the time! :?

 

[cyclops1970]

It's just something that just comes along with the spacesuit

I doubt it.

I don't. Take a look at the astronaut's calls the next time it's brought up. Sometimes they are nearly in sequence and almost always a 2x3 (non-vanity) call. Don't you think that with that many hams in one place SOMEONE would get a vanity call?? It leads me to believe that many of those calls never get on the air.

But being a NCT IS something that comes along with a Tech license whether I like it or not.

And I didn't want to be a NCT from the start. My first test I passed the Novice and Tech written and the Novice code (a Tech-Plus). Missed the General code by one!

Second test session...let's see. I think I passed the Extra code that time and the General written.

Third test session...Advanced and Extra written.

I guess the thing that ticks me off the most about the whole no-code thing is the idea that if someone doesn't like the rules, they feel entitled to force concessions from the system.

You know, a license is an achievement, not an entitlement.

 

[Sonwatcher]

A little history-

In the 1970s and 1980s, astronauts who also were Amateur Radio operators worked to convince NASA that taking their ham gear along on spaceflights could enhance the space agency's public education role.

* U.S. astronaut Owen K. Garriott, holder of Amateur Radio callsign W5LFL, wanted to fly Amateur Radio on America's first space station – Skylab – but was turned down by NASA. Garriott flew to Skylab in 1973 without his ham gear. However, ten years later, he convinced the space agency to let him take his equipment to space aboard shuttle Columbia flight STS-9 in 1983. He became the first radio amateur to chat with hams on Earth while orbiting the globe. In fact, he spoke with hundreds of his fellow operators.

* Anthony W. "Tony" England, amateur callsign WØORE (the number Ø is pronounced zero) was the second ham-astronaut in space. He flew aboard shuttle Challenger flight STS-51F in 1985. He not only had Amateur Radio voice capability, but also took along ham TV gear to transmit pictures down from the spacecraft. The TV signals beamed up to WØORE from the Johnson Space Center ham station, callsign W5RRR, were the first live TV pictures ever received aboard a shuttle. On the ground, more than 6,000 young people, taking part in his SAREX operation through school and scouting clubs, were thrilled to see the first-ever amateur pictures beamed down from space.

* Ronald A. Parise, callsign WA4SIR, made more contacts with hams on the ground when he flew in space aboard shuttle Columbia in 1990.

* Kenneth D. Cameron, callsign KB5AWP, used Amateur Radio from space when he flew on shuttle Atlantis flight STS-37 in 1991. In fact, that was the first time the entire shuttle crew was composed entirely of licensed Amateur Radio operators – Steven R. Nagel, N5RAW; Jerome "Jay" Apt, N5QWL; Linda M. Godwin N5RAX; and Jerry L. Ross, N5SCW; and Cameron.

Cameron headed a different five-ham crew aboard shuttle Atlantis flight STS-74 in 1995 – James D. Halsell, KC5RNI; William S. McArthur, KC5ACR; Jerry L. Ross, N5SCW; Canadian Chris A. Hadfield, KC5RNJ/Canadian callsign VA3OOG; and Cameron. That crew was very active from seven hours after launch until seven hours before landing. During more than 125 orbits around Earth, they averaged about 100 contacts with hams on the ground each day.

Since Garriott, England, Parise and Cameron convinced NASA of the educational benefits from Amateur Radio in human spaceflight, ham operators have flown on more than two-dozen space shuttle missions. Dozens of men and women have used the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment – SAREX – to talk from orbit with thousands of school kids and their families down on Earth.

http://www.spacetoday.org/Satellites/Hamsats/ARISS.html

Astronauts who already are licensed radio amateurs become familiar with the use of various types of equipment, the general principles of amateur operation, operating modes, and packet radio modules, theory and software. For hands-on training, they have a hardware mockup to simulate a real ham radio station. Other astronauts and cosmonauts have been shown how to be tested and receive a U.S. amateur radio license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

http://www.spacetoday.org/Satellites/Hamsats/ARISS.html

The entire Amateur Radio Project is done on a volunteer basis from the local amateur radio clubs that work individually with student groups to the astronauts themselves

http://www.nasaexplores.com/show2_articlea.php?id=01-018

It seems the Call sign does not just come with the suite. This program is made up of astronauts that were already licensed amateurs and astronauts that prepared and took the needed tests.... all on a volunteer basis because they want to be involved with the ARISS project.

I guess the thing that ticks me off the most about the whole no-code thing is the idea that if someone doesn't like the rules, they feel entitled to force concessions from the system.

For years I entertained becoming a Ham. I never took the time to do it until I met StoneCrusher. He talked to me about going and taking the test 3 years ago. He I and Jonbah all took our test the same day. My wife and I took the tech and they took the General. So I had no choice when I took the test but to be a NTC. The problem on a lot of Ham forums is that some show great disrespect for anyone that didn't take code. My point is I had no choice. Today anyone that takes the required Tech test does not take a code test. I just find it very childish to degrade a group of people that had no choice nor control over the test requirements they they take. Now sometime in the future code will be dropped for General and already some have said they would not QSO with a no-code anything because they didn't "earn" it. But again those down the road have no choice but to take a test that doesn't require code. Not their fault. Why degrade NCT's for the same reason ?

 

[C2]

I always called myself a no-code Extra. First try I passed them all, but did not even bother with code.

I guess I din't earn my wings, or whatever you'd call it in hamville (where's Beetle?).

 

[todt061458]

When talking about Code or no code answer this question How does knowing code make you a Better ham in the year 2006?
What makes Code special? why is it better or more special than any other operating mode?
Most of the no codes I know are good operators better than some old time hams I know. The new hams are for the most part not so judgemental as some of the old timers they know it's just a hobbie and only want a good QSO.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

IMHO code does not make a better operator,knowledge of HOW to operate and maintain a station does.I think that the exams should be tougher and forget about the code requirement.When I wrote for my ticket back in 1989 or '90 the test written here in Canada involved 50 questions about electronic theory and another 50 about regulations.Most were multiple choice but some required a written paragraph and you had to be able to draw a basic station layout using what equipment was on a list.You also needed to be able to draw a basic block diagram of a TX and RX.The alloted time was either an hour and a half or two hours and most people needed at least the 1 1/2 hrs.This was all for the basic ticket.The advanced was even harder.There was no such thing as a question bank to draw from either.I wish they would go back to this kind of testing.People that passed actually knew something.A pass mark was 70%. I scored 100% on theory and only a 98% on regulations BTW.