QRZ! Ham Radio 3/QRZ Ham Radio Callsign Database - Volume 3.iso/digests/policy/930482.txt

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Date: Wed, 24 Nov 93 04:30:11 PST
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Subject: Ham-Policy Digest V93 #482
To: Ham-Policy


Ham-Policy Digest           Wed, 24 Nov 93       Volume 93 : Issue  482

Today's Topics:
                         Another possible use
                       No Code etc... (5 msgs)
                   No Code etc... (really: testing)

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We trust that readers are intelligent enough to realize that all text
herein consists of personal comments and does not represent the official
policies or positions of any party.  Your mileage may vary.  So there.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 22 Nov 1993 21:57:09 GMT
From: newsstand.cit.cornell.edu!newsstand.cit.cornell.edu![e-mail]
Subject: Another possible use
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> Gary Coffman,
[e-mail] writes:
>
>Yeah, Steve Whatshisname of Winnebiko fame has one on the bike's
>handlebars. It's really slick. They're actually shaped more like a
>potato than a keypad. I found I could chord in about 30 WPM after
>a few minutes practice. There are 4 keys for the fingers and a
>nibble shift key for the thumb. Two squeezes encodes any ASCII
>character. Baudot could be done with a single squeeze unless you
>needed a shift character. Not the 120 WPM I do on the keyboard,
>but lots faster than I can do with a pencil.
>
>Gary
>--

I've read about the potato shaped one, and that seemed like a neat idea.
I think the one I read about had both 5 buttons on it for chording in
characters, and also some sensors for positions so it was an 'air mouse'
- some sort of three dimensional mouse input. Never seen one in the flesh
(plastic?) though. I'd like to. I'll bet that a well designed one could
be the next step up from the traditional keyboard.

I saw Steve Roberts (N4RVE?) once when he came through town (we got to
visit in a campground for the afternoon and get a 'pull the covers' tour
of the bike), and then saw him last year again at Interop. The
arrangement on the handlebars, at least at one point, was actually 8
switches, 4 under the fingers of each hand. He learned to input ASCII
directly in a one bit per switch arrangement.  He writes about the
development of it in his book, "Computing Across America" - I think he
said he figured if he could use 8 fingers on a flute, he could do it
while riding for ASCII.  However I wouldn't be surprised if he has
switched to the potato chording method since I last paid attention.

Anybody know anything about a commercial product for a chording keyboard
like the potato one? I can just see it pasted on top of the stick
shift... :-)

Kevin

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 22 Nov 93 22:07:39 EST
From: noc.near.net!news.delphi.com![e-mail]
Subject: No Code etc...
To: [e-mail]

Fill-in-the-blank, maybe.  But not essay questions.  The big reason for
multiple-choice questions is to prevent misinterpretation of the answers; a
multiple-choice question, if written well, will have only one valid answer.  By
contrast an essay question might well be scored as "wrong" (through a
misunderstanding
or actual fraud) even if the examinee actually knows the subject.  A
fill-in-the-blank
could be a good alternative if you're trying to avoid the memorization problem,
but what happens if the correct answer is "vacuum tube" but an examinee says
"valve?"

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 22 Nov 93 22:10:39 EST
From: swrinde!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!news.kei.com!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!noc.near.net!news.delphi.com![e-mail]
Subject: No Code etc...
To: [e-mail]

Why should I?  I'm sick and tired of having to reread entire posts that are
reposted by others.  In any case, to quote even a portion of a post I'd either
have to (1) save it on disk, log off, leave my comm program, load my text
editor, compose a reply, exit the editor, reload the comm program, log back in
and upload the reply, or (2) type in the quoted text by hand.

If you don't have access to what you yourself wrote, blame yourself or your
newsreader.

------------------------------

Date: 18 Nov 93 23:25:54 GMT
From: agate!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!news.umbc.edu!eff!news.kei.com!yeshua.marcam.com!zip.eecs.umich.edu!destroyer!nntp.cs.ubc.ca!alberta!atha![e-mail]
Subject: No Code etc...
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Larry Kollar) writes:
>I can run my entire packet station on batteries.  The older Tandy
>laptops are good for several hours between recharge/new AA batteries;
>that's why they're so popular at hamfests.  A couple people I know
>personally have mobile packet and/or AMTOR stations.

I can run a kilowatt & computer and you-name-it on batteries.
The trick is to have big ones ;)

regards,
Ross ve6pdq
who runs his entire house on batteries, 365 days a year.
--
Ross Alexander,[e-mail],[phone],[e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 19 Nov 93 00:07:38 EST
From: dog.ee.lbl.gov!agate!news.Brown.EDU!noc.near.net!news.delphi.com![e-mail]
Subject: No Code etc...
To: [e-mail]

No, there are OTHER reasons why many of us want to eliminate the Morse TEST.
Such as the fact that some people have a VERY HARD time trying to learn it; the
fact that knowledge of Morse Code is NOT relevant to the effective use of
other modes; and the principle that government shouldn't impose irrational
restrictions on the people.  (For example, how would you like it if you had to
learn to ride a motorcycle in order to get a driver's license of any kind?)

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 19 Nov 93 00:10:28 EST
From: dog.ee.lbl.gov!agate!news.Brown.EDU!noc.near.net!news.delphi.com![e-mail]
Subject: No Code etc...
To: [e-mail]

No, as I have said OVER AND OVER that is NOT acceptable -- knowledge of Morse
Code is NOT RELEVANT to the use of phone.  The fact that you're advocating
requiring Morse in order to use phone shows clearly that you simply want to
use Morse Code as a barrier to entry, NOT as a test of relevant skills.  I
submit that this is entirely the wrong attitude to take in a free society.

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 23 Nov 93 01:27:34 EST
From: library.ucla.edu!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!howland.reston.ans.net!math.ohio-state.edu!caen!malgudi.oar.net!wariat.org!mystis![e-mail]
Subject: No Code etc... (really: testing)
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Paul Flaherty) writes:

> [e-mail] (Dan Pickersgill  N8PKV) writes:
>
> >Jeff, ANY essay question is open to interpretation. I don't know if you
> >have ever been involved in teaching non-technical people, but eassy
> >questions can be VERY hard to grade. And VERY much open to
> >interpretation, by their very nature.
>
> This is the primary motivation behind the multiple choice test format.
> Anything that would replace it would have to have the same or nearly
> the same degree of subjectivity.  So we're pretty much stuck with the
> multiple choice format.
>
> A number of improvements could be made to the existing tests, however; these
> include:
>
> 1. Directed question sets.  Sets of questions are clustered as groups in the
>    pool.  The clusters are related to one problem.  For example, here's a
>    circuit.  What kind of circuit is it?  What's the current in this componen
>    What should I add to make the circuit do this-and-such?
>
> 2. More distractors.  At least four.
>
> 3. Better distractors.  All should be at least related to the true answer.
>    Equalize lengths.
>
> 4. Larger question pool.  About 4x the current one.
>
> --
> -=Paul Flaherty, N9FZX | "Fighter pilots make movies.  Bomber pilots make
> ->[e-mail]   |  history."  -- Jake Grafton

I won't comment on #1, 2 might be a good idea, however I think 3
distractors can (note CAN) be enough. Good distractors are hard to come
by. Now #3 is the best idea I have heard. But lets get better questions.
I mean asking if xyz freq. is in what band? There is no better way to
get that right other than to memorize. If I am not familiar with the
band I will use a card or list of freq.'s I have access to.

As to the last I TOTALLY agree with Paul. (We can argue over the 4x.)


 ======================================================================
 || Dan Pickersgill  N8PKV   ||  'Pots have handles, Magazines have  ||
 || [e-mail]    ||      Personals, Hams have Names'     ||
 ======================================================================
 || 'Your enemy is never a villian in his own eyes. Keep this in     ||
 ||  mind; it may offer a way to make him your friend. If not you    ||
 ||  can kill him without hate - and quickly.'  -Lazarus Long        ||
 ======================================================================

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 22 Nov 93 22:18:35 EST
From: news.centerline.com!noc.near.net!news.delphi.com![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>s.delp
Subject : Re: No Code etc...

We're not talking about "at this time."  I'm talking about something that I
feel needs to be CHANGED.  As for a code waiver, I am not a handicapped person
(in either the general or legal meaning of the term) so there's no point in
asking for one.

I have in fact tried, on several occasions, to learn the code and each time I
have come away with a sense of abject failure -- it just doesn't sink in.  The
problem is not with speed, but with memorizing the character set (meaning
establishing the direct relationship between "didah" and A).  The only
characters
I have managed to memorize are A, E, O, N, S, T and V; I can copy those at
between 15 and 20 wpm if the QRM isn't too thick, and can send those at well
over 13 with a straight key, but I am well short of being able to memorize the
rest of the character set.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 19 Nov 93 00:13:45 EST
From: dog.ee.lbl.gov!agate!news.Brown.EDU!noc.near.net!news.delphi.com![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>
Subject : Re: Reprinted by popular demand

Probably because, a lot of the time, there isn't anyone on duty.  (I know,
there SHOULD be according to the rule, but...)

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 19 Nov 93 00:12:33 EST
From: dog.ee.lbl.gov!agate!news.Brown.EDU!noc.near.net!news.delphi.com![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <rcrw90-181193140733@node_13059.aieg.mot.com>
Subject : Re: No Code etc...

And don't forget the other big reason to make question pools public -- to
allow one and all to see how difficult the questions really are and to object
to them if they believe it justified.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 19 Nov 93 00:02:12 EST
From: noc.near.net!news.delphi.com![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <2cc7ef$[e-mail]>, <pschleck.753560187@cwis>, <2cekks$[e-mail]>ropa.e
Subject : Re: Back to our regularly scheduled whining.

Why would preemption of CC&Rs "destroy the real estate market?"  The real
estate market certainly wasn't destroyed when CC&Rs forbidding sales to blacks
(etc.) were overturned, and it certainly wasn't destroyed in Kentucky when we
amended our constitution to void the so-called "broad-form deeds" so that
landowners could forbid holders of mineral rights from strip-mining their
land.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1993 11:16:14 GMT
From: munnari.oz.au!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!darwin.sura.net!gatekeeper.es.dupont.com!esds01.es.dupont.com![e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

References <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>,<[e-mail]>
Reply-To : [e-mail]
Subject : Re: Why isn't Amateur Radio like CB?

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Gary Coffman) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>>
>> I disagree, my license is my graduation certificate.
>
>Isn't that sad? In a service that's supposed to be a lifelong learning
>experience, the only graduation certificate you should get is the one
>issued by the coroner. But alas, we have people with the above attitude
>in our ranks.
>
>Gary
>
>--
>Gary Coffman KE4ZV          | Where my job's going,  | gatech!wa4mei!ke4zv!gary


I gotta say I'm kinda confused about your response above Gary.
Did I say in ANY previous message about I have learned all I
need at the end of any written test?  No!  Hamming to me has
been a learning experience since my Novice days.  I have experienced
most that Amateur Radio has to offer CW to SATS.  And have
learned alot, technically.

My comment was aimed at the written test that I had to take
for Extra and how easy it was....

So keep your sympathy to yourself.....and you need to quit
trying to read between the lines of peoples messages (...that
is unless your just trying to stir people up as I suspect).


73, Tom WI3P  [e-mail]  or [e-mail]

"Shutup and sit down you moron!"...Ben Stern

*** MY EMPLOYER DOESN'T SPEAK FOR ME NOR I FOR THEM  ****

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End of Ham-Policy Digest V93 #482
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