QRZ! Ham Radio 4/QRZ Ham Radio Callsign Database - Volume 4.iso/digests/policy/940209.txt

Internet Message Format | 1994-11-13 | 14KB

Date: Tue, 17 May 94 04:30:09 PDT
From: Ham-Policy Mailing List and Newsgroup <[e-mail]>
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Subject: Ham-Policy Digest V94 #209
To: Ham-Policy


Ham-Policy Digest           Tue, 17 May 94       Volume 94 : Issue  209

Today's Topics:
                           Code test speeds
                   HELP! - Sharp PC-6200 lcd & docs
                            Theory Exams.
                       VE within the military?

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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: 17 May 94 16:43:45 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Code test speeds
To: [e-mail]

Hello folks,

I 've been watching your animated discussion about code speed in ham license
testing, and I thought I would add some fuel to the fire.

I got my license about one year ago, after spending six months of hard studying
, just to learn the code. I must admit, that my mentality was very negative
about it before. I however went up to 10 wpm while the exams required only 5
and were even less than that. So, I think that I proved that it was all in my
mind (the idea that I could never learn the beast).

Now let's see :

1. Did I feel that I accomplished something?
Nope, I just had to do it to get the license. I derived no satisfaction what'so
 ever, out of it.

2. Did I use it?
Yes, for about 10 contacts when I couldn't raise anything else on the SSB
portion of the band. It looks that code users are always around (persistence,
or it takes them to long to communicate due to the inefficiencies of the
media, compared to spoken language).

3. Did I like it?
Nope. I hated every minute of it. First, people try to be cryptic in this
mode. How did you feel as a newcome, if someone send you "MN TNX OM FR QSO CU
AGN SN"? Does that mean that you need shorthand to say what you need to say,
due again to the media's inefficiency? And of course, there were always the
guys, who refused to speak to me when they found out that my speed of calling
CQ wasn't the same as my normal transmitting speed.

4. Did I improve on it?
Nope. Because I stopped using it very soon. I am still listening to Supermorse,
 just to keep my ear sharp, not for a conversation, but for some sort of
emergency that I might hear as I am tuning around the bands. Oh, sure I know
that today, even ships have more modern methods of sending a distress call,
but hope is a characteristic of the human beings.

5. Is it efficient (as far as resources are concerned)?
Sure, but why do I have to do it manually, if my PK232 is much better at this
sort of things? I know, I know, if the signal is not good, if the sender is
not very experienced, if there is heavy QRM, the modem will not copy. Well,
fine, so will my ear. I am in this hobby to explore the media, but mostly to
*SPEAK* with people. Communications is all it is about. I never fancy-ed
talking to a machine, let alone the machine talking back to me. And dear
friends, efficiency has much to do with the age you live in. ENIAC was very
efficient in the 50s, althought it needed a team of x persons just to keep the
thing running. So was the 8088/8086 machines in the 80s. Who is buying an 8086
any more (for that matter, who has seen a 80286 in a shop lately?).

6. Do people use it?
Sure. But they also use a turntable (instead of a CD), an electric oven (instea
d of a microwave), common light bulbs (instead of high-efficiency ones), seat
belts (instead of airbags, another funny story) etc etc. It is easy to get
attached to things, procedures, methods. See why more and more businesses are
reorganizing. Because their environment has changed. Of course, there will
always be companies not understanding that they have to change, and Chapter 11
is waiting for them, down the line (my ex-employer Wang Labs was one of them,
thank God for all the nice people there, they are out of it now). So has the
amateur radio changed, but there will always be people resisting change. I
remember there was a term in Physics about it, it is called inertia. I exhibit
it also, I 'd rather be driving a stick shift. I hate automatics, buit at
least I have a good excuse about it (hihi). I 'd rather decide for myself,
when a down shift (or upshift for that matter) is required, instead of letting
an electromechanical device do it for me.

To summarize, I think that Morse Code is passe. It is good for one thing only.
To keep the majority of people off the air (well, for all people already
having a license, that is not necessarily a bad thing, is it?), and that is
it. We just do not want to have anybody on "our" frequency spectrum, so we
have to have a way of reducing their number to a minimum. Code is a good way
to do it. Let's be fair and admit it!

A couple of things that I also want to point out :

   \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

a. DAN N8PKV, please what is your email address?

   /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

b. How come that you Americans are so strict about the code, but are using a
pre-defined questions pool? And a multiple choice one? Isn't that silly. Why
can't people just study books and answer questions from the material in them?
Do you feel, that they are not good at formulating an answer to a question, in
English? I think that this tactic is for little children only, but then again,
it matches to the American way of life.

c. Somebody mentionned that FCC should not bother with patting you on the
back, if you are a good coder. Sure, they 've better spend more time issuing
licenses. Ask your grandma to congratulate you for passing the 13 wpm limit.
After all, FCC is payed by all tax-paying people, their money should better go
elsewhere, than make you feel happy.


Best 73 de SV1CEC

John Caradimas

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| John Caradimas (SV1CEC)         Greek Radio Amateur Station |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| AX-25 Address     : [e-mail]                 |
| TCP/IP Address    : [e-mail]                  |
| Internet Address  : [e-mail]  (home)   |
|                     [e-mail]         (office) |
| Mail Address      : P.O. Box 31689, 10035, Athens, GREECE   |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| CQ Zone : 20         Locator : KM17UX         ITU Zone : 28 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| DISCLAIMER : The opinions expressed above, are strictly of  |
|              my own, not representing anybody else.         |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+


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

Date: Tue, 17 May 94 03:08:22 CST
From: usenet.elf.com!sundog.tiac.net![e-mail]
Subject: HELP! - Sharp PC-6200 lcd & docs
To: [e-mail]

hi, mitch wa4osr here in mobile, alabama...

my sharp pc-6200 was dropped and the lcd display
was damaged... upon taking the display apart, one
of the surface mount column drivers was cracked...
rendering the display unusable... therefore,
i am in desperate need of the lcd display panel...
the part numbers on the display panel are LM64N671
and 90D13145W ... both numbers are on the panel...
my pc-6200 is actually a pc-6220, which
i think indicates that it has a 20 mb hard drive...

i bought the pc-6220 used with absolutely *NO* docs...
it has the 2400 baud internal modem... i need *ANY*
info, but especially would appreciate a copy of the
owner/operator manual... i will gladly pay for
copies/postage...

if anyone can help with a source of the lcd panel or
with the docs please email me or call me collect
at the below numbers...

thanks for any help/leads...

mitch, wa4osr

[e-mail]
205-476-4100 work
205-342-7259 home
11 Midtown Park, E.
Mobile, AL  36606

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

Date: 17 May 94 00:22:34 -0600
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!sdd.hp.com!saimiri.primate.wisc.edu!news.doit.wisc.edu!uwec.edu!hemp![e-mail]
Subject: Theory Exams.
To: [e-mail]

: In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Brad
: Killebrew N5LJV) writes:
: > My father has told me that he got his license back when people had to
: > study theory books, and didn't really have a published question pool
: > with answers that they could memorize (like today).
: >
: > I think we should go back to that.  I have read several people in this
: > group saying that ham radio operators are getting dumber -- I believe
: > it.
: >
: > [some stuff deleted]
: >
: > -Brad Killebrew N5LJV
YES!!!  What we need is a Noice..Extra  >text<  book!  The 'Now You're
Talking' book is pretty good.  It EXPLAINS things.  If you are into
learning, this is what you want.  And isn't that what this hobby is
about, learning the mysteries of Radio???  Knowing that Caps in series
are 1/Ct=1/C1+1/C2 and that Resistors in series is Rt=R1+R2 is fine,
but actually using that information is different.  I would imaging that
there are many mysteries in radio that are waiting to be answered.  As
an example how many of you can answer the question 'Where does the "static"
sound come from?'  Ok, so this is already known, but this question leads to an
interesting discussion about the fundamental building blocks of
the universe, but where are you going to find discussion in those Goofy
Radio Shack question pool books (or any of the other question pools)
about this phenomena???

That is one reason why LEARNING the code is good; you can't cheat at it.
You have to study; your brain does that mysterious processes of
organizing data for rapid retrival.  You hear a sound, you get a
response.  Fantastic!  Learning the code is like riding a bike.  You
can't really explain how you learn to ride a bike, but yet you can.
Taking this one step further, I would imaging that most of you would say
that learning to ride a bike is an important task; yet how many of you
code hating types rely upon the bicyle for transportation?  Why learn to
ride a bike?  It's antiquated, it doesn't get you there NEARLY as fast a
car could.  It's true that you don't need to know how to ride a bike as
a prereq. for getting on the highway, but think about all of the
childhood memories that would be lost if you never learned how to ride a
bike.  Or, if you own a motorcyle, do you think you would still ride one
if it wasn't for that Schwin?

Having the answer pools is about one step before cheating.  Don't
believe me?  Ask a professor for a copy of his test before your next
exam - tell him to throw in some prevoius tests to make it 'hard.'
Hell, why go to school at all???  Just get the answer pools, and fill in
the circles.  Here's a question: would you like to be operated on by an
MD who passed his exams this way?  I thought not.

Ok, now some lazy belly acher will now respond with 'Amateur Radio is
not as serious as open heart surgery.'  Yeah, you're right about that.
But now ask yourself this question:  are you the same person who is
complaining why the education system in the US is falling appart?
If you answer yes, then I would like to see you justify your 'easy
smeezy testing approach' and why things should be harder students than
for yourself.

Double standards are a bitch!

Whew - way too much Coffee...

 -Mike 'Always tring to get something out of life' White

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

Date: Mon, 16 May 1994 16:25:57 -0400
From: ftpbox!mothost!lmpsbbs!NewsWatcher![e-mail]
Subject: VE within the military?
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(David Drumheller) wrote:

>    Here's a stupid question: Does the military (Army, Navy, etc.) conduct
> amateur radio exams?  In other words, is there a VE system within the
> military?

No, the VE system is under the FCC, in the private sector. The military
does not issue amateur radio licenses. However, read on.

>
>    The reason I ask this is that my sister-in-law is currently studying
> for her no-code tech, and was wondering if she can take the exam at one of
> the army bases? (My brother is a captain in the Army.)

She might be able to convince someone on base to allow civilians in to
provide the training and exam session, but not likely. Wouldn't it make
more sense to go off-base to a nearby hamfest some weekend and take the
test there??

>
> -Dave
> --
> David Drumheller, KA3QBQ          phone: [phone]
> Acoustics Division, Code 7140       fax: [phone]
> Naval Research Laboratory
> Washington, DC 20375-5350   e-mail: [e-mail]

--
Karl Beckman, P.E.         < The difference between genius and stupidity >
Motorola LMPS- Analog Data < is that genius has its limits.     -Unknown >

The statements and opinions expressed here are not those of Motorola Inc.
Amateur radio WA8NVW @ K8MR.NEOH.USA.NA         NavyMARS VBH @ NOGBN.NOASI

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End of Ham-Policy Digest V94 #209
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