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The rich history of ham radio culture

thereader.mitpress.mit.edu

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Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#4
post #3

Kind of wish they had kept the Morse code requirement for the radio license. Felt like more of a connection to the old ham requirements and history

I feel the opposite. Morse code was a major barrier into HF for many different people. Folks who are musically challenged would fail to copy. People with hand disabilities faced major hurdles. Hearing disabilities made it impractical, even though there are plenty of visual-only modes (sstv, digital tty modes, etc).

Removal of morse has allowed far more people to reach more technical levels of ham radio. And, in my anedotcial experience, dropping the requirement hasn't impacted the popularity of morse code. I'd wager its more popular than ever because of how many more hams have HF access compared to limiting access to folks who learned code just to pass a test and to promptly throw away their key.

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#5
post #3

Kind of wish they had kept the Morse code requirement for the radio license. Felt like more of a connection to the old ham requirements and history

It'd also be nice if car mechanics were trained to shoe horses and fix wagon wheels so I can feel some connection to the old West.

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#7
post #3

Kind of wish they had kept the Morse code requirement for the radio license. Felt like more of a connection to the old ham requirements and history

Worth noting that the movement to drop morse code, "No-code International," was spearheaded by none other than K6BP. Bruce Perens, one of our own!

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#8
post #3

Kind of wish they had kept the Morse code requirement for the radio license. Felt like more of a connection to the old ham requirements and history

It'd also be nice if car mechanics were trained to shoe horses and fix wagon wheels so I can feel some connection to the old West.

Agreed. Good point

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#9
post #4
post #3

Kind of wish they had kept the Morse code requirement for the radio license. Felt like more of a connection to the old ham requirements and history

I feel the opposite. Morse code was a major barrier into HF for many different people. Folks who are musically challenged would fail to copy. People with hand disabilities faced major hurdles. Hearing disabilities made it impractical, even though there are plenty of visual-only modes (sstv, digital tty modes, etc). Removal of morse has allowed far more people to reach more technical levels of ham radio. And, in my an…

Fair enough. I just loved learning it as a boyscout and applying it to HAM and always think of it as this last ditch backup option

Re: The rich history of ham radio culture

#10
post #3

Kind of wish they had kept the Morse code requirement for the radio license. Felt like more of a connection to the old ham requirements and history

It'd also be nice if car mechanics were trained to shoe horses and fix wagon wheels so I can feel some connection to the old West.

For the win.
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