Hi folks -
Sunday morning coffee time and I thought I would chime in on this topic.
I agree with some of John's thoughts. Many of us are new to the hobby - 2
and 1/2 years for myself. I do not have the time to become competent with
all of the RF design and electrical basics that many Hams with 30 years
experience have. A fellow once said that there are about 40 sub-specialties
in the Ham world from code to antenna design to DXing etc. One cannot do
them all. I got a short Extra vanity call (NZ7C) because it is a good
practical call for cw use. My chosen area of interest is cw and becoming a
solder jockey (ie an assembler, but NOT an understanding technician). With a
full time job and a primary hobby of Scottish fiddling, it is simply not
possible to gain the knowledge level that many of the great folks on the
Elecraft, Ten Tec and other reflectors have....that's why it is so great
when they help us "Extra-Lites (chuckle)" out.
In my area of chosen interest I DO learn. I was actually able to copy in
my head the other night at 24wpm - in my world this rates as a significant
accomplishment and I will keep working until I can copy 35wpm. So, it's not
that many of us newer Hams are lazy or "have it easy" because of the change
in testing. we are just working with what was there when we got interested
in Ham radio. There are people on these reflectors whose professional
careers as well as avocations are both in electronics (my livelihood has
nothing to do with electronics). Only a small number of them will belittle
seemingly stupid questions from newbies with an Extra license. The others
are great and patient Elemrs that are a true tribute to this hobby. People
like Tom, Gary, Ron, Frank, George, Adam and the list goes on and on....are
really troopers for us newbies and you only have to see how many people miss
and worry about Tom's recent hospital stay to realize how many people really
appreciate the help of those who will always know more than us newbies!
HOWEVER, since my chosen interest is cw, I will say look out guys because
one of these days I WILL hit 35 wpm head copy!!!!!!!!!!!....of course if the
radio doesn't work I'll have to call Gary...but what the heck - it's a buzy
world!
73 Tim NZ7C
----- Original Message -----
From: "JAKidz" <jakidz@pullman.com>
To: <elecraft@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, February 23, 2003 10:13 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] OT- RE: Extra Lite (was KAF2 Initial state?)
> I wrote:
> <snip> As a newbie Extra Lite, <snip>
> Dan Barker wrote: <snip>
> > What on earth is an Extra Lite? Some sort of codeless Extra? <snip>
> Kevin Rock wrote: <snip>
> > Extra lite is what some mossbacks call new Amateur Extras now that
the
> > code test is run at 5 wpm. I have heard of Extra mediums too when the
> code
> > test was run at 13 wpm. They all past the requirements set out for them
> so I
> > don't see why the oldsters want to disparage their accomplishments.
<snip>
>
> In applying the term "Extra Lite" to myself, I'm indicating that my wisdom
> and experience isn't near that of those who achieved the Extra under the
> previous incentive licensing standards and for whom I have a lot of
respect.
> To become a professional with a PhD and board certification in a
specialty,
> I've had to take a lot of heavy duty tests so I don't want to diminish the
> accomplishment of those who have met a higher standard. I first obtained
the
> General and then the 5 wpm Extra before I ever ventured onto HF upon
> completion of my K2 but I used to be able to hide behind my initial call,
> KD7OIU, because I initially chose to keep it. But after some frustrating
low
> ERP contest experience, I decided to shorten my call when the opportunity
> presented itself. I happened to find out that the 1x2 with my initials had
> become available so I had a choice of either going for it or waiting until
I
> got my skills up to the higher standard but potentially missing the very
> rare call. In some ways, I regret the switch because I don't like the
> ambiguity and potentially false assumptions that a 1x2 vanity call
> introduces. For example, I'll bet people in the know are quicker to
respond
> to a query by a clueless KD**** than the same clueless K*** and to be more
> tolerant of sloppy code and copy errors from the former than the latter.
So
> I'm working on getting my code speed up to the prior standard and when I
> eventually get closer, I'll quit identifying myself as an "Extra Lite" and
> maybe actually get on the air with CW.
>
> Thanks for the bandwidth.
> 73,
> John Gay, K7JG, ex-KD7OIU.
>
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