John Troster is a hoot. I've missed his QST articles for years. Have
bumped into him on the air a few times, and the first QSL I sent him, I
thanked him for all those articles which, in a humorous way, poked fun at
bad operating practices and helped me, as a Novice, to learn what NOT to
do!
73, Duane
On Thu, 14 Apr 2005 15:13:07 -0500 "John T. Gwin" <jtgwin@comcast.net>
writes:
> Does anyone remember a QST article of some 25 or more years ago
> called "Sweaty Palms at the Old Post Office"?
>
> By W6ISQ, as I recall.
>
> How true it was.
>
> -W4SK
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Ron Notarius
> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
> Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2005 2:27 PM
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Real CW
>
>
> Longer ago than I want to think about, back when the FCC actually
> gave
> exams, I was going for my General code at the quarterly Pittsburgh
> PA test
> session (at the now departed 'Holiday House' in Monroeville just
> outside
> Pgh, but I digress). A candidate actually did attempt to copy
> code by
> writing down the dots and dashes, and was told by the examiner
> when he
> turned in his test that this was not acceptable, as it was not
> "copying" the
> code -- ie, comprehension was what was desired, not merely writing
> down the
> sounds and looking at it later. (No, I don't know who he is/was,
> though I
> do also remember a buddy of his shoving a Bash book under my nose
> on the way
> out... and FWIW, I passed General and just missed Advanced that
> day...)
>
> Thereafter, at every test session I took while shooting for my 20
> WPM, I
> heard the FCC examiners state during the instructions that writing
> down dots
> & dashes was NOT considered copying the code and WOULD NOT be
> accepted.
>
> I've also heard (or said) statements to that effect at almost
> every VE
> session I've been involved with since the VE program was
> implemented.
>
> Having said all this... I do agree with Scott's two basic
> premises:
> (a) With few exceptions, copying 5 WPM is not that difficult
> (b) It's a shame that none of the OT's piped up and offered to
> help
>
> And gang... those of you who've only had to deal with a VE team to
> take your
> exam(s) may not believe this, but trust me, those sessions are MUCH
> easier
> than sitting in front of a grumpy FCC staff person who'd rather be
> doing
> almost anything else at 8:30 on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning...
>
> 73, ron wn3vaw
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Scott / W4PJ" <w4pj@bellsouth.net>
> To: "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment" <tentec@contesting.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 11:10 PM
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Real CW
>
>
> > Five words a minute.
> >
> > Five characters times five in five minutes.
> >
> > The day I went in for my Extra, I carried paper and pencil, and
> when they
> > ran the code for the 5wpm, I decided to jot down every dot and
> dash. I
> > filled the paper with marks for twentyfive 'words' on the
> paper,
> > containing
> > dots and dashes. I didn't try to copy what was sent, just put
> the dots
> > and
> > dashes on the paper at five wpm. Guess what? No Problem!
> >
> > Since the current test has no time limit, anybody who says they
> can't take
> > the 5wpm test just doesn't even have the ability,, er, I mean
> desire to
> > jot
> > dots and dashes down on a piece of paper and then translate the
> text at
> > their own liesure. That person just doesn't want it. At all.
> C'mon, the
> > difficulty level of jotting the dots and dashes down on paper
> only takes
> > hand motion, not mental ability at all. You don't even have to
> be able to
> > "copy" code at 5wpm.
> >
> > You gotta be too much more than just lazy to not get 5wpm at
> today's
> > standards.
> >
> >
> > PEACE
> > Scott / W4PJ
> >
> > P.S. It's too bad no OT piped up and said, "If you want some
> help, I'll
> > work
> > with you."
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: <K4IA@aol.com>
> > To: <tentec@contesting.com>
> > Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 4:33 PM
> > Subject: Re: [TenTec] Real CW
> >
> >
> >> Our local club usually runs a General class but the last time
> we did it,
> >> everyone passed the theory and in a full year, no one passed
> the code.
> >>
> >> This year when someone asked when we would be running the
> General class,
> > one
> >> esteemed Elmer piped up, "When you pass the code, we will hold
> a General
> >> Class to cover the theory." The silence was deafening.
> >>
> >> Radio k4ia
> >> "Buck"
> >> Fredericksburg, VA USA
> >>
>
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>
>
--------------------------------------
Duane Calvin, AC5AA
Austin, Texas
http://home.austin.rr.com/ac5aa
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