Just as sort of a "mood set", I would like to start this page with a paragraph from the "Getting Licensed" page:

Anyone who takes the time to learn Morse code, as utterly stupid as it is, has absolutely no excuse for not being an Extra! The General class shouldn't even exist! I think the General class licensee is the lowest form of Amateur operator that there is. Why? Because that means that you know the Morse code. Besides the fact that it is the stupidest, most ridiculous thing in Amateur radio, you took the time to learn, you tested and you passed. This means that the only thing holding you back from being an Extra is the fact that you have not passed a 50 word test that you have been given the questions and answers to. How sad is that? I'm willing to bet that an average 6th grade class could pass a 50 question test on any subject if given the questions with the answers to study and given the test in the form of multiple choice. Sad, sad, sad. If you are a Tech., I figure you are stuck there because you don't know CW and no one can blame you if you don't want to spend your time learning something as utterly dumb as that. If you are an Extra, congratulations, you got past the obvious stupidity of it all and learned Morse. But a General? Give me a break! The only thing holding you back is a test that you have been given the answers to. Really, really dumb.

I can't get past this without saying a few words about Morse Code. There is nothing wrong with Morse Code. It was the first form of  "digital" communications ever invented or used. Instead of 1's and 0's, it's dots and dashes. Same effect. Once learned, you can communicate by radio, by light bulb, by tapping a wall, tapping your foot, batting your eyes, opening and closing your hand. You can be saying volumes to the person across the table from you by batting your eyes or tapping your fingers. Chances are, few would be the wiser. That certainly could have it's uses. My wife and I studied a rare indian language (actually the language known by the fewest people on earth, they say) so that we would have a way of communicating right under others noses without them having a clue. CW has it's uses, but chances are, if the world were to go to crap tomorrow, I really doubt that everyone would revert to CW as the preferred method of communications. I really do not think that there are a lot of dispatchers or 911 operators that know Morse Code. I also doubt that many Rescue workers, Police, Etc., are going to start tapping their Mics. More than likely, the preferred method of communications will be "Phone" (that is "Voice" for the non Hams). Chances are, if we have the capability to fire up a CW rig, we can talk into a Mic. If we use digital communications, it will likely be some other form, not to mention digital voice. If we are wiped out in a Nuclear holocaust that fries every radio on earth, and we have to go back to shorting across a battery to make a spark to send out on a long wire. I will learn CW. It won't take me long. Until then, it is stupid.

CW is the underlying cause for a lot of the tension that exists between the "old timers" and the "newbies". In the eyes of a lot of the old timers, if you don't know Morse, you're not a "real Ham". This, and the obvious "cliques" and prejudices that seem to follow "Skywarn", ARES and RACES, are the reason that the clubs are literally dying. Amateur radio is not attracting new members despite the fact the test answers are provided, the code requirement has been dropped for Tech and reduced for the rest. I would be willing to bet that if you only had to drop by, fill out some papers, pay your fee and pick up a license (about what we do now), it still would not attract new people. Many who do get their license (like me), check things out (like me), then their radios sit largely idle (like mine). Since I am not old, not young, do not know CW, and don't fit into any of the "cliques", I am having a really hard time finding someone to talk to. I hate to be morbid, but the problems with prejudice from the old timers is a "self fixing" problem. Ten years from now, I'm sorry to say, most of the "hard liners" from the CW era will be gone, or moved where there are no radios, or have better things to contend with than talking on a radio. It's already happening with clubs getting down to 3 or 4 members and voting to disband and sell off the repeaters and assets. There are no new members because honestly, they don't want new members. I suspect that the pressure to retain CW as a requirement to advance to Extra comes from this dying group. If you can't advance, you will never be fully accepted by those that are Extra class. The end result is: You either learn CW, no matter how stupid and useless, "like I did", or you stay a Tech. Even though you may know more about two way radios than anyone on earth, you will never be accepted into the ranks of the "real" Amateur radio operators.  Right now, everyone knows if you are General or Extra, you passed CW. It is just that obvious as to who to be prejudiced against.

I honestly feel like those who have passed the CW test should get credit for it. Perhaps a special certificate. You should also be given exclusive access to the "CW only" portions of the band plan. If you are going to work CW, by all means, you should be tested. If you pass, you should get something special. Something to hang in your shack. You should NOT get a special call, a special class of operator, or anything that is obvious to other Amateurs, short of your own bragging. CW should not stop another Ham, who has no intention of ever working CW, ever, from taking his test and going on to be an Extra. If you can pass the Extra test, you should be an Extra. I would be an Extra if not for the CW requirement. Will I get the CW certified within the one year so I don't lose my credit for the test. I doubt it. The test is easy. I will wait until this stupid CW requirement is dropped. Then I will test again. I really would like to have access to the HF bands so I could expand my talking area and shoot some skip like the old days with my C.B. I monitor 10 meter all the time, it is largely dead. Wonder why? Stupid CW, that's why. Drop CW and watch the HF bands take off. A bunch of these former C.B. "freebander's" turned Amateur, have radios that will work 10 meters already sitting on their shelves, and antennas that will work on the roof. Many could get into 10 meter without ever spending an additional cent! (Check out my Eagle Tomahawk under C.B. Radio,) You bet it would take off! The radio is there. The antenna is up. The amplifier (in many cases) is already in line. Most of these radios also have FM capabilities as well as USB/LSB and AM. If I were given the privileges which I passed the test for, I could start transmitting in the 10 meter band immediately. I wouldn't need one cent of extra equipment to be on the air. The radios are right there, looking at me. I have passed the required test as far as the theory, or knowledge is concerned. As it stands now, I would have to pass a test which shows that I am proficient in a mode of communication which I will never use and have no desire to use in order to get permission to talk. Learn Morse Code so you can get permission to talk. Learn to ride a motorcycle so you can get a license to drive a car. Study and pass an engineering exam so you can set up shop as a medical doctor. It all makes sense, right?

The CW requirement is like gun control. Everyone, and I do mean pretty much everyone, can see how laws to disarm the public do absolutely nothing to disarm the criminal element and, in fact, goes a long way to make it easier for the criminal element to prey upon the law abiding public, yet the gun control "movement" exists. Id like to file gun control, and the CW requirement right along with the "movement" I have every morning.

When something is this obviously wrong, it really does little to re-hash the stupidity of it because even morons can see that learning Morse Code in order to talk (yes, voice, phone, that thing you do with your mouth) just does not make any sense no matter how you twist it around and look at it. Let's get rid of this stupid requirement. Today would be a good day to fire off an E-Mail to the FCC. In the mean time, if you just can't wait to get your HF privileges, you can use this link to learn Morse Code.