Even with off-the-shelf radios, some electronic theory
is necessary to use them properly and effectively. For example,
how does one use the IF Shift control? Know how a receiver
works allows one to use this feature better. There are many
such example. Antenna tuning, notch filters, SSB filters, etc.

More below.

Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista

"Vito" wrote in message
...
"Doug Dotson" wrote
"Vito" wrote

It's inevatable because of technology. One had to know Morse to be a
ham
"back when", not because of FCC rules but because it was the only
reliable
way to communicate. The rules merely reflected that technical
reality.

I think CW is still more reliable than phone, ....

CW, yes, Morse (a form of CW) no. "Tap code" is better because it is
easier
to cypher & decypher and most important requires only "dots" vs "dits" and
"daws". Simply write the alphabet in a 5 by 5 matrix, leaving out "K"
(substitute a "C"). "A" is dot-dot. "C" is dot---dot-dot-dot. "N" is
dot-dot-dot --- dot-dot-dot, et cetera. Easy to send with a hammer or
whatever you have. To decode just right what you hear then turn to your
matrix: 2/1, 4/5, 1/3, 5/3, 4/5 .... (c:

Not a clue what you are talking about here. Generally CW is short speak
for Morse code although one is an encoding scheme and other is a
emission type.

I wonder if when the code requirement goes away, the CW only portions
of the band will go away as well?

They certainly should! If Morse is so much more reliable at getting
messages
through, as every ham believes as fervently as Billy Graham believes in
God,
then why do we need special bands to protect CW from "less reliable"
modes?
To protect selfish bad-fist rag chews from interference, that's why.

The CW portions of the bands are pretty narrow. Wideband traffic
just chews up too much of the designated band segments.


Some of the electronic portion is designed to make sure you don't kill
yourself. Others deal with not interfering with other services.

That *was* absolutely true back when we built our own gear, but one needs
no
knowledge of electronics to use, say, an Icom 706 with an automatic
antenna
tuner.

I don't think so. I have gotten zapped several times by off the shelf rigs.
Might
be useful to know why you got that nasty RF burn.

Everybody is an "appliance ham" because
it is too expensive to home brew.

Expense isn't the issue. Many hams these days just don't posess the
skills to homebrew. Homebrewing was just one aspect of the hobby.
Now days, instant gratification is the controlling factor.

Expense is not the issue?? My Yaesu 840 cost $500 new. I could have bought
a
kit that's not as good for $1250. Sorry, but I'm not so well-off that
$750
isn't important. But you are certainly right about the lack of skills. I
don't know a single ham who has the equipment needed to micro-position
chip
componants then wave solder them, let alone the skills to use such
equipments - including yours truly. I guess they're all into instant
gratification.

Putting together a kit is not homebrewing in the normal sense. I routinely
solder very small surface mount chips onto boards. It can be done very
easily with solder paste and a toaster oven. The touching up with desolder
braid and a small tipped iron.

IMHO homebrewing, not Morse, seperated us from the instant gratification
crowd on 11 meters. Nobody morns it's passing more than I. But it's gone
the
way of the horse and buggy and vacuum tube and the Amateur Service must
adapt to that fact. I enjoyed hopped-up Fords and Chevys with hemi's and
22-cent gasoline but not any more.


I would argue that drawing a schematic for an oscillator is pretty much
rote memorization. ..... The impedance calculations
and various other items did take some effort to learn.

By that definition, all learning is rote memorization, especially
mathematical calculations (equations). More to the point, all are
available
in reference books so why bother to memorize them, let alone test to be
sure
one has memorized them before allowing that person to talk on a radio that
is, after all, little more complicated than a CB?

Knowing a formula and how to apply it are different things. When I was
in college my physics instructor allowed us to bring a sheet with any
formulas we wanted into an exam. Some folks still failed the exam
though.