"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
k.net...
Sounds like many of the old farts have finally died.

Careful Lew, some of those Ole Farts still lurk here in these groups. Some
place in this thread, we will soon hear some defense of the age old code
requirement.

I have my rig installed and have prepared myself for the written portion of
the General Class (several years ago, during a business trip, while stuck in
a motel room.)

I've tried 'hooking up' with a few of the Ole Timers here in my
neighborhood, but their widows meet me at the door with the sad news. The
few that still survive, deny that the FCC might ever drop the code
requirement. Additional the don't seem to realize that there are frequently
Mariners on HF/SSB on the upper side of "their band". One ole fellow
couldn't imagine that I had a Marine station and Marine operators license
and had never taken a test.

Sorry if I step on some toes. I would have gotten a Ham license back in my
teens if it weren't for the code and my inability to distinguish tone
differences and tone shifts. I could do 10 wpm on a key or on paper, as long
as I could send or visualize the dots and dashes. Boy Scouts taught and
tested me but the Hams wanted me to receive using audio.

Steve