Last night, I had the 2 Meter HT on while I was laying in bed on my way to falling asleep. What got me kind of riled and a bit worked up was the conversation between two local Hams about their preparations for Field Day.
They were both commenting on how much they were looking forward to working HF tomorrow (today). They normally don't because they are Technician class Hams and they both felt that learning Morse Code was an "obstacle" for them.
Obstacle? Obstacle? Obstacle !!!!! How I am soooooooooo sick and tired of hearing that excuse! I am sure there are a legitimate number of people out there who cannot learn the code for a variety of physical and medical reasons. But while I have no hard data to back me up; I feel that number is actually quite rare.
I'm sorry; but as far as I'm concerned; it's a matter of application, dedication and discipline. If you want it bad enough; you can learn the code. The current requirement is for 5 WPM which is so ridiculously slow, it's laughable! I can relate to this problem because I had problems learning the code when I was 16 years old. It kept me out of Ham radio for six years. I could have given up, made excuses and complained. Hey, I did all of those things for almost 6 years! But then I grew up a little more; and realized how badly I wanted a ticket. I buckled down and studied and passed the test with flying colors. And as way so many people are more than willing to point out ........ I'm nothing special! So if I can do it; just about anyone else can, too. For those people who can't; there is a legitimate medical waiver process that they can go through.
I'm tired of the whining and the moaning, the junk science, the rationalizations and the excuses and the bellyaching! You want HF bad enough? Then learn the code and pass the test like the rest of us have done - millions worldwide. It's REALLY not that hard; and maybe if you don't have them handed to you on a silver platter, your HF privileges might actually mean something to you.
73 de Larry W2LJ
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