Code or No-Code

I monitored a conversation between a “no code” technician who was considering advancement to the General class.  His conversation was with a ham that had recently passed his Extra class test.  The Technician was concerned about the possibility of a code requirement again becoming a reality in his quest to General and Extra.  Another Extra (no code) broke in to comment that it would be discriminatory to require code.  He claimed he had passed the Extra test and did it without code and went further to say that he had studied hard to learn the code but had some problem that prohibited him from ever passing the code test.

The original operators went on with their conversation, thanking the Extra for his opinion, but it was obvious they didn’t agree with the strong words the Extra had about code.  Another ham broke in to say it was a “pride thing”.  He didn’t elaborate on pride but I think I know where he was going. 

6I, myself, think it is a “pride thing”. Having pride in completing a difficult task that separates you from the rest.  Similar to the difference between a Citizens Band operator and a licensed ham. The operator that understands what “when all else fails” means would never be against a code requirement. Code is a tool that fills a critical gap when all the voice and packet communication tools are disrupted.

Basic communication starts with ON OFF ON OFF… etc. A transmitter can be created from a minimum of components that can communicate over great distances using the basic Continuous Wave (CW) techniques of turning a power oscillator On and Off.  The simplest form of embedding information is Code and I for one, would love to see it return to the requirements list for amateur radio licensing.

By the way, the U. S. Navy still uses semaphore and flashing light between ships both at sea and in port.