Honestly Gentlemen I wholeheartedly congratulate all new inductees no matter what their amateur license status, BUT I wonder if I'm the ONLY LONG-TIME LICENSEE out here who thinks that the "EXTRA" was MADE TO EASY??? I say that because apparently what really would separate the "Men from the Boys" when concerns the "EXTRA (#1 TICKET) was to MAKE IT AS HARD AS POSSIBLE!!! RIGHT??? I mean if it's the "TOP OF THE LINE LICENSE" it should be kept tough, but yet with the EXTRA (NO CODE) requirement then IT'S NOT TOUGH anymore!!! Tech or General class not requiring CW I've got no problem there, BUT AGAIN without the CW requirement it seems to have made it easier for many! I'm a ADVANCED CLASS and am happy with it since 1968 and wouldn't upgrade anyway because I've accomplished everything I've wanted out of our HOBBY without the "EXTRA" and am PROFICIENT @ 35WPM (CW) anyway because it was another MODE WORTH LEARNING!!!
I guess it all depends on your point of view.
I've looked at the written tests, since I had to take them, and don't find them any harder, or easier, then when I took them. In fact, the tests are very much like when I took them because, I took the Advanced and Extra back to back, in a single session. But for me, the hard part was getting my CW speed up. I was already an engineer for a long time, so I didn't devote much time to the written tests.
However, there are a lot of potential hams that are not very technically oriented. Hams come from all walks of life (the butcher, the baker, the candle stick maker). In fact, in the early days of 2 meters I use to regularly talk to a ham that operated from his bakery, while his bread was rising. To these guys, the written tests may seem grueling. But I don't think the test should be so hard that these people are exempted from obtaining a ham license. Amateur radio is not trying to make engineers. That's the job of the colleges.
When they were testing for everything, there were a lot of hams denied the "TOP OF THE LINE LICENSE", just because their CW skills were not up to snuff. I know this because, when I took the 20 WPM test, the other 6 or 7 hams that tested with me, all failed. Some were testing for the second and third time. And these were all hams that had already passed the written part and had the technical ability. Personally, I am glad that they finally got the chance to reach their goal.
I'm glad you are happy with your current license class. I was quite happy with a Novice license for over 30 years. I liked CW and had plenty of band space to suit my needs. But at one point (1999) I wanted to go for the top license. It was a personal thing. I could feel at the time that it wasn't going to be long before the Morse testing went away. Once I put my mind to it, it only took 6 months.
Martin - K7MEM
