Greetings Ed!   
      
    RW>> You are a dying breed. I learned morse to get a novice ticket   
    RW>> c1970, then had to give up AR for a few years for lack of   
    RW>> money, only to have to go through the testing again for another   
    RW>> novice ticket, c1977. Got on the air to practice morse in a   
      
    EV> I didn't know the Novice License was Re-Newable.   
    EV> 'Twasn't when I got mine.   
      
   Twasn't when I got my first one either. WN6ABE expired in 1972...the FCC   
   changed the rules sometime in-between 1972 and 1977 and they issued me   
   WD6DOI as a Novice...   
      
    EV> I know You're sure glad You could get a Novice License again.   
      
   It was the difference between being tested by my Elmer and paying a visit   
   to the FCC office in San Diego. It meant a Novice ticket vs a Technician   
   ticket.   
      
    EV> Ham Radio has lots of different areas to interest us Hams.   
    EV> We all don't do the same thing, but We Do It as Amateur Radio   
    EV> Operators and Enjoy what We Do.   
      
   Yeup.   
      
    EV> As I have been reading this Thread the thought has come to my mind of   
    EV> how many participate in CW Contests?   
      
   I've done that with a DX group. They were Extras, I was a Novice, then a   
   Technician and  finally a General.   
      
    EV> I'd think that would be a fair way to find out if CW is a lost art or   
    EV> not, don't You think?   
      
   It might help to clean up some of the man-made noisy interfence on the   
   phone bands.   
      
      
       Have a day!   
      
            R\%/itt - K5RXT   
      
   --- GoldED+/W32 1.1.5-31012   
   --- D'Bridge 3.99   
    * Origin: HAM Radio, aka Amateur Radio. 804? Over! (1:387/22)