XPost: uk.radio.amateur   
   From: al-nospam@nottoday.com   
      
   Roger Hayter  wrote:   
      
   > A level of practical competence that I had acquired from books by age   
   > 14, so unremarkable, but a level of social tolerance and sociablity   
   > greater than some of us wished to acquire, especially at that age.   
      
   Yes, me too (practical competance), the point being that this now   
   mandatory, and done under supervision, meaning that today’s Intermediate   
   amateurs can solder safely, construct circuits, use test equipment, operate   
   and calibrate radio equipment, tune antennas, and set up a station.   
   Previously, it was all theory and anyone with a decent memory and no   
   practical skills, could pass. I fail to see why others from the   
   RAE-generation are so opposed to the newer generation having to demonstrate   
   practical as well as theoretical competence. Surely, this is a positive   
   change, no?   
      
   BR de Al   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)