CW will die a slow death, at least in the US. The no-code license is a
dead end. It will be the rare no-coder that takes the time and effort
to learn CW and stick with it long enough to become proficient for on
the air use (i.e., 25-30 WPM.) As we OFs get older and disappear,
nobody will be taking our place on the CW bands.
When I was in Macedonia last year, at the High Speed Telegraphy
Championship, I was amazed at all the young kids there from eastern EU.
Some of them are CW ops only, and not real hams, but if CW survives
anywhere, that's where it will be.
Barry, W2UP
Ron Notarius W3WN wrote:
Much better of an article than I expected. Thanks for the tip!
What I don't understand, though, is this: Why is the dropping of the
code element for testing automatically seen by so many as the imminent
demise of our use of the code? Yes, testing will no longer be
required, and yes, the exclusive CW bands have shrunk, and I'm sure in
time the number of CW operators MAY drop... but then again, it may not...
About 2 months ago, when I was struggling with a temporary vertical
(wouldn't load on 30, that's another story), a friend, a recent Extra,
called on the phone. Told him I was trying to work a particular DX
station on 30; he tuned in and worked him in 2 calls, the stinker.
Anyway, when we got back to talking, I told him I'd heard both ends of
the QSO, so it was good; Randy asked me what software I was using to
decode the signals, and I told him it was the organic one between my
ears. He was totally astounded that I was able to copy "really fast"
code in my head! (It was about 25 wpm or so, but that too is another
story!)
We talked about this again at the club christmas party 2 weeks ago.
Randy stopped using the computer as a crutch; now that he knows it can
be done, he's starting to do it. And he's finding out that he enjoys
operating code even more!
So... there's hope. So why all the doom and gloom?
Yes, the FCC handed us a lemon. Want to make lemonade out of it?
(Me? Nah, find me some tequilla and salt instead... <g>)
73
-----Original Message-----
*From:* [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of *harris_ruben
*Sent:* Wednesday, December 27, 2006 8:44 AM
*To:* dx-chat List
*Subject:* [DX-CHAT] The New York Times
Well, we've made today's New York Times
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/27/business/27morse.html?ex=1167886800&en=b53d88e01be66bb6&ei=5070&emc=eta1>
n2ern
--
Barry Kutner, W2UP
Newtown, PA
