As a member of the choir: I think hams will always preserve competency in CW, regardless of what the ITU and FCC does, as long as a CW Q counts more than a fone Q in most contests.
That said, this is yet another example of infrastructure-free communications that hams can provide and hardly anyone or anything else can. When the going gets tough, the power is scarce, and the noise is high, a radio/ ham operator at each end of a 15,000 km circuit can still communicate. Note in the VOA article ... it was all the other commercial communications that were lost. It's not something I hear much about. Naybe we should change that. 73, Fred K6DGW Auburn CA CM98lw "not even faintly embarrassed" Daniel Reynolds wrote: > > --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > I also understand that the DXpedition relied on CW at the beginning of their > > relief effort so that they could operate successfully with small antenna > > systems and low power. If the FCC and its counterparts around the world keep > > doing away with the Morse requirement, who will be there to copy weak, > > hastily assembled stations in the future? > > Here Here!!! (... however - I think you just preached to the choir) > > I think that as long as there is QRP, Elecraft, kit building, and ham radio in > general - there will always be CW (unless they one day decide to make CW > illegal ... which would be really dumb - they still use AM don't they - > however > I think they did ban spark gap transmitters, but not because they were morse > code). I don't think CW will ever go out of style. People still use sailboats > (and sailboards!) even though steam ships were developed over 100 years ago. > People still use hot air baloons even though we just celebrated the first > century of powered flight. We still make kids learn how to write by hand with > #2 pencils even though most American students have access to a computer and > know how to use one. No - I think that we are quite a long way from seeing the > end of CW. The CW bug 'infects' a certain kind of person. There's no known > antivirus/antibiotic for this kind of 'infection' - and it spreads readily. > > 72, > Daniel / AA0NI > _______________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Post to: [email protected] > You must be a subscriber to post to the list. > Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
