So much for the rationale for the ONLY CW emergency net I could come up with. Hi. I suspect the REAL reason it is used is because it has been around since 1935 and it is an UP Michigan tradition, but I don't know that. I just relayed the rationale that John gave me.
Another point that is missed is that emergency traffic is not just endless numbered messages relayed verbatim. A lot of it is emergency coordination where emergency services personnel are trying to get information out of an area or handle logistics that are not in the form of formal messages. This is often much easier on voice than on CW where decisionmakers can hear what is going on and relay instructions to the operator without formal messages passing back and forth. It might help us to preserve ham radio in the future if we learn to let go of the myths, and determine what we can contribute in the real world. We look foolish when we can't justify our cherished traditions to hard-nosed regulators. Me? I use CW all the time, not because it's better, but because it's fun. Sometimes that's justification enough. Eric KE6US www.ke6us.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jim Wiley Sent: Monday, September 05, 2005 11:43 AM Cc: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Dropping the Code Test OK, guys, get ready to hate me. Here in Alaska, (that's a bit North of Michigan, to our flatlander friends) - Aurora is the norm. As in - every day, 365 days a year. Some days it's no big deal, some days it eats your lunch, it's just a fact of life. As often as not, SSB will get through when CW won't. FACT - not a typo! Apparently, with rapid changes in path length, which is what is responsible for the waterey sound of classic aurora reflection propagation, CW signals sometimes get lost in the process. I think this might be because CW signals are on just one frequency, and the destructive effects of multipath (selective fading) can wipe out individual dits or dahs, making copy of CW problematic. SSB, on the other hand, occupies a comparatively wide channel, and has energy on any number of frequencies within that channel. So, during times when aurora is very active, SSB apparently gets through because it has a sort of built in frequency diversity. If a hole gets punched in a SSB signal at one spot, there are still hundreds of adjacent frequencies that have an equal chance of being reinforced. The net result is that SSB suffers from rapid shifts in tonal balance as the "notched out" frequencies shift rapidly within the SSB pass band, but enough energy still remains that copy is possible. You will note that I am not saying CW is totally disabled - often times enough gets through that the incomparable DSP unit that sits on your shoulders can make enough sense of what it gets to still come up with copy. After all, VHF DX via auroral reflection is done all the time. But, and this is the important part, there are indeed times when SSB gets through when CW cannot. Man - what a disgusting idea. <grin> High latitude propagation is very different from what most "South 48" hams take for normal. It is nothing unusual for us to have total HF shutdowns lasting days on end. Even when bands are not being wiped out by solar storms, we get caught between between lukewarm MUFs and elevated LUFs - we frequently have access to only one band - 20 meters - because we are caught between the MUF / LUF squeeze, and even then we will hear only a few of the strongest signals. My station is not all that bad either - I run a TH7 antenna at 75 feet. When the band is open, I can use my K2, but when it's ratty even my Mark 5 driving an ACOM 2000A may not be enough. Oh well, there's always Pinochle - Jim, KL7CC EricJ wrote: It is my understanding from a communication with WB8RCR, a member of the Michigan Net, that CW is used because of a geographical anomaly . . . . . <snip> _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net 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: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net 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
