Fine, but that demarcation is pretty arbitrary. You could just as
easily go back to tube gear with crystal controlled transmitters and
regenerative receivers., but I'd be a lot of money you don't. The gear
you operate compares little in form, fit or function to anything those
folks used back then. Your current radio almost certainly has a lot of
digital signal processing already, and I'll bet you use a keyer instead
of a hand key. Quite frankly, I can just as easily imagine somebody at
his keyboard on the other end as I could if he was operating a paddle.
Most DXing and almost all contesting is already somebody simply pounding
on a function key on a keyboard.
And like I said before, it is entirely possible to preserve the bulk of
everything you mention and still use modern signal processing to make
human connections more achievable. WSJT-X just doesn't happen to be
that at this point, but that doesn't mean something else couldn't be.
Dave AB7E
On 7/13/2020 12:41 AM, Victor Rosenthal 4X6GP wrote:
For me, it's simple.
When I make a CW contact, even if its total content is "ENN TU", I am
connected to history, to Jack Phillips on the Titanic, to all of the
military traffic men and airborne radio operators of WWII, to the
operators on the merchant ships on the high seas and the Great Lakes,
and to all the hams of the past, even Mr. Marconi, the first ham.
I like hearing the propagation change with my own ears and struggling
to capture an ESP-level call. I like the feel of the key and the sound
of the code. I like the idea that there is another person like me at
the other end with his or her hand on a key.
I consider myself extremely lucky to have caught the bug at a young
age and developed the skill needed to make CW as transparent to me as
my mother tongue. I see how hard it is for those who begin to learn at
middle age or older. They shouldn't give up -- it's worth it.
73,
Victor, 4X6GP
Rehovot, Israel
Formerly K2VCO
CWops no. 5
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/
.
On 13/07/2020 5:06, Wayne Burdick wrote:
On Jul 12, 2020, at 6:57 PM, David Gilbert <[email protected]>
wrote:
Think of it this way ... CW works fine as both a contest mode,
DXing mode, and conversational mode. Underlaying CW with a well
configured digital signal processing scheme like that which is
under FT8, except with a different user interface than either
WSJT-X or JS8, could be equally versatile but with maybe 6-8 db
better S/N ... possibly by an even greater margin if the decoding
allowed errors instead of being all or nothing.
Except that (a) you don't have to know CW, and (b) you don't need a
key. There goes 73% of its charm :)
Wayne N6KR
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