I think you are right on the money, Craig. That's my concern, that we are
all living a long-standing myth which DID have a basis in fact 30 years ago,
but is irrelevant to the world today. LOCAL hams can provide a vital
communication link with VHF from the immediate area hit to the outside
world.
The longer we hold onto this myth, the more likely we are going to be
found out by those who regulate ham radio. We need leaders who can
help shape ham radio to fit the current reality, not bemoan the dirth
of skilled CW operators as a problem.
This all wraps around to dropping the Morse
Exactly. I fought every attempt to dumb down or eliminate the code
requirement in the past. I MAY have been right 30 years ago, but it is wrong
today. It is just another mode with its own advantages and disadvantages. It
is my mode of choice just as it is yours, but others make different choices
Those who worry about ham radio becoming another citizen's band need only
scan 75M at night. They're too late. :-)
Craig
Until a cw op pops up in the middle... calls cq, gets and answer, has a
chat, sez 73, then moves on, and someone on ssb says, what was that?
The long haul cw nts ops
Phil wrote:
That was interesting. In 1958 I was on the National Geophysical Expedition
to the North Pole on Drift station Alpha. KL7FLA and W9DVM/MM. We were
floating. When we had severe aurora and you could turn all gains wide open
and hear nothing, CW was always the first to be heard from
Thank you Ron ;)
My first experience with the Amateur Radio Service was through
participation in nets. These were FM repeater nets initially, then SSB HF
nets, and finally CW NTS nets. I learned to pass traffic for NTS both
using voice and via CW. It takes practice. Net procedures,
I submit that the reason virtually ALL emergency nets are phone is that
CW requires a skill few Hams have today: even routine CW ops.
In the Ham world, using phone means that more operators are available
everywhere, so there are likely more operators available any time and
in any place
Craig wrote:
I suspect that both ham radio and the federal government are living in the
past. The Internet has eliminated much of the traditional ham radio activity
surrounding disasters (with the exception of course of local VHF activity),
and 24-hour news networks have become better eyes and
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