[CW] CW requirement....tests..etc..

[Thomas Beaudry]

> Why is CW the mode of choice in this case, I must be missing 
> something, it
> takes much more skill on the ops part for the CW, therefore there are 
> less
> ops available, with SSB you only have to talk, and with the digital 
> modes
> you use  the CPU and type, something that most everyone can do now
> especially the younger operators..

In the example I gave of the October, 1986 earthquake in El Salvador, 
the power lines went down with the phone lines.  What emergency power 
the local relief agencies had, they didn't have enough of to share.  
The only radios that were usable the first week were those that could 
be operated off of batteries.  When you're operating off of batteries 
and don't know for sure when you will have power back, you go for the 
most efficient.  That means CW.  SSB requires 6 db more power for the 
same quality communications link.  The digital modes require a computer 
and interfaces.

It is also a mistake to think in only terms of number of ops available. 
  Once you have enough to meet your communications requirements, that is 
the end of that story.  It won't help to have more than that.

Another argument often given is speed of traffic.  I can't speak about 
the digital modes, haven't ever gotten around to using them at all.  
But I've used both SSB and CW for traffic handling in emergency and 
non-emergency situations when I was younger.  In either situation, CW 
wins hands down with less repeats needed.

-- 
Thomas M. Beaudry
k8la / ys1ztm
K2 # 3422