[CW] (Fwd) An open letter to CW opreators

[Thomas Beaudry]

> Two quick, I would suspect nearly self-evident comments I have to 
> offer here:
>
> First, at this late date in the history of amateur radio, I don't 
> think testing requirements have had much of anything to do with actual 
> CW operating activity. The mode has it attractions, and its 
> practitioners. Those who work CW do so because they like the mode, and 
> in some instances, like moonbounce, because it is the most practical, 
> even the *only* reliable mode. Passing a test has little to do with 
> long term operating practices. Just as the argument is made by those 
> who have advocated the elimination of the CW test requirement that 
> forcing low-level competence won't/doesn't convert the unwilling and 
> uninterested into devoted, or even occasional CW ops, by the same 
> token when the test is gone there will still be a steady supply of 
> *new* CW ops, as more and more people are interested in cultivating 
> the simple, the historical, the "antique and classic," in so many 
> areas, not just radio.

I think the point is that without even the minimal exposure to CW 
required by testing, there will be a lot fewer investigating the mode.  
I see the CW subbands becoming mostly data with (what appears to 
others) a few old farts hanging out at the bottom end that can't stop 
reliving the "good old days", just like my brother can't stop reliving 
the '70s with his bell bottomed pants.  I also see the data modes as 
saving the CW subbands since the data modes are "cool" with the non-CW 
crowd.

> Second, as for the reduction of CW/data-only subbands, I would urge a 
> second look and listen! With the possible exception of 80M, which I 
> admit seems very little used many nights, I hear almost wall-to-wall 
> CW signals up to 7080 from the bottom of that band. Similarly 20 
> meters. I suspect one's take on this has a lot to do with operating 
> habits (e.g. time of day) and QTH than anything else. The HF bands are 
> hopping with both CW and to a lesserextent PSK31/RTTY sigs most 
> anytime I listen from here in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, 
> manytimes I tune across a band, any HF band, and I hear absolutely no 
> SSB activity, not one signal, but I almost always hear two or three, 
> at a minimum CW sigs. On the other hand, it is a rare experience for 
> me to poll around a band and hear voice signals and no CW.

I agree, this gentleman needs to listen again.  I've always found more 
activity in the CW subbands than in the phone subbands.  Of course a 
lot of that activity is in the digital modes but it has always been 
like that.  50 years ago it was rtty, now it's PSK31.  As for the CW, 
if propagation was alive, then the bottom 50 kHz of any of the bands 
are packed with CW signals.  Elecraft has a net that meets on 7050 and 
goes up 2 by 2 until they can find a clear frequency.  They've always 
had to go up several jumps.  That speaks against the commentator's 
claim of an empty band.

My experience in El Salvador:  I always start high in the bands, at 
least 80 kHz up.  If I came up on a lower frequency, the legions of 
stations calling me would wipe out a good many QSO's.  Not something 
that a responsible operator would encourage.  If the frequencies were 
truly quiet, I could come up any place I wanted without worry.

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