[CW] Bad CW thread

[Rich Dailey, N8UX (2)]

This is a great thread on QRP-L - thanks Tony for crossing it over here.
I was a sub to the QRP-L list for 8 years,  but now I just read the archives -

http://www.kkn.net/archives//html/QRP-L/

I think the bad cw gripe is much more complicated than people realize.

I have always been very tolerant of,  shall we say, "morse code personality".
There is some truly bad sending out there also - stuff that I just can't copy.
But I honestly have to say that 90% of it is all gud - or gud enough for me
to handle.

I liken it to accents on SSB (oops, the 'S' word).  I'm not going to scold 
an op
for referring to me as "y'all".  I know what he means.  But if someone is 
speaking
another language entirely,  I turn the dial,  or courteously tell them that my
foreign language skills are not so gud.

I also think that physical impairment sometimes plays a part.  Remember, in
most cases this is a total stranger that we cannot see,  so we don't know what
he/she could be up against.

And a lot of times the operator may be hearing perfect code in *his/her* 
ear, via whatever
sidetone scheme he is using,  but the RF coming off the antenna may be 
spaced totally
different due to some technical glitch in his break-in, etc.  Several years 
ago I received
a qsl from an op who apologized profusely for just such a problem on his 
end.  During the
qso I had mentioned that it sounded like he had a weighting problem in his 
keyer.  Everything
sounded just fine to him - he was listening to the sidetone of his external 
keyer.
If I had not mentioned it,  he would have never known anything was wrong.

And lets not forget the braves souls (myself included) who like to dust off an
antique cootie or bug,  and take it for a spin.  I try to brush up a bit 
before I
put it on the air,  but I'm not perfect.  It's the curse of the casual 
collector - you never stay
with any key long enough to obtain "keyboard" quality.  But more often than 
not, I'm
using a Nye Viking SSK-1,  or a Vibroplex Iambic with K1EL's WinKey unit.
And I'm not beyond keyboarding at times - "y'all" without sin can cast the 
first stone -hi.

I guess what I'm saying is that yes,  there are some pretty horrid fists 
out there.  There
always have been.  But I give these brothers the benefit of my doubt.  They 
are at least
QRV.  I'm not afraid to say something if spacing is non-existent, or if the 
trailing dits are
running off the end of the desk.  But a banana boat swing from a Model 4 at 
30 wpm is
ear candy to me.

Now, can someone get these QRP-L guys over here to drum up some more Morse
fraternization?

x (tu) de Rich, N8UX