[CW] CW and Dancing Radio Stations

[w8okn@charter.net]

David,

You sound depressing.

Sean
W8OKN
> 
> From: "David J. Ring, Jr." <n1ea@arrl.net>
> Date: 2004/02/02 Mon AM 06:55:00 GMT
> To: "George,  W5YR" <w5yr@att.net>,  "Anthony W. DePrato" <wa4jqs@mikrotec.com>, 
>         <cw@mailman.qth.net>
> Subject: [CW] CW and Dancing Radio Stations
> 
> George,
> 
> I think we're close on our feelings about CW, but perhaps I go a bit
> further.  I have an excellent track record at some of my predictions, and I
> still believe that without CW, someone in Washington will soon realize that
> there is no real reason to have "operators" for radio, and thus no reason
> for "ham" operators.  If there was no CW proficiency, if I were a
> politician, I would quickly see that ham radio has no use.  I would probably
> get rid of it, or make it pay its way with high user fees.  It would become
> even more of a "rich man's" hobby as it was in the early days - if it
> existed at all.  Ham radio without CW has about ZERO usefullness to our
> nation.  We are much better served by professional people who use radios.
> 
> We have no need for radio operators - because "anyone" can do it.
> 
> Now, if we STILL had hams who "upgraded" and became radar techs, AM/FM/TV
> techs, radio officers, telegraphists, and point-to-point technicians, I
> would say we needed ham radio.  But we have none of those jobs left.  Nor do
> we have the requirement of a commercial license for those jobs.  The jobs
> aren't special, because "anyone" can do them.
> 
> If I were a youngster, and I became a ham because it looked interesting, I
> probably would quickly loose interest.  SSB, my cellphone is better.
> Slow-Scan TV, nice but I can send pictures over the internet.  DX that's
> interesting, but what's the point?  --- I can get everywhere on the
> internet.  CW, too much work translating the dots and dashes to letters.  (I
> hear some people doing it faster, but they must be using computers... :-)
> 
> Some of the newcomers say it's "boring" and the others are offended by the
> self-centeredness of the hobby - the bragging about equipment, and the "I'm
> bigger" than you are, of the hobby.
> 
> Was it always this way?  If so what is the same, and what is different?
> 
> Personalities?  If my first experience was 2 meter FM, I probably would
> never turn my 2 meter rig on again.  Fortunately I grew up with 2 meter AM
> and then FM - and I gave up FM for about 30 years because the personalities
> were so self-centered, non-helpful. Many hams have had this experience - not
> just the new hams.
> 
> HF SSB - in my early days, the "big boys" didn't want to talk to you unless
> you had a BIG signal.  Many of the others had nothing to say, so it was a
> waste of time.
> 
> RTTY - that was enjoyable.  I liked the whirring of the machines and the
> clattering of the typebars as they struck paper.  I bought a small scope at
> a auction and hooked it to my homebrew terminal unit and started copying
> W1AW broadcasts, and later got a varicap and got it adjusted correctly so
> that I could put out frequency-shift-keying on my transmitter.  But this
> soon lost its appeal also - there are only so many times you can say "hello,
> rig here is and goodbye".
> 
> But on CW there were beautiful sendings going on!  This was an art.  I
> didn't hear much of the "I'm bigger than you are" on this mode, I didn't
> hear the self-centeredness.  What I did hear was a lot of code practice!  I
> was a Novice, and if I didn't get up to 13 wpm in a year, I would have no
> license!  When I did upgrade, I still didn't hear the stuff that I was now
> hearing on SSB.  I had a "bigger" signal on CW.  So more people could copy
> me.
> 
> When the CW operators went up to SSB, they really had a grip on THAT mode,
> too.  There was something about a CW operator that (do I dare say it?) was
> ... ... better than the guys up on green keys (rtty) or SSB.  Not all of
> them, there were the gifted in the other modes, the guy who was an announcer
> on AM radio whose voice was beautiful, or the guy who used to be a UPI
> teletype operator who could "loop" the paper tape as he prepared his
> transmission.  These guys ALSO knew the "tricks of the trade".  But the CW
> operators that I met - many of them - were just incredable operators.  They
> made a radio station dance.
> 
> We certainly need knowledgeable people, but I think we also need people who
> can make a radio station dance.
> 
> 73
> 
> David Ring, N1EA
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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