[CW] And now the other shoe drops...

[Donald Chester]

To be realistic, 99% of hams have always mastered the code because it has 
been a requirement for passing the test. One could expect that a certain 
percentage will decide to actually try out their code skills to work cw, and 
some will continue to operate the mode.

Once the code requirement is dropped, I predict that very few new hams will 
bother to learn to copy cw, and as older hams die off, cw will gradually 
disappear from the bands.

The first big blow against CW was the elimination of the Novice class as 
entry level.  It used to be that nearly all hams had CW experience under 
their belts from novice days and many stayed with it.

Without the code requirement, getting most new hams to learn the code will 
be like getting Americans to learn a foreign language before vacationing 
abroad.

Don K4KYV