[CW] cw operator's age

[Jan Robbins]

Al's numbers reflect a well-established pattern in ham licensing.  There 
was a spurt in licensing following WW II, with similar spurts around 
Korea and Vietnam, and with the general level of licensing kept high 
from about 1950 to about 1970 by the baby boom.  The wars created a 
great many ops proficient in CW and electronic technology.  They also 
spawned a great deal of fairly inexpensive gear and a lot of technical 
innovation (e.g., SSB) that made radio more accessible to all.  And they 
generated a great interest in things outside one's own neighboprhood and 
one's own country--interests  one could pursue via radio rather more 
easily than by, say, world travel.  Of course, everyone who wanted to be 
a ham then HAD to learn CW, and a great many--like us--learned to love 
it. The novice class license made almost everyone a CW op at least for 
awhile.  Hence there are LOTS of us, licensed from about 1955 to 1965 
(the real peak) who are (1) still alive and (2) still work CW a lot. 

When the baby boom fell off, and computers began to excite the young 
(and color TV became almost universal), the rate of new licensing also 
fell. The emergence of the SSB transceiver at about the same time (how 
many hams had a Swan 350 as their first "real rig"?) made voice 
communication almost as foolproof as CW, and younger ops turned to that 
mode quite naturally.  And now that code requirements have been 
effectively removed, very few new younger ops are being produced.

No doubt there are other variables at work, but the effects of these are 
pretty well demonstrated.  I don't know whether I'm proud to be a 
dinosaur, but I do know I have lots of company (first licensed 1958 as 
KN3DFX--ugh!).

Vy 73 to all!  Jan N0JR



Michael NØXY wrote:

>
>
> Alfred Lorona wrote:
>
>> I recorded the ages of the past 26 ops I contacted on 40 meter CW who 
>> volunteered their age. The average age for the 26 ops is 65. The 
>> youngest was 49 and the oldest was 91. Six were in the 50's age 
>> group. 13 were in the 60's age group. 3 were in the 70's age group. 2 
>> were in the 80's age group. One each in the 49 and 90 age group. What 
>> do you make of this?
>
>
> CW ain't for kids?
>
> :-)
>
> N0XY
>
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