[CW] Seen on another forum

[Michael Josefsson]

Hello!

That was a nice read. I have tried to figure out what makes morse  
code so interesting for me. I have always been fascinated by the  
concept of radio - that one can hear sounds from such distant places.  
It started as SWL-ing when in my teens and ended up as a morse code  
ham in 1979 (when I was 15). And as I like to fiddle with electronics  
I know it is easier to homebrew a CW rig than a phone one. Which  
perhaps is not true either since I transformed my old Heathkit HW-8  
to double sideband, that was really simple. But there is one more  
point which has dawned upon me and perhaps is the *real* reason to  
why I like morse code. The rest of this mail is mainly what I sent to  
another forum but I find it more and more accurate for me:

One point that often is sadly missed in a code-nocode-discussion is
the fact that morse code is fun, in the same way that I enjoy playing
my electric bass guitar. It takes skill to do it right - and to be
fair, I am much better at morse code than playing Iron Maiden
songs... But both are *fun* nevertheless.

We do this as true amateurs in the original Latin meaning of the
word: out of love for it. I think we have to make people understand
that one can actually enjoy morse code in the same way other people
enjoy online first person shooter games, playing an instrument or
watching birds (ahem!). (A recent swedish study shows that teenagers  
dont drink
alcohol as much as they used to - since you play worse online games when
inebriated! Morse code also takes some concentration...)

That morse code is antique does not make it worse. Musicians use
violins that are truly antiques, we don't sneer at them do we?

What *is* a problem is that for this art to continue, it needs to be
fuelled by young blood. It is our mission to find that young blood.
Elmering is one way. Spreading the word on *why* to used morse code
is another. Going with fists is another. But we have to be careful
that we do not only "QSO ourselves", the code must get out.

/Micke
PS Why do not mobile phones have a small morse key for entering
SMS:es? It would be soooo practical - and in a fortnight we would
have thousands of keen CW-operators (ok sending only but quite a step
anyway) ready to go!

On 20 dec 2006, at 06.53, K0HB wrote:

> Quoted below is a nice piece I saw on another forum. Well written!
>
>
> TITLE: "SO NOW YOU'RE HF-ACTIVE"
>
> By Heath Roberts, KE5FRF
>