[CW] Zen and the Art of Radiotelegraphy, English Edition !

[Radio K0HB]

>   The underlying problem is if or when SOL belches right at our sweet 
> Earth, all of those
> satellites  could be toast within seconds, an then how will the ships 
> communicate?  There will be no
> trained HF operators.  I has happened mildly in the past.

Why will there be no trained HF operators?   All Navy ships are still HF 
capable and competent.  HF obviously is bandwidth constricted, but ships are 
fully HF equipped and communicators routinely exercise those capabilities.

It is beyond the scope (and security level) of this reflector to educate you 
on the layers of backup in Navy communications systems, but suffice to say 
that EMP-toasted satellites would be a moderate inconvenience for some long 
distance (inter-theatre) communications needs, but modern battle group 
(intra-theatre) communications assets are fully self sufficient and can be 
completely independent of both satellite and HF.

If, on the other hand, you hold "HF" to be synonymous with "Morse code", 
Morse (even with highly trained operators) would be of no practical use in 
modern Navy communications.  Battle group communications require multiple 
multi-megabit communications channels, even for routine operations, so CW is 
far too slow to contribute in any meaningful way whatsoever.

73, de Hans, K0HB
Master Chief Radioman, US Navy