[CW] CW trends on the ham bands -- as I experience it

[Ken Brown]

> - education in the "short hand" of CW operating does not seem to be 
> something that is published.
The ARRL used to send a pamphlet called the "Operating Manual" to every 
new member, or perhaps it was to every new ham along with their 
suggestion that the new ham become a ARRL member. In any case I remember 
receiving a little packet from the ARRL that included the Operating 
Manual. It explained standard CW abbreviations and some Q signals. I 
think it also had a list of the QN series Q signals used in traffic 
nets. There was probably also the ICAO list of phonetics. The RST system 
was also described in it. This pamphlet was really useful. It had all of 
the essential information in a page or two. It was not big or thick, so 
it could be on the operating table without getting in the way of your 
log book or your key.

These days the Operating Manual is a huge volume, roughly the same size 
as the Handbook and the Antenna book, and the ARRL wants around $30 for 
it. All of these publications are much larger than the versions that 
used to be sold, and they no doubt have more information in them. 
Because of the huge volume of information, the basic, essential and 
important information is much harder to find. I don't care if you call 
me a curmudgeon, I think the old way was better.

DE N6KB