[CW] Charts of Radio Morse and American Wire Morse.

Fri Oct 31 14:39:57 EDT 2014

Richard,

There is no special power limit rule for amplitude modulation (AM) or
double sideband amplitude modulated full carrier.

The power level for all modes is 1500 watts peak envelope power output.

The problem - to the AM'ers - is that the old definition of power
limit was 1,000 watts input.  When AM double side band full carrier
was run it would be 4,000 watts peak envelope power input and the
output would be higher than the new definition of maximum power
allowed of 1500 watts PEP.  It would be something around 2,500 watts
PEP if the AM operators ran their old 1,000 watt input carrier with
100% modulation and this would be twice the power permitted.

The newer power measurement method and power limit rule resulted in
increases in power for most modes - CW went from about 550 watts
output to 1500 watts output.  SSB which used to be 2,000 watts PEP
input resulting in about 1,200 watts PEP output got a little boost to
1,500 watts PEP output.  RTTY which was about 550 watts output went up
to 1500 watts output.

AM was unique that the power limit actually dropped - now AM'ers can
run 375 watts output of carrier
which produces 1500 watts PEP output. So you can see that it is less
power than the nominal 500 watts of carrier output that could be run
under the previous rules.

The reason it was changed was to give amateur operators more power
authorization.  Years ago the cost of R.F. Output PEP measuring
devices was quite expensive, now they're much more reasonable and in
fact most hams have such a device.

73

David N1EA

On Fri, Oct 31, 2014 at 11:36 AM, Richard Knoppow via CW
<cw at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Donald Chester via CW"
> <cw at mailman.qth.net>
> To: <cw at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2014 10:28 PM
> Subject: Re: [CW] Charts of Radio Morse and American Wire Morse.
>
>
>
>> There used to be, and maybe still is if any members are still kicking, a
>> group of  hams who practised American landline Morse in a net on 80m.
>> Probably old time railway operators. As I recall, they ID'ed in
>> International Morse, but carried on their net in American Morse.
>>
>> Johnny Johnston, who had retired from the FCC and who is well known by the
>> AM phone community as the guy who instigated a steady stream of RM
>> proposals
>> during his 25-year tenure that would have severely restricted amateur AM
>> or
>> eliminated it altogether, claimed in an article he wrote that American
>> Morse
>> is illegal to use on the ham bands because, according to the Part 97
>> rules,
>> CW is defined as "on and off keying, using International Morse code". He
>> claimed it was illegal to transmit American Morse because it does not fit
>> the FCC's definition of CW.
>>
>> The president of a telegrapher-hobbyist club contacted the FCC regarding
>> the
>> article. They basically told him to ignore that guy because he no longer
>> works for the FCC and no longer has any say over what is legal on the ham
>> bands.  I talked to one of the  guys in the club at Dayton and exchanged
>> e-mails with another member and that's what they told me. Pretty  sad...
>> the
>> guy tried his best to screw over a group of hams while he was at the FCC,
>> and once he retired, was still at it, trying to screw over another group
>> of
>> hams.
>>
>> There is enough similarity between the codes that one probably  could
>> follow
>> the gist of the conversation if one knew only the other code, kind of like
>> someone who speaks Spanish  can get the gist of a conversation in Italian
>> and vice versa.  I was surprised how easily I could understand regular
>> International Morse when transmitted to an old fashioned land-line sounder
>> during a demonstration. I don't know if I could decipher much of a message
>> in American Morse transmitted to a sounder, though.
>>
>>
>> 73,
>> Don k4kyv
>>
>      Many years ago I worked American Morse with an old time railroad
> operator. I doubt if I could read it now, at least without considerable
> practice, although its really not very much different than Continental
> Morse.  Reading either from a sounder is something else. I have a few
> sounders and have run them from a tape transmitter using Continental Morse.
> Its like learning Morse all over again but that's just me and my hearing is
> not what it used to be. A sounder in a resonator is LOUD!  Makes you wonder
> what a large telegraph office must have sounded like.
>      As far as the legality I am not so certain that any code that is not a
> cipher is illegal provided stations are identified correctly. What ever this
> guy says it would take an attempted prosecution and court case to determine
> what the law really is. The FCC makes _rules_ but those can be challenged in
> court.
>      BTW, if this is the fellow who created the power limit rule for AM he
> is just out of it. I don't know if that definition of AM power has ever been
> challenged legally but it should be because it doesn't make any sense.
>
>
> --
> Richard Knoppow
> Los Angeles
> WB6KBL
> dickburk at ix.netcom.com
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> =30=