[CW] Clueless ( as in not a clue )
Danny Douglas via CW
cw at mailman.qth.net
Thu Jan 1 00:22:28 EST 2015
Those of us who were military intercept ops, usually did no sending at
all. I could , at one point, copy 50 plus, wpm, perfectly, as that is
the way it had to be. It was all done on a mill, (caps only typewriter)
and there were few who could send, consistently, at that rate. A few of
us who were hams could, of course (lies lies all lies). HI. But,
to sit there without a mill, typewriter, or even penicl and paper, and
copy the way some of these guys do today, amazes me. I gotta write it
down. Without that, I have to "fake copy" on a typewriter. That means
my fingers have to air copy, like some folks do with and air guitar.
After three years of hi speed copy, I went to Special Forces (battalion
commo NCOIC) where we were lucky enough to find someone who could send
15 wpm. Then, on to the Diplomatic Telecommunications Service, where
ops had to pass at least 20 wpm, and 25 to use the speed keys. Again,
back to copy 100 percent because it was encoded, and very hard to decode
if the raw product was not perfect. After copying code for 57 years,
one has heard it all.
> Richard Knoppow via CW <mailto:cw at mailman.qth.net>
> Wednesday, December 31, 2014 11:31 PM
> I am not so sure CW ops are worse now than in the distant past, I
> think there were always bad fists. Part of my working on my code is
> copying anything that comes along. That means being able to follow
> badly spaced code, code with extra dots and dashes, etc. I used to
> practice mostly on machine sent code but found that I was hearing
> extended conversations in code where one or both of the participants
> were far from perfect, yet seemed to be able to understand each other.
> Has to be learnable. I suspect that a good commercial op had to be
> able to read bad fists just like the secretary one can find in most
> offices who can read any awful handwriting.
> My sending is better than my receiving and I used to be
> complimented on it. I use a hand key or bug. I have never been able to
> get comfortable with a keyer but perhaps don't go fast enough to make
> one necessary. On a bug I am good to about 30 WPM but used to be
> faster before I began to get arthritis. I think it takes practice,
> practice, practice, and I am envious of those like David Ring who can
> read at very high speeds.
>
>
> --
> Richard Knoppow
> Los Angeles
> WB6KBL
> dickburk at ix.netcom.com
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Eddy Swynar via CW"
> <cw at mailman.qth.net>
> To: "K3PID" <Ron.K3PID at sbcglobal.net>; "CW Reflector"
> <cw at mailman.qth.net>
> Cc: <Fists at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2014 7:44 PM
> Subject: Re: [CW] Clueless ( as in not a clue )
>
>
>
> On 2014-12-31, at 7:20 PM, K3PID via CW wrote:
>
>> Am I the only one noticing that more and more operators are
>> completely clueless about the art of sending CW? I can generally copy
>> 25+ WPM of GOOD code. That would be code with nominally correct dit
>> to dah ratios and spacing's. It doesn’t have to be perfect but geese!
>> There are ops out there that I couldn’t copy at any speed! A long
>> time ago in a galaxy far far away we would call them LIDS. Dits that
>> are barely contact closures and dahs that run on and on with no break
>> between letters let alone words!!
>>
>> Sorry! Just felt the need to rant! I feel better now!
>>
>> 73 es Happy New Year! Ron K3PID
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi Ron,
>
> I have to agree with you: there has been a marked deterioration in the
> quality of the CW being sent out there anymore---and from anywhere,
> too, i.e. definitely not limited to North American-based Hams...!
>
> Oh sure, there have always been those guys around whom you'd swear
> send code with their left foot. In my 43-1/2 years on the air, I
> thought I'd heard them all---until the good openings on 10-meters in
> the past few months compelled me to work stations there about every 3
> minutes, or so, pile-up style, to take advantage of paths while they
> were open. That's when I noticed that a lot of stations to-day have a
> tendency to display a blatant lack of spacing, they run their letters
> together, can't spell to save their lives (intuition can help a lot
> here!), and seem to subscribe to the motto of, "Why send only 4 dits,
> when 6 will do...?" Hi Hi
>
> But, d'you know what...? I NEVER EVER complain to them about it---I
> simply do my best to get my report & their name, & I thank them for
> the QSO, & move on. I simply will NOT criticize some poor soul who may
> suffer from some sort of a physical disability / illness that prevents
> him / her from sending perfect CW. At least that person is trying to
> stay in the game, & I give them full credit for that. And I always
> remember that old saying of, "THERE, BUT BY THE GRACE OF GOD, GO I."
>
> So I clam up, & & enjoy the ride as best I can. There are lots of
> other "crackerjack" CW experts out there who far outweigh the poor
> operators anyway...and after all, variety is the spice of life!
>
> HNY to all, & my vy
>
> ~73!~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
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>> =30=
>
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>
> Eddy Swynar via CW <mailto:cw at mailman.qth.net>
> Wednesday, December 31, 2014 10:44 PM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> */Hi Ron,/*
>
> I have to agree with you: there has been a marked deterioration in the
> quality of the CW being sent out there anymore---and from /anywhere/,
> too, i.e. definitely /not/limited to North American-based Hams...!
>
> Oh sure, there have /always/been those guys around whom you'd swear
> send code with their left foot. In my 43-1/2 years on the air, I
> thought I'd heard them all---until the good openings on 10-meters in
> the past few months compelled me to work stations there about every 3
> minutes, or so, pile-up style, to take advantage of paths while they
> were open. That's when I noticed that a lot of stations to-day have a
> tendency to display a blatant lack of spacing, they run their letters
> together, can't spell to save their lives (intuition can help a lot
> here!), and seem to subscribe to the motto of, "/Why send only 4 dits,
> when 6 will do...?/" Hi Hi
>
> But, d'you know what...? I /NEVER EVER/complain to them about it---I
> simply do my best to get my report & their name, & I thank them for
> the QSO, & move on. I simply will /NOT/criticize some poor soul who
> may suffer from some sort of a physical disability / illness that
> prevents him / her from sending perfect CW. At least that person is
> trying to stay in the game, & I give them full credit for that. And I
> always remember that old saying of, "/THERE, BUT BY THE GRACE OF GOD,
> GO I./"
>
> So I clam up, & & enjoy the ride as best I can. There are lots of
> other "crackerjack" CW experts out there who far outweigh the poor
> operators anyway...and after all, variety is the spice of life!
>
> HNY to all, & my vy
>
> */~73!~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ/*
>
>
>
>
>
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> =30=
> K3PID via CW <mailto:cw at mailman.qth.net>
> Wednesday, December 31, 2014 7:20 PM
> Am I the only one noticing that more and more operators are completely
> clueless about the art of sending CW? I can generally copy 25+ WPM of
> GOOD code. That would be code with nominally correct dit to dah ratios
> and spacing's. It doesn’t have to be perfect but geese! There are ops
> out there that I couldn’t copy at any speed! A long time ago in a
> galaxy far far away we would call them LIDS. Dits that are barely
> contact closures and dahs that run on and on with no break between
> letters let alone words!!
> Sorry! Just felt the need to rant! I feel better now!
> 73 es Happy New Year! Ron K3PID
> ______________________________________________________________
> CW mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/cw
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
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> Support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
> =30=
> D.J.J. Ring, Jr. via CW <mailto:cw at mailman.qth.net>
> Sunday, December 28, 2014 9:36 PM
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> EDIZIONE ITALIANA
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>
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--
Danny Douglas
<http://www.getpostbox.com>
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