[Elecraft] OT: VOA Article about Hams in India

[Stephen W. Kercel]

About 20 years ago, I was active in League politics, and quite a vocal 
critic of the movement to drop the CW requirement from ham licensing. Two 
things have become apparent in the meantime. First, our political effort 
has obviously failed miserably. Second, having some no-code ham licenses 
has not heralded the beginning of the end of western civilization as we 
were predicting it would back then. CW operation is thriving.

As yet another member of the choir, I expect that CW will continue its 
popularity irrespective of any examination requirement. It is just so much 
more effective than any other mode, especially for those of us who use low 
powered gear and small antennas.

Two points already made by other posters are telling:

1) It is an effective infrastructure-free mode.

2) Like sailing or cooking over an open fire, it is so effective that it 
retains some advantages over much more sophisticated technologies.

Also, unlike the data modes, CW is more art than science. It depends 
critically on the skill of the operator. It is in that challenge that it 
has its appeal. No doubt, yauchtsmen and barBQ  chefs say much the same thing.

I suspect that the sense of community that one finds in the Elecraft group, 
and the sense of accomplishment that arises from doing do much with such 
simple (even a K-2 is orders of magnitude simpler than the typical PC, much 
less computer networking apparatus) gear will do more to preserve CW than 
all the regulating (or lobbying of regulatory authorities) in the world.

73,

Steve Kercel
AA4AK


At 02:21 PM 1/5/2005 -0800, you wrote:
>As a member of the choir:  I think hams will always preserve competency
>in CW, regardless of what the ITU and FCC does, as long as a CW Q counts
>more than a fone Q in most contests.
>
>That said, this is yet another example of infrastructure-free
>communications that hams can provide and hardly anyone or anything else
>can.  When the going gets tough, the power is scarce, and the noise is
>high, a radio/ ham operator at each end of a 15,000 km circuit can still
>communicate.  Note in the VOA article ... it was all the other
>commercial communications that were lost.  It's not something I hear
>much about.  Naybe we should change that.
>
>73,
>
>Fred K6DGW
>Auburn CA CM98lw
>"not even faintly embarrassed"
>
>Daniel Reynolds wrote:
> >
> > --- lonnie.m.juli at verizon.net wrote:
> > > I also understand that the DXpedition relied on CW at the beginning 
> of their
> > > relief effort so that they could operate successfully with small antenna
> > > systems and low power. If the FCC and its counterparts around the 
> world keep
> > > doing away with the Morse requirement, who will be there to copy weak,
> > > hastily assembled stations in the future?
> >
> > Here Here!!! (... however - I think you just preached to the choir)
> >
> > I think that as long as there is QRP, Elecraft, kit building, and ham 
> radio in
> > general - there will always be CW (unless they one day decide to make CW
> > illegal ... which would be really dumb - they still use AM don't they - 
> however
> > I think they did ban spark gap transmitters, but not because they were 
> morse
> > code). I don't think CW will ever go out of style. People still use 
> sailboats
> > (and sailboards!) even though steam ships were developed over 100 years 
> ago.
> > People still use hot air baloons even though we just celebrated the first
> > century of powered flight. We still make kids learn how to write by 
> hand with
> > #2 pencils even though most American students have access to a computer and
> > know how to use one. No - I think that we are quite a long way from 
> seeing the
> > end of CW. The CW bug 'infects' a certain kind of person. There's no known
> > antivirus/antibiotic for this kind of 'infection' - and it spreads readily.
> >
> > 72,
> > Daniel / AA0NI
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