[Elecraft] Sad day for amateur radio

[Sandy, W5TVW]

I'm in the same boat!  I struggled with code for a long time.  Finally got in when the
Novice Class was started in 1951!  I took my test the month after it started.
I didn't get an Extra until 1968!  The code was still a struggle!  I did take the Extra as a
warmup for 2nd Class Radiotelegraph, which was required for my job!  Passed both of
them the second try.  As I worked with code on the ships, I began to see the uniqueness
of it!  You can send and receive messages in a foriegn language you can't speak or read
using CW!  Amazing!  No computers required, no interpreters required!

I've been practically on nothing but CW now for about 20 years.  It's a great mode
when you have a sore throat and can't talk!

Too bad the knuckleheaded "newbie" people think Morse is too antiquated to carry over into
the 21st century!  Ain't nothing like CW for QRP work!

73,
Sandy W5TVW
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Craig Rairdin" <craigr at laridian.com>
To: <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2005 10:59 AM
Subject: RE: RE: [Elecraft] Sad day for amateur radio


| > Code has been an artificial barrier to entry for a long time. I fought every
| > attempt to reduce or eliminate code. In the end, the joke was on me. Reducing
| > it didn't hurt ham radio, and eliminating it will most likely help. Not to swell our
| > ranks, but to bring in quality people who will advance the hobby, but have
| > always thought ham radio was irrelevant. And those newcomers who are bright
| > enough will recognize for themselves when Morse Code makes sense and they
| > will use it.
|
| True enough, though many of us operate CW now only because we were forced to learn it then found
out it was fun. Without the motivation to learn it, there will be fewer practitioners. As all you
Really OF's (i.e. older than me) die off, there won't be as many people to talk to on CW.
|
| The other side of this coin is that I hang out with a whole bunch of Technicians who know way more
about electronics, antennas, and propagation than I do. Their interests are in the bands I use to
cook food. They're certainly no less "hams" than I even though none of them know any code.
|
| Craig
| NZ0R
| K1 #1966
| K2 #4941
|
|
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