[Elecraft] CW in Emergencies? (WAS: Dropping the Code Test)

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Phil wrote:
That was interesting.  In 1958 I was on the National Geophysical Expedition
to the North Pole on Drift station Alpha.  KL7FLA and W9DVM/MM.  We were
floating.  When we had severe aurora and you could turn all gains wide open
and hear nothing, CW was always the first to be heard from Fairbanks and
then SSB.  That pattern never failed. 

--------------------------------

The narrow-band nature of CW makes it audible long before a relatively
wide-band mode like SSB. That's simple physics. Narrower bandwidths mean
less noise power coming through, Less noise means it takes less signal to be
heard, provided the signal fits in that narrow bandwidth. 

Here in Oregon it's rare Eu QSO that doesn't involve listening through
auroral flutter. Sometimes its TOUGH! But if the other guy'll QRS, it's
usually easy copy. That's one thing CW has that phone doesn't: easily
adjustable bandwidth and data rates. Saying words v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y on SSB
doesn't help much. 

I submit that the reason virtually ALL emergency nets are phone is that CW
requires a skill few Hams have today: even routine CW ops. Handling a QSO,
even a rag chew, is a far, far cry from participating in a controlled CW
net. That's a skill that takes time, more time, and even more time and a lot
of patience and dedication to master. Just ask Kevin Rock who runs the
Elecraft CW net! 

Getting enough Hams current with the skills to do that efficiently has
always been a huge problem, even when every Ham had to be proficient at CW
to get a license. That's the real reason for all those routine traffic nets
we used to have across the bands every night. Even back then, how many of
those experienced ops would be in the middle of the disaster, ready to
handle traffic? Not many, not often. 

It's the same reason CW was dropped from the Maritime service. It isn't that
the new satellite-based GMDSS system is cheaper to install, it's not. But
it's cheaper to operate: no CW operator required! No highly skilled people
need be present at the critical moment, like Phillips and Bride sending CQD
CQD CQD DE MGY MGY MGY from the Titanic that April night. Nowadays all
anyone has to do is hit a big red button on the bridge or pick up a
telephone handset. 

In the Ham world, using phone means that more operators are available
everywhere, so there are likely more operators available any time and in any
place they are needed. 

Ron AC7AC