[Elecraft] New Contest Transceiver [OT]

[Sandy]

Morse IS being used, whether the "regulators" like it or not.

For a while ( may still be?) Morse was BANNED on the MARS frequencies.

Morse is certainly popular for contest and QRP use, and probably still on 
the rise.  How much Morse?  All one has to do is listen on 160 meters during 
the ARRL or CQ 160 contests!  Too bad there isn't more activity except at 
contest time.

I'm hearing a lot of slow speed Morse QSO's now where the old timers used to 
congregate.  Perhaps this sort of activity will increase.  I still contend 
there should be some small "sub-band where digital/RTTY and voice modes are 
forbidden and there is nothing but Morse even if only 10-20 khz. of the low 
end.

73

Sandy W5TVW
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Ferrington, M0XDF" <M0XDF at Alphadene.co.uk>
To: "Charlotte & Bob Higgins" <rwhiggins at charter.net>
Cc: "Sandy" <ebjr37 at charter.net>; "Shaun Oliver" 
<shaun.oliver at optusnet.com.au>; "Bill W4ZV" <btippett at alum.mit.edu>; 
<elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 6:35 AM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] New Contest Transceiver [OT]


> Is this actually true? I'm not clear on what happened in the US with  no 
> longer requiring a Morse cert. and would like someone to set me  straight 
> (I really mean that, I'd like to understand the real story).
>
> My understanding is:
> 1) the requirement for a morse cert was removed from the license
> 2) this allows you to get a license and operate without morse
> 3) the FCC did not 'throw away Morse', just removed the requirement to 
> have it
>
> In the UK, this same action in 2003 has resulted in more newcomers  (since 
> Morse is no longer an obstacle) and in fact, more people  wishing to learn 
> Morse (myself included) since on using HF, it becomes  clear just how 
> significant CW is to making contacts, especially DX.  So, by no longer 
> forcing people to learn Morse, we have encouraged  more to do so.
>
> In my limited experience, courtesy not slowing slipping away, lack of  it 
> is in the minority. And mostly the usage of that term is used when 
> describing large contests where band plans get ignored. I don't wish  to 
> get into the Contest verses DX type issues. There does seem to be a 
> concern that SSB contests wipe out the CW parts of the band during the 
> contest.
> I would have thought that applied far more here than in the US where  my 
> understanding is the band plan is mandator - in the UK is advisory 
> (provided you stick within the spectrum allocation).
>
> Contests are on the rise yes, but I don't think that can be blamed on  the 
> removal of the Morse requirement - surly if anything, this  indicates a 
> greater usage of CW (assuming we are talking CWE contests).
> In fact, are contests on the increase or is it just poor DX conditions 
> making it appear that way?
>
> On the question of where to go to use Morse, what about the freq. used  by 
> FIST members. Just because they are used by FISTS, does not prevent 
> anyone from using them (no-one owns a freq.) and if you hear someone 
> calling CQ FISTS, work them. FISTS members are happy to work anyone  and 
> are not exclusively FISTS - and if you find someone is, then they  should 
> not be a member of FISTS, IMHO.
>
> There freq. are found at http://www.fists.co.uk/index_files/FREQS.htm
>
> 73 de M0XDF / FISTS #12575, K3 #174, HexKey #375
> -- 
> One can pay back the loan of gold, but one dies forever in debt to those
> who are kind. -Malayan Proverb
>
> On 19 Mar 2008, at 11:05, Charlotte & Bob Higgins wrote:
>
>>> Since the FCC decided to throw away Morse code, courtesy has all  but 
>>> disappeared, and contests have almost totally taken over.   There is 
>>> little places to go and have a CW QSO anymore.  Most of  the CW ops 
>>> nowadays seem to be contesters so you either join them  or stay off the 
>>> air.  There seems to be no place to go anymore on HF.
>>
>> WARC bands?
>
>
> -- 
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>
>