[InHam] Fw: [KA9QJGREPEATERS] Why is Morse Code called CW?

[Paul Webster]

Hi All, 
Very interesting info.
Thanks for posting Don. 
73/75 de ka9jwx, Paul Lewis Webster
SKCC #5322
John 3:16
Proud member of the;
ARRL
NRA
Handihams
LiveFreeUSA
60 Plus (even tho I am younger then 60)
Long:-87.334L (-87*20'3"W)
Lat:41.4967N (41*29'48"N)
EN61HL
Merrillville, Indiana, 46410-3503, USA 
;-)


--- On Wed, 3/31/10, ka9qjg1 <KA9QJG at WOWWAY.COM> wrote:

> From: ka9qjg1 <KA9QJG at WOWWAY.COM>
> Subject: [KA9QJGREPEATERS] Why is Morse Code called CW
> To: KA9QJGREPEATERS at yahoogroups.com
> Date: Wednesday, March 31, 2010, 11:17 PM
> 
> I always wonder about that too So I did a little Research
> and thought I would Share what I found 
> 
> 73 De Don KA9QJG 
> 
> PS I failed CW 4 Times 30 Yrs ago but Finally passed and
> got My Novice , I just wonder How many of us would of passed
> it  more If We did not have to do it front of the Ol
> Eagle Eye , Black Suit white shirt and tie FCC Da Man 
> lol 
> 
> 
> Our Member Mark KA9OOI Enjoys using CW Maybe He will add to
> this I will say this their has been times on HF That I could
> NOT hear Mark at all  at 100 Watts , Then He would
> switch to CW As low as 5 watts and I could Hear him , You
> notice I said Hear  Not Copy  at 45 WPM 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What does 'CW' really mean? 
> 
> From Jim Wades, WB8SIW come the following information
> regarding the origins of the term &qout;continuous
> wave." Here is his abridged version. 
> 
> The first radio transmitters generated RF by discharging a
> high voltage spark across an L-C resonant circuit, which was
> coupled to the antenna. Each spark discharge across the gap
> would "ring" the L-C tuned circuit, which would then
> oscillate at its resonant frequency with decreasing
> amplitude until the decay was such that oscillation ceased.
> This created a "damped" oscillation analogous to ringing a
> bell or plucking a guitar string. 
> 
> The biggest problems with spark transmitters were occupied
> bandwidth, resulting in relatively poor efficiency, and the
> fact that they could not be modulated. This problem was
> solved through a number of approaches, which produced
> "undamped oscillations," also called "continuous waves." The
> earliest methods of producing an undamped oscillation were
> the arc transmitter and the radio frequency alternator. Both
> were usuable only at very low frequencies, and both produced
> RF directly at high power levels, which were difficult to
> modulate. However, such systems remained in service well
> into the mid 1940s, and one Alexanderson long-wave
> alternator remains intact and operational in Sweden as a
> museum piece. 
> 
> With the development of stable, good quality vacuum tubes
> in the 'teens, it became possible to develop a "modern" RF
> oscillator. Better yet, a RF oscillator could operate at low
> levels and be buffered and amplified in stages to produce
> reasonably high power levels. Furthermore, such vacuum tube
> oscillators could be conveniently modulated. Therefore,
> immediately after World War One and through the 1920s, we
> begin to see a variety of applications arise centered around
> voice communications including radio broadcasting, police
> radio, and point-to-point SSB circuits for international
> telephone service. 
> 
> The term "continuous wave" during this early period emerged
> as a tool to differentiate a modern radiotelegraph
> transmitter generating undamped oscillations from its
> antecedent, the older spark transmitter producing damped
> oscillations. Over time, as the spark technology receded
> into the past, the term "CW" became somewhat idiomatic; a
> term used by radio operators and engineers in reference to
> all radiotelegraph communications. 
> 
> In reality, all modern communications systems use "CW,"
> from your ham radio CW equipment to the latest cellular
> telephone or wireless router! I hope that explains things! -
> 73, WB8SIW 
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code#Development_and_history
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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