[KYHAM] No code proposition for HF
Anthony W. DePrato
[email protected]
Wed, 21 Jan 2004 23:02:37 -0500
At 08:11 PM 1/21/2004 -0500, you wrote:
>I learned CW for my general class license. I tried it a few times, and made
>an idiot of myself with several foreign stations because I couldn't sort out
>the dits and dahs (I had passed the test, right?). I don't care for it, and
>it doesn't come as easily to me as it has a friend who could read and send
>at 20 wpm before he ever had a live contact. I have made an SSB QSO with a
>Polish station on 5W. Two days ago, I got a pc up and running PSK31. RTTY is
>a simple next step. Does this make me a poor operator?
>[PETE
i can only call on 45+ years as a ham. but your 1STqso being a mess did not
make you an idiot. i had 20 or more like that when i first started and yes
it bothered me and i felt foolish.. but I DID NOT QUIT. psk31 i was on when
it first came out. been on rtty since 1964 no that does not make you a bad
op. what can make someone a bad op is NOT knowing how to adjust the
audio into the sound card so that they do not have images on both sides
and knowing that 10 watts psk31 can work the world and not turn up the
gain and put 150 watts out.
>
>
>I can spin the dial from 160 to 20 M and hear cat-calls, unidentified voice
>transmission, people tuning up on QSOs, transmissions to no one in
>particular, and CQs within 1 MHz of another CQ or QSO. Presumably, these
>people also passed 13 or 20 WPM for their ticket. Does that make them better
>operators than me?
what makes you think you are a bad op ? yes you can hear these things
today. but i will tell you this up until the mid 70's when the dumbing down
of the ticket started you did not hear these things.. oh once in a while
you would but these guys did not last very long . on the air. then the
FCC did take matters into their own hands. when they started making it so
ez to get a ticket it brought hoards from the CB bands into ham radio NOT
all were bad a lot are good ops.. but not all. how do you know they passed
a 13 or 20 wpm cw test maybe they are low code hams ? could go either way..
but the code does not make you a good or bad person only YOU can do that.
as for numbers if you check the FCC records you will find that there was a
great influx of hams did happen when the test became so ez but look close
over 75% never renewed their ticket the second time. and 40% never renewed
it the first time. most dropped out when they had to put forth effort to
get more freqs.. other then the 2 mt fm band.. most went back to cb..
>
>
>I have finished the ARRL's EMComm Level 1 course, and a weather preparedness
>course from FEMA. I am an active member of Skywarn, with at least 20 hours
>of service at the NWS office in 2003. None of this used CW knowledge. Does
>this make me a poor operator?
no that gives you knowledge about the weather and storms and what goes on
at the NWS office. as for putting this into real life practice time will
tell you how well you have learned how to be a spotter and pass traffic on
a FM link or even a SSB link or maybe even a soundcard mode psk or rtty
link but what happens when you have qrm and qrn so bad that ssb is useless,
the rain front has dropped the repeater range to less then 5 miles (yes
this does happen). and the flutter and phase shift makes digi copy
useless.. hummm CW will still work.. will you be able to provide and use
what you have learned with all the arrl and fema training ? with a 40 watt
cw transmitter setting over in the corner you just might be able to help
and save a life. i hope so.
>
>
>During a December contest, I was blown out of the water by a big gun station
>just a MHz below me. That operator knew I was there, and was told I was
>there, but did not move. Presumably that station passed the CW requirement.
>Did that make them a better operator than me?
well again this happens to all of us i have been contesting for 35 yrs.even
won one or two hi.. no that does not mean the person passed either a 5 13
or 20 wpm test.. but they did pass one .
>
>
>A few weeks ago, via Echolink, I talked to three operators from Manchester,
>England on a local 2M repeater. They did the standard HF QSO spiel, while I
>was telling them about the repeater, it's coverage, and about Metro
>Louisville, which the repeater covers. They gave me an RST report, while I
>did not. They talked about their rigs, power and antennas, while I did not.
>None of this occurred using CW, or any active knowledge of CW on my part, or
>with the usual HF protocols. Does this make me a poor operator?
here i will not say much as how and what i think of echolink being a type
of ham radio is not important. no it was not even over the air for the most
part ,kind of like a long distance telephone call. or using a cell phone or
maybe msn messenger and again no it does not make you a poor op it just
means that you do not have knowledge of the basic mode that will get thru
when all others will not.
>
>
>I'd like to find some answers to my questions from those on this list with
>more experience (6 years), because apparently I'm missing something. From
>what I've read so far, there are far better operators than I because they
>know and use CW, while I don't.
how you came up with this line of thinking is beyond me.. but i can say
that since the 1930's when hams had to get a ticket cw was a requirement
and a knowledge of circuits and theory was also.. these were the building
blocks they saved a lot of lives in WWI and WWII because the hams came
forth with their knowledge of cw and theory and taught a nation that did
not have any knowledge of how to communicate and helped win two wars and
two conflicts.
no one is better then anyone else but to have a full rounded knowledge of
all things dealing with amateur radio is far better then knowing only half
the story.
with best regards
Tony WA4JQS
>
>
>Pete Womack
>
>KF4VCC
>
>
>
>
>
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