[KYHAM] No Code

[Anthony W. DePrato]

>
>One of the things that the ARRL has been fighting for decades is the 
>erosion of the
>ham bands to other services.  I'm not sure how many of us remember when 
>part of
>the 220 MHz band was removed from the amateur service

I think if you research the past on this you will find that the ARRL did a 
rope a dope and made concessions for a later band increase elsewhere.



>The only way we can keep our frequencies is by keeping them utilitized, and
>providing a public service.  And, the best way of doing this is to make 
>sure we
>have a lot of new hams that are interested in public service.

this has been said for the past 45 + years i have been a ham. and records 
prove that all the changes that the arrl did to get new hams into the fold 
by lowering standards . did NOT work. most that came in tired very soon as 
they did not have the will to study and work towards a higher ticket. 
over  50% never renewed their tickets. because they did not have the love 
of the hobby but wanted a glorified cb type of ticket. they did not want to 
put forth the effort needed to gain the knowledge and understanding needed 
to advance.

>  For some situations, such as meteor scatter, packet and some of the
>other digital modes can actually get information transferred MUCH better than
>CW.

seems something is missing here. i have spent hours in the past working VHF 
scatter via cw  long before digi modes came about.
and the statement above is just not correct packet is not a robust mode 
even with error corrections. you can tune the hf bands  try  14089 and 
watch the S.A. unmanned packet stations spend 30 mins trying to get one 
packet thru.. now with HSCW and JT44 yes the computer does all the work for 
you. you just set back and watch TV and come in later and see how many 
stations you worked today.. Is that really ham radio ?. they have made it 
ez to work VHF scatter and that is great if you are there doing the 
keyboarding but seems some of the thrill is gone when a machine is doing it 
all for you.


>Few CW operators would sit for hours on end trying to get a short burst
>of information through when a meteor happened to ionize the atmosphere
>in the right place.However, with a mode like packet, a computer does all of
>of the transmitting and receiving,

yes with HSCW and JT 44 this is true but NOT with packet. AX .025  BUT you 
are wrong a large number of  hard core VHF hams have for years done and are 
still doing just that . setting for hours working scatter on cw and even ssb.


doesn't mind sitting for hours at a
>time pounding out packets until one of them happens to get through.

it is a machine and you are correct it does not mind doing so. but do you 
feel you have reached a goal and have pride of doing so when you were out 
on the golf course or watching TV while a machine worked was for you on VHF 
or even dxcc on hf ?


>I've heard comments about CW being useful for traffic nets.  However, when
>I first got involved in digital communications about 15 years ago, there 
>was a
>world-wide packet network that could take a message and deliver it almost
>anywhere in the world in less than 24 hours.  Most traffic nets take a few
>days to get a message across the county, if it even arrives at all!

yes it sometimes took days but again the Packet was not designed for HF it 
was for VHF use. and i have seen it take an hour for an hf station to get 
one message thru.. but then that only keep the freq busy and showed that 
the bands were in use and caused a lot of wasted band usage. but then again 
a lot of packet messages never got to where they were going either. think i 
still have a few files on disk of unable to deliver messages.


>CW has it's place, but it's not the only, nor even the best, mode for 
>communications.

no mode is best all have their good and bad points but when all else fails 
cw has came thru.


>That doesn't mean that I don't enjoy using CW.  But, I also enjoy using 
>packet,
>RTTY, AMTOR, SSB, and FM, and I'm sure I'd also enjoy using SSTV, ATV, and 
>PSK-31
>when I have time.
>
>What I can't understand is that people are insisting that CW testing remain a
>part of the licensing process.  I suppose if that's the case, then what we 
>really
>need is to improve the testing process by making licensees pass a test for
>manually decoding a packet transmission, deciphering a RTTY signal, 
>identifying
>an SSTV signal when they hear it, and understanding how to build an ATV
>transmitter before they're granted a license to transmit any kind of signal
>(including CW).

i have NO problems with this and i agree that you should know how to do 
those things for all modes  you can operate as a ham radio op. deciphering 
rtty signals . yep been on rtty since  1964 and I CAN  read my call sign 
and a 599 report on rtty by ear. ask any long time rtty op and they will 
tell you the same thing.

>And, while we're at it, maybe we should retest all of the existing
>amateurs, just to make sure they're staying current with 
>technology.  Ridiculous?

NO i do not think so. and yes maybe we should retest . the FCC can retest 
any of us at any time if you did not take your test before the FCC.

>Well, isn't it also ridiculous to impose the requirement to receive CW on 
>someone
>who is interested in the ATV mode of amateur radio?

NO you Should know something about every mode you are allowed to use.. not 
just what pleases you.


>But, you say, CW can be used for emergency communcations and public service
>work, while ATV can't.  Well, I was at a meeting last weekend with some of the
>governmental EMA (Emergency Management Agency) people, and we were
>discussing the possibility of using ATV for remote viewing of disaster sites.
>Not CW, but ATV!  So, it seems that ATV is of more interested in emergency
>communications than CW is.

ATV may very well be of more interest after the major event is over and the 
dead and hurt are removed and the med , housing and food supplies needed 
are relayed out of the area. then you can use ATV to survey the damage . i 
really do not think ATV which is used on 432 MHz and has a very short range 
unless you set up an ATV repeater  would be used to pass traffic .


>I've also heard comments that CW is a "traditional" mode, and that testing 
>for it
>is traditional.  Well, spark transmitters were also tradition back in the 
>1910s and
>1920s, but when's the last time anyone ever heard a spark transmission on 80
>meters (We'll ignore the fact that an 80 meter spark signal has a 
>bandwidth of
>about 100 MHz on the 80 meter band.)?

lets See last year twice i recall spark was used on 80 mts. sp event 
station . i had never heard spark except in old movies was thrilled to copy 
this live on my receiver.

>We had to give that up when "better"
>modes came along.  How may of us remember the requirement that we had to
>operate for a certain number of hours every year in order to keep our 
>licenses?
>If you didn't operate, you didn't renew?  How many of us remember when we had
>to log every transmission?  And, if you got inspected and didn't have the 
>up to date
>and accurate log, you could kiss your license goodbye.  But, we no longer 
>have to
>perform those actions.  Has it harmed the hobby?

i do but IMHO i feel in some ways it has made us lax and that not having to 
worry about the FCC knocking on your door has caused  a lot of the foul 
things and bad ops we have today.

>No, I think it's well past time to eliminate the CW requirement.  However, 
>I don't
>think we should throw out the technical tests entirely.  I think it's 
>still reasonable
>for people to know the rules and regulations, how radio equipment and antennas
>work, and even how to build and troubleshoot circuits.

This i can AGREE with you 100% on. lets make the test a test again not a 
here are the Q and A's memorize this and take this little test and YOUR A 
HAM .

>  But, let's restrict the
>test to things which are actually appropriate,

well yes that is true also. But CW and all other modes are appropriate. if 
you can use the mode you need to know how to use it and how it works. not 
just that "well i don't want to learn it, so i won't use it, so let's get 
rid of it ,so i don't have to learn it."


>until the dean kicks the entire bunch off the campus of the
>airwaves.

You Know Dave that might not be a bad ideal kick a few of the bad ones off 
the air. retest those who show bad op habits .
require that you know something about every facet of amateur radio. you ARE 
allowed to use every mode so why should you not be required to know 
something about every mode. use it or not ?.
i have used AM SSB PACKET CW RTTY PSK31 AMTOR SITOR PACTOR and Sat's  have 
not used HSCW JT44 Hell ATV SSTV and i am sure i have left something out. 
but if i use them or not i SHOULD be required to know how to use them and 
with some efficiently.
with respect
73 Tony wa4jqs


>Dave
>WA4QAL

QBE  ZUT  DE WA4JQS

ANTHONY W. (Tony) DePrato WA4JQS
Since 1962
South Sandwich Island Dxpedition Group
CALLS HELD:
WA4JQS/ZS1, WA4JQS/KC4, WA4JQS/4K1
ZD8JQS, V31SS,
VP8BZL, VP8SSI, 3Y0PI