[NJARC] Good Story from Page 1 of Monday's Wall Street Journal
Scott Roberts
ng19delta at yahoo.com
Thu Oct 11 05:56:21 EDT 2007
ANY method that works is fine with me! :)
Scott
--- michael s christiansen <kb2vrm at juno.com> wrote:
> Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org
> _______________________________________________
> Hey Scott, that's cool. If that's the route you want
> to go to learn the
> code more power to you but there are lots of
> computer programs available
> for free on line and probably from some of our club
> members also that are
> very good. Mike Christiansen, KB2VRM
> On Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:37:36 -0700 (PDT) Scott
> Roberts
> <ng19delta at yahoo.com> writes:
> > Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org
> > _______________________________________________
> > That's Great! I am trying to teach myself Morse,
> > albeit slowly at the moment. I have a jury-rigged
> > trainer- a radio shack piezo buzzer, 9vt battery
> and
> > key. Works well, and sounds real. Just have to
> start
> > following my directions from the 1944 CAP cadet
> > manual! lol I want to be able to CW when I get my
> > license and ham shack setup.
> >
> > Scott
> >
> >
> > --- john ruccolo <jr6v6gt at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Tapped out? Arizona retiree aims to write new
> > > chapter
> > > for Morse code
> > >
> > > NOSTALGIC FOR SIMPLER days, retired
> > > astrophysicist Chuck Adams is
> > > translating classics of boys’ literature into a
> > > language he fears is going the
> > > way of kit radios and marbles: Morse code.
> > > Holed up in his high-desert home crammed
> > > with
> > > computers, radio receivers
> > > and a very patient wife, Mr. Adams uses homemade
> > > software to download online
> > > books with expired copyrights, convert the typed
> > > words
> > > into Morse code tones and
> > > record them on compact discs he sells on the
> > > Internet.
> > > So far, Mr. Adams says he has sold or
> > > donated
> > > thousands of Morse
> > > versions of such novels as Edgar Rice
> Burroughs’s
> > > “At
> > > the Earth’s Core,” Daniel
> > > Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe,” and H.G. Wells’s “The
> > > Time
> > > Machine.” In about an hour
> > > his software can take any book in the public
> domain
> > > and turn it into a string of
> > > digital dits and dahs; last weekend, he turned
> out a
> > > version of F. Scott
> > > Fitzgerald’s - .... . / -... . .- ..- - .. ..-.
> ..-
> > > .-.. / .- -. -.. / -.. .- --
> > > -. . -.. (a.k.a., “The Beautiful and Damned”).
> > > For the 65-year-old Mr. Adams, it is a
> labor
> > > of love, mixed with equal
> > > parts hope and despair. “Morse code is going to
> die
> > > off unless you can talk
> > > someone into coming into the hobby,” he says.
> > > “I do it because it’s fun, and to keep
> it
> > > going,” he says. Then he adds
> > > in the next breath: “But I have no delusions of
> > > grandeur that I can save Morse
> > > code from extinction. I’m not Don Quixote. I’m
> not
> > > going to go out and fight
> > > windmills.”
> > > Mr. Adams grew up in Wink, a blink of a
> town
> > > in West Texas. About two
> > > meters tall himself, he shared a small bedroom
> with
> > > his three younger brothers,
> > > each of whom is even taller. He hand-built his
> first
> > > bike with parts from a
> > > junkyard and flew model rockets high above Wink
> > > while
> > > the Soviets flew Sputnik
> > > even higher.
> > > And, at the age of 15—inspired by his
> > > father,
> > > a ham-radio operator—Mr.
> > > Adams taught himself Morse code from a book. At
> the
> > > time, ham operators had to
> > > transcribe Morse code at a rate of five words
> per
> > > minute in order to earn the
> > > most basic federal license. Soon young Mr. Adams
> was
> > > spending every night
> > > sending coded messages to anyone who could hear
> > > them,
> > > and eavesdropping on UPI
> > > news dispatches broadcast to ships.
> > > Many other radio amateurs use voice
> > > transmissions, but Mr. Adams
> > > preferred code, because of the challenge—and
> because
> > > he thinks his voice is too
> > > high and his West Texas accent too twangy.
> > > Mr. Adams completed a Ph.D., won tenure
> at
> > > the
> > > University of North
> > > Texas, worked high-powered jobs in the defense
> and
> > > computer industries, and
> > > dabbled in the professional poker circuit. But
> he
> > > never lost his love for Morse
> > > code.
> > > The code is the creation of a painter,
> > > Samuel
> > > F.B. Morse, who needed a
> > > way to transmit messages over the telegraph that
> he
> > > and Alfred Vail had
> > > invented. In 1844, the men famously sent a
> > > transmission from Washington to
> > > Baltimore that read, “What hath God wrought?”
> > > The telegraph soon replaced the pony
> > > express.
> > > As late as World War II,
> > > ham operators found themselves using their Morse
> > > skills as radiomen in the
> > > military. During the Vietnam War, Jeremiah
> Denton, a
> > > prisoner of war who later
> > > became a U.S. senator from Alabama, blinked
> > > “T-O-R-T-U-R-E” in Morse code when
> > > his captors put him on television.
> > > But over time, the telephone and
> satellites
> > > have rendered Morse code
> > > almost obsolete. “If the satellites go out and
> power
> > > goes out, Morse code can
> > > still get through,” says Nancy Kott, president
> of a
> > > code club called
> > > FISTS—someone who sends good code has “a good
> fist.”
> > > “All we need is a battery
> > > and two wires to tap together, and we can
> > > communicate.”
> > > In February, the Federal Communications
> > > Commission eliminated the Morse
> > > requirements for ham-radio licenses. Mr. Adams
> > > resigned from a ham-operators
> > > organization because of what he saw as its
> flaccid
> > > defense of Morse code.
> > > “It is a sad state of affairs when the
> U.S.
> > > doesn’t even attempt to keep
> > > the language alive or give an incentive to work
> on
> > > it,” says Mr. Adams.
> > > Many of those who still know Morse code
> test
> > > their skills with a German
> > > computer game called Rufz, the standard for
> > > determining world
> > > transcription-speed rankings. Players listen to
> > > coded,
> > > five-character call
> > > signs, combinations of letters, symbols and
> numbers
> > > that identify individual
> > > license holders. The faster and more correctly
> they
> > > type them, the more points
> > > they score. (Transcribing regular text is much
> > > slower.)
> > > Last month in Belgrade, Goran Hajosevic
> > > broke
> > > 200 words per minute—an
> > > extraordinary pace. Mr. Adams is tied for eighth
> in
> > > the world, at more than 140
> > > words per minute.
> > > Scanning the list recently of the 60
> fastest
> > > Morse coders under the age
> > > of 20, Mr. Adams spotted just two with
> > > American-issued
> > > call signs. “What this
> > > shows me is in the United States, we have no one
> > > who’s
> > > interested in learning
> > > Morse code anymore,” he lamented.
> > > Mr. Adams and other Morse aficionados
> don’t
> > > speak of dots and dashes;
> > > that imagery is too visual, and Morse is an
> aural
> > > language. So they prefer to
> > > describe the language in dits and dahs, the
> sounds
> > > of
> > > the short and long tones.
> > > A, for instance, is dit dah. B is dah dit dit
> dit,
> > > or
> > > simply dah dididit.
> > > Between two letters, the sender allows a
> three-dit
> > > silence. Between words it
> > > grows to seven dits.
> > > Like all Morse experts, Mr. Adams rarely
> > > breaks signals down into
> > > letters, instead hearing complete words much as
> > > readers recognize words on a
> > > page. When he transcribes a message at high
> speeds,
> > > his fingers are five or 10
> > > words behind his ears. When he is “in the zone”
> he
> > > isn’t even conscious of what
> > > he is transcribing, he says. He has to read it
> later
> > > to understand the message.
> > > When he listens to one of his books, the
> > > code
> > > is like a voice speaking
> > > to him. “It’s like you don’t count the i’s when
> > > someone says Mississippi,” he
> > > explains.
> > > He produces his audio books to play at
> > > different speeds, depending on
> > > the expertise of the buyer. Ken Moorman’s
> bedtime
> > > listening is Mr. Adams’s
> > > 25-word-per-minute version of “The War of the
> > > Worlds,”
> > > which he purchased for
> > > $10.50. “It’s so much easier to pick up a
> microphone
> > > and yell,” says Mr.
> > > Moorman, a 65-year-old retired electrical
> engineer
> > > in
> > > Williamsburg, Virginia,
> > > and a coder since 1957. “The people who do
> [Morse
> > > code] today do it because it’s
> > > a lost art.”
> > > Earlier this year, Mr. Adams sent Barry
> > > Kutner, a 50-year-old
> > > ophthalmologist from Newtown, Pennsylvania, and
> > > another world-class coder, a
> > > 100-words-per-minute version of the book. To Mr.
> > > Adams’s chagrin, Mr. Kutner
> > > wrote an email back pointing out that the gap
> > > between
> > > words was eight dits long,
> > > instead of the prescribed seven. At that pace, a
> dit
> > > lasts 1.2 one-thousandths
> > > of a second.
> > > Much as he did growing up in Texas, Mr.
> > > Adams
> > > enjoys sitting in front of
> > > a gray radio, not much bigger than a hardcover
> book,
> > > and sending code with a
> > > $500, Italian, stainless-steel, paddle-style key
> > > that
> > > he operates with a
> > > pinching motion. With the slightest touch of his
> > > right
> > > thumb on one paddle, the
> > > key sends an audible dit, or short tone. A touch
> of
> > > his right pointer finger on
> > > the other paddle sends a dah, or long tone.
> > > His wife, Phyllis, 62, doesn’t begrudge
> him
> > > his long hours in front of
> > > the radio. “I’m just glad he has something to
> keep
> > > him
> > > busy,” she says. “All my
> > > friends with retired husbands complain they
> follow
> > > them around the house all
> > > day.”
> > > One recent Sunday morning, Mr. Adams’s
> radio
> > > came alive with Morse
> > > tones. It was a guy named Gary McClain in Pryor,
> > > Oklahoma. The transmissions
> > > were pretty slow, just 22 words per minute.
> > > Mr. McClain, a 65-year-old retired mill
> > > worker, learned Morse code in
> > > the Boy Scouts half a century ago. He had
> nothing
> > > urgent in mind; he just wanted
> > > to make contact with someone far away.
> > > “Weather here is cloudy and chance of
> > > showers,” he tapped, as Mr. Adams
> > > transcribed the words in a notebook.
> > > Mr. McClain signed off, and the radio
> went
> > > silent. “It will eventually
> > > die,” Mr. Adams mused. “I’ll hate to see it go.
> I
> > > won’t have anybody to talk to.
> > > I’ll have to go back to reading.”
> > >
> > > -end-
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
>
_________________________________________________________________________
> ___________
> > > Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! -
> > > their life, your story. Play Sims Stories at
> Yahoo!
> > > Games.
> > > http://sims.yahoo.com/
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > NJARC mailing list
> > > NJARC at mailman.qth.net
> > > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/njarc
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
_________________________________________________________________________
> ___________
> > Need a vacation? Get great deals
> > to amazing places on Yahoo! Travel.
> > http://travel.yahoo.com/
> > _______________________________________________
> > NJARC mailing list
> > NJARC at mailman.qth.net
> > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/njarc
> >
> >
> _______________________________________________
> NJARC mailing list
> NJARC at mailman.qth.net
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/njarc
>
____________________________________________________________________________________
Check out the hottest 2008 models today at Yahoo! Autos.
http://autos.yahoo.com/new_cars.html
More information about the NJARC
mailing list