[South Florida DX Association] NPR & The Morse Code

[Bill Marx]

>From The ARRL WebSite:
-Bill W2CQ

NPR feature spotlights addition of @ symbol to Morse code (Feb 19, 2004) -- Some hams may have thought they'd left their
transceivers turned on Tuesday, February 17, when the popular National Public Radio afternoon news magazine All Things Considered
ran a piece about the pending addition of the @ symbol to the official international Morse code lexicon. That's because NPR
introduced and closed the nearly four-minute segment with actual CW, catching the ear of many hams. ARRL Chief Technology Officer
Paul Rinaldo, W4RI, conceived of the new character, necessary for transmitting e-mail addresses in CW, among other possible
purposes. Assuming approval by International Telecommunication Union member-states, the new character--the first added to the code
in many, many years--will be "AC" run together (.--.-.). The new character, Rinaldo says, is both unique in the Morse world as well
as a mnemonic (think of an 'a' wrapped in a 'C'). ATC co-host Robert Siegel interviewed ARRL Senior News Editor Rick Lindquist,
N1RL, for some background on the change, giving Lindquist an opportunity to mention his passion for mobile CW operation. The short
feature, "Morse Code Enters Cyber Age," is available on the National Public Radio Web site.