In article , Alun
writes:

"Dee D. Flint" wrote in
:

"Alun" wrote in message
...

Yes, they are living in the past. This has nothing to do with the
merits or otherwise of their beloved mode, simply that the world has
unquestionably moved on and they have not.


The merits of the CW mode have been presented many times and in depth.

It wasn't the "new" hams that came up with RTTY, packet, satellite,
PSK31 and the many advances in ham radio communications. Instead, it
was the experienced hams. The experienced hams have moved on while the
new, inexperienced hams are too often afraid to experience the full
range of ham activities and deny themselves the ability to make
judgements based on personal experience. Too often they instead listen
to other inexperienced hams and make decisions based on incomplete and
inaccurate data.

It was not the new hams that I heard last fall several days after the
major flares and auroras discussing on SSB how they had to shift from
PSK31 to CW as the auroral activity was causing terrible phase shifts
in the PSK31 and how they had to wait to establish SSB communications
until the effects of the flares had passed.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

We have indeed debated the relative merits many times. I could make a case
for other modes, but it isn't the issue. Nor is experience the issue here.
If it were it would degenerate into analysing different kinds of
experience. This in turn is entirely self-defeating, as usually only those
who actually like CW have a lot of experience in using it. OTOH, I have
held a ham licence for 24 years, which is a significant amount of time, but
of course without using CW it doesn't count :-)

The issue is living in the past, harmless and perhaps even admirable in
itself, but not something to force upon others if one has a proper sense of
decency. Morse is an antiquarian mode, dropped by every other service. It
does indeed have advantages, but then so does spark, and so does joining
two tin cans with a piece of string. Any self-respecting debater could make
a good case for standing on hilltops waving semaphore flags.

Heh heh heh. The collar insignia of the U.S.Army Signal Corps
is a torch over crossed signal flags...for the visual semaphores
used before the American Civil War. Both sides used exactly
the same signalling protocols during that War...not a heckuvalot
of "communications security" then!

That high-tech, all-weather commo system called the "telegraph"
was used then, too, but both sides forbade its use for "secure"
(encrypted) messaging because "telegraph lines were too easy
to intercept!" [I kid you not]

Yeah, like with that high-tech landline morse, there were "high-
impedance taps" either side could use to bug the other side?
Anyone just listening to the sounders (with or without knowing
morse) could detect when a tap was put on a line...same
sounder types were used on both sides and putting two on the
same line made a significant change in the sounder sound.

But, the visual semaphoring, rather older than new-fangled
telegraphy, was good, familiar stuff and everyone felt warm and
fuzzy using that...in clear!

A small vignette to illustrate that older ain't necessarily better
and the first commo system (semaphore) wasn't at all the "best."

On-off keying telegraphy was the ONLY way the first radios
could be used for communications. So, on the basis of being
the "first," the morse-aholics want to force "CW" on everyone
forever and ever for "tradition sake!"

Brain-dead emotionalism!

'Scure me, I gonna call up Aurora and tell her to quit messing
around with phase-shifting all that PSK31! Not nice.

Beep, beep...

LHA / WMD