RadioBanter - View Single Post - If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?

Alun L. Palmer

wrote in
s.com:

Steve N. wrote:
Uh oh! Now a battle of the troll-o-meters...
Really cute, Bill...I love it.

73, Steve, K9DCI
P.S. I tilted my monitor and I see that this movement is a little out
of balance on the sides. End-to-end balance is ok. Carefully turn
the balance weight on the right side in a little, then it'll sit on
zero regardless of the orientation...

Press the degauss button. The needle will let go.

"R. Scott" wrote in message
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TROLL-O-METER

Bill, W6WRT

There I fixed it for you

Just found this thread. If I had to use CW to save someone's life, it would
depend on a lot of variables.

Firstly, if it involved any of my own ham radio gear, it would be more than
a little odd, since I have a mic for each transceiver and I don't own a key
jack that would plug into any of them, although I do have a straight key,
just no jack to plug it in with.

Assuming some weird contrived scenario where I had the equipment to send CW
but not phone, it would depend what frequencies it worked on. If it was on
the HF ham bands then no major problem, as there are still quite a few
people who still use CW.

My own lack of real aptitude shouldn't be a real problem for two reasons.
One, I could slow down to a comfortable speed, i.e. 5-10 wpm. Two, it would
matter more whether others could copy my sending than vicea versa. I did
pass 20 wpm, but have yet to buy a plug for my key, many years later. As I
said though, that really wouldn't make a difference.

If you asked the same question to someone who had only passed 5 wpm and
then, like me, never used it, then I suspect the victim wouldn't make it.
But then in most countries there is NO morse code testing any more, so
there are plenty of hams now who've never learnt atall. For decades there
have been no code VHF hams in most countries anyway.

There again, if the key was anything other than a straight key, that would
be curtains for the victim, as I would have no idea how to use it.

OTOH, if this scenario didn't involve the HF ham bands, then the victim
would be as good as dead, as I'd never find a non-ham who could still read
CW on the other end.

And your point was...?