"Woody" wrote in
news:U5qIg.36408$NF3.27574@trnddc05:

Well... no, I got the point just fine. I can't imagine being
surrounded by Spanish-speaking people needing a code interp, or being
on a CW freq anyway, while some emergency happens to be taking place.

Well, it certainly happened to me. Of course I can't say whether it
actually SAVED any lives. Because maybe they would have been saved
anyway, though it sure helped that I could figure out what was wrong.

But you see, a lot of ships used CW at that time.

And yeah, I'm elite like that... I have a gift for gab... just like a
monkey can be trained to tap out a code of communication, I can parrot
what I hear. It [or 50wpm CW] isn't intelligence in any way, it's just
a stupid circus trick. Once again..... this wasn't or isn't the issue

50wpm is relatively easy. Now back in 1975 when I was out on Sable
Island, I broke in on some guys on 80m with my nice new computer,
programmed to send morse from the terminal keyboard (but still requiring
a human ear to hear). They were going 65 and wanted to know if I could
"copy the morse code." One kid there used to QSO me and he'd start out
at 60 and ramp up. He was 13.

anyway... No one said there were no pros to the mode, just that the
whole "save a life" thing is laughable. This argument jumps from an
issue of speed, then to the generation gap, then to simple
name-calling banter. It's quite humorous and totally stupid. Kudos to
the OP troll! LOL rb

Well, to be honest, I leave my keyer set at 25wpm. That's a good steady
speed for general working. I'm only likely to speed it up if I'm in a
contest or something.


--
Dave Oldridge+
ICQ 1800667