Scott wrote:
Oops, forgot about 60M. Not sure about 6 and 2 being the only bands
with a CW only portion. Maybe a better choice of words would be
"non-voice portions" since it appears that the HF bands still have
segments designated for rtty and data. ???

IMHO that was a mistake. It was because the U.S. voice portions of 80m and 40m
where inacessable to ITU zone 1 hams. So putting the data and rtty in them
would have slowed down their growth.

Tune across the high end of the old 80m and 40m CW bands, and you can
see what I mean. from 7100 down, it's almost unusable due to digital
signals, some nights as low as 7050. The same thing with 3850 which is
the top end of my 80m band.

Yes, we now have 7100-7200, but it's not much good for DX yet. It's still
filled with high power SWBC stations who have no intention of moving.
When they are off the air, there is no propigation. :-(

To veer this discussion anywhere near the topic. If you asked because
you are thinking of building a CW only rig, don't worry, it will be
usefull for a long time to come.

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM
IL Voice: (07)-7424-1667 Fax ONLY: 972-2-648-1443 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838
Visit my 'blog at http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/