"AJ Lake" wrote in message
...
wrote:
That theory doesn't hold water because Morse Code isn't obsolete on
the HF/MF ham bands.
The code may be fun to use as a *hobby* but it is obsolete
as in the dictionary definition: to become disused, old fashioned,
and no longer up to date.
The FCC (and the rest of the world) just recognized that
requiring people to become human modems to
get a ham license didn't make sense. Maybe it did in WW2
when a pool of human CW ops was needed, but certainly not now.
Groups such as FISTS and SKCC have
increasing numbers of members.
You won't win this one on the numbers. Do you really
think the number of active CW ops today compares
with the numbers there were in the 50s?
Participation in contests using Morse Code isn't declining...
No unfortunately contests are just as bad as ever.
the only "CW bands" in Part 97 are the
bottom 100 kHz of 6 and 2 meters.
Playing word cop is not your style, sorry to see you do it. The
'CW bands' are common ham jargon not lawyer speak. Just as
using the term CW when you mean the code mode.
You'd think that now that no one is being forced, it shouldn't be an issue.
Maybe the real problem all along was people who really have a problem with
other people's hobbies. You people really need to quit bashing each other's
hobby. What you screw around and loose for someone else, you lose too.
Obsolete is a favorite word of the salesman that wants to con you out of
what you have, to sell you something else. For better or worse. So don't
buy into it. You need to understand that the FCC really doesn't want to be
bothered with Ham Radio at all. That's been motivating nearly everything
they have done since the 70's. But, Ok a bunch of whiners screamed and
cried and held their breath and now even the Extra Class is code free.
Doesn't make much sense because all you get is some CW subbands anyway.
All the Anti-CW arguments could easily be used against Ham Radio in general.
I don't even want to hear obsolete. I still have a manual typewriter to
fill out odd forms and in case power goes out. I still have a VCR because
there are movies that I don't see on DVD yet. I even use CW on VHF and
above to make contacts that can't seem to be done any other way. People
scream about Digital! Digital! OK WHICH DIGITAL do you use. There are more
than a dozen modes out there, so how are you going to make the contact that
is gone in 60 seconds because of propagation? Let me know when you have a
free software package that instantly decodes ANY MODE and doesn't even
require a computer or extra hardware, is operable across all bands and digs
weak signals better than CW, then CW will be obsolete. The fact that CW is
allowed EVERYWHERE and can be received by any SSB RCVR make it a universal
mode of communications. It is also the most useful means of station
identification. Don't tell me it's obsolete if you don't know anything
about it.
There is a rail system in India that was set up in the 20's and is still in
use because it works so well for what they use it for. They would screw up
a good thing to try to replace it with anything more complex.