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If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
Ham's care more about operating appliances than knowing how to save a lives.
:-( |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that persondie?
David G. Nagel wrote:
Cecil Moore wrote: Dirk wrote: Ham's care more about operating appliances than knowing how to save a lives. How many times in the entire history of amateur radio has a ham used CW to actually save a life? One would think there would be a book full of examples by now. A ham operator intercepted the SOS from the RMS Titanic. Yep!! It happened once! |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
On 12 Jul 2006 10:24:55 -0700, "an old freind" wrote: if i was at my home station is no they would not die and I am as no code as they come I down right hate the mode and yet y pc and station is quite able to work cw as needed to save a life if it was needed ------------ REPLY SEPARATOR ------------ He apparently hates English too. Bill, W6WRT |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that persondie?
Dave wrote:
David G. Nagel wrote: A ham operator intercepted the SOS from the RMS Titanic. Yep!! It happened once! If CW had not existed at the time, how would things have turned out differently? If the present GPS-based system had existed at the time, how would things have turned out? Which system is presently inferior and virtually obsolete? -- 73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
------------ REPLY SEPARATOR ------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ TROLL-O-METER Bill, W6WRT There I fixed it for you |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
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... "R. Scott" wrote in message ... ------------ REPLY SEPARATOR ------------ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ TROLL-O-METER Bill, W6WRT There I fixed it for you |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that persondie?
Cecil Moore wrote:
Dave wrote: David G. Nagel wrote: A ham operator intercepted the SOS from the RMS Titanic. Yep!! It happened once! If CW had not existed at the time, how would things have turned out differently? If the present GPS-based system had existed at the time, how would things have turned out? Which system is presently inferior and virtually obsolete? C'mon Cecil, you've been licensed as long as I have. I Know you Know CW. Does that mean we're virtually obsolete? RE Titanic: The same result would have happened. The ship hit an iceberg in poor visibility. I don't think icebergs carry GPS transponders these days. Now, the Titanic's GPS; does it have transponder capability? The older GPS units do not. Anyway, after the crew slipped by the iceberg that ripped it open, the radio op gets on the air and reports "SOS" or equivalent. The nearest ships respond. Under conditions similar to 1914{?} the Titanic still sinks. Many people still die. But, now we know to 20 feet exactly where the ship was when it sank. GPS won't make a difference. Neither will CW today. I still enjoy CW. |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
Dave wrote: Cecil Moore wrote: C'mon Cecil, you've been licensed as long as I have. I Know you Know CW. Does that mean we're virtually obsolete? not what make CW obseltete is that is out dated and all bu useless serious comms GPS won't make a difference. Neither will CW today. meaning in light of the trolig title is useless I still enjoy CW. more power to you |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that persondie?
Dirk wrote:
Ham's care more about operating appliances than knowing how to save a lives. :-( PLONK! tom K0TAR |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
On Wed, 12 Jul 2006 20:04:06 GMT, "R. Scott" wrote: ------------ REPLY SEPARATOR ------------ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ TROLL-O-METER Bill, W6WRT There I fixed it for you ------------ REPLY SEPARATOR ------------ I think you just unplugged your trolltenna. Bill, W6WRT |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that persondie?
R. Scott wrote:
------------ REPLY SEPARATOR ------------ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ TROLL-O-METER Bill, W6WRT There I fixed it for you PLONK! There, I fixed it for me. tom K0TAR |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
|
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that persondie?
Dave wrote:
C'mon Cecil, you've been licensed as long as I have. I Know you Know CW. Does that mean we're virtually obsolete? My favorite mode is CW and it's a fun mode but it is never going to save the world. -- 73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
Dirk wrote: Ham's care more about operating appliances than knowing how to save a lives. :-( It all depends on the person requesting help. Some people, I would probably just let drown... Like clowns that troll antenna newsgroups with silly crap about CW. I bet I could save a lot more lives per minute using CW than you could. Wanna race? If you insist.. At that price I can't resist... MK |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
On Wed, 12 Jul 2006 19:47:18 GMT, Cecil Moore
wrote: If CW had not existed at the time, how would things have turned out differently? If the present GPS-based system had existed at the time, how would things have turned out? Since The radio operator of the Titanic knew exactly where they were, GPS would have made absolutely no difference. If radio hadn't existed, everyone aboard would have died. |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
On Thu, 13 Jul 2006 08:37:48 -0400, Al Klein
wrote: On Wed, 12 Jul 2006 19:47:18 GMT, Cecil Moore wrote: If CW had not existed at the time, how would things have turned out differently? If the present GPS-based system had existed at the time, how would things have turned out? Since The radio operator of the Titanic knew exactly where they were, GPS would have made absolutely no difference. If radio hadn't existed, everyone aboard would have died. try onstar.... superior to IMC ! -- 73 for now Buck N4PGW |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
"Buck" wrote in message
... On Thu, 13 Jul 2006 08:37:48 -0400, Al Klein wrote: On Wed, 12 Jul 2006 19:47:18 GMT, Cecil Moore wrote: If CW had not existed at the time, how would things have turned out differently? If the present GPS-based system had existed at the time, how would things have turned out? Since The radio operator of the Titanic knew exactly where they were, GPS would have made absolutely no difference. If radio hadn't existed, everyone aboard would have died. try onstar.... superior to IMC ! -- 73 for now Buck N4PGW I am not so sure about that. My first and only experience with Onstar - was not a very good impression. The "phone system" didn't dial out for crap - by the time you got it to accept the "right" number, you could be dead. Three people in the vehicle called out the number to the sytem a minimum of 5 times each before one of us finally got it to dial. I'm not sure how the other part (emergency locator and response) would have worked as it was never tried. Maybe it works ok in some areas and not others, like cell phones, I don't know - I'm not "that" familiar with it, but that was my experience, limited as it was. I know others seem to have good reports. Code - has had it's place in history - be it with the Titanic however it helped - to maybe others stranded. We don't know about any (or many) "military" use(s) where it may have helped out, we don't always hear about those things. Is CODE the "saviour" of the world? NO. Each mode or language if you choose to call it that - has it's own heroic moment at some point. Even Smoke Signals (if truly used/existed) probably had SOME helpful value. In a sense, smoke signals STILL exist. They use them at the Vatican to signify certain events - more notibly the death of a Pope. Simply put - you use what you have available at the moment - be it smoke signals, sun light off a mirror, code, fax, voice, drums, whatever. Anything is better than nothing in time of need. Seriously, I don't understand the argument over Code. Times change, things change. We could argue the use of the smoke at the Vatican when a PA system would do the same job. With each advance in technology, something goes off the shelf and tossed aside or if kept on the shelf, gets serious dust collections due to little if any use. Electricity replaced candles and lanterns for the most part - though not completely. The Telephone didn't automatically discontinue all other forms of communication - ie, code. The fax and e-mail have not yet altogether replaced "mail" but some day it may. We as a whole can choose to keep something by "using" it or losing it by NOT using it. Things just don't disappear overnight. IF ya like code - USE IT. IF ya don't, then don't worry about it. "IF" you need it to get a license - 5 wpm is not that hard. You won't get it by osmosis. It takes some determination. Just like studying the book. Nothing in life is worth much if just handed to you. There are myriads of things we "must" learn in life which may never be used again - it goes with the territory of life and getting through it. I had to take a course in college once to jump through their hoops. Have I ever used it since? HELL NO. No plan to - either. As to the Titanic operator being a smart ass as someone alluded to in here - maybe he was just losing his cool (very afraid) and trying desperately to get help and felt any other signals were just going to interfere. I don't know - just my own supposition. People do strange things in an emergency and staring death in the eye IS an emergency. Maybe he screwed up, maybe things could have went differently - we'll never know. FATE has a strange way of playing out in all our lives. We can argue all night long over the "would haves and could haves". Nothing will change that course of history. The fact remains, he at least got the word out and SOME people were saved. ALL could have been lost - were he killed prior to the sending of the message AND if no one else aboard knew how to operate the equipment. He was just a "player" in the scheme of things. Had they not hit the iceberg by whatever faulty(?) piloting or directions being given in the first place, the Radio Operator wouldn't even be the issue. We had an incident here when I was but a teen. A "firefighter" had a problem - losing his cool, he got on the radio and said "Clear the airwaves, we have a national emergency". Yes, they had a problem, not of "national" proportion, but he lost his cool and went overboard in what he did with the radio. People - even stone hard natured people - panic given the right scenario. FRIGHT exists in all of us - at some time. Panic is the response. GPS, CODE, ONSTAR - NOTHING (except perhaps radar or sonar) would have told them the icebergs were there. Even if they knew they were in a section of water where there were "known" icebergs that they could have steered away from, - as we know - icebergs can and DO break off - so this one "could" have been such a case. It was a doomed mission just as any that the Astronauts have been killed on - even with all the so-called advanced technology and communications at their disposal. Any number of people could be pointed to or "what ifs" asked. The point is, the end is still the same. People died. In the latter case, NO amount of radio comms modes would have made a difference. Just like the spotting of the iceberg at the last minute - so too was the spotting of the problem in the heat shield and equipment - aboard the shuttle - too little - too late - with or without radio - regardless the mode. Just my 2 cents. Lou/Ka3flu |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that persondie?
clfe wrote:
As to the Titanic operator being a smart ass as someone alluded to in here - maybe he was just losing his cool (very afraid) and trying desperately to get help and felt any other signals were just going to interfere. It was before the Titanic hit the iceberg that the Titanic CW operator told the Californian CW operator to get off the air. He considered his normal Titanic CW message traffic to have priority over any CW traffic that the Californian might need to pass. Turns out the Californian's CW operator was the only person in the world who could have saved the life of the Titanic's CW operator. -- 73, Cecil, http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
Cecil Moore wrote: clfe wrote: As to the Titanic operator being a smart ass as someone alluded to in here - maybe he was just losing his cool (very afraid) and trying desperately to get help and felt any other signals were just going to interfere. It was before the Titanic hit the iceberg that the Titanic CW operator told the Californian CW operator to get off the air. He considered his normal Titanic CW message traffic to have priority over any CW traffic that the Californian might need to pass. Turns out the Californian's CW operator was the only person in the world who could have saved the life of the Titanic's CW operator. Cecil I will conseede the CW usage could have saved lives could still save lives but that was never the question the question of the thread is could you save a life with CW is the chance came I am sure you could. I could I certainly I could by very different means could I save lifes on HF if the need arouse certainly I could do so except I do not listen them nowsince Ican't use them as rotuiene matter which would save more life and property maintining CW testing to keep many of the current tech from aquiring HF experence or droing the test al though us sue of the bands and the abilty to learn in an evionment that assures there is some one out there to talk to someone -- 73, Cecil, http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that persondie?
clfe wrote:
"Buck" wrote in message ... On Thu, 13 Jul 2006 08:37:48 -0400, Al Klein wrote: On Wed, 12 Jul 2006 19:47:18 GMT, Cecil Moore wrote: If CW had not existed at the time, how would things have turned out differently? If the present GPS-based system had existed at the time, how would things have turned out? Since The radio operator of the Titanic knew exactly where they were, GPS would have made absolutely no difference. If radio hadn't existed, everyone aboard would have died. try onstar.... superior to IMC ! -- 73 for now Buck N4PGW I am not so sure about that. My first and only experience with Onstar - was not a very good impression. The "phone system" didn't dial out for crap - by the time you got it to accept the "right" number, you could be dead. Three people in the vehicle called out the number to the sytem a minimum of 5 times each before one of us finally got it to dial. I'm not sure how the other part (emergency locator and response) would have worked as it was never tried. Maybe it works ok in some areas and not others, like cell phones, I don't know - I'm not "that" familiar with it, but that was my experience, limited as it was. I know others seem to have good reports. The first thing to go out in a disaster is the phone system. The cell phone system is not immune to this problem. Code - has had it's place in history - be it with the Titanic however it helped - to maybe others stranded. We don't know about any (or many) "military" use(s) where it may have helped out, we don't always hear about those things. A long time ago a guy I worked with told me that when he was in the Army he was assigned to the artillery. He could not qualify as a forward observer because he could only work 20 wpm and needed to be able to do 30 to qualify as a FO communicator. Is CODE the "saviour" of the world? NO. Each mode or language if you choose to call it that - has it's own heroic moment at some point. Even Smoke Signals (if truly used/existed) probably had SOME helpful value. In a sense, smoke signals STILL exist. They use them at the Vatican to signify certain events - more notibly the death of a Pope. Simply put - you use what you have available at the moment - be it smoke signals, sun light off a mirror, code, fax, voice, drums, whatever. Anything is better than nothing in time of need. Seriously, I don't understand the argument over Code. Times change, things change. We could argue the use of the smoke at the Vatican when a PA system would do the same job. This is definitely tradition not necessity. With each advance in technology, something goes off the shelf and tossed aside or if kept on the shelf, gets serious dust collections due to little if any use. Electricity replaced candles and lanterns for the most part - though not completely. The Telephone didn't automatically discontinue all other forms of communication - ie, code. The fax and e-mail have not yet altogether replaced "mail" but some day it may. We as a whole can choose to keep something by "using" it or losing it by NOT using it. Things just don't disappear overnight. IF ya like code - USE IT. IF ya don't, then don't worry about it. "IF" you need it to get a license - 5 wpm is not that hard. You won't get it by osmosis. It takes some determination. Just like studying the book. Nothing in life is worth much if just handed to you. There are myriads of things we "must" learn in life which may never be used again - it goes with the territory of life and getting through it. I had to take a course in college once to jump through their hoops. Have I ever used it since? HELL NO. No plan to - either. As to the Titanic operator being a smart ass as someone alluded to in here - maybe he was just losing his cool (very afraid) and trying desperately to get help and felt any other signals were just going to interfere. I don't know - just my own supposition. People do strange things in an emergency and staring death in the eye IS an emergency. Maybe he screwed up, maybe things could have went differently - we'll never know. The radio operation on the RMS Titanic was controlled by the Marconie Radio Company. As such the Titanic radio operator was discouraged from communicating with any station controlled by another company. This is called free enterprise. Also the radio was not under the command of Capt. Smith. This was changed after the sinking. They also mandated 24/7 monitoring of the emergency radio frequencies. FATE has a strange way of playing out in all our lives. We can argue all night long over the "would haves and could haves". Nothing will change that course of history. The fact remains, he at least got the word out and SOME people were saved. ALL could have been lost - were he killed prior to the sending of the message AND if no one else aboard knew how to operate the equipment. He was just a "player" in the scheme of things. Had they not hit the iceberg by whatever faulty(?) piloting or directions being given in the first place, the Radio Operator wouldn't even be the issue. We had an incident here when I was but a teen. A "firefighter" had a problem - losing his cool, he got on the radio and said "Clear the airwaves, we have a national emergency". Yes, they had a problem, not of "national" proportion, but he lost his cool and went overboard in what he did with the radio. People - even stone hard natured people - panic given the right scenario. FRIGHT exists in all of us - at some time. Panic is the response. GPS, CODE, ONSTAR - NOTHING (except perhaps radar or sonar) would have told them the icebergs were there. Even if they knew they were in a section of water where there were "known" icebergs that they could have steered away from, - as we know - icebergs can and DO break off - so this one "could" have been such a case. The Canadian Coast Guard and the United States Coast Guard expend a lot of time and money looking for and tracking these icebergs. After the Titanic went down the International Iceberg Patrol was created. It even functioned during the Second World War giving positions report to allied mariners. It was a doomed mission just as any that the Astronauts have been killed on - even with all the so-called advanced technology and communications at their disposal. Any number of people could be pointed to or "what ifs" asked. The point is, the end is still the same. People died. In the latter case, NO amount of radio comms modes would have made a difference. Just like the spotting of the iceberg at the last minute - so too was the spotting of the problem in the heat shield and equipment - aboard the shuttle - too little - too late - with or without radio - regardless the mode. Just my 2 cents. Just my 2 cents also. Dave WD9BDZ Lou/Ka3flu |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that persondie?
Cecil Moore wrote:
clfe wrote: As to the Titanic operator being a smart ass as someone alluded to in here - maybe he was just losing his cool (very afraid) and trying desperately to get help and felt any other signals were just going to interfere. It was before the Titanic hit the iceberg that the Titanic CW operator told the Californian CW operator to get off the air. He considered his normal Titanic CW message traffic to have priority over any CW traffic that the Californian might need to pass. Turns out the Californian's CW operator was the only person in the world who could have saved the life of the Titanic's CW operator. Ship born radio communications were controlled by communications companies completely separate from the ship. The radio operators were not under the command of the ship's captain. In the case of Titanic the Marconi Radio Company controlled the radio. Californian and Carpathia had different company control and there was a definite rivalry between the companies. The Titanic operator was fully justified in telling the Californian operator to close station. This was one of the direct causes of the formation of the international radio treaties we operate under now. Dave WD9BDZ |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that persondie?
Cecil Moore wrote:
Dave wrote: C'mon Cecil, you've been licensed as long as I have. I Know you Know CW. Does that mean we're virtually obsolete? My favorite mode is CW and it's a fun mode but it is never going to save the world. AGREE!!!!! |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
"Cecil Moore" wrote in message
... clfe wrote: As to the Titanic operator being a smart ass as someone alluded to in here - maybe he was just losing his cool (very afraid) and trying desperately to get help and felt any other signals were just going to interfere. It was before the Titanic hit the iceberg that the Titanic CW operator told the Californian CW operator to get off the air. He considered his normal Titanic CW message traffic to have priority over any CW traffic that the Californian might need to pass. Turns out the Californian's CW operator was the only person in the world who could have saved the life of the Titanic's CW operator. -- 73, Cecil, http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp In that case then - I stand corrected, I was unaware of that. Lou |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
clfe wrote:
"Cecil Moore" wrote in message ... It was before the Titanic hit the iceberg that the Titanic CW operator told the Californian CW operator to get off the air. He considered his normal Titanic CW message traffic to have priority over any CW traffic that the Californian might need to pass. Turns out the Californian's CW operator was the only person in the world who could have saved the life of the Titanic's CW operator. -- 73, Cecil, http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp In that case then - I stand corrected, I was unaware of that. It's totaly untrue. The Californian's radio operator ignored the Titanic's distress signals because the Titanic was a Marconi ship and the Californian was a Telefunken ship. The operators were not allowed to communicate with the competing company's operators under any circumstances under penalty of being put off the ship at first landing, with no hope of getting home or being hired by the other company. I recently blogged about it: http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/2006/06/22/ Geoff. -- Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM IL Voice: (07)-7424-1667 IL Fax: 972-2-648-1443 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838 Visit my 'blog at http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/ |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
Cecil Moore wrote in
om: Dave wrote: C'mon Cecil, you've been licensed as long as I have. I Know you Know CW. Does that mean we're virtually obsolete? My favorite mode is CW and it's a fun mode but it is never going to save the world. With an attitude like that it probably won't. Better keep a microphone handy. SC |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
Bill Turner wrote in
: ORIGINAL MESSAGE: On 12 Jul 2006 10:24:55 -0700, "an old freind" wrote: if i was at my home station is no they would not die and I am as no code as they come I down right hate the mode and yet y pc and station is quite able to work cw as needed to save a life if it was needed ------------ REPLY SEPARATOR ------------ He apparently hates English too. Bill, W6WRT Imagine that coming toward you 20wpm. I'm begining to think it's good he hates cw. LOL SC |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that persondie?
Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
It's totaly untrue. The Californian's radio operator ignored the Titanic's distress signals because the Titanic was a Marconi ship and the Californian was a Telefunken ship. If the History Channel got it right, the Californian's CW operator was asleep by the time the Titanic hit the iceberg. -- 73, Cecil, http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that persondie?
Slow Code wrote:
With an attitude like that it probably won't. Better keep a microphone handy. Actually, what I keep handy is food and water. -- 73, Cecil, http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
Dirk wrote:
Ham's care more about operating appliances than knowing how to save a lives. :-( troll-o-meter (digital version) 0*****1*****2*****3*****4*****5*****6*****7*****8* ****9***** ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ah ****. we have a troll! |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
|
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
It was before the Titanic hit the iceberg that the Titanic
CW operator told the Californian CW operator to get off the air. He considered his normal Titanic CW message traffic to have priority over any CW traffic that the Californian might need to pass. Turns out the Californian's CW operator was the only person in the world who could have saved the life of the Titanic's CW operator. Firstly the Californian's r/o was not told to get off the air, he was told to "Keep out, I'm working Cape Race" while the Titanic was sending Passenger telegram messages to Cape Race shore station. The Titanic's r/o was just fed up with stations butting in, the "Break-Break" syndrome. The r/o on the Californian was in-experienced and failed to prefix his message correctly, this brought about the rebuke from the Titanic who thought he was just chatting. It is also thought that it was the same failure of the MV Mesaba's r/o to correctly prefix the last ice warning message that was received by the Titanic that meant this message was not sent straight to the bridge, rather than being left with the other routine messages. There is no evidence that the Californian heard any radio distress traffic until the r/o came on watch the next morning. They did however see rockets from the Titanic. Regards Jeff |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
Buck wrote:
People are listening and the word "emergency" will get attention! Even appliance operators can answer that call. Could they answer you if you sent a distress in CW? In 1995 the ARRL commissioned a survey of ham radio operators licensed in the U.S. by having passed a morse code test. (5wpm on up). 64% of the hams responded that they NEVER used morse code. The ARRL published the results as 36% responded that they used morse code at least occasionaly, but the truth remains that over 10 years ago, you had a one in three chance of the person hearing you being able to copy your message. That's why there was an international agreed to distress call, although at the time, radio operators were NOT obligated to listen or act upon it. "CQD" was not a distress call per se, it was Marconi company code for "assistance" as in "CQD CQD CQD" meaning send assistance and "CQD?" meaning "do you need assistance". Telefunken operators were not privy to Marconi company internal codes, and were forbidden by company policy (and Marconi's) to answer them. Of course nothing is secret for long and it is quite likely that most Telefunken operators heard the CQD call from the Titanic, understood it and listened, although none of them were going to do anything about it. When the Titanic operator sent the new distress call (which I can't write due to text limitations) of ...---... as one continuous string (not the letter S followed by the letter O followed by the letter S), anyone listening knew what they were sending. The confusion to the reader of this is because it is written as SOS with a line on top of all three, so if I could do it, --- it would look like: SOS but here it looks like I am underlining with. However the Telefunken radio operator on the Californian may or may not of heard it, but he was forbidden by company policy to reply or tell anyone about it. The Cape Race story and his having gone to sleep was a cover-up. For sake of brevity, I'm not going to repeat the entire story and references here, but you can find them in my blog entry I pointed to in a previous post. So while sending SOS or any other morse code signal would be a good idea if you have a CW only radio, calling "MAYDAY" in voice would be much more likely to be answered. It also depends upon where you are. Here in Israel, calling anything on CB channel 9 will probably not be heard, calling MAYDAY on 2 meters, will get you a "roger beep" from the repeater and nothing else. You'd better have a cell phone and know how to call for help. 911 (U.S.) and 999 (U.K,) are not used here, 112 should work on GSM phones, but the real numbers are 101, 102 and 103. Geoff. -- Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM IL Voice: (07)-7424-1667 IL Fax: 972-2-648-1443 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838 Visit my 'blog at http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/ |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
" That's why there was an international agreed to distress call, although at the time, radio operators were NOT obligated to listen or act upon it. "CQD" was not a distress call per se, it was Marconi company code for "assistance" as in "CQD CQD CQD" meaning send assistance and "CQD?" meaning "do you need assistance". Telefunken operators were not privy to Marconi company internal codes, and were forbidden by company policy (and Marconi's) to answer them. Of course nothing is secret for long and it is quite likely that most Telefunken operators heard the CQD call from the Titanic, understood it and listened, although none of them were going to do anything about it. When the Titanic operator sent the new distress call (which I can't write due to text limitations) of ...---... as one continuous string (not the letter S followed by the letter O followed by the letter S), anyone listening knew what they were sending. The confusion to the reader of this is because it is written as SOS with a line on top of all three, so if I could do it, If you look at the radio logs you will find that Titanic only used SOS once at 12:45am, and that was to MKC - her sister ship, the Olympic. The callsign MKC indicating that she was also a 'Marconi' ship. The rest of the time CQD was used. Also to explode your theory even more at 12:15am Frankfurt DFT replied to Titanic's CQD; 12:26 DKF (Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm) called the Titanic; 1am DDC (Cincinatti) replied to Titanic's CQD. etc.etc None of these were Marconi ships!! and finally the Californian (MWL) was also a Marconi ship!!! So no Telefunken operator to ignore any CQD's. Regards Jeff |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
That's why there was an international agreed to distress call, although
at the time, radio operators were NOT obligated to listen or act upon it. I forgot to add that that is also not correct. For British Ships at least, and I expect most other countries had similar legislation, the Merchant Shipping Act, did and still does *require* a vessel to render assistance to another vessel in distress; regardless of how you find out about it. You are confusing it with the fact there was no requirement to keep a listening watch for distress traffic. Regards Jeff |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
Jeff wrote:
and finally the Californian (MWL) was also a Marconi ship!!! So no Telefunken operator to ignore any CQD's. Do you have any documentation of that? I carefully searched and only found references to the Californian being a Telefunken ship. I have NOT found any contemporary listings of ships, which company operated their radio rooms, their callsigns, etc. I would welcome them. Thanks, Geoff. -- Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM IL Voice: (07)-7424-1667 IL Fax: 972-2-648-1443 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838 Visit my 'blog at http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/ |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
Dirk wrote: Ham's care more about operating appliances than knowing how to save a lives. :-( Many ham are American Red Cross first aid and adult CPR instructors. That trumps CW at any speed. |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
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 ... ------------ REPLY SEPARATOR ------------ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ TROLL-O-METER Bill, W6WRT There I fixed it for you |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
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If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
I think that the facts are that this whole episode was right in the time
line of the transition from the more or less official original distress signal which was the 'CQD' cited here and in many other references, to the 'SOS'. And .. had the operator of the Titanic actually been using the then newly 'adopted' 'SOS' distress signal, it is actually likely that the Californian marine operator, even though he retired and went to bed *MIGHT* have caught the call for help in time and many more lives had been saved. SOS had been the official distress call for about 3 years when the Titanic went down, but CQD was the long established distress call used by the Marconi Company. Marconi had such a strangle hold on marine radio at that time that old habits died hard. That said everyone knew what CQD meant regardless of the company they worked for. I doubt that the Californian's R/O would have heard any SOS or CQD in his sleep. At that time it was general practice to shut down the Equipment when not on watch.The receivers needed constant attention to keep the coherers functioning properly.. Regards Jeff |
If you had to use CW to save someone's life, would that person die?
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