Stefan Wolfe wrote:
"John Smith I" wrote in message
...

Take a good look behind you, all you see is about to disappear.

Why would you say that? Did the FCC make morse illegal?



No, the new generation of hams will make it obsolete and history!

JS

Stefan Wolfe wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...

1) Use Morse Code on the air. For ragchewing, DXing, contesting,
traffic handling, QRP, QRO, QRS, QRQ, whatever floats yer boat. If your
favorite band is crowded, try another and/or get a sharper filter.

Actually, without skill in morse, you simply will not be able to participate
in QSO's with a large subset of the stations you listed. A lot of good DX
(and QRP etc.) is only available in Morse (sometimes only in the extra class
sections).

Agreed, but the point is that will only be true if skilled amateurs
continue to actually *use* Morse Code.

I don't think the financial incentive Carl mentions is very
relevant (or humorous for that matter).

WK3C and I go way back. We disagree on some things but agree on many
more things.
That he completed the financial backing is very funny to me.

If you learn morse, you will be
empowered to communicate with more people.

Yup - but only if radio amateurs continue to use the mode.

If you don't know Morse, well,
trying to find good DX will be similar to visitng Miami and not be able to
speak Spanish...you can get by but will miss a lot.

Some folks aren't interested in DX. But the same principle applies:
those
who don't use Morse Code will be missing a lot.

Too bad, Audios es 73

"Audios" - now that's funny!

73 es KC de Jim, N2EY

wrote:
...
Actually, without skill in morse, you simply will not be able to participate
in QSO's with a large subset of the stations you listed. A lot of good DX
(and QRP etc.) is only available in Morse (sometimes only in the extra class
sections).


Actually, that is outrageous.

With any decent code reader software and the audio of your rig into the
line in of your sound card in your computer, you can copy and send CW
much, MUCH faster, concisely and intelligibly than any "CW Freak" out
there ... you can send CW so fast, they only WISH they could copy it!

.... technology, ain't it wonderful? Welcome to the new millennium!

JS

John Smith I wrote:
... technology, ain't it wonderful? Welcome to the new millennium!

My SCS PTC2e multimode controller will copy PACTOR2
DX signals from Europe that I cannot even hear and
don't even budge the S-meter. It also copies CW at
faster speeds than I can copy.
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com

"John Smith I" wrote in message
...
wrote:
...
Actually, without skill in morse, you simply will not be able to
participate
in QSO's with a large subset of the stations you listed. A lot of good
DX
(and QRP etc.) is only available in Morse (sometimes only in the extra
class
sections).


Actually, that is outrageous.

With any decent code reader software and the audio of your rig into the
line in of your sound card in your computer, you can copy and send CW
much, MUCH faster, concisely and intelligibly than any "CW Freak" out
there ... you can send CW so fast, they only WISH they could copy it!

... technology, ain't it wonderful? Welcome to the new millennium!

Well, thank you. And Im glad to see you enjoy the new toys that Santa Claus
gave you.

wrote in message
ups.com...
Carl R. Stevenson wrote:
Here's an interesting, but short-term, lmited lifetime idea for you folks
who want to promote code learning.

The Lehigh Valley Amateur Radio Club has ammassed $100.00 to present as
an
award to the last *club member* to pass Element 1 for an upgrade at a
*club-sponsored* ARRL VE session before the new rules come into effect
and
the Element 1 test moves out of the rule book and into the history books.

How will it be decided who is the last one?

Presumably by the club's VE team. (By the way I may not have made it clear,
but the "offer" only counts for folks who take Element 1 *after* the release
of the order and (oviously) prior to its effective date.)


(Actually, it was announced last week at this month's club meeting that
"several benefactors" had contributed a total of $70.00 to the cause and
I
just *had* to immediately kick in an additional $30.00 on behalf of NCI
to
make it an even hundred :-)

omigawd that's hilarious, Carl! I wish W3RV and I coulda been there
when you did that....

I really didn't do it to be funny ... but it would have been good to see you
guys.


As I said, this is a short-term (limited lifetime) opportunity. If you
want
to *continue* to promote code learning, great, but you'll have to come up
with a new idea ...

Here are 10 ways to promote Morse Code. (The "you" in the following is
aimed at the person who wants to promote the mode):

1) Use Morse Code on the air. For ragchewing, DXing, contesting,
traffic handling, QRP, QRO, QRS, QRQ, whatever floats yer boat. If your
favorite band is crowded, try another and/or get a sharper filter. If
you contest, even a little, send in your logs, photos, soapbox
comments, etc. Our presence on the air is essential - one of the
reasons FCC took away so much of 80 is that they were convinced it
wasn't being used. Our presence on the air is more important than ever.


2) Work on your Morse Code skills. Got a CP certificate?

But not just speed alone. Can you send and receive a message in
standard form? Can you do it faster than someone on 'phone?
Can you do both "head copy" and write it down? How about copying on a
mill? Ragchewing? Contesting? Being able to have a QSO at slow as well
as fast speeds?


3) Find a local club that does Field Day and go out with them.
Particularly if they have little or no Morse Code activity on FD now.
Help with their Morse Code efforts however you can - operating,
logging, setting up, tearing down, etc. FD is one way to actively
demonstrate 21st Century Morse Code *use*. Talking to people about
Morse isn't nearly so effective as showing them.


4) Set up a Morse Code demo at a local hamfest/club meeting/air
show/town fair/middle school etc. Not as some sort of nostalgia thing
but as a demonstration that Morse Code is alive and in use today.


5) Conduct training classes - on the air, in person, over the 'net,
whatever. Help anybody who wants to learn. Could be as simple as giving

them some code tapes or CDs, or as involved as a formal course at a
local community center.


6) Elmer anybody who wants help - even if they're not interested in
Morse Code at all. Your help and example may inspire them.


7) Write articles for QST/CQ/Worldradio/K9YA Telegraph/Electric
Radio/your local hamclub newsletter etc. Not about the code *test* nor
about Morse Code history, the past, etc., but about how to use Morse
Code *today*. For example, how about an article on what rigs are best
for Morse Code use, and why? Or about the differences between a bug,
single-lever keyer, iambic A and iambic B? Your FD experiences with
Morse Code? (QST, June, 1994) Yes, you may be turned down by the first
mag you submit it to - but keep submitting.


8) Get involved in NTS, QMN, ARES, whatever, and use Morse Code there.
The main reason so much emergency/public service stuff is done on voice
is because they don't have the people - skilled operators - to use any
other mode.

Actually, I believe that the main reason that most emergency/public service
stuff is done using voice (or digital modes) is that they're faster and more
convenient to use in a "tactical" situation.


9) Join FISTS & SKCC and any other group that supports Morse. Give out
numbers to those who ask for them even if you're not a contester/award
collector.


10) Forget about "the test". It will be gone soon and FCC won't bring
it back. Yes, a lot of us think they made a bad decision, but that's
nothing new, just look at BPL or their rulings on the sale of broadcast
radio stations.

Please don't compare this with BPL ... I support the ARRL's actions against
BPL and encourage all hams to do so. I contributed $1k to the Spectrum
Defense Fund - earmarked to fund their BPL efforts and I encourage everyone
to make as generous a donation as they can afford.


FCC won't preserve our standards and values - we have to do it.

And our attitude is a key part of that (pun intended). If we're seen as
a bunch of old grumpy gus types, not many will want to join us. But if
we present ourselves as a fun-loving, welcoming,
young-at-heart-and-mind, helpful group with useful skills,
similar people will want to join us.

Presenting CW as "something fun" is fine (as long as the presentee is
allowed to decide for him/her self whether it's really fun or not :-)

Presenting it as a "standard" or "value" (implying that without CW you're as
Larry and others used to say "not a REAL ham" is not the way.

Those who like CW should take comfort ... by all reports, in most of the
other countries that have eliminated the CW requirement, MORE people are
learning it now that before - folks may choose to do something if it's
presented right and their choice, but tend not to like having things forced
upon them.

73,
Carl - wk3c

Carl R. Stevenson wrote:
...
Those who like CW should take comfort ... by all reports, in most of the
other countries that have eliminated the CW requirement, MORE people are
learning it now that before - folks may choose to do something if it's
presented right and their choice, but tend not to like having things forced
upon them.

73,
Carl - wk3c




I often sit here and wonder just how much is real, and how much is memorex?

Man has always pressed machines into service, to do his work. I hardly
see where it will be any different here.

No human can send/read cw as fast as a computer. No human can dig out
the low level signals, both rf and af, as computer software can. I am
sure many contests will ban cw reading software in the future ...

I am in agreement that CW will be with us for a bit longer, however, it
will be done via keyboard with ever and ever increasing statistics and
importance.

The "new guys" (the old farts needing to catch up too) will need some of
this software/hardware to decode/key cw, it will be an "equalizer." The
OT's will have ever increasing difficulty in differing between what is
real (hand keyed) and what is computer keyed.

Here are some links for those behind, I picked these because there are
very basic utilities and hardware "kludges" to get one going
quickly--there is much better software available these days ...

I suggest an opto-isolator circuit used between sound card out and
xmitter to key.

http://www.qsl.net/wm2u/cw.html

http://www.polar-electric.com/Morse/MRP40-EN/

http://www.qsl.net/wm2u/interface.html

http://www.kwarc.org/tech/psk31.htm

Regards,
JS

Carl R. Stevenson wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
Carl R. Stevenson wrote:
Here's an interesting, but short-term, lmited lifetime idea for you folks
who want to promote code learning.

The Lehigh Valley Amateur Radio Club has ammassed $100.00 to present as
an
award to the last *club member* to pass Element 1 for an upgrade at a
*club-sponsored* ARRL VE session before the new rules come into effect
and
the Element 1 test moves out of the rule book and into the history books.

How will it be decided who is the last one?

Presumably by the club's VE team. (By the way I may not have made it clear,
but the "offer" only counts for folks who take Element 1 *after* the release
of the order and (oviously) prior to its effective date.)

OK - they probably have figured out how to decide it.

(Actually, it was announced last week at this month's club meeting that
"several benefactors" had contributed a total of $70.00 to the cause and
I
just *had* to immediately kick in an additional $30.00 on behalf of NCI
to
make it an even hundred :-)

omigawd that's hilarious, Carl! I wish W3RV and I coulda been there
when you did that....

I really didn't do it to be funny

I know - that makes it even funnier! ;-)

Besides, it woulda been worth the trip just to see 'RVs reaction and
hear the
growled commentary.....

... but it would have been good to see you guys.

Would have been good to see you too. Too bad you couldn't make it down
here
the time W1RFI in town, that was a really good time.

As I said, this is a short-term (limited lifetime) opportunity. If you
want
to *continue* to promote code learning, great, but you'll have to come up
with a new idea ...

Here are 10 ways to promote Morse Code. (The "you" in the following is
aimed at the person who wants to promote the mode):

1) Use Morse Code on the air. For ragchewing, DXing, contesting,
traffic handling, QRP, QRO, QRS, QRQ, whatever floats yer boat. If your
favorite band is crowded, try another and/or get a sharper filter. If
you contest, even a little, send in your logs, photos, soapbox
comments, etc. Our presence on the air is essential - one of the
reasons FCC took away so much of 80 is that they were convinced it
wasn't being used. Our presence on the air is more important than ever.


2) Work on your Morse Code skills. Got a CP certificate?

But not just speed alone. Can you send and receive a message in
standard form? Can you do it faster than someone on 'phone?
Can you do both "head copy" and write it down? How about copying on a
mill? Ragchewing? Contesting? Being able to have a QSO at slow as well
as fast speeds?


3) Find a local club that does Field Day and go out with them.
Particularly if they have little or no Morse Code activity on FD now.
Help with their Morse Code efforts however you can - operating,
logging, setting up, tearing down, etc. FD is one way to actively
demonstrate 21st Century Morse Code *use*. Talking to people about
Morse isn't nearly so effective as showing them.


4) Set up a Morse Code demo at a local hamfest/club meeting/air
show/town fair/middle school etc. Not as some sort of nostalgia thing
but as a demonstration that Morse Code is alive and in use today.


5) Conduct training classes - on the air, in person, over the 'net,
whatever. Help anybody who wants to learn. Could be as simple as giving
them some code tapes or CDs, or as involved as a formal course at a
local community center.


6) Elmer anybody who wants help - even if they're not interested in
Morse Code at all. Your help and example may inspire them.


7) Write articles for QST/CQ/Worldradio/K9YA Telegraph/Electric
Radio/your local hamclub newsletter etc. Not about the code *test* nor
about Morse Code history, the past, etc., but about how to use Morse
Code *today*. For example, how about an article on what rigs are best
for Morse Code use, and why? Or about the differences between a bug,
single-lever keyer, iambic A and iambic B? Your FD experiences with
Morse Code? (QST, June, 1994) Yes, you may be turned down by the first
mag you submit it to - but keep submitting.


8) Get involved in NTS, QMN, ARES, whatever, and use Morse Code there.
The main reason so much emergency/public service stuff is done on voice
is because they don't have the people - skilled operators - to use any
other mode.

Actually, I believe that the main reason that most emergency/public service
stuff is done using voice (or digital modes) is that they're faster and more
convenient to use in a "tactical" situation.

Probably a combination of factors when all is said and done. Point is,
without
operators it's not going to happen.

9) Join FISTS & SKCC and any other group that supports Morse. Give out
numbers to those who ask for them even if you're not a contester/award
collector.


10) Forget about "the test". It will be gone soon and FCC won't bring
it back. Yes, a lot of us think they made a bad decision, but that's
nothing new, just look at BPL or their rulings on the sale of broadcast
radio stations.

Please don't compare this with BPL ...

Let me clarify:

The BPL comparison is made simply to point out that just because FCC
decides something doesn't make it "right" or the best thing. That's the
only point I was trying to make. Perhaps there's a better analogy for
when govt.
decides something that a sizable part of the population doesn't want.

I support the ARRL's actions against
BPL and encourage all hams to do so.

Same here!

I contributed $1k to the Spectrum
Defense Fund - earmarked to fund their BPL efforts and I encourage everyone
to make as generous a donation as they can afford.

You've done a lot more than that in the BPL situation, Carl.

You not only contributed money. You went to at least one operating BPL
site
(you may have done more than one, I'm not sure) and made observations
and
documented them. You used both your professional and amateur
expetise/experience
to present those documented observations in comments to FCC about the
reality of harmful interference from BPL. Very good stuff all around.

FCC won't preserve our standards and values - we have to do it.

And our attitude is a key part of that (pun intended). If we're seen as
a bunch of old grumpy gus types, not many will want to join us. But if
we present ourselves as a fun-loving, welcoming,
young-at-heart-and-mind, helpful group with useful skills,
similar people will want to join us.

Presenting CW as "something fun" is fine (as long as the presentee is
allowed to decide for him/her self whether it's really fun or not :-)

Of course. Some people find Morse Code to be fun, others not. Some
find the technology end of ham radio to be fun, others not.

Presenting it as a "standard" or "value" (implying that without CW you're as
Larry and others used to say "not a REAL ham" is not the way.

I've never written that someone isn't "a real ham" without Morse Code
skill.
Nor have I implied it - ever. Of course some might infer what wasn't
implied...;-)

What makes a person "a real ham" is much more complex than any single
skill or knowledge set.

My whole point in the above is that if someone considers Morse Code
skill
- or any other skill or knowledge - to be part of the standards or
values of
Amateur Radio, then it's up to *them* to promote said standards and
values,
by example, rather than expecting FCC to do it in the form of
regulations, tests,
etc. And that's all I was trying to say.

Those who like CW should take comfort ... by all reports, in most of the
other countries that have eliminated the CW requirement, MORE people are
learning it now that before - folks may choose to do something if it's
presented right and their choice, but tend not to like having things forced
upon them.

It would turn out to be the ultimate irony in the whole debate if Morse
Code
test elimination wound up making the mode even *more* popular than it
is today!

73 es HNY de Jim, N2EY

wrote in message
ups.com...
Carl R. Stevenson wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...

[snip]

8) Get involved in NTS, QMN, ARES, whatever, and use Morse Code there.
The main reason so much emergency/public service stuff is done on voice
is because they don't have the people - skilled operators - to use any
other mode.

Actually, I believe that the main reason that most emergency/public
service
stuff is done using voice (or digital modes) is that they're faster and
more
convenient to use in a "tactical" situation.

Probably a combination of factors when all is said and done. Point is,
without operators it's not going to happen.

I guess my point is that there doesn't appear to be a NEED for it to happen
(the served agencies
need different things.

[snip]

10) Forget about "the test". It will be gone soon and FCC won't bring
it back. Yes, a lot of us think they made a bad decision, but that's
nothing new, just look at BPL or their rulings on the sale of broadcast
radio stations.

Please don't compare this with BPL ...

Let me clarify:

The BPL comparison is made simply to point out that just because FCC
decides something doesn't make it "right" or the best thing. That's the
only point I was trying to make. Perhaps there's a better analogy for
when govt.
decides something that a sizable part of the population doesn't want.

I support the ARRL's actions against
BPL and encourage all hams to do so.

Same here!

OK ... clarification understood and accepted.

I contributed $1k to the Spectrum
Defense Fund - earmarked to fund their BPL efforts and I encourage
everyone
to make as generous a donation as they can afford.

You've done a lot more than that in the BPL situation, Carl.

You not only contributed money. You went to at least one operating BPL
site
(you may have done more than one, I'm not sure) and made observations
and
documented them. You used both your professional and amateur
expetise/experience
to present those documented observations in comments to FCC about the
reality of harmful interference from BPL. Very good stuff all around.

Thanks for the kind words ... I wasn't looking for "kudos" ... just trying
to encourage others to
help ARRL protect HF from BPL.

73,
Carl - wk3c

On Sun, 7 Jan 2007 09:47:23 -0500, "Carl R. Stevenson"
wrote:

Actually, I believe that the main reason that most emergency/public service
stuff is done using voice (or digital modes) is that they're faster and more
convenient to use in a "tactical" situation.

Yeah. Imagine a high speed chase in the city, and the cop in the
pursuing patrol car tapping out the street names with his key with one
hand while he steers the car with the other hand. Or attempts to steer
the car.

Presenting CW as "something fun" is fine (as long as the presentee is
allowed to decide for him/her self whether it's really fun or not :-)

Presenting it as a "standard" or "value" (implying that without CW you're as
Larry and others used to say "not a REAL ham" is not the way.

Those who like CW should take comfort ... by all reports, in most of the
other countries that have eliminated the CW requirement, MORE people are
learning it now that before - folks may choose to do something if it's
presented right and their choice, but tend not to like having things forced
upon them.

I think by now we should be happy because someone shows interest in
ham radio at all, regardless of which modes of operation they're
interested in.

John Kasupski, KC2HMZ