AaronJ wrote:
John Smith I wrote:

Minor, inconsequential and random errors are easily programmed into the
computer generated model, but will give the morse that "unique
signature" of the "imitated keyers style."

IMO the perfect fist sounds like computer generated CW. And it's the easiest to
copy. All those so called 'unique fists' can be copied but it's like trying to
understand someone from Brooklyn (or Texas)...

Well, there was some debate about this a few years back. It centered
around a couple of things; 1) being a lack of an actual definition of
Morse Code in Title 47, and 2) the desire of several of the Pro-Code
Test folks to claim that a method of TEACHING Morse Code should be used
as a Morse Code Exam, i.e., the Farnsworth Code.

Morse Code had previously been defined with specific dot, dash, and
space interval ratios. Exams were then defined as Morse Code sent at
rates of 20, 13, and 5 WPM. Today, they use the Teaching Method of
Farnsworth Code, where the dot, dash, and interval can be anything
desired, and character speeds of 13 to 15 WPM for a 5 WPM exam. That's
fine for learning the code as Part 97 doesn't address any particular
method, nor does it advocate any particular vendor such as W5YI or
ARRL.

Yet Part 97 still, even to this day, requires a Morse Code Exam
(Farnsworth isn't mentioned) at a Morse Code Rate of 5 WPM.
Lengthening the space interval isn't addressed as a way to get 13 to 15
WPM character speeds down to 5 WPM word rate. But hey, Part 97 is only
a suggestion, right?

And none of that matters now, anyway.

Anyhow, the Pro-Code Exam folks were all over the notion that code was
an individual thing and that each person's code sounded like "speech"
to them because of all of the little and big imperfections, and
sometimes the big imperfections were deliberate. I was chided for
suggesting that manually sent code should be formed as precisely as one
could make it, which sparked another debate. Apparently, humans trying
to send perfect code shouldn't be a goal in amateur radio, even if
unachievable. Which took us full circle to the humans emulating modems
of the original invention of Sammy Morse, the code paper tape with
dashes and longer dashes scribed on them.

Oh, well, it was a nice walk in the park. The PCTA folks arguments
were as imperfect as the code they send.