"Arnie Macy" wrote in message
...
"Carl R. Stevenson" wrote ...

I'm not saying that CW is totally obsolete ... and I won't presume to
speak
for JJ ... I just know that there are much better digital modes available
and that CW's main purpose these days is as a recreational activity for
those who like it. I like kyaking, but I don't believe that everyone
should
be a proficent kyaker to go into the water.

__________________________________________________ _________________________

Sheesh, Carl -- does everything have to be about the test with you? I
would
maintain that there are much better forms of communication than 60 plus
year
old SSB (but for our use in the ARS it is a quite efficient mode). I am
strictly talking about the mode -- *not* testing. Do you think it's as
efficient as SSB? Yes or No

Arnie -
KT4ST

Arnie,

You asked me if I thought that Morse was "obsolete." For other than
recreational use, I think that's largely so.

Does that mean I want to ban/limit/restrict its use? No, of course not.

And yes, the conversation/debate here has ALWAYS been about
the TEST, and that's what all the fuss has been about. Some CW
enthusiasts believe that the sky will fall if Morse testing is dropped.
(More like they will have to share "their" bands with more folks
and they will have to do their own "recruiting" of new Morse fans
to ensure that they continue to have someone to communicate with
in that mode as the actuarial tables take their toll on existing, code-
using hams ... and I am NOT trying to "rush along" any OTs, just
talking "facts of life" when I mention actuarial tables.)

Another factor is that SOME folks (Dick, Larry, and others, actually
BELIEVE that their Morse proficiency makes them "REAL HAMS"
and that those who are not interested in, or proficient in, Morse are
in some way "lesser beings."

Morse is "obsolete" in the following way:

It has been supplanted, in virtually every service except ham
radio (where it has been maintained as a "tradition," "hazing ritual,"
etc.), by more modern, efficient, reliable, and convenient means
of communications. (horse vs. car or airplane, for example)

So, in that sense, it is obsolete (in practical terms on an overall
basis), though it does live on (and I expect will for a very long
time) as an avocation on a recreational basis.

Carl - wk3c