"Zaphon B." wrote:

| Are many people out there able to listen and decode that **** on the fly
and
| understand it or are they going through
| software programs to decode the stuff.

Do a google search for "G4FON." It's software that will
teach you how to decode that ****.

And, yes, Morse code (Or CW, as hams like to call it),
is still extremely popular, primarily with amateur radio
operators, because of its ability to punch through interference.

I have been sharpening my skills, and can now copy
to near - perfection at 25 words per minute (Which is,
I think, considered fairly proficient).

73,

Steve Lawrence
KAØPMD
Burnsville, Minnesota

(NOTE: My email address has only one "dot."
You'll have to edit out the one between the "7"
and the "3" in my email address if you wish to
reply via email)


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I have been sharpening my skills, and can now copy
to near - perfection at 25 words per minute (Which is,
I think, considered fairly proficient).


FAIRLY proficient??? Wowsers. I rag chew at 10-15,
can get the 'QSL details' at 20, and when ya hit 25 all
I can get is CQ and the Callsign, and immediately fire
back with 'PSE QRS 15 WPM' !!

Good work - keep CW alive on the bands. Teach kids.
If we keep it alive, it'll not die with our generation

JOE

CW, besides being a satisfying skill as is any art, is a great backup mode of
communication. After all, when a keyboard or microphone breaks, one can still
communicate, if only by flipping a power switch on and off or striking two
wires together. And those I have done on several occasions to keep
communications going.

To get my Second Class Radiotelegraph license years ago, I had to send 16 coded
groups per minute and 20 words per minute -- using a hand key!

I had to literally slap the key to get the 20 wpm. The FCC examiner didn't even
blink an eye.

When going for Extra Class ham, one could use a bug for the 20 wpm.

By the way, my ex-WU op mom taught me wire Morse about ten years before I
learned the radiotelegraph code (at age 17).

73,
Bill, K5BY
&
T2-GB-040061

"JOE" wrote in message
news.com...
|
| I have been sharpening my skills, and can now copy
| to near - perfection at 25 words per minute (Which is,
| I think, considered fairly proficient).
|
|
| FAIRLY proficient??? Wowsers. I rag chew at 10-15,
| can get the 'QSL details' at 20, and when ya hit 25 all
| I can get is CQ and the Callsign, and immediately fire
| back with 'PSE QRS 15 WPM' !!
|
| Good work - keep CW alive on the bands. Teach kids.
| If we keep it alive, it'll not die with our generation
|
| JOE

It's funny you mention kids, Joe - they seem to be the most
fascinated with CW. Getting to 25 was simple - I spent a half
hour a day, and it took about five weeks. It's funny, getting
over that hump at 15 wpm just sort of happened, and I
started recognizing words instead of just letters.

73,

Steve Lawrence
KA0PMD
Burnsville, Minnesota


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yes, it is a lot easier to learn morse now than in the past; you can
download W1AW practice files to your computer and as mp3 files; you can
get software that will not only drill you on morse characters, but
identify your weaknesses and provide specific instruction on those problem
character patterns, and so on. There are even programs that simulate
contest and noisy reception and "lousy" sending, so you don't get thrown
off by actual operating conditions ;-)

the latest QST magazine has an article on the aging of the USA ham
population; and that only 3% of those randomly surveyed were under 30-35
yrs(!) ;-( Code use had dropped from half to about a third, which helps
explain the relatively fewer cw signals I am hearing these days (thought
it must be my hearing, or the QRN static, but it looks like lower morse
activity, switching to PSK31 packet etc. ;-) ;-)

grins bobm
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************************************************** *********************
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********************Standard Disclaimers Apply*************************

"Stephen M.H. Lawrence" wrote in message
link.net...

"Zaphon B." wrote:
And, yes, Morse code (Or CW, as hams like to call it),

Oh, Oh, I know, I've got one, how come CW?
MC not good enough for all those hams? :0)

Zaphod

Captain Grundig Rules...Nuff said.

"Zaphon B." wrote:

"Stephen M.H. Lawrence" wrote in message
link.net...

"Zaphon B." wrote:
And, yes, Morse code (Or CW, as hams like to call it),

Oh, Oh, I know, I've got one, how come CW?
MC not good enough for all those hams? :0)

CW is the abreviation for 'continuous wave'.

Steve
Holland, MI
Drake R7, R8 and R8B
"I swear by, not at, Drake receivers" ©

http://www.iserv.net/~n8kdv/dxpage.htm

But it is really interrupted continuous wave (:-)

--
Keyboard In The Noise

Opinions are the cheapest commodities in the world. Author unknown but
"right on"

------------------------------
Some one wrote
CW is the abreviation for 'continuous wave'.