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January 24th 06, 06:45 PM posted to rec.radio.shortwave

On Tue, 24 Jan 2006 13:51:04 +0000 (UTC), (Geoffrey
S. Mendelson) wrote:

Buzzygirl wrote:

Whose fault is this? And more importantly, how it is best remedied?

I'm not sure it's as necessary as people think. The whole purpose of
the "Amateur Radio Serivce" in the U.S. was to provide a pool of already
trained, ready to use radio operators in a war or emergency.

That's what hams did in NO when ALL other types of communication
failed.

Events of the last few years have shown that inside a disaster area or
war zone, a radio operator needs to now how to use short range VHF
equipment, and communicate well in a panic situation by voice.

Outside of a disaster area, the internet has become the method of choice
for health and welfare traffic. Obviously, people who can man the
communitcations centers who are both computer and radio savvy are needed
there.

CW operation has no place in either.
What about when ther is NO power! Low powered CW rigs get through
when everything else fails. It has been demonstrated time and again.
They can use battery or solar power better than voice rigs because of
their low power draw.

Convincing the heads of FEMA, the
Salvation Army, the Red Cross, or the local police or national guard
that it is necessary simply won't happen.

My generation was the crossover. In the mid '60s, children were exposed
to computer programing and started to move away from ham radio. There
was a short "burp" in the '70s when people still built their own
computers, but by 1980 it was gone and forgotten.

Ham radio was difficult to get into, morse code is difficult to learn and
for many of the people who are the computer geniuses of today, impossible
by traditional methods.
These are called challenges!

Computers are welcoming. They are a lot cheaper
than radios, no morse code, no technical exam, just buy one at x-Mart,
and you're on.

This has caused many problems because people just don't build anything
anymore. It is almost impossible to find an engineer who is familure
with a soldering iron. Try to make a prototype device without a lot of
funding and you will understand what I mean.

Ham radio, IMHO, in order to survive needs to be a more hands on, people
oriented hobby. Elmering and outreach are the way to continue it.

Partly true but ther is still a need for CW as in my example cited
above!

Forcing people to learn morse code is not going to get more or better hams.
Education and experience is.
Learning Morse Code (CW) IS education!

If you want to have people learn morse code offer to teach it.
I learned CW at age 21 from some 13 year old explorer scouts who could
use CW at 35 WPM or higher. They viewed it as a challenge and were
willing to pass on their knowledge to others.

If you
want to get people to build things teach them. If you want people
who passed the test copying 5wpm and don't even own a key, help
them get one and build a cpo.

If you want people who are just on hf to stay with cw, go down to
the low speed (novice bands) area of the HF band and work them.
Be kind and patient. Help them to enjoy the hobby.

I partly agree however there are QRP (low power) enthusiasts who use
CW much of the time and enjoy it very much. They hold seminars near
Baltimore every year and are enjoying a rise in interest among fellow
and prospective hams.

73,

Geoff.
73 de WA3FWD
Warren

QRP kits - from easy to difficult - are available from companies on
the internet. Do a Google of "QRP" and take your pick.

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