"The Demise of CW"

I’ve just been reading yet another American bewailing the end of the Morse test and talking about the inevitable demise of CW.

Pity he hasn’t heard of SOTA! Fourteen summits activated today and twelve of them on CW - are we in reality facing the inevitable demise of phone?:wink:

73

Brian G8ADD

In reply to G8ADD:

I’m thoroughly enjoing learning CW. I’m still rubbish but having spent 10-15mins a day every day since my last summit practicing against lcwo.net I’ve seen the error rate drop and been able to raise my speed. I can’t wait to get back on 30m, frightening though it is with so many people calling. Every time I succeed in completing a QSO is such a rush.

I’ve got some holiday to use up this month (use it or loose it holiday) and so I hope to be able to put some proper GM summit exotica (unactivated GM/SI summits if the WX is reasonable) on the air again as I did in Easter 2009. I’ll definitely be including CW in the mix.

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to M1EYP:

First things first, Tom: we need a hearing test for those who persist in calling on top of the station they want to work or over the station he is working so that he has to ask for repeats, and that goes for any mode!

73

Brian G8ADD

In reply to MM0FMF:
Hi Andy, Not tried lcwo.net for CW practice so I shall have to give it a try sometime. I have yet to have the frightening experience of 30m or 40m CW in the day, The WX is getter better meaning that experience is getting closer.

I heard you on your last activation Andy and your CW sounded fine to me then, Activating with CW not only gives me the practice but also more confidence.

How long have you been using CW Andy?

If CW was still a requirement for HF then the chances are I wouldnt have bothered getting into the hobby. I could probably pass a 5wpm exam now, 12wpm would need more work, Like anything in life if you want it enough you go and get it. Sean M0GIA

In reply to M0GIA:

your CW sounded fine to me then

Sending is trivial, it’s receiving it that’s hard! I’ve written lots of software to decode CW over the years. So I learned to send with a straight key so I could test the software.

How long have you been using CW Andy?

I’ve mucked about on and off since I was 1st licensed nearly 20 years ago. But I’ve only seriously tried to get competent over the last year since having CW fun on Ben Hope last Easter. I did get up to 9wpm but then like a fool I sat the 5wpm test and stopped getting better. This was in 2002 when you needed a CW pass to go on HF. Bad mistake, I should have stuck it out another month or so to get to 12wpm. But I had the money for a new HF rig burning a hole in my pocket and wanted to play.

A lot of the impetus to go on the air was down to Tom M1EYP and Roy G4SSH. Tom went from zero to hero in hardly any time so I though well it must be true what they say, anyone can learn CW! :slight_smile: Roy persuaded me to try on the air which is always the sticking point, are you brave enough to try with someone instead of listening to computers/tapes etc.

My biggest problem is laziness. I could just about have QSOs and so I would only practice on the summits and that was only once a week. Simply spending 15mins every day at lunchtime has demonstrated that you improve quickly if you just practice. So that’s what I’m doing… 15mins a day EVERYDAY and just keep plugging away.

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to M0LKB:
This is arrant nonsense! Next time you invoke the curse of political correctness think very carefully, your comments were in dire taste and will not be tolerated.

73

Brian G8ADD Moderator.

In reply to G8ADD:

Brian, G8ADD: “Pity he hasn’t heard of SOTA! Fourteen summits activated today and twelve of them on CW - are we in reality facing the inevitable demise
of phone?”

Good point Brian - hi
"The CW is the Latin Language of radio comminications"

When (If) the Amateur Radio comes to end, for sure the last QSO will be on CW - hi.

                                             Vlado, Z35M

In reply to G8ADD:

In reply to M0LKB:
This is arrant nonsense! Next time you invoke the curse of political
correctness think very carefully, your comments were in dire taste and
will not be tolerated.

73

Brian G8ADD Moderator.

Brian,

What curse?
I was offended by toms comment and chose to comment to give him a chance to correct it.

his back handed apology was uncalled for so I thanked him for realising his mistakes.

I don’t see what your problem is and I am not interested TBH.

You find my comment in dire taste yet you tolerated the original offensive comment from tom

strange set of principle that you have there youngster

In reply to G8ADD:

“are we in reality facing the inevitable demise of phone”

Dont fret Brian, Ill keep the phone flag flying. Lets face it, I enjoy a challenge. If I wasnt up to the challenge, I`d do cw & reel in all these many guaranteed contacts.
73

In reply to G1INK:

I’m with you Steve…

Isn’t cw the easy option :o)

Carolyn

In reply to M0LKB:

Only a really convoluted feat of mis-reasoning could have found anything offensive in Tom’s comment, whereas invoking the BNP and, of all things, political correctness, is highly offensive.

This matter is now closed. Further comments will be removed. The CW thread may continue.

73

Brian G8ADD

In reply to G6WRW:

Isn’t cw the easy option :o)

Not when your fingers are frozen Carolyn! Sometimes it’s the only option and to me a real benefit under low signal conditions on 70cms.

Each to his own of course, but sure as eggs is eggs, neither morse or phone will die out. Anyone that preaches in either camp is IMHO seriously blinkered!

73, Gerald

In reply to G4OIG:

Neither will die out, nor should they. My point was that SOTA was becoming a bastion of CW, living proof that it is not dying out, possibly even to the point where it was replacing phone as the dominant mode for SOTA. (Tongue now firmly in cheek!) Perhaps at some point we might have to actively encourage phone activations, perhaps offer a phone bonus?

73

Brian G8ADD