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G8PZT > CW 16.06.05 14:26l 67 Lines 3456 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 030025166PZT
Read: GUEST DO1KSE
Subj: There *is* a place for CW
Path: DB0FHN<DB0FOR<DB0SIF<DB0EA<DB0ACC<DB0GOS<DB0RES<ON0AR<GB7PZT
Sent: 050616/1112Z @:GB7PZT.#24.GBR.EU [Kidderminster] #:2503 XSERV410d
Date: Thu, 16 Jun 2005 11:12:18 +0000
From: g8pzt@gb7pzt.#24.gbr.eu (Paula)
To: cw@ww
Subject: There *is* a place for CW
Someone sent a message to SYSOP @ WW in which he, rather tongue in cheek I
suspect said "Next you'll be telling me CW is useful!"
Well here we are in the 21st century, 150 years or so after Morse Code was
invented, with all the modern data modes, video phones, and more ways to
communicate than ever before. Most countries have abolished the morse test
as a licence requirement, and the professionals have all but stopped using it.
Why one earth would we want to use such an arcahic mode? It's laughable.
Or is it?....
After the morse test was abolished, long standing "Class B" UK callsigns
such as myself, were given acces to the HF bands. Now I have been a VHF
enthusiast for 30 years, with absolutely no interest in the HF bands. But
as there was now no barrier to me, I decided to give it a go... Ok, I am
finding HF very daunting, as there are lots of old men with 400 watts talking
in closed groups, not welcoming strangers. And stations running 2000 watts to
beams, calling CQ DX all day long. I'm not DX, I'm not an old man, and I
only have 5 watts. No-one ever answers my CQ calls. So my HF career is
on the rocks soon after launch, and I'm disillusioned with it. But I still
find the science of HF interesting even if I don't get any QSO's.
So what's this got to do with CW? Not a lot I suppose, except scene-setting.
My HF rig is a broken KW2000. The EHT transformer burned out, and the rig was
mended but only gives 5 watts maximum now. People tell me that's not enough,
but I have had some good QSO's on it, and it doesn't generate TVI etc. It got
me thinking - I can't afford to BUY a new rig, but could I BUILD one?
Answer... No, I wouldn't have the time or patience to build an HF SSB rig at
my age. But I could, at a pinch, build a CW one! A crystal VXO and a few
transistors and coils, or even some of the old battery valves I've still got,
and I could easily generate 5 watts of CW, which would go a lot further than
SSB. It would be more portable than my KW2000 too!
That's my point - For most hams it's too difficult to build an SSB tx, but
many would be capable of building a CW one. Stranded on a desert island
with a few broken bits of radio equipment, I could cobble together a means
of communication for CW. And I would stand more chance of getting a signal
out with CW than with SSB. Not only is CW incredibly low bandwidth, it's
also possible to have a CW QSO between people of different languages. And
the morse code doesn't even need a radio - if you've lost your voice you can
tap out morse on a teacup down the phone. If you're paralysed, you can
blink it with your eyelids!
So, after all my years of advanced digital communication, despite the fact
that there's no legal requirement for morse any more, I am learning the code!
Aee you on CW one day?
73, Paula
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