I agree - you can spot the keyboarders on cw immediately - they spell everything out like they were typing into a computer.
Boring - if you are keyboarding on cw and your QSO disappears - its cause you chased him off. I am not going to listen to "I LIVE OVER IN THE SOUTH SIDE OF CHICAGO - THE WEATHER HERE IS OK BUT A LITTLE ON THE COLD SIDE. WHAT KIND OF RIG ARE YOU USING?" When a "QTH Chicago - wx cold - rig hr knwd - how? K" Would do it. (in about 1/10th the time). From: digitalradio@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of kv9u Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 7:31 PM To: digitalradio@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [digitalradio] Re: CQ CH? Bruce and group members, I am not suggesting in any way that only 1% of hams use CW. I am talking about QRQ CW where you are having a near real time conversation. It seems to me that you have to get up around 30 or 35 wpm or more to even approach that point from what I have seen. One of the big equalizers is the use of the short forms on CW. Did you ever notice that on digital modes, most of us type in the full text and do not tend to use the short forms (fer, es, ?, wid, tt, etc.) which are used quite a bit by savvy operators? The one difference (just like digital keyboarding) is when the CW operator is using a keyboard rather than a keyer. It seems that there is more of a tendency to spell it out in full. With the keyboard (perfectly sent code) I sometimes will use a computer to follow along. You do have a fairly substantial number of CW contesters, although the exchanges are fairly standardized and it may be a bit different from a longer chat. My normal code speed is very comfortable around 15 to 18 wpm, but I consider it to be fairly slow code. I will QRS though for anyone. If I try and get up around 25, I start missing too many characters as I have never learned to copy in my head and see the letters spell the words. There are a few exceptions with common words and certain syllables such as the "ing" which stands out for me. Isn't it just fantastic that most rigs now come with built-in keyers? That is so slick compared to having YAB (Yet Another Box) to connect up between the key paddle and the rig:) I even figure out a way to connect my Bencher paddle to either my Ten Tec Argonaut V or my ICOM rig with one cable for the ICOM, and an 1/8" stereo to 1/4" stereo female jack for the Argo, and then it coincidentally works with a straight key with the Argo without any wiring changes:) 73, Rick, KV9U bruce mallon wrote: > Rick ... > > 99% of us took the code and don't use it. BUT that > said nothing wrong with thoes who are GOOD at and > enjoy the mode .... I myself love lissing to the guys > zipping along at 12-20 wpm even if i can only copy a > few letters in a row .... It's a neet mode and VERY > good when you have to pull things out of the noise > .... Sometimes people just think old is not any good > ... and to many CW is a old useless mode ..... > > Bruce > On 6 since 66 > > Your comment .... > "Like most things, there are always some extreme > examples that you could point to, but 99% of us are > not going to be doing QRQ CW. It took tremendous work > for me to even pass the 20 wpm CW test at the FCC > years ago. And not many hams today even know Morse > code at any speed, much less at QRQ speeds." > >
