Oh no. And we just got the TopBand guys calmed down.
To each his own. Mike va3mw > On Oct 30, 2017, at 10:37 PM, Wayne Burdick <n...@elecraft.com> wrote: > > I find that CW has many practical and engaging aspects that I just don’t get > with computer-mediated modes like FT8. You’d think I’d be burned out on CW by > now, over 45 years since I was first licensed, but no, I’m still doin’ it :) > > Yes, FT8 (etc.) is a no-brainer when, despite poor conditions, your goal is > to log as many contacts as possible with as many states or countries as > possible. It’s so streamlined and efficient that the whole process is readily > automated. (If you haven’t read enough opinions on that, see "The mother of > all FT8 threads” on QRZ.com, for example.) > > But back to CW. Here’s why it works for me. YMMV. > > CW feels personal and visceral, like driving a sports car rather than taking > a cab. As with a sports car, there are risks. You can get clobbered by larger > vehicles (QRM). Witness road range (“UP 2!”). Fall into a pothole (QSB). Be > forced to drive through rain or snow (QRN). > > With CW, like other forms of human conversation, you can affect your own > style. Make mistakes. Joke about it. > > CW is a skill that bonds operators together across generations and nations. A > language, more like pidgin than anything else, with abbreviations and > historical constructs and imperialist oddities. A curious club anyone can > join. (At age 60 and able to copy 50 WPM on a good day, I may qualify as a > Nerd Mason of some modest order, worthless in any other domain but of value > in a contest.) > > With very simple equipment that anyone can build, such as a high-power > single-transistor oscillator, you can transmit a CW signal. I had very little > experience with electronics when I was 14 and built an oscillator that put > out maybe 100 mW. Just twisted the leads of all those parts together and > keyed the collector supply--a 9-volt battery. With this simple circuit on my > desk, coupled to one guy wire of our TV antenna mast, I worked a station 150 > miles away and was instantly hooked on building things. And on QRP. I’m sure > the signal was key-clicky and had lots of harmonics. I’ve spent a lifetime > making such things work better, but this is where it started. > > Going even further down the techno food chain, you can “send” CW by > whistling, flashing a lamp, tapping on someone’s leg under a table in civics > class, or pounding a wrench on the inverted hull of an upside-down U.S. war > vessel, as happened at Pearl Harbor. Last Saturday at an engineering club my > son belongs to, a 9-year-old demonstrated an Arduino Uno flashing HELLO WORLD > in Morse on an LED. The other kids were impressed, including my son, who > promptly wrote a version that sends three independent Morse streams on three > LEDs. A mini-pileup. His first program. > > Finally, to do CW you don’t always need a computer, keyboard, mouse, monitor, > or software. Such things are invaluable in our daily lives, but for me, > shutting down everything but the radio is the high point of my day. The small > display glows like a mystic portal into my personal oyster, the RF spectrum. > Unless I crank up the power, there’s no fan noise. Tuning the knob slowly > from the bottom end of the band segment to the top is a bit like fishing my > favorite stream, Taylor Creek, which connects Fallen Leaf Lake to Lake Tahoe. > Drag the line across the green, sunlit pool. See what hits. Big trout? DX. > Small trout? Hey, it’s still a fish, and a QSO across town is still a QSO. > Admire it, then throw it back in. > > (BTW: You now know why the Elecraft K3, K3S, KX2, and KX3 all have built-in > RTTY and PSK data modes that allow transmit via the keyer paddle and receive > on the rig’s display. We decided to make these data modes > conversational...like CW.) > > Back to 40 meters.... > > 73, > > Wayne > N6KR > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to va...@portcredit.net ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
