Wayne,
Thanks for this and for everything else you've done for CW, and
especially for making good CW functionality an objective for all
Elecraft rigs.
For me, nothing in amateur radio can possibly beat the thrill of hearing
my own call in a weak and fluttery CW signal from the other side of the
world. It's the same feeling I got 61 years ago when a guy across town
answered my call for the first time.
Judging by the display on my P3, there is often more digital activity
than CW these days. I've tried it and I'm impressed, but I'm impressed
by what my smartphone can do, too.
My feeling is, "great, that is so cool, now back to REAL radio."
CW is special and I hope it will stay around for many more years,
despite the technical "superiority" of other modes.
73,
Victor, 4X6GP
Rehovot, Israel
Formerly K2VCO
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/
CWops #5
On 31 Oct 2017 04:37, Wayne Burdick 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
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