There is way less casual CW operation than there was in '79, '89, and even '99. Except for contesting and DXing, CW is close to being dead. Foreign phones, RTTY & data stations in the lower portions of the CW bands and the ARRL/FCC elimination of CW-testing will finish it off. If I thought there was any future in casual CW operation, I would have a K3 on order now.
Dave N7AF K2 #4795 On Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:50:03 -0400 "Michael Brown" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Although there isn't as much cw on during non-contest times as there > was > when I was licensed in '79, there are a number of ragchews going on > during > the day on 40m during the day and some dx at night/early morning > here in the > Midwest. > > I'd like for the people who think CW is dead to listen to the ARRL > 160 > contest, or any major contest for that matter. Even though the daily > > activity may be down, I think we will continue to have decent cw > activity in > our lifetimes anyway. > > I think someone mentioned it earlier, and I don't want it to be > taken in the > wrong context, but if the bands are jam packed on 40m, 30 meters is > a great > band. I think it's better to go to 30m for cw qso's then it is to > get your > blood pressure up because 40 meters is jam packed with signals. Also > maybe > the contest managers can try to keep major cw and rtty contests on > different > dates, although I'm sure this is getting harder and harder > > 73, Mike K9MI _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com