When I first joined the navy in 1961 it was as a radioman (I got a meritorious promotion out of boot camp because of my amateur license).
We copied code on old CAP only manual (superfluous) typewriters we called "mills". Anything much beyond 20 was a challenge to get right, and the 5 character groups were what we copied. There was nothing intuitive about them that we routinely use to copy in our heads. And, since they were encoded, they had to be letter perfect. I think 35 - 40 wpm of 5 letter groups, hand typed, is doable, and I suspect a lot of operators could do that, but it would wear most radiomen out pretty quickly. Tom -----Original Message----- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of DOUGLAS ZWIEBEL Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2009 3:58 PM To: Elecraft Reflector Subject: [Elecraft] OT: CQ WWII naval radio ops Earlier this week, on our drive back from Nova Scotia, my wife and I stopped by Battleship Cove in Massachusetts where I was entranced by Radio Central on the USS Massachusetts. They had a mock recording of CW going, mostly 5 letter word groups. It was going around 16 wpm and I wondered if that was a typical speed or not. Some guy walked by who had something to do with the ship's display and said that his "friend from then could go the fastest in the world...around 35 or even 40 wpm." Well, some of us do that in our sleep, so that couldn't be right. What speed was typical for back then? If you get the chance, stop by this exhibit (battleship, PT boats, submarine, etc.). We had planned on an hour or so, but spend nearly 5 on just the USS Massachusetts. I got some great shots of the rigs too - can even see the crackle paint finish! Thanks, de Doug KR2Q PS: http://www.battleshipcove.com/index.html ______________________________________________________________ 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 ______________________________________________________________ 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
