19 Apr
2011
19 Apr
'11
10:52 p.m.
Thanks for the comments. There appear to be two issues arising from this.
Firstly on/off keying versus FSK. I did say voice not FSK as the comparison
so I maintain that is still fair comment.
As to learning morse. It splits into two parts. Firstly learning the code
and secondly what speed you wish to send/receive at.
I absolutely hate high speed morse. The amateur bands at weekends are filled
with contest stations sending at silly speeds. All contests should be
limited to 12wpm. Any faster and instant disqualification.
?
Rod Smallwood G8DGR
?
?
-----Original Message-----
From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org]
On Behalf Of Tony Duell
Sent: 19 April 2011 21:57
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: Building a shortwave/HAM radio station...
I use Morse on a daily basis and am completely self taught (over 50years
ago). I don't think it=92s an "I can/can't do it situation." Learning
it =
is
another matter. If you can't pick it up yourself then find somebody
qualified to teach you.
Secveral people have tried with me -- and given up. You are welcome to try.
After all, the military and commercial shipping used
to train thousands =
of
20wpm morse operators. Provided you are not visually and or aurally =
Do you know that they had a 100% success rate? Otherwise, all that shows
is that they had enough applicants to be able to find sufficient people
who could handle morse.
impaired
(I am partially both and still have no problems) then CW is for you.
Why use CW? That=92s the easy one. It will always get through where =
voice will
not. =20
That, IMHO, is incorrect.
Firstly, it's obvious that there are times when no signal is received (or
there's so much noise that the wnated signal can't be found, or...). In
that case morse won't 'get through' (nor will voice, of course). So to
say that morse will 'always get throguh when voice will not' is nonsense
Seconmly, I am pretty sure that fsk gives a better perfomrance than
on-off keying aundr almost all circumstances. And that there are plenty
of better error correcting schemes than morse. So, no, CW morse is not
optimal in any respsect.
If you enjoy using morse, fine. I will be the first to defend your right
to do so. But I still feel it was correct that it was removed from the
licensing exams. The purpose of the license is to ensure that you are
able to desing/build/opeate a transmitter without causing harmful
interfernece to others (in much the same way that a driving test is to
ensure you can cotnro la motor vehicle on the public highway without
being a danger to yourself or other road users). The amatuur exam is not,
and should not, be a way of saying 'I'm a better ham than you are'. That
can be decied later.
-tony