[GreenKeys] Lost Talent and CW es code test

[Gregory W. Moore]

Gentlemen,
My apologies for the (somewhat) rant this afternoon regarding both the 
subject Morse Code and Navy Morse Code. 
This being said, however, the reason for this apology is to prevent a 
weeks long flame war on the subject, on a reflector
which has the primary focus of things Greenkey.  

I don't consider the pursuit of ham radio as a "religion", however, I do 
regard it as somewhat of both an unwitting
obsession and an addiction, considering that the first time I learned 
the code, I was hooked, and even more so when
I found out about the wonderful device called a 'Teletype".  For the 
reasons which I stated in my previous missive,
the idea of technology being thrown away, and rendered extinct, appalls 
the hell outa me.  In 38 years, we have gone
from, a viable avocation, requiring a certain dedication to particpate 
therein (knowlege of Morse, homebrew equipment,
and an active experimental community) to a great deal of "appliance 
operators" with their riceboxes.  OK. I admit owning
a ricebox myself ( an ICOM 746PRO) with all the bellz and whistles (CAT 
control, external TNC, antenna autotuner,
soundcard programs on my PC to do about everything but put the pot of 
coffee on in the AM), but I do, in addition
also lovingly collect, restore and operate Boatanchors, preferably those 
painted Navy Gray.  I still keep my hand in
with the repairing and restoration of things Teletype, regardless of 
model, and darn well keep my hand in at CW as well,
since I was issued CINCLANT speed key certificate CLF-23. 

I believe that both the old and new can coeexist comfortably ( as long 
as that steenkin diddle is turned off, and the Wouff
Hong applied to the miscreant using said diddle, in most terrible form, 
or as, the annals of QST put it so elequently,
"The delegates blanched when the terrible device was placed upon the 
table by none other than the "Old Man" himself. --hi--


OK. I believe that everyone is somewhat right in this argument........we 
have the [purists] who consider RATT sent with
anything else but a mechanical keyboard or TD, and direct FSK, to be 
heresy.  We also have the middle of the roaders
who believe that is perfectly to send RATT via AFSK on SSB, as the basic 
effect is the same, and we have the [liberals]
who consider that even CW is fair game for computer decode and printing, 
as well as keyboard sending, which is to me.
a capital offense, punisible by (well, you know--hi).......  I can run 
either pure mechanical RATT as well as computer
generated RATT (NO DIDDLE!!!!!!!]........ and sometimes, its easier to 
run the computer program from the TNC or
a sound card program than to go thru all the interconnections to work 
direct FSK, then demodulate.....

However, even tho I apologize for the rant, it seems as if everyone has 
forgotten about the "inititation" into the club...
Morse sending and recieving is a prime requirment for this initiation.   
This, incidentally, is why I am still an Advanced
class ham.   It was once my desire to work my way up thru all the 
ratings, until I reached the hallowed ranks of Extra Class,
considering that my first license was CONDITIONAL, having been given 
overseas by a fellow comm guy, a CTR2,
but I wanted to go thru the same exams in the "world" with gen-u-ine FCC 
examiners, so nobody could ever claim that
I recieved "special treatment" because we belonged to the same exclusive 
"Boys Club" and I had recently recieved my
Speed Key cert.....  SO when I was home on leave, I took and passed my 
General, and then took the exam for Advanced,
even though the FCC examiner said I should go for the whole 9 yards, but 
I wanted to go thru all the ranks....  I did the same
with my Commercial Paper..... I then, unfortunately, had to "leave the 
world" for a while, and when I returned, was more
concerned with my new Wife, Isabel, and the fact that shortly after I 
returned on that big silver bird, found out that I was gonna
be a father......  I needed to purchase a residence, and to get a down 
payment, I not only used the PA state Vietnam Bonus,
but sold my ham gear ( an EICOM 7 drifty 3 ( modified so it didn;t 
drift, and could be FSK modulated, as well as sporting
an outboard FSK discriminator/dectector, as well as 2 R390's and 2 
R-1051's) as well as several other pieces of equipment
that bring tears to my eyes today to think that I parted with "the crown 
jewels" at bargain basement prices"  This earned me
just about enuf ready cash to put a down payment on the house, and I 
only smashed my head against the wall 3 or four times'..

By the time I wanted to pursue my Extra, they had trashed the Morse 
requirement, and I couldnt, in good concience, accept
a license upgrade for a lesser speed.  I had trained for it, was proud 
of my accomplishment, and made a concious decision to
remain an Advanced class, maybe in my mind as some sort of non-violent 
protest.....I'm glad I did...

Since I then pursued both zAeronautical,and Electrical engineering, as 
well as obtaining my comml pilots cert at the same time,
I really didn't have the time to pursue much, besides flying my tail off 
and becoming qualified and rated in as many aircraft and helos
as I could.  I also did avionics and a lot of other electronics stuff 
for the FBO who owned the airport, and in return, I didn't have
to worry either about 115/145, 100LL, or JetA.   I just filled the tanks 
and turned in the meter receipt..........I did modify an ol Narco
for 2M, convert it to FM, and have fun with that, as well as owning a 
SUNAIR, which I chanelized for ham freqs.......

Anyhow, I didn't want to upset anyone, and let us from now on confine 
this group to things Greenkey, for that's what its about.... if
we are going to save our avocation, we better get solidarity and begin 
operating some totally mechanical FSK RATT nets. IMHO
these nets should at the minimum, require a local loop for the machine 
(s) themselves (no specs on loop current, etc, Lo Level is Fine)
a FSK keyer to legitimately change the xmit freq by 170HZ (to be honest, 
it should be 850Hz)......amd the recieve downconverter
should be vintage as well, be it Vacuum Tube or Solid State...Also. far 
more activity should be placed on tfc handling instead of the
"contest mania' which, to me, at least is insane..... a 25 second or 
less QSO exchanging call signs, QSL methods (if questionable)
and contact number is virtually useless and meaningless to me.   A 
contest should consist of actual message handling and forwarding
using any method so desired, either torn tape, or retyping thecopy, or 
by playing back a digital recording of the sending station to
the forwarding station.  Points should be given for sending and the 
receipting of, ACTUAL TRAFFIC from the precidence and DTG
on down to the NNNN.  OK.  <  /rant > Maybe, if we were going to do 
this, the powers that be might take us a little more seriously
iin an emergency situation.   OK, I realize there are 30 digital modes 
which are faster, have intrinsic error correction, and cut thru QRM/N
like a hot wire thru butter, and they are all great. Progress is 
great/// Dont, whatever is decicded, throw out the baby with the bath water
and destroy a proven and effective comm method, be it CW of FSK. for a 
"Gee Whiz. Buck Rodgers" approach with a new program
seemingly to pop up daily. If you want to communicate at 7-8 MB/s then 
use your computer and your broadband modem!! But, if you
love ham radio, and want to keep the "old ways alive", then let's get 
together, and communicate at 60 and 100 WPM, work with
mechanical faxcimile, and pound brass, with the copy done on "ye olde 
underwoode commo mille"...  Both the old and the new can
coexist happily together, if they are both given the proper chance, and 
the flames from opposite camps are extinguished........

Just my IMHO of course, but feel free to comment and 'flame on, dudes///

73 de
Greg "GW" Moore
WA3IVX/NNN0BVN

Howard Weeks wrote:

>I have resisted commenting on this for several days but my resistance lost!
>
>In the 50s, as a teenager, I wanted to get into ham radio.  To do that, I
>had
>to pass a test.  I never once questioned "why" - it was just something that
>I had
>to do before I could get "in".  I did not spend a second weighing the merit
>or value
>of the license relative to the test or what hoop they made me jump through
>to pass it.
>
>So, for those that turn away from a ham test because of the code or anything
>else that
>is in it, that is your right.  But it is my right to doubt your commitment
>to the hobby.
>
>Howard Weeks K5JCP
>
>_______________________________________________
>GreenKeys mailing list
>GreenKeys at mailman.qth.net
>http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/greenkeys
>
>
>  
>


-- 

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