Leo Bricker wrote:
> Oh please. The tragic part is that so many can't see beyond their bifocals
> and believe the operating mode CW is all that defines ham radio.
It has always been one of the things which defines amateur radio.
> Your
> analogy is flawed.
Maybe it is and maybe it isn't. I'm afraid that I can't accept your
view just because you say so.
> Had you said not requiring CW for a ham license is like
> not requiring student's to become proficient with a slide rule now that
> calculators and computers are universally available and used you would have
> a correct analogy.
Perhaps. The use of Morse Code is a fundamental tool of those who fancy
themselves total communicators. Those who don't know it are left
without an important tool.
> CW is nothing more than one means to an end, in this case
> communication.
...and there will be times when a radio amateur who doesn't know it,
might not be able to communicate. He may not have access to a computer.
He might be mobile, on vacation at the shore or in the mountains and
he might desire to communicate. His communication might not be a matter
of life and death so he can turn off his radio equipment and ponder his
navel. His communication just might be a matter of life and death. If
he is missing an important tool and that tool is the one he needs, he
can still turn off his radio equipment and ponder his navel.
> When you've taught a student math, as long as he gets correct
> answers does it really matter if he gets his answer with a slide rule,
> calculator, paper and pencil, or just out of his head?
If a student has always used a calculator and has never worked the
mathematics in his head, he has never demonstrated that he knows and
understands the processes used in obtaining a correct answer. I learned
to do the work by writing it out and through the use of a slide rule.
No matter how many times I wished it, I was never able to simply divine
the correct answer out of my head.
> Why is CW any more
> special than a slide rule?
No one has written that CW is more special than a slide rule. For this
fact alone, I am thankful.
> Join the current century and see CW for the
> operating mode that it is not the deity people are making it out to be.
I live in the current century and I see no need for you to be insulting.
No one has described CW as a God. Morse Code is used daily for
thousands of QSOs on various amateur bands. That is the reality of this
century.
Now to keep this on track, I believe I'll turn on the Orion and work a
little CW.
Dave Heil K8MN
Cameron, WV
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