Anyone who thinks CW is dying ought to turn on their radio during
a contest. Some easily available statistics:
Contest Logs QSOs by Leader
ARRL SS CW 09 1553 1597
ARRL SS CW 08 1420 1529
ARRL 160M 09 1366 2046
ARRL 160M 08 1280 1753
ARRL DX CW 09 3131 5928
ARRL DX CW 08 2686 4797
Note that these numbers all show increased participation year to
year. In ARRL SS and ARRL 160M, you can work a station only once,
so that means at least 1597 stations were on the air in SS09, and
2046 in ARRL 160 09 (and thats a single band contest that many
hams cant work at all)! In ARRL DX, you can work each station on
multiple bands.
BTW -- Im not slighting CQ contests, which I enjoy a lot, but I
couldnt find numbers for participation on their contest website.
In most contests that run both CW and SSB simultaneously, theres
more activity on CW than SSB.
Our contest club, NCCC (Northern California Contest Club) has
welcomed many new members in the four years Ive been a member. A
surprising number of the hot young guys who are new hams have
learned enough CW to be competitive, even though theres no FCC
requirement.
Another data point -- a new international organization of CW
Operators was recently formed. In less than six months, more than
710 members have been signed up and paid dues. You have to be
sponsored by another members who has worked you at least twice on
CW. See http://www.cwops.org/
73,
Jim K9YC
CWOps #69
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