[CQ-Contest] Here come dots (or at least dittitus)

[K0HB]

Back as a young Sailor in the 50's on a destroyer my job was to copy Fox
broadcasts.  24WPM coded groups 8-hours-on/8-hours-off forever and ever.

Bunk was below waterline, next to hull (5/8" steel, minor insulation
padding).

Docked in at Norfolk D&S piers amongst many other destroyers.

Hit my bunk exhausted after overnight watch.  Just zoned out and dozing off,
and start hearing Morse from the hull.  (Radioshack is 4 deck away, so this
code isn't from there.)  "Damn, this stuff is in my head.  I'm going nuts."

Decide to take a walk, clear my head.  Code goes away.

Lay back down, and it starts all over again.  Morse, coming right in through
the hull, but it sounds shaky and hand keyed.  WTF?  I really am going nuts!

Didn't say anything, finally fell asleep, and when I woke it was gone.

About a week later, same old thing all over again.

To make a long story short, turns out the Sonarmen had a system called
"Gertrude" which they could key their sonar and talk to each other and to
submarines when doing exercises.  Every Wednesday morning they had a
practice drill among all the ships in harbor.

73, de Hans, K0HB
--
"Just a boy and his Radio"
Sea stories here ---> http://k0hb.spaces.live.com/
Request QSL at  ---> http://www.clublog.org/logsearch/K0HB
All valid QSL requests honored with old fashioned paper QSL!
LoTW participant


--------------------------------------------------
From: "N7DF" <n7df at yahoo.com>
Sent: Friday, November 06, 2009 2:01 PM
To: <cq-contest at contesting.com>
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Here come dots  (or at least dittitus)

> Rearranging the letters of "the morse code" spells out "here come dots"
> but that doesn't really have to do with "dittitus", the very real and
> annoying aftermath of listening to CW for 24 hours or more in a contest.
>
> It usually takes two or three days for every little noise to quit sounding
> like CW; clocks ticking, birds chirping, mysterious things that go dit and
> dah in the night, etc.
>
> I have tried a lot of things to cure it but nothing seems to work better
> than a few straight shots of tequila.
>
> Does anyone else have a better idea?
>
> 73
> Larry
> N7DF