[CQ-Contest] 6M CW

[James Cain]

Wow, Dave, OK, I'm convinced! My next radio will transmit and receive
digital RF signals, then process and "de-code" them into readable Morse
code -- even if I can't "hear" the signals.

I'll need a Morse decoder in the radio to translate into speech (since I
can't read). And my new radio will need a direct connection to Logbook of
the World, too:

"SIRI! Check LotW Credits!!!!"
"SIRI! Order Honor Roll plaque!"

I'm all in! Here's my proposal:

You and I write a book, now. You provide the technical stuff and I will do
the writing. We can call our book "Ham Radio 2034." We will publish in the
year of the fiftieth anniversary of that book some British nutcase named
Orwell wrote. I see Putlitzer Prize!

Oh, "2034" will need SEX. It sells books. I have that all figured out --
lifelike robots. You've seen the movie "Westworld," right?

cain K1TN

Everything I wrote was accurate.  It's not a false equivalence.


The gripes you (and I) have with FT8 are due to the WSJT-X interface that
takes the operator out of the picture ... not the digital processing behind
it.  I've pointed out before that it is even technically possible to use a
normal CW keyer to send CW to your computer via it's USB or RS-232
interface, have the computer digitize that in short bursts that look very
much like FT8, feed that to your rig just like WSJT-X does, transmit those
digital bursts like FT8 does, receive them on the other end, decode them by
your computer, and convert the bursts into audio CW for the operator to
decode.  It would look almost exactly like CW on both ends, except for
better S/N performance.  You would still have to be able to send CW and
copy it by ear.

Given the very lifelike text-to-voice translators that are already freely
available on the internet, the same could even be done with SSB.

And the ironic thing here is that all of that could be done by
computer processing
inside the rig such that you'd never even know that it was there ... just
like you apparently don't realize just how much digital processing is
already being done there.  Some day some manufacturer will do exactly that.

73,
Dave   AB7E