[TenTec] CW enthusiasts make Page ONE

[Rob Atkinson, K5UJ]

The code no-code controversy makes the front page of today's Chicago 
Tribune...
rob / k5uj

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0603020207mar02,1,217240.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

Translation: Morse code fans sending out an SOS

By John McCormick
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 2, 2006

A century-old hobby filled with dots and dashes is embroiled in a debate 
about its future and what level of training should be expected of those 
called on to help during local and national emergencies.

Morse code, a slowly dying language, has become radio's equivalent of Latin: 
historically important, but increasingly irrelevant in a world of cell 
phones, computers and instant messaging.

With mariners and the military having moved to other technologies long ago, 
ham radio operators are virtually the sole practitioners of a technique that 
made national and international communication possible with the telegraph.

Now, after decades of requiring code proficiency to obtain certain amateur 
radio licenses, the Federal Communications Commission is considering a 
proposal to do away with the qualification, generating strong emotions among 
the nation's more than 600,000 operators.

The debate comes after the completion of one of the highest-profile missions 
in decades for amateur radio operators, who relayed messages about 
everything from medical supplies to missing people when Hurricane Katrina 
wiped out telecommunications along the Gulf Coast.

As ham radio operators debate the need for Morse code, military officials 
say it is taught in an expansive way at only two U.S. bases, with just a few 
dozen members of the full-time military learning it each year. It is 
primarily used as a backup for joint operations with less-developed nations.

"Morse is a fading skill in today's day of information, especially as we get 
into networks and cyberspace," said Capt. Kevin Hooley, commanding officer 
of the Navy's Center for Information Dominance in Florida.

The International Maritime Organization officially phased out Morse in 1999 
for ships in peril, replacing it with the high-tech Global Maritime Distress 
and Safety System. Before that, in 1993, the Coast Guard shut down its Morse 
code emergency distress network, a system that was a throwback to when ships 
used the chilling "SOS" as their internationally recognized call for help.

Nations drop requirement

Code requirements for amateur radio licenses have already been eliminated in 
some other nations, including New Zealand, Ireland and Singapore. The FCC is 
expected to issue a decision this year after reviewing more than 3,700 
written comments.

Although his radio is capable of transmitting voice with near-perfect 
clarity, Mike Dinelli prefers to tap away on a Morse code key when he sends 
messages around the world to other radio hobbyists. "It's part of the 
romance of radio," said Dinelli, 49, a commercial real estate broker from 
Skokie who has been a ham radio operator since 1980.

Others say the code requirement is needed to keep the ham radio bands from 
degrading to the level of citizens band radio, which peaked in popularity 
during the 1970s and was known for its often-colorful conversation.

"I've always said that we need some hoops to jump through to make it 
viable," said Ed Hayes, a ham radio operator in Longview, Wash. "If you 
don't have to do anything to get the license, it puts you in the CB world."

Hayes, a retired community college teacher, learned the code when he was a 
Boy Scout. He belongs to the International Morse Code Preservation Society, 
which claims about 12,000 members in North America.

Hayes can send and receive about 25 words per minute in Morse code, a 
glacial rate compared to modern, digital technologies. "I don't even have a 
microphone hooked up," he said.

Pure nostalgia for some

For others, such views are pure nostalgia for a hobby that has been hurt by 
the popularity and communications power of the Internet.

"To require young people to learn an old language that is very seldom used 
is a stumbling block for a lot of people to get in the hobby," said John 
Kuntz, a ham radio operator from Fennimore, Wis., who wrote the FCC to 
support eliminating the code requirement.

Making it easier to obtain a license could increase the number of operators 
at a time when the frequencies authorized for their use have come under 
increased pressure. Some in the hobby fear the government could move to 
auction off portions of their radio spectrum for other purposes.

Although few young people are entering the hobby, about 660,000 are licensed 
nationally, and roughly 22,000 in Illinois, according to the American Radio 
Relay League, a national organization with about 170,000 members.

Kuntz, an electronics technician, said he has little concern that the ham 
radio bands will be turned into the trash-talking environment of CB radio if 
the Morse code requirement is dropped.

"A bigger problem is not getting enough new people into the hobby to keep it 
going," he said. "If we don't keep attracting young people into the hobby, 
we aren't going to have that backup system of radio communications out in 
the country, which can really be an asset for public service."

Backers of the code requirement, meanwhile, maintain that Morse has 
tremendous advantages during crises. Morse can be sent and received when 
less favorable radio conditions prevent voice signals from being heard, and 
it requires only basic equipment that is readily available during 
emergencies.

"There are counties that are very poor that don't have other kinds of 
equipment," Dinelli said. "Hams have to be able to use this mode so they can 
communicate in times of need."

Morse code's storied history started on May 24, 1844, when Samuel Morse 
transmitted the question, "What hath God wrought?" over 35 miles of wire 
from Washington to Baltimore.

The accomplishment amazed observers and started the process of speeding 
information across the country and world, replacing the Pony Express and 
courier pigeons.

Titanic used wireless code

After the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, which used wireless code to try to 
attract help, Congress enacted legislation that required U.S. ships to use 
Morse code radiotelegraph equipment for distress calls.

Over the years, the code has changed very little. Bowing to the importance 
of the Internet, the @ sign was added in 2003 by the International 
Telecommunications Union, the first new character in decades.

Hooley, the commanding officer at the Navy's information center, said he is 
not aware of any military usage of Morse code in recent years. Still, during 
operations in the Middle East, he said there were discussions about whether 
coalition partners had the capability.

"We never had to resort to it, but it was sometimes asked as a possibility," 
he said. "It is a skill that we have to keep."

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