[TenTec] New hams (doesn't matter what generation)

[Ken Brown]

Hi Geoffrey,
>>  Those who have the 
>> initiative to try CW will be able to make plenty of QSOs with a 2.8 kHz 
>> filter.
>>     
>
> Actually they can't. I am a special case, I can't copy cw with a second
> signal, whether it's cw, voice or music 
I'm glad you recognize that you are a special case. You are really 
missing out. One of the great joys of CW, for me and I'm sure others 
too, is to be in a QSO when that band is open and quiet, with lots of 
signals, using a wide bandpass, and hearing all the other QSOs going on 
around you. Sometimes you can pick a few things out of the other QSOs, 
without missing anything in the QSO you are in. That experience gives me 
a real sense of community of radio amateurs. It is one of the great 
things about CW that you don't really get with any phone modes. In 
almost every case another phone signal inside your bandpass is 
irritating, whereas with CW another CW signal in your bandpass can be a 
joy, as long as it is not too close in frequency or too loud.

A mass produced radio needs to be designed for "most people", and I 
think that most people can separate audio tones and CW signals.
>  I can however, copy 35wpm from signals most
> people can't even hear, burried in the noise.
>   
That is great. Also one of the joys of CW for me and a lot of other people.
> Most of the people I know can't seperate musical notes, sounds or 
> cw signals. That's why they went into computers. 
>   
Too bad for them. I have been very careful to protect my hearing. I wear 
hearing protection when I use a shop vac or other noisy power tools. I 
love rock and roll, yet I know the difference between clean loud sound 
and distorted too loud sound. If the sound is not good, I remove myself 
from the venue. I do not know whether your friends who cannot discern 
audio notes have some genetic predisposition to that, or if perhaps they 
have suffered hearing damage. In any case there are a lot of us who can 
listen to half a dozen CW signals, or more, and still focus on and copy 
the one we are interested in. It is a skill worth cultivating, if you can.
>  
>
>   
>> I'm saying you don't have to add a filter to give the rig CW capability. 
>> You were claiming that the absolute necessity of a narrow filter for a 
>> new ham to operate CW, along with other complexities of CW transmitting 
>> would make the rig too expensive, and it should therefore not have CW 
>> capability.
>>     
>
> Sort of. I'm not saying that it should not be able to have CW capability
> added, in fact, I would insist on it if I were designing it. What I am
> saying is that it should not have it included to both lower the price,
> even if it were a few dollars retail, and to add the perception that
> it's not being paid for when it is not wanted.
>   
I still maintain that the cost difference is negligible. CW receive 
capability already exists in an SSB transceiver, and CW transmit 
capability is not complex or expensive. And you need a way to send a 
steady amplitude signal to check your SWR or adjust a tuner, assuming 
you are a new ham with no other gear to do it with.No one would feel 
they're paying for something they don't want, because it really is 
something you need.
> If you have never worked HF FM, IMHO you are missing a treat. When the
> band is open, you can talk to people hundreds if not thousands of miles
> away, with no noise and clear audio. 
>   
I have no problem with FM. I don't think new hams would have a very good 
introductory experience if they were led into using FM on the lower HF 
bands though. Speaking of FM, I have often wondered why the FCC 
prohibits FM on 27 MHz CB. Squelch systems work so much better with FM 
than with AM. And if you accept the reality that legal or not, some 
CBers are going to use amplifiers, they would cause a lot less trouble 
with FM and class C than with AM and not quite linear amplifiers.
>  
>   
>> Got a copy good buddy? I can turn on my foot warmer, and it doesn't  
>> even need to be leenyur, cuz we're ratchet jawin' in FM. Ten Four?
>>     
>
> That's just being silly :-)
>   
Yes, you are right, that was a silly thing to say. Over all though, I 
think if you make it too easy, you loose the value of ham radio, and 
what is left then?

73 DE N6KB