[UK-CONTEST] Demise of CW as a comms medium?

[Clive Whelan]

G3SXW wrote


<What evidence? There is plenty of evidence that CW is
growing in popularity,
both in contests and DX-chasing.>


Roger, here is some! The figures below detail the number of
G QSOs that I made in AFS categorised by callsign.

Gx2		1
Gx3		84
Gx4		42
Gx0		25
Mx0		7
Gx1(etc)	2
2x0		2
Mx3		2


Unfortunately we cannot attach files to this reflector, but
if anyone takes a couple of minutes to enter these into a
spreadsheet and plot a bar graph, it may be seen that the
decline is almost perfectly asymptotic. Unfortunately and
inevitably, many of our pre-war licencees have gone to the
big band in the sky, and equally inevitably the Gx3s will be
"top sliced" over the years. They are not being replaced in
sufficient numbers by any other licence group or class.

I worked almost as many European stations as Gx0s, and more
than Mx0 and all subsequent or grandfathered licence classes
put together. This illustrates that you are- at least in
part-correct, i.e. CW and contest activity is not declining
in continental Europe, particularly in the "emerging"
countries. However Peter is clearly correct as far as U.K.
activity is concerned, and sadly the demise of AFS CW is
assured. The reasons for this are many and varied, but may
include a preponderantly mid-Atlantic lifestyle where
instant gratification and reluctance to learn new skills
predominate. If we may take any comfort, it is that the
situation in North America is even worse; I am not so
comforted.

More importantly we should ask what we may do to reverse
this decline. Frankly I am not sanguine, since we are simply
a microcosm of British society which has moved inexorably in
the direction described. However, that might be deemed
defeatist, so I would be delighted to be disabused of my
gloomy forecast.



73


Clive
GW3NJW