[UK-CONTEST] Fw: old gits vs young gits

[Clive Whelan]

Hi Roger

You c-a-n-n-o-t be serious? Now that IS old gittedness!

Why force anybody to learn or use CW. It was only necessary in the past 
for one reason, and that was to communicate with maritime or military 
operators who might have needed you to QRT. Now there aren't any, so the 
only reason to use CW is for one's own benefit. If HF operators want to 
discard the 6dB odd built in edge of CW let them alone.

The mind numbing tedium of digital modes and the banality of SSB 
operation would send me to the funny farm in short order, but others 
think differently, which we must respect even if we don't share their 
enthusiasm for  such technologies.  I think it was Bertrand Russell who 
said words to the effect " Do not respect authority, for there are 
always alternative authorities". I don't use CW because some arbitrary  
authority told me I must so do, I use it because I love it, and it is a 
highly effective medium of communication.

Let's offer every assistance to those who want to learn and use CW, by 
sharing our acquired knowledge, but let's not try to force anybody to 
use it. By the way, I don't know how you teach CW, but I'd burn every 
instruction book, Farnsworth tape, and new fangled CD. In their place 
I'd give the pupil an HF receiver, and once they knew the actual letters 
and numerals, tell them to get down the LF end of 7 or 14Mhz, and just 
listen to CW until they could copy a name or part of a callsign, and 
that way they'll learn without ever really trying. That's what I did 50 
years ago without help from any third party, and I went from 0 w.p.m. to 
a 12 w.p.m. pass in about 4 or 5 months. I was just a spotty young git 
so if I could do it, anyone can!


73


Clive
GW3NJW



Roger Cooke wrote:
>  <<Oh yes, and every HF operator should have to learn Morse too! >> 
>
>   
>