Subj : Morse Code
To   : Roy Witt
From : Andy Ball
Date : Wed Aug 30 2000 08:25 am

(Written 2000-08-24, delayed due to technical problem)

Hello Roy,

  RW> Since marine and aircraft no longer use CW, there's no need for
    > CW beacons. I think you'll find that they're all using digital
    > communications now.  I think it was France who announced back
    > in 1998 that the end of that year (or the following February)
    > signaled the end of their CW in their maritime service. I
    > believe the announcement said that they were the last country to
    > do so.

    I think Britain still has maritime non-directional beacons (NDBs)
that identify themselves in Morse, and I'd be surprised if our coast
-guard were not equipped to receive it.

    I can understand the reduction of Morse code use, and I don't
necessarily believe it should be compulsory for amateurs - but I think it's 
important to recognise it's potential as a fall-back system. Even if you can't 
modulate a carrier for some reason - if you can oscillate, you can communicate.

Regards,
  - Andy.

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