Subj : Morse Code
To   : Steve Bainbridge
From : Richard Brumbaugh
Date : Sun Sep 10 2000 03:29 pm

On (10 Sep 00) Steve Bainbridge wrote to Richard Brumbaugh...

 > It seems to me that sending and receiving code by
 > computer is no more
 > working CW than Lip Syncing Caruso is singing opera.

 SB> This is true to a certain extent, but chew on this.
 SB> What if the person has a hearing problem ?.
 SB> The way things stand at present, he/she would never get a class A or
 SB> even an M5 licence.
 SB> What about repetitive strain injury using a key ?.
 SB> Yes I know that you can suffer RSI with a keyboard, but not as likely
 SB> as using a key.
 SB> As for your comment on not being "Real Sending", of course it is, and
 SB> is likely to be better than 90% of the CW I have heard sent manualy.
 SB> It makes no
 SB> difference how it is sent and received, don't forget repeaters send
 SB> the callsign in auto CW, or is there a little person sitting there 24
 SB> hrs a day to send it every 10 mins or so ?.

How about taking my message with a grain of salt?  Keyboard and
computer use is more like TTY than CW.  In the 40's we had a blind
ham, W5LDM, could tell some light from dark.  I put a 100ma lamp in
series with his 807 plate voltage instead of a meter so he could tune
up.
I know; some people have keyers that have a CQ and their calls in it,
etc, so that they can just sit back and let the keyer do all the work.
If you like that, fine.  I'd rather use a real key as long as I'm able
to do so.

Best regards, (73)
Dick, W5MFD since 1946
richard.brumbaugh@gratisnet.com

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