Ok, so we’re getting close. I’ve worked 84 DXCC, 49 confirmed with about a dozen or so outstanding QSL requests. There will be two milestones I guess, one once 100 are worked and obviously much later, when 100 are confirmed. 100 verified is something I’m not even thinking about at this stage. Last weekend’s CQ WW DX CW test was a boon to my totals even for a puny station like mine. New ones included 6Y, CX, HP, J7, PJ4, TG, VP2M, and VP2V. My CW is improving but I still need ‘assistance’ hi hi.

I don’t think I’ll ever be a true CW op though. I’ve grown up with computers all of my life and a mode like CW, that for most can be sent and decoded much more easily by computer is just another digital mode to me. The fact that it can be sent by hand and heard by ear is to me beside the point. If it were physically possible to send RTTY or PSK by hand does it mean we should do it that way all of the time too? Just because it is physically possible to do something doesn’t mean it is the best way to do it though, why make it harder for ourselves?

However I truly appreciate the personal enjoyment factor in sending by hand and decoding by ear, it is a pure hobbyist pursuit, much in the same way people restore old automobiles etc. There are obviously more efficient ways to restore the automobile but the enjoyment is garnered in the act of doing it by hand. However in situations where accurate communications is paramount i.e. contests, then sending and decoding by computer is the future. CW is the ultimate ‘digital’ mode, with extremely narrow bandwidth and a concise shorthand all of its own that allows a quick exchange of information. If CW was promoted more as a digital mode to new hams then you might actually eventually coax some into being ‘true’ CW ops. Automobile hobbyists don’t start with the most complex of restorations, they start with their love of automobiles. Lets just love CW, regardless of what way we send or receive it.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 1st, 2011 at 1:36 am and is filed under Contesting, DX, Operation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.