CW Returns to Mars

[W4DLZ]

R 292200z May 2008
Fm Chnavmarcormars Williamsburg Va
To Alnavmarcormars
Info Zen/chief Army Mars Ft Huachuca Az
Zen/chief Air Force Mars Scott Afb Il
Bt
Unclas
Subj: Chnavmarcormars Bcst 06-08
A. Draft Radiotelegraph Procedures
1. When I Assumed The Chief, Navmarcormars Position In November,
1997, We Were More Than A Year Into The Dod Mandated Ban On Cw On
Mars Frequencies.
A. Since That Time The Federal Communications Commission Has, In
Steps, Eliminated The Morse Code Requirement For An Amateur License.
All Emergency Communicators Know That When Voice And Other Digital
Modes Slow To A Crawl Or Become Unusable, Cw Can Still Be Used.
B. I Remember The Northeast Ice Storm Shortly After I Became Chief
And The Unnecessarily Lengthy Effort By All Of Southern New England
To Receive One Voice Eei From A Northern New England Member Whose
Antenna Was Covered In Ice And Lying On The Ground. It Took Over An
Hour When Cw Could Have Handled It In A Few Minutes.
C. As More And More Of Our Members Enter Mars With No Morse Code
Experience, I Am Afraid That We Will Soon Lose That Skill Set If We
Don't Do Something.
2. In View Of The Above And Effective Immediately, Area And Region
Directors Are Authorized To Establish Cw Training And Traffic Nets In
Their Respective Areas And Regions. All State Directors Are Strongly
Encouraged To Begin Conducting Training In Cw On Their Traffic And
Training Nets.
3. Since The Radiotelegraph Procedures Were Eliminated Before Teh
Publication Of Ntp 8(c), Ref A Will Be Posted Under The Documents Tab
On The National Web Page Soon. Use These Draft Procedures Until A
Final Tri-service Mars Procedure For Radiotelegraph Is Developed And
Promulgated.
4. Mars: Together We Can Achieve Anything.
Bt

[N8CPA]

I read this on the SKCC email list. And I wasn't sure if I should post it. I first heard the rumor some months ago. I hope we'll see CW used again during next year's cross band AFD.

I think they lost a lot of AR participants when they quit using CW.

[ne3r]

CW: The mode that accomplishes the most with the least circuitry, the least spectrum, and the least power.


You know the reason why!

The emergency communications slogan lately has been "When all else fails, except your laptop and fancy radios and interfaces and when you have plenty of available power to run all that junk".

CW wouldn't be my first choice for emergency communications, but it certainly has its place.

73 de Joseph Durnal NE3R

[al7n]

Outstanding!

There will always be "naysayers" among those who "won't" learn to use Morse as a communications tool. (there is nobody that "can't" if they really WANT to!)

It remains a viable method of "getting the message through" and definitely
has it's place in emergency communications especially.

I applaud your efforts.

BTW...

I refused to participate in the Military-Amateur excercise on Armed Forces Day when they stopped transmitting from the military stations in Morse.

I will participate once again if the resume using CW for the test transmissions.

I am certain I am not alone in this.

[n3ef]

I'd like to know more. The DOD banned cw on MARS frequencies? The Chief of Navy-Marine Corps MARS has the power to change this? It takes him 11 years to implement this change?

Eric N3EF

[K5MC]

BTW...

I refused to participate in the Military-Amateur excercise on Armed Forces Day when they stopped transmitting from the military stations in Morse.

I will participate once again if the resume using CW for the test transmissions.

I am certain I am not alone in this.

Like you, I also lost interest in working the military stations on Armed Forces Day after CW was eliminated. I used to enjoy working WAR, AIR, and a bunch of the Navy stations on CW, along with copying the 25-wpm CW message at the end of the event.

73, K5MC

[al7n]

Yup...the CW transmissions from the military stations were always a good operating challenge.

I tried for years to get a "perfect" copy and each time missed it, sometimes by only a single word or a few characters (QRM/QRN, QSB, jammed the keys on the mill, etc).

I printed a perfect copy first try on RTTY....where was the challenge in that?

I'll sure go back to trying if they go back to CW...otherwise, the heck with it.

[WA9SVD]

Good, but it's strange that in an official document, someone would write "Mars," and not "MARS," since it IS basically an abbreviation for Military Affiliated Radio Service, and not a planet in the solar system. Usually the military is a stickler for correctness.

[KB4QAA]

Good, but it's strange that in an official document, someone would write "Mars," and not "MARS," since it IS basically an abbreviation for Military Affiliated Radio Service, and not a planet in the solar system. Usually the military is a stickler for correctness.
Depends on what copy you are looking at. Official naval message traffic originated within the system, does not have 'case', hence there would be no issue.

What we are reading is obviously not "official" text, but rather something that has been cut/pasted or retyped from other email. Don't try to read too much into this.

Bill

[N8CPA]

The first one I saw was all caps. There was also word that the announcement was broadcast in Region 3 in MT-63 and 20WPM Morse. Hence, it is back.

You can see the document at navymars.org/documents/broadcasts.

And I haven't been as enthusiastic about AFD since they dropped it. I praticed for my 20WPM listening to NMN, among other stations. And though I have worked them on SSB, I was never able to bust the pileup on CW. And, yes, there were always many more pileups on the MARS stations on CW QRG's, than other modes.

[W3MIV]

To filch a line from Lowell Thomas: "There's good news tonight!"

[KB4QAA]

I'm not sure I really see the point of bringing back CW use. It won't directly help fleet units, since CW hasn't been taught to RM's in nearly 30 years.

I guess if it draws a few dozen CW aficionados to be active in Navy MARS, then maybe it is worthwhile.


B. (and yes, I've worked shipboard CW, flashing light from patrol planes and have green key stains on my fingers)

[W5HTW]

Seriously the title of this thread, coupled with the NASA Phoenix landing on Mars, led me to believe that spacecraft was transmitting in CW. I doubted it, but thought maybe it had some sort of beacon using CW. If MARS has been capitalized, I don't think I would have jumped to that conclusion.

As a long time CW operator, not just in ham radio but in government radio, I do miss it. I am glad to hear KSM on the air on Saturdays with 18 wpm weather info and traffic lists for ships at sea. It is nostalgic, and it may actually bring some attention. Some other marine land stations are coming on the air using CW soon. I listen to them when I remember, and copy their weather and other information. Good code practice. But they are fighting a losing battle when most ships do not have HF CW capabilities anymore.

But I'm not sure I see the functuality of it in military communications. I do believe radio ops in the regular military should be taught Morse, for those "just in case" emergencies, but I don't see it ever becoming a backbone of any type of official communications. Times have simply changed.

I still use CW in ham radio, but the hobby is changing so quickly these days I have lost a lot of interest in it. I'm so glad I can't hear "ayah ten four good buddy" on CW. I think we've lost it. Not just the CW, but the actual intent of ham radio. It is becoming an internet utility, a place to conduct business, and a government comm system.

CW isn't going to ever be a mainstay in government communications again, but I'm glad Mars (not MARS) is giving some folks an opportunity to try it.

[N8CPA]

I have heard that today's FEMA/SHARES on-air meeting on 14487KHz will be conducted using CW.

And I'm beginning to wonder if the current lack of sunspots, and the lateness of the start of the next cycle might be driving a reconsideration of CW's role as a tool in HF official comms.

[ky5u]

CW returned to Mars and NCG's using SSB returned to Uranus.

[n8yx]

CW returned to Mars and NCG's using SSB returned to Uranus.

See any Klingons in the vicinity?

[w0ea]

Martians know CW? nice.....










Oh wait you mean MARS, oh ok...

[wa9cwx]

[QUOTE=W5HTW;1241244]Seriously the title of this thread, coupled with the NASA Phoenix landing on Mars, led me to believe that spacecraft was transmitting in CW. I doubted it, but thought maybe it had some sort of beacon using CW. If MARS has been capitalized, I don't think I would have jumped to that conclusion.
.......Yep, my thoughts exactly...

As far as reviving CW, I just figure they finally got around to seeing Independence Day on DVD.

[N8CPA]

As far as reviving CW, I just figure they finally got around to seeing Independence Day on DVD.

That's what my wife said, when I told her! You scare me!:eek:

[ky5u]

The OP there is Marvin?