Morse Codes trumps SMS in head to head combat

This is just a demonstration of how clumsy it is to use a 12-button phone keypad to send text. I work in the industry myself and I don't understand why so many manufacturers are putting all this text-oriented software intellegence (e-mail and IM) into their mobile devices, yet don't spend a few more pennies on a reasonable text entry interface, such as a thumb-keyboard.

Even so, Bravo for the demonstration! I think it's a great educational experience for young people to see the old and the new technologies side-by-side.

 

For the next race we have a four way competition in a quarter mile.  In lane one we have a 2005 Formula One racer driven by a 36 year old world class driver.  In lane two we have a 1979 Ford F-150 4x4 pickup truck driven by a 16 year old son of a rancher, he just got his driving license last week.  In lane three we have a 1987 John Deere combine driven by a 56 year old rancher, a bit of father-son competition to spice things up.  In lane four we have a first class steeplechase team, an eight year old horse and a 25 year old jockey.  Did I mention the quarter mile was through a corn field outside of Dysart, Iowa... with three inches of snow?

Ready... Set... GO!!

Pitting SMS against CW is just as silly of a race as the one I describe above.  Sure the Formula One could beat them all on a flat smooth surface but throw in a bit of snow or uneven ground and that car isn't going anywhere.  It's great that the two CW ops can send text faster than a couple teenagers with cellphones but that is only half the story.  What if there was a power outage?  Or a rain storm?  Will it fit on my Chevy truck?  In my shirt pocket?  Will it work in Sacramento, California?  Dysart, Iowa?

Every radio and mode has it's place.  I doubt that showing this "race" to any of my friends is going to convince them to throw out their cell phones and buy a HF ham radio.

 

Morse code is a lot of fun, and even kids can build a transmitter using just a few parts.

Where the world went wrong was creating license classes based on morse code (receiving) speed.

Amateur radio will become a better hobby, now that morse code is just a mode, and not a religion (unless BPL kills it).

 

This is apples and oranges, look at the larger context. The teenager could send her message to anyone, anywhere, at any time. For the old man to do the same he'd have to carry his radio, key, battery, antenna and tuner with him. By the time he's strung the antenna, found a clear frequency and tuned up, the girl could have sent and received many, many, messages multiplexed in with millions of other messages worldwide.

CW is fun but it just can't compete with the speed and selectivity of instant access to individuals.

 

Your eloquent argument has turned me around.  What was I thinking?  Morse code is all there is to Amateur radio.  I have written the FCC and petitioned that IMC testing be reinstated for all license classes.  I went even one step further and asked that the FCC introduce a new "Novice" class where testing consists solely of a 10 WPM IMC proficiency exam, sending and receiving.  Of course in my petition the IMC proficiency requirements for each upgrade in license class would require showing increased speed proficiency and only CW would be allowed on Amateur radio frequencies.

You have shown me the error of my ways and I'm now a much more mature and reasonable man because of it.  FM is wrong and evil, and don't get me started on such demonic creations as PSK and FSTV.  I've smashed my FM radios and canceled my cable TV and cell phone service.  I will replace those with a hand built CW HF radio.  I'm debating whether I should stop my telephone service because, after all, it competes with the much more universal, efficient, and reliable wired telegraph.  AG4YO, perhaps you can help me make up my mind, after all you seem to be such a grand source of knowledge.

I'm not stopping there since they had it all figured out 100 years ago.  Tomorrow I'm trading my Mercury sedan for a strong horse and a wooden wagon.  I'm looking for a plumber to replace all my copper and plastic pipes with lead and cast iron.  Along with the plumbing change the water heater has to go.  I'll heat up water as I need on my new Franklin style stove.

To hell with progress.  Why can't they make things like they used to?  These transistors they use now are no replacement for good old vacuum tubes.  Good thing I'm getting all tube based equipment, my house is going to get quite cold without those terrible things like central heat and fiberglass insulation.

I'm glad you set me straight.  Amateur radio isn't about the advancement of radio technology, it's about the preservation of Morse code.  Getting rid of IMC testing before granting any Amateur radio license would be nonsense.  It would be the perversion of the hobby.  We shouldn't be experimenting with new modes of transferring information more quickly and reliably, CW is the one true way.

Shall I go on?

 

Lets use this scenario:

The starting gun fires!

Our intrepid ham gets out his slingshot to shoot the ropes into a tree to hoist this dipole.

Then he setus up a table and places his rig on it.

Gets out the generator and hooks the power supply to it and the rig.

Connects the antenna, key and headphones to the rig.

Starts the gnerator and turns on the rig.

Tunes to the frequency where he has setup a sked with another ham.

Tunes up the transmitter.

Calls the other station and sends the message.

=========

The cell phone user has texted thirty or forty messages, had her hair done and bought a new purse.

Dennis KG4RUL

 

ROFL!! And in some online video game world you're KRAGON the ruler of the Zetnites, keeper of the Holy Snard, Defender of Trwaqzes. KRAGON has banned telegraphy in Zetnia and is a national hero to his people. But you should remember that the Trwaze Princess Xexbus was not allowed to text message for the last squagno-neek-year because of what she did with the fdudnes wilderbeast.

 

Translation:

"I am an arrogant person that thinks that anything I don't agree with is wrong."

 

Thanks W9JOL, I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought he was out of line.

 

Just think how much faster he would have been if he had used the same abreviations!

 

Whatever blows your dress up! But this is not a discussion about restricting technological advances. I didn't say that, did I? You're equating telegraphy with holding back advances. That is fatuous. There is a NCT license now with oodles of spectrum available to advance the art and with bandwidth needed to do it, right? Where are all the advances??? There are none. Just a bunch of guys with AES catalogs looking at HF rigs and dreaming.

But the telegraphy test is keeping YOU off of HF. There is not suffecient bandwidth on HF to be cutting edge in anything new and modern. This technology "issue" is a red herring used by the no code folks to wrap their lack of motivation in the flag and make it look like a noble cause. You lack motivation to pass the telegraphy test? Be a man and admit it and stop trying to manufacture an issue to cloak it.

Congratulations! You got exactly the reaction I was looking for. What do you call Technicians who don't agree with telegraphy testing and therefore say it is wrong? I'd agree with you that they're just "arrogant".

Thanks for playing guys!

 

AG4YO,
Let's review how we got here.  KB2VXA said that this "race" gives "proof" that no government agency would consider getting rid of the IMC exam for Amateur licensing.  I'm paraphrasing of course.  I called him on his failed logic.  This race proves nothing but the value of CW and IMC knowledge in certain situations.  I agree with KB2VXA that people have the freedom to use IMC/CW, the freedom not to use IMC/CW, the viability of IMC/CW as a means of communication, and that IMC/CW will continue to be viable whether or not people choose to use IMC/CW.

I also point out that IMC/CW isn't all it's cracked up to be as other modes tend to be more convenient, especially when portability is desired.  I then point out that as great as IMC/CW is, I think IMC testing will be eliminated soon by the FCC for Amateur licensing.  That is where you call me a crybaby and imply, by putting that accusation by my quote that there is more to ham radio than IMC, that IMC is the end and beginning of Amateur radio.

I then go into a lengthy tirade to point out that things have moved on.  Technology has advanced and that includes Amateur radio.  There is more to Amateur radio than IMC.

You made a post about some guy named (or is it an acronym?) KRAGON that I'm still trying to figure out.

You point out that requiring IMC does not hold back technological advances.  I can agree with that, but it certainly isn't promoting technological advance.  Then we get into the meat of the subject.

You say, "There is not suffecient bandwidth on HF to be cutting edge in anything new and modern."  That is completely false.  PSK31 is a relatively new advancement.  I read occasionally about new ideas in digital voice on HF.  There is talk about MFSK, usually related to digital voice, and how this relatively new mode can make the most of limited bandwidth on HF bands.

You imply I am "less of a man" because I didn't admit I lack the motivation to pass the telegraphy test.  OK, I admit it.  I lack the motivation to pass the telegraphy test.  If that makes me less of a man in your eyes then so be it.  I didn't manufacture an issue, I just tried to remind people of some realities.  The reality is that if anything was "manufactured" it is the race between T9/SMS and IMC/CW.  It shows very little about the merits of one over the other.  It's just a cute little demonstration that shows that the days of the "wild west" weren't the dark ages.  People back then had the telegraph and were able to communicate vast distances quickly, much like we do today with our fancy cell phones.  I just attempted to correct a few misconceptions and errors in logic.

 

Reference to the girl doing her hair/nails due to the superior technology of cellphones while we wait for our "intrepid" amateur to put up an antenna. I could have said, I turn off the cellphone system and BOTH of them start from scratch, so lets see those nails now.... but the reference to KRAGON was more fun.

Thanks for the agreement, but your last point there about "promoting" advancement is like saying driving tests don't do anything to promote automobile technology advancement. Yeah, but there is no correlation between the test and the technology. Smart people will continue to improve automobiles while some people fail the driving test. Same in Ham Radio. So?

Electronic ignition for Model "T" engines is a new advance, but is it an advance in the "state of the art"? Hardly. Ditto for PSK which is neat, but hardly cutting edge. Digital voice has been around for years. Sounds fake, no new cutting edge there too.

But don't feel bad, the ARRL is guilty of the same thing. Codeless HF access as a savior of Amateur Radio is a 1950's solution to a 2005 problem. It's the itch that some NCTs can't seem to scratch and in 1950 it would have been a BIG DEAL. Now HF is to attracting bright new Amateurs as phone patches are to attracting repeater Assn. members these days. Might have been a big deal 30 years ago but today better technology exists.

Looking where I said "less of a man". Nope, I did not say that. I said "be a man" and you stepped up. Cool! Now the next step is to acknowledge that we should not judge the merits of something based on our own limitations.

 

Oh boy. Wonder how smoke signals would compare?! Can already imagine the headline... "115 year old Sioux outcommunicates..."

 

AG4YO,
I've reread your post about a dozen times and you lost me.  I'm not the brightest man in the world but your last addition to this thread doesn't make much sense to me.  It seems as if you are saying no one cares about ham radio, and they shouldn't.  It also seems as if you are saying the advancement of radio technology is either stagnant or done outside of Amateur radio.  Either I'm not reading it right or you are saying Amateur radio, especially on HF, is... doomed?  useless?

To me this sounds like the pot calling the kettle black.