Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Why CW was Important to Ham Radio

We have all read the letters to QST, eHam articles, and group discussions with old timers about how eliminating CW has wrecked Ham Radio. Newcomers to this grand hobby see no relevance to this antiquated mode of communicating and view CW as an unnecessary roadblock. Just what is it about CW that has emotions and passions so exercised? Why is CW important to Ham Radio?

I look back into my own experience to try and explain this. I don't go back as far as most, but far enough I think. Having no recollection of ever not being fascinated by radio, my earliest memory is going to bed with a table top broadcast receiver in my bed under the sheets. This was a special radio with a shortwave section that my parents got for me. I don't actually remember the specific circumstances of how it came to be that I owned a shortwave receiver at age 9, but knowing my interest in radio, it doesn't surprise me. My parents were no help in encouraging me and even thought I would "outgrow" my strange interest!

Everything I knew about radio, propagation, magnetism, gravity, was a result of self motivation, curiosity, and ingenuity. It was a thirst for more knowledge. When I saw the ham radio station of my soon to be elmer, Bill Asbury, WA4GYZ, there was no doubt that instant I was to be a Ham. There was no obstacle too difficult, no mountain too high, ocean too deep, no code too difficult to stop me from my dream of being a radio operator. If the requirement had been walk over broken glass in your bare feet for 50 feet, I would have done it. I'm glad all I had to do was learn CW... no problem!

Having gone through all these "obstacles" and gotten my ticket, I was in the fold. I didn't realize it then, but I met and was involved with others who felt the same about radio as me. We had a shared experience of getting over difficult tasks (i.e., CW) and overcoming them. We "understood" each other in a way that others outside our hobby didn't. It was "safe" to talk about radio without fearing condescending remarks from most "regular" people. We could relate to each other at a higher level. CW was as much a test of your interest as it was a viable communications mode. If you were willing to put up with learning CW, it was thought, you really had the ham radio bug. It was a litmus test of your interest.

The world is a different place than it was in the 1960's and 70's when I was coming up. These old school ways of doing things have taken a back seat to more streamlined and practical matters. We old time hams are around enough folks that think we are strange for our interest in an antiquated hobby, ham radio. We don't want the same thing from fellow hams!

But, alas, it is what it is. So I welcome the new hams with open arms. I will endeavour to pass along my passion for this hobby that has given me so much pleasure over the years. Hopefully now, after having read this, the new hams understand a little better why we old timers feel the way we do. This might help all of us do what Reily Hollingsworth has been saying, "can't we all just get along?"

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