My opinion of where CW is and should be in ham radio.

CW or Not.

By Matt Erickson KK5DR

There has been much said over the subject of CW in ham radio recently. Here is where I state my opinion.

CW is still a useful mode of communication, even if it is slower, and harder. I personally have witnessed that CW was the only mode that could be heard during some propagational events. Recent introductions of new modes like PSK-31 have been and improvement , but require special gear to use it, in some cases, including a computer, which under emergency conditions may or may not be available.

All this said, I do not feel that CW is the so-called "filter" that many claim it to be. The problems in ham radio existed long ago when CW was strictly required, when the FCC administered the exams. The true problem's cause, was lack of enforcement.

I for one, am a "casual" CW op. I do not spend a great portion of my on-air time in that mode, but I do like to use it from time to time, but I have found it more and more difficult to find anyone to have a good QSO on CW that does more than the RST, QTH, name, rig, etc. I like to "rag-chew", and do it at 15-20 wpm, but I find that most CW ops I hear are of two areas, 2 wpm, or 50 wpm, with very few in the middle like I am.

I suspect that most of these guys are busy messing around on SSB or the Internet.

I feel that CW should remain a part of the exam, but with less gravity on pass or fail. I say, grade the exam on a "over-all" percentage scale, placing a 70% value on the written part, and 30% on the CW copy part. This way, the examinee can fail all of the CW, but can still pass the rest of the exam with a perfect score on the written part, or any combination of score between both parts of the exam.

I posed this "compromise" to the ARRL back in 1988, but they saw fit to reject it totally.

As for the CW band allocation, I feel it is time for the CW "sub-bands" to be reduced in size, to more realistically reflect today's numbers of users, and to align the bands more with the rest of the world's band plan for voice and CW. It makes more sense to do this because there are more and more SSB ops, and less and less CW ops today. Also, the Canadian HF band plans, have voice ops right in the middle of US. CW ops, and for some time now there has been a conflict here.

CW should be allowed to exist in ham radio, much like AM still is today. The more modes we have as a hobby, the more interests that will be available for all.

An area where ham do need to tighten-up, is the level of technical knowledge, and quality of our operations on the air. If we sound like a group of idiots, we cast a bad image to the public, which might see fit to have the FCC re-allocate the ham bands to other services that better service the public interest. Which is why we are here in the first place, if you haven't forgotten that already. The FCC will not think twice about it, of we do not conduct ourselves in a civil, knowledgeable manner. Even during times of non-emergency, we must keep discipline in our ranks, and our readiness level high. If this means that we should keep the rust off our CW fist, it is a small price to pay for the PRIVILEGE of having a ham license.

Remember, "Having a ham radio license is not a right, it is a privilege." Which we must earn, and continue to earn, every day, if we want to keep it.

73 de Matt KK5DR