Join the Code Buddies

This is not intended to be your typical code buddies group.

If you have read through the home page, you may appreciate the fact that so far, I have tried to be as sensitive and politically correct as possible in stressing the need for discipline and virtuosity in CW sending. But now it's time to face some hard facts about this hobby and its chances of survival in the new century.

CW is shrinking by the day. If you were around some 40 years ago you would recall that the amateur bands were a hell of a lot more crowded than they are today. But especially in the last 10 years, things have gotten noticeably quieter, and it has little to do with sunspot activity.

The fact remains that while the old soldiers are taking their paddles and keys up to the happy ham shack in the sky, CW band activity seems to demonstrate very little renewed interest in Morse code. Of course, if you were to look at the number of rigs being manufactured and sold, especially QRP rigs that can only be used for CW, it tells yet a completely different story. Foreign companies, and even some small US companies, continue to develop totally new QRP rigs. And while the production of these QRP rigs cannot keep up with demand, the CW bands are growing quieter. What's happening here?

Well, obviously people are showing enough initial interest in CW ham radio to get at least a tech license and buy a cheap QRP rig, but they are not following through by getting on the air. What gives? The problem is twofold. To understand the first part of the problem, let's sit in for a moment on a Catholic service:

Priest: The Lord be with you.
Congregation: And with your spirit.
Priest: Lift up your hearts.
Congregation: We have lifted them up to the Lord.
Priest: Let us give thanks to the Lord.
Congregation: It is right and just.

In the broad theological spectrum, this is referred to as chanting. This particular chant (along with other chant sequences) is recited in each and every Catholic mass, in exactly the same way and at exactly the same moment of the service.

Do CW hams chant? You betcha! It's called a QSO, and QSO chanting makes up about 75% of CW exchanges with contesting at about 15% and ragchews at about 10%. But even in a lot of ragchews, you will notice that the two parties are really not communicating. In other words, they are not talking with each other, but actually talking AT each other. For the most part, they are simply throwing declarative statements back and forth. What would make the difference? How about an interrogatory statement; aka, a question?

Very rarely will you ever hear a question being asked on the air in Morse code. If one ham were to ask another ham a question in CW, the copier would need to clearly hear and understand each and every word of the question, or there would be a good chance that the question would not be properly interpreted. And almost needless to say, this leads us to the second part of the problem.

About eight out of ten CW hams are barely coherent. This is not to say that they can't get through a QSO or respond in a contest. If you are copying them, you can pretty much understand what they are trying to chant, from the words that they do manage to send properly. For example, ^&*^%$* rainy #$$^$@#&%^ is obviously part of a weather report. Similarly, in the above liturgy example, if the priest were to stumble and accidentally start out - “The bored be with you,” the congregation would most likely respond as they normally would, simply out of habit.

However, if most CW hams were to ask a question on the air, the response would most likely yield great comic value. The ensuing exchange would probably sound like something out of an old Groucho Marx movie.

Taking these two parts of the problem together, it is easy to see how they might adversely compliment each other. If you don't dare ask a question on the air, because you know you're barely coherent, you are limiting yourself to chanting. And if you believe that standardized chanting is good enough for CW, there is no need or incentive to be anything better than barely coherent.

Now, in the spirit of ecumenicism I will not comment on the value of chanting during a Catholic service or whether it might have something to do with an expanding or dwindling congregation, but this much I can certainly tell you. There is no way in hell that a young man (or woman) with a Facebook and Twitter account, with a few thousand followers (real or imaginary), is going to see any merit in getting on the air with a bunch of old codgers in order to recite the rosary, half incoherently. Sure, he may have gotten a tech license, bought a cheap QRP rig and set up a dipole in his mom's backyard. But once he is able to get to 10 wpm, he starts to realize that ham radio is definitely no internet, or even something close. And that, in a nutshell, may explain all of those recently purchased, unused QRP rigs.

OK, all of the above being said, here's what this code buddies group is all about.

First, it's all about real and practical communication. Chanting is right out, even if you are going to heaven in the end. Communicating generally involves asking a question to elicit a response rather than waiting for the other party to gratuitously provide some sort of information. In other words, if other hams don't ask you to explain your rig, they're probably not interested, so don't bore them with the details.

Essentially, what you are doing by asking a question is challenging your contact's ability to truly understand what you're sending and not simply waiting for a turn to start sending at a KN.

It is not necessarily about communicating at any wpm speed. If Albert Einstein had gotten together with Guglielmo Marconi to announce to the world in 5 wpm Morse code, that the energy is equal to the mass times the square of the speed of light, the world would have been equally grateful had it been done at 20 wpm. If you think you have something important to say, or if you're just crying out for help, we will all be glad to hear you at 5 wpm or maybe less.

Second, it's about virtuosity in sending. None of us has a perfect fist. However, perfection is not required so long as we really do want to communicate rather than chant. The demands of communicating will naturally polish your fist.

Finally, it's about patience, respect and camaraderie, but most of all patience. This new and revolutionary concept of the interrogatory will take most of us a good measure of time to become accustomed to.

And so, here's how it works.

If you want to join the code buddies, simply print out the form from the link below in landscape. Fill it out as best you like and mail it in to: Morse Cudgel, P.O. Box 14, Milford, NJ 08848 USA.

I certainly realize how crazy a mail-in form seems in this day and age, but there is a method to my madness. Just trust me on this one; go find an envelope and stamp.

When I receive ten or more responses to this list I will publish the list as a private email to the members of the list only. I originally wanted to make the list public on the website, but for the most part, the initial respondents expressed a desire to keep the list private, and so it shall be.

The main goal of this code buddies list is to promote ragchew sessions between listed members in clear and understandable Morse code (at whatever speed) as an example of excellence for everyone to appreciate. Once the list is made available, you can expect to receive emails from other members inviting you to get on the air at a specified time and frequency, and you may do likewise.

Your name, location and email address are the only info that is really essential. For code speed, you may want to list a bit conservatively so that no one expects too much. For key type, you can list STR, BUG, or IMB for straight, bug and iambic, respectively. The antenna listings are really meant for dipoles, to let others know what bands and max watts you have pointed in their direction. Of course, for vertical and Yagi, just list bands and watts. For dipole antenna facing directions, you should list them in reciprocal degrees such as 45/225 or NE/SW.

On the printable form, you may want to include a description of some of the other interests or hobbies you may have beside ham radio that will make for good ragchew topics, but this is totally optional.

If for any reason you would care to get off the list, send me another form with just your name, call sign and email address with an unsubscribe date, and I will remove you from the email list.

PRINTABLE FORM