On Sat, 16 Dec 2006 18:57:12 -0500, Larry wrote:

Larry W4CSC aka KN4IM aka WB4THE aka WN2IWH....God I'm OLD! How awful.
No, I don't wanna join QCWA. I'm not THAT old!

Is there a HCWA? If so, you and I will both be eligible next year.

QCWA ain't nothin any more.

Different from what?

"Steve Thrasher" wrote in message
...
wrote:
Correct me if I am wrong but I hear (2006) on the Science TV channel that
the Canadian Icebreakers operating in the Arctic are keeping the Morse
code
communication system as a back up.

Uhhhmmmm...different country? :-)

Perhaps you missed my point.

Tom Dacon

"Charlie Morgan" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 16 Dec 2006 09:24:14 -0800, "Tom Dacon"

wrote:

Well, well, well...

When the last of the old-time brass-pounders is gone, Morse code will
disappear from everything but the history books.

RIP

Tom Dacon
AD7AE


Yeah. I'm still bummed that commercial truck drivers are no longer
required to
show proficiency driving a team of horses. I'm surprised horses haven't
become
extinct as a result.

CWM

Wayne.B wrote in
:

Is there a HCWA? If so, you and I will both be eligible next year.



Hmm...true! I don't think it exists, though.

Internet sure has ruined ham radio here. I haven't had an antenna up in
years. Nobody complains I'm on their private net frequency on Skype...(c;

On Sun, 17 Dec 2006 15:31:44 -0500, Larry wrote:

Internet sure has ruined ham radio here. I haven't had an antenna up in
years. Nobody complains I'm on their private net frequency on Skype...(c;

My rig is on the boat. Pactor, Winlink, APRS and Airmail are the best
things that ever happened to ham radio in my estimation, and serve a
real purpose when you are cruising offshore or in any
non-wifi/cellular area.

Wayne.B wrote in
:

My rig is on the boat. Pactor, Winlink, APRS and Airmail are the best
things that ever happened to ham radio in my estimation, and serve a
real purpose when you are cruising offshore or in any
non-wifi/cellular area.




I have a 3W 800/2W 1900 bidirectional cellular linear from
cellantenna.com, the DA4000. It's really a nicely made piece of
equipment. Alltel is on 800 Mhz, here, so I'm using an 11-element
Decibel Products, gamma-matched 800 Mhz paging point-to-point antenna a
friend who was in the paging business for years gave me. Haul the beam
up the main on a lanyard and point it in the direction of shore with 24W
ERP really makes a hot CDMA cellphone going down the coast. I also use
it in my service truck out in the country fixing church organs for fun
and profit. My old V60i still has AMPS and that helps, too...(c;

I've never used the ham email services. Pactor was a mistake as it's way
too expensive and proprietary, of course. But, if you want service, you
have to bite the bullet and buy it. Too bad, I think.

When Iridium went bankrupt, I stumbled upon an Iridium
phone/charger/etc., for $25 as they thought it was going dark. I kept it
for a museum piece, then suddenly Iridium was back, of course. It
connects but I don't buy service as I don't need it. If I were going
seriously to sea, I'd buy Iridium service. I've carried it to sea out
250 miles just to see how well it connected and it works great just
anywhere in a plastic yacht.

On Sun, 17 Dec 2006 21:40:06 -0500, Larry wrote:

Pactor was a mistake as it's way
too expensive and proprietary, of course. But, if you want service, you
have to bite the bullet and buy it. Too bad, I think.


I don't think Pactor was a mistake at all. It is absolutely the
fastest and most reliable mesage handling system that I have seen on
HF/SSB. You get what you pay for, and the hardware is a one time
expense.


When Iridium went bankrupt, I stumbled upon an Iridium
phone/charger/etc., for $25 as they thought it was going dark. I kept it
for a museum piece, then suddenly Iridium was back, of course. It
connects but I don't buy service as I don't need it. If I were going
seriously to sea, I'd buy Iridium service. I've carried it to sea out
250 miles just to see how well it connected and it works great just
anywhere in a plastic yacht.

Iridium gets good reviews but costs about $1 per minute. That ends up
being an easy $10 per day to download a few EMAILs and weather
reports. Winlink/Pactor is $free, and as they say in NY, free is a
very good price.

When you get to civilization wifi is usually available for little or
nothing. Then everything becomes $free or nearly so.

Howdy:
Heliography (light or sun) still has a place on the ocean, and it
would be a good idea to learn morse code for safety
reasons I would think. (No, a flare does not count).

--

SeeYaa Harbin Osteen KG6URO

When American Citizens with dual citizenship pledges allegiance
to the flag, to which flag do they pledge allegiance too?

-

Harbin Osteen wrote:
Howdy:
Heliography (light or sun) still has a place on the ocean, and it
would be a good idea to learn morse code for safety
reasons I would think. (No, a flare does not count).


After "...---...", what would you like me to knowG?

Lew

If you want to know more, get close enough for me to yell at you, or
use the VHF. Hahahaha! For those code proponents on boats... do you
carry a morse key to send with, mounted right in the cockpit or
pilothouse?


After "...---...", what would you like me to knowG?

Lew