Subj : Morse Code
To : Roy Witt
From : Andy Ball
Date : Wed Aug 30 2000 08:25 am
(Written 2000-08-24, delayed due to technical problem)
Hello Roy,
RW> Since marine and aircraft no longer use CW, there's no need for
> CW beacons. I think you'll find that they're all using digital
> communications now. I think it was France who announced back
> in 1998 that the end of that year (or the following February)
> signaled the end of their CW in their maritime service. I
> believe the announcement said that they were the last country to
> do so.
I think Britain still has maritime non-directional beacons (NDBs)
that identify themselves in Morse, and I'd be surprised if our coast
-guard were not equipped to receive it.
I can understand the reduction of Morse code use, and I don't
necessarily believe it should be compulsory for amateurs - but I think it's
important to recognise it's potential as a fall-back system. Even if you can't
modulate a carrier for some reason - if you can oscillate, you can communicate.
