RadioBanter - View Single Post

February 26th 04, 07:09 AM

In article ,
(William) writes:

(N2EY) wrote in message
...
No, it's not a political protest thread.

Just a description of what it took to be a radio operator at radio station
WAR
back in WW2. Copied from a Yahoo reflector:

This from an article in Radio News of November '42 regarding the radio
station
WAR.

"...The average person thinks of a highly trained radio operator a man who
can
send radiograms with very little confusion and at a fair rate of
speed....say
the messages are actually handled at around fifteen or even twenty words a
minute for a short period of time.

The radio operator on duty at WAR must send or receive or both at a rate of
more than fifty words a minute during the eight hours of his tour of duty.
He
must understand the delicate equipment such as teletypwriters, radio types
and
siphon recording equipment. He must be able to read manual signals at more
than thirty words a minute and to handle traffic at this speed if necessary.

He must be able to read from recording tape at more than fifty words a
minute
and he must be able to operate a teletype machine..."

From [the author's] recollection in 1942 when WAR operators were tested they
had to touchtype at 100 wpm, use a Kleinschmidt perforator at a high rate of
speed and copy recorded slip tape at 100 wpm as well as sending and
receiving
manually when the automatic systems would not function.

Operators there at that time included W3GRF(sk), W0DX (sk) W9BRD/VA3ZBB,
W0US
and others.

Nice trip down mammary lane, but what has this to do with amateur radio?

TAFKARJ is trying to "prove" something by connecting SK hams
with the U.S. Army and Washington Army Radio of early 1942.

He "proves" absolutely nothing other than vainly trying to promote
old, old ways to do things as those for the now and future of amateur
radio. Very silly effort considering the actual recorded history of the
U.S. and military radio communications.

It's worse than that considering TAFKARJ was never in the U.S.
military and has no experience in any era of military radio. All he has
is Faith in His Calling To The Code...therefore all must Believe as He
Believes. Poor guy is stuck forever in ancient radio of before his time
and can't get back into the reality of today. All must remain in the
standards and practices of before his birth.

In one way I can't blame him. No experience with the military forces
him to rely on anecdotal stories and tales from others who weren't
there, either. But, those websites with anecdotal stories and tales
are sufficiently tangible that they are used as references for His
version of the Truth.

His False Belief is that the U.S. military "still uses morse code" and
that is almost unshakable because He champions morse code,
therefore all the righteous must be using his Favorite Mode. Reality is
that the U.S. military gave up on morse modes some time ago, all
branches. The last branch to "use" it was the Coast Guard in their
monitoring of the 500 KHz International Maritime Disaster Frequency.
That went away after the maritime community cut in the GMDSS; the
system that the maritime community itself proposed. The USCG
stopped monitoring. End of an era, but not of the many good services
performed by the USCG.

Jimmie will probably try ten kinds of wordplay to reinforce His Belief
by saying "the U.S. military still uses morse code" since Fort Huachuca
still has morse code classes. By selectively omitting that such training
is for intelligence-gathering by message intercepts, he thinks he is
winning some kind of point. He doesn't. Interception of messages is
NOT communications by radio, just more of the many kinds of
intelligence gathering done by the major powers through both military
and government intelligence community personnel.

ARRL has long been waving the U.S. flag with stock propaganda
phrases about "hams serving the country in time of need" and so forth
to "illustrate" something. Such propaganda (self-serving) does nothing
more than show the ARRL itself hasn't "served" anyone but themselves.
Military radio communications prior to 1942 MAY have been somewhat
close to amateur radio practice (amateurs did not then nor later send
five-letter groups in encyphered messages as the militaries did), but
that changed radically once WW2 staffing and stocking went into
overdrive after the USA commitment to the war effort.

Washington Army Radio of 1944 was so radically different from what
it had been in 1941 that there is no real comparison. By 1944 it had
organized into the beginning of an INTEGRATED communications
hub, a center for all Army networks. Ten or twenty amateur NTSs
wouldn't have been near enough to serve the nation's needs then.

Washington Army Radio of 1954 was again so different from 1944
that it can't be explained adequately in words. It needs pictures,
indeed a whole book to show enough. Yes, there were amateur
radio licensees serving but they were NOT using any amateur
practices. Everyone did the professional thing to "Get the message
through." The messages got through...by the millions, annually.

The era of network centers is diminishing and has been since
AUTOVON and AUTODIN began...to eventually be replaced by the
DSN or Digital Switched Network, "the government's own Internet."
DSN serves telephones, facsimiles, PCs, workstations, PBXs, and
can use HF radio as 2nd or 3rd contingency plan. Normally it uses
high-rate fiber cable and satellite relay plus commercial leased
communications services. DSN can be as secure as mid-level
security allows courtesy of the tremendous advances in Information
Theory and methods of cryptology opened from that. By tradition
the U.S. Army handles operation-maintenance of the DSN on land
with help from the USAF where their bases tie in. The Army has
battalions and brigades organized and equipped to provide mobile
telephone/data/FAX/image communications in the same spirit.
The messages get through. Morse code isn't used, isn't wanted,
is too slow, is too insecure, is too full of potential errors to trust.

Code lovers can't accept that, may never accept it since it spoils
their self-image of important communicators. They bitterly resent
removal of the "tested at twenty" old top level rank-status-privilege
in their "service." To ease their bitterness they resort to the imagery
of some kind of Tolkien-like Middle Earth to attempt stressing the
"importance" of good radiotelegraphy through old tales and anecdotes
of long ago. None apply now in any radio service but they cannot
give up...all must capitulate to Them and Their Beliefs.

LHA / WMD