Jeff Renkin wrote:

In an emergency anyone is broadcasting to ANYONE that is listening. If you
think a ham or anyone else in an emergency is not going to want a non-ham to
help, or will refuse to deal with a non-ham you are crazy.

If I'm on a ham band calling for help, I don't expect non hams to be
listening.

Actually MORE people who are not hams could be listening with their scanners than hams
with their 2-meter radios. You just don't know they are there because they can't
talk back, but they are listening. Just like when the cops say things they
shouldn't on their radios because they think the only ones listening are the other
cops.

If there are, well, so much the better, but I would never *expect* any
to be listening. If I get on a ham band, I'm transmitting to other
hams, and other hams only.

Even with that mindset, MOST hams don't understand morse code, especially those that
would be on 2-meters which would most likely the band you would use to call for help.

If I want a non ham, I would get on my cell
phone or yell real loud.

Ham or not, you would use the cellphone if you had one over any ham radio.

In an emergency you can even use frequencies and radios at your access that you
would not normally be licensed to operate on. We are talking about
EMERGENCIES here. No time to waste playing morse code or taking the time to
pound out a cry for help one letter at a time in a mode that only ends up
sounding like silly beeps to most of the people listening on the other end that
would otherwise be hearing your cry for help.

B.S. Most hams on the HF bands know code well enough to get a simple
message through.

Most hams only learn the code to pass the test, then never use it after that. You
are also not going to be using an HF radio to call for help, you would use the 2-meter
radio. God help you if you had to use the HF radio to get help! Keep in mind
what frequencies and bands the police, fire and paramedics use, and why they don't use
HF for emergency radio use. They also don't know or ever use morse code in any
emergency. In fact in disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes when we assist
them with our equipment and resources, we don't ever use morse code either, we use
voice every time.

I've actually dealt with a marine emergency on the radio. Have you?

No, all mine have been on land, but I am prepared to do so. The testing
requirements for getting a GROL means you know what frequencies to monitor, and at
what times you have to be monitoring them and all that other good stuff relating to
marine emergencies, even though I got the license for broadcast use. Actually, now
the GROL doesn't even have any broadcast use, but some stations still like to see that
you have it if you want to be chief engineer. It is not required, but they like if
you have it. But getting it means you are tested on all this stuff too.
Interesting enough, morse code was never a requirement for that.

Even when there was the First Class Radiotelephone Operators License for chief
engineers of Broadcast stations, there was no code requirement. You could be
working on and operating transmitters operating on 50,000 watts of power and not need
to know code, but for a citizen's hobby ham radio license where most are using
substantially less power, you needed to know code. It was an international
requirement, although Japan found a nice way to get around it, and the US decided that
you could get out of the international agreement by getting a doctor's note.

Lazy handicapped people? Or is it that when you are handicapped or injured in an
emergency, you may not be able to operate a code key, only a microphone??? Aha!

Wanna know how the boat got our attention though all the noise on 40m?
CW.

That doesn't do any good to those monitoring for a "mayday" like every GROL licensee
is doing. No mention of Morse Code is ever brought up. You are to ask for help
with the international distress call of MAYDAY.

They were too weak to get through on fone until we actually knew
they were there. After they got our attention, yes, we went to phone.

Of course you did. You needed to know where they were and all the other details.
If they had to pound it out one letter of the alphabet at a time with morse code, they
would have been dead before the message ever got out.

Mainly because the coast guard station in Miami was on phone.

That's right. They don't use morse code, and neither does the military. Neither
do ANY emergency services like Police, Fire, Paramedics. No time to play around
with morse code in a real emergency. If it had ANY sort of advantage at all, they
would require the military, police, fire and paramedics to learn it. But they
don't, do they? Of course not. Case closed.

Next time you are stranded in your car and need a tow, why don't you call on

your cell phone and punch our your problem in morse code with the touch tone pad
and see how fast you are able to get any assistance. Your call for assistance
will be taken as a prank phone call and they will hang up on you and you will
remain stranded until you decide to talk into the microphone so that someone can
hear and understand your message.

Yea right....Any other goofy "no one in their right mind" scenarios
you want to dream up?

Wow, you didn't even comprehend what you read, did you? It was meant to be a goofy
scenarios that would never happen, it was an example of the type of crap the morse
code people always bring up. Glad to hear you think it is goofy like I do, but too
bad you didn't even read what it said before you commented on it.

You just proved you are not reading any of these statements, just looking where a
paragraph ends and then making up an argument for the sake of argument.

Now everyone here knows you are a troll.

And that you are one helluva idiot!