OK, thanks.

Alan usually shows up at the fest, but has not done any live feeds in
the past few years. I have gone to 4 previous SWL Fests (2000 to 2003
inclusive) and had to miss this one. I live within 40 miles of where
it is held.

Thanks again Stinger.

Warren

On Sun, 14 Mar 2004 14:34:46 -0600, "Stinger"
wrote:

It was a special broadcast of Alan Weiner yesterday afternoon on 15.190.
WBCQ had off-and-on coverage.

I think they pack up and go home today, so I don't know if we'll be hearing
any more reports. Ulis from http://www.radiointel.com mentioned to me that
was going up there, and he will be giving a report on his site. Hopefully,
he'll have lots of pictures as well.

-- Stinger

"warren" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 14 Mar 2004 06:59:31 -0600, "Stinger"
wrote:

Speaking of CW, I was listening to coverage of SWL-Fest in Pennsylvania
yesterday, and they were talking about the addition of the first new
character officially added in a pretty long time.

It's the "@" sign, and it was added so hams could give each other their
e-mail addresses easier. It will be ".--.-." (which is "a" and "c" with
no
space between them).

Just thought that was pretty interesting and hadn't seen anybody post
about
it here.

Here's a news article about it.

-- Stinger

Tuesday, February 17, 2004


New morse code character signals dash to digital


By David Kohn / Los Angeles Times

Morse code is entering the 21st century -- or at least the late 20th.

The 160-year-old communication system now has a new character to denote
the
"@" symbol used in e-mail addresses.

In December, the International Telecommunications Union, which oversees
the
entire frequency spectrum, from amateur radio to satellites, voted to add
the new character.

The new sign, which will be known as a "commat," consists of the signals
for
"A" (dot-dash) and "C" (dash-dot-dash-dot), with no space between them.

The new sign is the first in at least several decades, and possibly much
longer. Among ITU officials and Morse code aficionados, no one could
remember any other addition.

"It's a pretty big deal," said Paul Rinaldo, chief technical officer for
the
American Radio Relay League, the national association for amateur radio
operators. "There certainly hasn't been any change since before World War
II."

The change will allow ham radio operators to exchange e-mails more
easily.
That's because -- in an irony of the digital age -- they often use Morse
to
initiate conversations over the Internet.

"People trade their e-mail addresses a lot," said Nick Yocanovich, a
Morse
code enthusiast who lives in Arnold, Md.

Morse code uses two audible electrical signals -- short "dots" and
slightly
longer "dashes" -- to form letters, numbers and punctuation marks.
Created
in the 1830s by Samuel F.B. Morse, who invented the telegraph, the
electronic signaling system spread across the world, and until the past
few
decades, it was used widely by the public, industry and government.

"It was the beginning of the Information Age," said Gary Fowlie, Chief of
Media Relations and Public Information for the ITU, which has its
headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

When Morse died in 1872, more than 650,000 miles of telegraph wire
circled
the globe. By the early 20th century, Morse messages were being sent
wirelessly, via radio.

Perhaps the most famous Morse communication is the international distress
signal S-O-S. It consists of three dots, three dashes, and three more
dots.

But with the proliferation of digital communications technologies such as
cell phones, satellites and the Internet, Morse code has lost its
pre-eminent place in global communications. "There's really no reason to
use
it anymore," said Robert Colburn, research coordinator for the History
Center of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Today it's largely the province of ham radio operators, including 700,000
in
the United States. While not all of them communicate regularly in Morse,
almost all are familiar with it.

Some ham operators wouldn't mind more changes to spice up the language.
While Morse code has a period, a question mark, and even a semicolon, it
offers no simple way to articulate excitement.

"I was hoping they'd add a character for the exclamation point," said
Yocanovich, who is active in the International Morse Preservation
Society.
"It expresses an emotion that's difficult to get across any other way."

Distributed by the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service

http://www.detnews.com/2004/technolo...logy-66475.htm


Where did you hear the announcement and perhaps they (Who) will have a
repeat of the (Broadcast - SW Program?)?

I usually go to that SWL fest but could not make it this year.

Appreciate an answer - just curious.

Thanks,

Warren