In article , "Jim Hampton"
writes:
I made a somewhat similar observation when I mentioned that I had copied
(100% perfect copy on a typewriter) 40 words per minute CW back when I was
in the Navy. A lot of folks can't type 40 words per minute 
Oooo...more stories from Olde Salts. shrug
I could cruise on a typewriter keyboard in 1951 at 60 WPM, burst
type to 90 WPM. Still can do that. Learned in middle school of
1947 (we called it "junior high" back then), using manual type-
writers with no markings on the keys. No "backspace" key then.
Also, I used
to chat with Norm, VK2NP, in Brisbane Australia, for hours on end several
times a week via teletype. It was about our 3rd qso when I had a mind
cramp, stopped typing, then started with figs/letters/figs/letters, got the
rhythm back and finished what I was saying. He almost fell out of his
chair; he thought I was using the tape reader. Why use the tape? Amateur
RTTY was only 60 words per minute and I could hit bursts of 92 words per
minute on the 100 minute teletypes on the military circuits.
When I was in the US Army there were no "100 WPM" teleprinters,
only the old pre-WW2 60 WPM machines. No problem to practiced
touch-typists. When I was an operating shift leader, I used to send
the confirmation list of frequencies by circuits to control (once per
shift) using manual keyboard instead of the reader...could feel the
mechanism lock-out hit back when I tried to go faster than 60.
But, none of the 36 transmitters at ADA were sending morse back in
the early 1950s. [later up to 43 transmitters at the new site] All of
the communications trans-Pacific was done via TTY, Voice, or (rarely)
FAX. No need for practiced morsemen although we had a few (all of
three at a maximum at one time).
The "torn tape" TTY relay used p-tape on purpose. One TTY relay
guy would normally handle 8 to 12 circuits at a time, plenty of time
to yank off an incoming tape to go to another circuit or to load and
start outgoing tapes. ADA handled over 200K messages a month in
1955. Just couldn't do that with manual morsemen...would have
taken a whole other battalion of personnel just to do that in morse.
Of course, I
shouldn't be surprised today. Most people talk communications and they are
talking 'cut and paste' on the internet, MP3 swapping on the internet, or
yapping on the cell phone whilst driving all over the road Ah, the
communications geniuses of today
Are you saying "cut and paste" in general is a "bad" thing? I found that
the modern word processor program is an excellent tool for writing,
re-writing, and general polishing, greatly aided by the "cut and paste"
features inherent in each package.
Oh, you must mean that using a computer to compose words is a "bad"
thing using newfangled contraptions? You prefer "longhand" writing using
real ink on real paper? That was a common tool back in 1844 when
morse code debuted as a communications mode.
Tsk, tsk. I was on ARPANET in 1978 using a video terminal. Used
old-fashioned 300 Baud modems. Five years earlier (1973) I was on a
corporate network using 100 WPM teleprinters to connect to the
central corporate mainframes.
I can still do handwriting as good as my physician (who just hit 33)...
which isn't saying much for that skill. :-)
Of what possible use in amateur radio is manual typewriting? I see
NO need of a test in that at all and I've been typing longer than being
involved in radio.
It's better that amateurs learn a bit more technology than Ohm's Law
in this modern age...not emulation of the "necessary manual skills in
radio" (morse code) for my generation's daddies of pre-WW2 times.
LHA
73 from Rochester, NY
Jim AA2QA
"David Robbins" wrote in message
...
I think the fcc should replace the cw test with a typing accuracy and speed
test. Just think about how much nicer the digital segments would be if
everyone had to be able to type fast enough to keep their buffers full! No
more diddles and wasted bandwidth while someone hunted around for the
letters trying to answer a simple question that wasn't on their brag tape.
This will of course become much more important as the manual digital method
is phased out and the hf bands become more heavily used.