On Sun, 23 May 2010 21:09:17 +0000 (GMT)
M0FMT <[email protected]> wrote:
> Yep nothing on 600m.
>
> It's a dead band like the parrot it's an ex band. Since the Data
> curse has fallen upon 600m, CW is dead. I was hoping that 600m would
> be a nice band to develop what little skill I have as a CW op
CW itself certainly isn't dead - listen to the bottom part of 160/80/40
&c....
As for 600m...in the time we've had access to 500kHz a total CW novice
could have learned the code, achieved 40wpm and be thoroughly fluent in
a new language - but not of course by sitting hoping for it to
just happen organically by sticking solely to 500kHz with a flea
power transmitter and a high urban noise floor....
500kHz has indeed historically been the place for real CW - but only
from well equipped coast stations and ships floating on perfect salty
ground planes.
As landlocked hams this isn't, in general, our lot - but then again the
band wasn't granted to us for that purpose....
If you're serious about developing your CW skills then there's ample
scope elsewhere, and if you haven't done so yet then I don't think you
can blame the activity levels on 500kHz for it.
There might be a nice cluster of low power 500kHz CW operators in the
home counties for whom it's possible to have nice comfortable CW QSOs -
but this isn't the case across the UK as a whole.
But there's more to our investigation into the band than that, anyway.
I wonder what you put on your application form for your own "Special
Research Permit" - it can't surely have been "developing my CW
skills....." - it must have been something a little bit more
technical, surely??
John
GM4SLV
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