In message <[email protected]>, Walter
Blanchard <[email protected]> writes
For some reason this didn't seem to make it onto the reflector first time
round so here goes again:
snip
"CW" - "continuous wave" - means just that; a steady unbroken unmodulated
carrier wave; "N0N" (or "A0" in old money). Morse code is mainly sent by
interrupting the carrier so how can it possibly be "CW"?
The old spark transmitters, produced damped wavetrains which carried
their own modulation (rough). When the arc system was produced which
gave a continuous waveform these were designated 'CW'. They required a
beat oscillator to hear them and even though they were interrupted by
the keying the nomenclature stuck.
Mike
Only amateurs
consider "Morse" and "CW" to be synonymous which is a pity because it
clouds our thinking.
Commercial and armed forces transmitters have the Morse position
labelled 'CW' on the switch.
Mike
--
M.J.Powell
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