On 6 Mar 2014, at 15:41CET, Stefan Schäfer <[email protected]> 
wrote:

> … But somehow, there is that mode: CW. Take a look at 
> http://www.dxsummit.fi/CustomFilter.aspx?customCount=50&customRange=472  and 
> you will see that there is permanent CW activity, all around the year. Do you 
> remember, it is more than 10 years ago that a CW exam was not part of the HF 
> licence in Germany. And many of the class2 amateurs (VHF/UHF licences) gibed 
> "Hahaha, now CW will die out soon". But somehow it does not, even without a 
> new software update :-)

And in the UK, there was an upsurge in the use of CW, most particularly on the 
40 m band from stations with M3 calls. On the M3 training course, students were 
introduced to Morse and did a paper and pencil exercise, but were not required 
to pass a test. Because it was not obligatory, knowledge of CW became 
attractive.

When day-to-day matters become stressful, I find it very relaxing to listen to 
hand-sent Morse, particularly in the QRP segment of 40 m – and this after more 
than 50 years of using the mode.

73
John F5VLF