Posted on 02/23/2007 6:45:07 PM PST by vintage patriot
Morse code is in need of some serious SOS.
The language of dots and dashes, first used during the infancy of electronic communication in the mid-1800s, is going the way of Latin.
Beginning today, amateur or "ham" radio operators in the United States won't be tested in Morse code – also known as Continuous Wave – in order to be licensed by the federal government.
In an effort to advance the hobby, the Federal Communications Commission in December agreed to eliminate the five-words-per-minute Morse code requirement for people seeking their upper-level class licenses.
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
---- -- -_-- -_-- -_ -_- _-__ A - -_ _ A ___ --_ _ A __ _-__ A -_ --- --- ---- ___ -_-- -
---- -- -_-- -_-- -_ -_- _-__ A _-_- -_-- -- _- _ ___ _- A _-_- -_ _- A --- ---- -_ __ -__- ___ ___ A __ _-__ A _-_- -_- ___ _ _-_- ----
___ _--- -_ __ -_ A --- ---- ___ --_ -_-- _-- A -_- --_ _- A ___ ---_ - -_- A ---- -- -_-- -_-- -_ -_- _-__ A -__ -- _ ---- A -_ A __- -_ --- A _ -_- --_ _-_- _-_ A --_ _- _ -- -_-- A --- ---- - A _ -_ --- _ - --- A ---- - -_- A ___ -__ _- A _--- -_-- ___ ___ _--
---- -- -_-- -_-- -_ -_- _-__ A -__ ---- _-__ A _-- ___ _- _ A _-__ ___ --_ A --- ---- ___ ---_ - A -_ A ---- -_ _- _-- --_- --_ -_-- A ___ --_- A -_- -_ __-- ___ -_- A _--- -_-- -_ _-- - --- A --_ -__- A _-__ ___ --_ -_- A -_ --- --- ---- ___ -_-- -
I haven't seen a radio direction finder beacon referenced on a US lighthouse for years, but to be honest, I never really paid that much attention because we didn't use them.
However, there is one common marine navigation aid that still uses Morse code and that is a RACON (RAdar BeaCON). A RACON is a transponder that replies to marine radar transmissions. Each individual RACON is identified by a Morse letter and shows on the scope as a such.
This RACON is showing Q --.-
Tubes? TUBES????? Whippersnapper!
Sheesh, How's about spark gaps and Branley coherers?!
< };^)
_._ ____. .._ ..
On either Leno or Letterman, they had a race between a couple of kids using instant messaging on their PDAs, and a couple of brass pounders. The OM's won by a handy margin.
I think that 6SJ7 was Jean Shepherd's (K2ORS, SK) favorite all-purpose tube.
SJ is not as common a letter pair in English as SN. SJ sounds more, well, high tech. For its age, of course.
I heard of a contest decades ago between abacus and adding machine users. The abacuses won.
A buddy of mine from Homosassa Springs is one of them. He's also tied in with the Coast Guard station there.
Most sets had the filaments wired in series, like christmas tree lights, and if one went out, the ALL went out, so you'd yank 'em all, trot down to the store, and see which one didn't light up!
My brother and I bought a whole garage full of old sets from a fellow who thought he knew something about TV, but if there were TWO tubes out, he couldn't figger out how to fix them!
We got about half of them working, but the sets were so old, no one wanted to buy them, no matter HOW cheap we made them!
Live & learn - them was the days!
ping
Dayton??
Anyone ever hear of the extremely rare CIRE Labs kicker?
It came in three flavors: 25, 50 and 100 watts
They are Freeper now.
(Until they discover DU!)
Ironically, that's what digital computers are : dit-dah-dit = 101. Faster computers are just faster morse code signals, that's all. Morse code was the original max signal(ON)over noise(OFF)in telephone lines, early vacuum tube computers(ENIAC)also had max signal 1 over thermal noise 0.
And yet a "language" of just 2 letters is very slow and cumbersome. Photons are 1000 times faster than electrons and 1/1000th as massive. There are millions of discrete wavelengths in the 4000 to 7700 angstrom band alone. "Slow Light" has been discovered. Plus fiber optics. Plus nanosecond refraction-changing materials.
Thus all the elements of photonic computers are coming together. The digital computer may go the way of the olde morse code sooner than you think. Imagine a single color TV picture of 500 x 500 pixels, with individual wavelengths and intensities(plus possible polarizations), how much information could that ONE PICTURE contain? A whole section of the library of congress? A number so big you could never read it in arabic numerals?
Like life itself, computers evolve too...out with morse today, out with digital tomorrow...
And now we can get clear contact from anywhere on Earth thru the Web!
--- -... ...- .. --- ..- ... .-.. -.--
Don't forget the blinking eyes when your captors force you to make a TV appearence.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.