re: “Morse code (CW) is gone by the wayside but plenty of Old Timers l still know how to use it, “
There is digital comm mode (JS8, with JS8CALL being the app) that works down to -24 dB SNR, which is about 15 dB below what a good CW op can copy a message at ... this is great during this period of low sunspot activity (and poor band conditions).
A LOT of development has taken place since the days of PSK31, such as the WSJT suite of low-SNR modes courtesy of Joe Taylor W1JT Nobel Laureate and astrophysicist.
I’ll be running JS8 in a little bit here on 40 meters ...
Thanks, I was generally referring to the military. I’ve copied since BSA and was stationed at 2 USCG Radsta’s, one early morning at NRV we copied USCGC GLACIER NAAO down in the ice around Mcmurdo at barely a whisper. They had lost comms for a few days due to atmospherics. We took a few msgs before the sun came up.
USCG RMs were good ops back in the days of the steely eyed brass pounders.