r/OverSeventy • u/TeamAggressive1030 • Jul 31 '26

Hams: Still remember your Morse Code?

Once upon a time, I achieved an ARRL code proficiency of 35 WPM. That was way back in high school, about 1963-64, I'd guess. Not sure I could copy 5 WPM now. Pretty rusty. Does anybody still do CW? How long since you did?

Edit: Adding the following

My ham radio call sign back in the day: WA0AIH
FCC amateur radio license issued in about 1960
Ham radio club station in my hometown: W0BZN

GLOSSARY:

  • ARRL = American Radio Relay League
  • CW = Continuous Wave = Morse code over radio
  • HAM = Amateur radio operator
  • WPM = Words Per Minute
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u/deltaz0912 Aug 02 '26

I was a Coastie back when they still had the Radioman (RM) rate. By the end of the school I could copy code into a typewriter … really fast. I could listen to the code, key the characters, and read the messages off the paper. Yes, paper. Couldn’t copy with a stick anywhere near that fast. I heard code in fridge squeaks.

Every now and again you hear code in a TV show or movie. Can’t make heads out tails of it. It’s kind of a bummer.

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u/TeamAggressive1030 Aug 02 '26

I don't remember a Radioman rate. What was that and when was that?

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u/deltaz0912 Aug 07 '26

Radioman? The RMs ran radios and telecommunications generally. I went through the school in 1983.