Why CW?

Think about this - If cw is so outdated, why:

… are the bands still full of cw transmissions every time someone tells us that cw is dead?

… do small signal modes, like meteor-scatter and moon-bounce, use cw to transfer their information?

... do most QRP operators primarily use the cw mode?

... do most hams who communicate in cw, rarely use any other mode?

… were the shortwave bands full of strange cw signals, many of them cyrillic and hand sent, during the Kosovo crisis?

… do the Cuban and Israely government agencies still transmit their covert messages in cw groups of five characters?

… do radio and navigational beacons still use repetitive morse transmissions? Why not use voice or data recordings?

… does the military still train 'special operations' forces the code?

Know the facts:

• Morse is the most widely recognised mode of communication in the world.
  
  
• CW is the most spectrum efficient mode. This gives us lots of room for other QSOs!
  
  
• It is a communication mode which can get through in bad conditions when all other modes fail.
  
  
• It is used by the military and government agencies because of its almost total immunity to interference.
  
  
• Many oriental countries like China, Vietnam and Korea still teach their nationals the code from an early age.
  
  
• The Russian ham satellites - RS, stand for Radio Sport. Russia and many ex-soviet block countries consider ham radio and especially cw operating a sport. Don't be surprised if the competitors of high-speed cw competitions are wearing tracksuits - they are considered to be athletes! Indeed, before the collapse, many radio clubs in eastern Europe were financed in part by the state. If needed, these countries have hundreds of highly skilled telegraph operators which they can instantaneously put into service.
  
  
• Morse can be encrypted easily to prevent discernment of a message by third parties where secrecy is mandatory.
  
  
• By using Q-codes and abbreviations it is possible for two individuals, of different nationalities, to carry on a conversation, without needing to know each other's native tongue.
  
  
• It is cheaper and simpler to manufacture a cw-only transmitter. You don't need modulators, speech compressors, speech amplifiers or other complicated blocks. Just the electronics to generate and amplify a 'continuous wave'.
  
  
• Fewer blocks in the equipment means fewer parts - resulting in better reliability.
  
  
• For the same transmitter output, a code transmitter will consume less power - since the bulk of the current is drawn only when the key is down. This is ideal when using battery powered equipment in emergencies.