When I was working to become a novice, the older man who taught me
everything from the code to the electronics, and who later helped me with
antennas and rig repairs, referred to certain hams as, a good CW man.  I
remember thinking, when I get my ticket, that's what I want to be called, a
good CW man.  Of course, all these older guys I knew and who taught me the
hobby worked more phone than CW but that was the term they always used among
themselves when referring to someone who really liked CW and worked it a
lot.  Rick was a CW man, that's for sure.  Rick taught me early on, 35 years
ago, that CW can be a lot of fun.  Rick could make an electric keyer sing
and make it sound easy at 45 words per minute and I know he could copy more
than that and this back before keyboard CW was even considered as a
possibility.  That first time I worked him in the 80 meter novice band, I
was running a ranger 1 and a bc348 receiver and a simple inverted v at 30
feet.   He quickly slowed down to my 20 or 25 words per minutes, and so did
his friend that night, and I felt like a million dollars as I later bragged
to my buddies about how I worked this blind guy in Michigan who could copy
CW so fast, I said, you can't even tell what the letters are, haw.  I sure
hope we can carry on that old CW tradition among us but I fear it is slowly
passing away with the death of another good CW man.  Of course, it isn't the
CW itself that makes the man good, or better, than anybody else but the art
of CW contacts and the fun they bring are surely passing away little by
little.  I wouldn't trade my novice rock bound days away for anything.  I
just wish I would have kept my Braille log of all those old novice contacts
to now read and to think upon just for fun.

Phil.
k0nx

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