Thank you for that input, Mr. Jones.

Incidentally, Anonymous Coward and a ham call sign do not mix well.

Still, when the shit hits the fan, it IS important to have a backup.

Certainly people are still free to learn Morse. I would support an additional certification along the lines of "I'm also Morse code proficient."

But requiring people to learn Morse in order to get into ham radio just provides an unnecessary barrier-to-entry. The quickest way to kill newcomer interest in any hobby is to make it clear that the insiders don't care about or even resent newcomers. If a kid gets the impression that ham is just a bunch of old-timers reliving their glory days and bitching about how they just let anyone in here these days, they'll move right on by.

And that'd be a shame. Ham, is just about the only infrastructure-less communications tech we have. And whether it's earthquakes or dictators, you can't always rely on infrastructure.

Isn't it ironic that Ham Radio is meant to be a communications system for amateurs?

Up until the 80s, ham radio was about doing something that there was no other way to do. Talk to people around the world "for free", without depending on any one else (like the phone company) to make it possible. It really was a magical thing.

But then the internet came along and ham radio started to die because the internet completely replaced a major part of what made ham radio cool. And so for the last 20 years or so ham radio has been in a sort of limbo and decline due to the rise of computers and the internet.

But now we're entering a new era, one where "well, duh, of course I could just twitter to people around the world, but communicating via radio is actually more fun". It's now interesting because it's sort of an antique rather than in spite of it.

There's a progression where things go from "valuable" to "junk" to "collectible". The trick is to avoid throwing them away during the "junk" phase, because eventually they get old enough that they become interesting again.

G.

I am not sure that anything, short of your penis falling off, is a reason not to masturbate.

Which may just have something to do with the fact that you might be privy to personal identifying information of other people, have access to knowledge of abandoned areas, areas where there is no law enforcement presence (and, by virtue of your presence, no ability for them to be easily contacted), health information on individuals...

Speaking as someone who works in EMS (Emergency Medical Services), I say "Yes. And ... ?"

Just analog sound? Hardly... In addition to the vast array of commercial spec digital modes at the Radio Amateur's disposal, we use a few home grown modes: PSK31, WSJT, and WSPR. Radio Amateurs are an incredibly innovate bunch and lead the way in narrow band long distance communications -- North America to Europe for example -- emitting far less power than a typical cell phone. Remember too, Morse is generally transmitted via CW (Continuous Wave). That's ON/OFF keying. That's digital.