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   PID: Synchronet 3.20a-Win32 master/a59d7d36d Apr 13 2023 MSC 1929   
   TID: SBBSecho 3.20-Win32 master/a59d7d36d Apr 13 2023 MSC 1929   
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   ==> CW OPS WHIP WHIPPERSNAPPER TEXT MESSENGERS ON NATIONAL TV   
      
   It may have been Friday the Thirteenth, but it was a lucky day for Morse   
   code--and particularly for veteran CW contest ops Chip Margelli, K7JA,   
   and Ken Miller, K6CTW.   
      
   During a May 13 appearance on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the   
   pair was able to pass a message using good old fashioned Morse code more   
   rapidly than a pair of teenaged text messengers equipped with modern   
   cellphones.   
      
   The victory, which replicated a similar challenge that took place   
   recently in Australia, has provided immense encouragement to Amateur   
   Radio's community of CW operators, who been ballyhooed the achievement   
   all over the Internet. The text messaging team consisted of world   
   text-messaging champ Ben Cook of Utah and his friend Jason. Miller   
   said afterward in a reflector posting that "the CW team won fairly   
   handily".   
      
   "Ben was just getting ready to start entering the last two words when   
   I was done," he said on the Elecraft reflector in response to various   
   questions he's received following the TV appearance. "I already knew   
   that 28-30 WPM would easily keep us in front of even the current world   
   [text messaging] record holder, and also it is the fastest speed that   
   I can make nice readable copy on paper with a 'stick' [pencil]."   
      
   Miller said it was decided he'd be on the receiving end, because he   
   wasn't distracted by the noise in the studio.   
      
   Margelli recalls that he was sending at 29 WPM. "I believe the goods   
   were suitably delivered," he told ARRL. "CW and old guys rule!"   
      
   What the viewing public didn't know was that Margelli and Miller had,   
   in Miller's words, "smoked 'em every time" during three pre-program   
   rehearsals. Even so, during the real thing, when Miller raised his   
   hand to signal he'd copied the CW message successfully, Jason's jaw   
   dropped.   
      
   None of the players had any idea of the text they'd be sending, Miller   
   noted. The message? "I just saved a bunch of money on my car   
   insurance."   
      
   As with many Tonight Show bits, this one involved a member of the   
   audience, a young woman named Jennifer who predicted -- incorrectly   
   as it turned out -- that text messaging definitely would top   
   170-year-old Morse code. She walked away with a gift of restaurant   
   tickets anyway.   
      
   Margelli says the CW team used Yaesu FT-817 transceivers -- one of his   
   own, and another owned by Dan Dankert, N6PEQ. Backup units -- not   
   needed -- were provided by HRO; Margelli's wife Janet, KL7MF, manages   
   an HRO store. They ended up using 432.200 MHz as an operating frequency   
   in order to avoid RFI from the plethora of TV equipment in the studio,   
   and to avoid interfering with NBC's gear. They ran the little   
   transceivers at their lowest power level and with the antennas   
   disconnected -- although they were mounted on the back of each unit   
   -- no problem given the close proximity involved. Margelli sent with   
   a Bencher paddle.   
      
   To add a little atmosphere to the affair, NBC producers attired Margelli   
   and Miller to look like 19th-century-era Western Union or railroad Morse   
   telegraphers. The costumes came complete with green visors, white shirts,   
   sleeve garters, vests and bow ties. The teenaged SMSers wore T-shirts   
   and jeans.   
      
   Cook told Leno that he'd managed to send a 160-letter message to his   
   friend using his cell phone's short message system (SMS) -- the formal   
   term for text messaging -- in 57 seconds.   
      
   A member of the Morse Telegraph Club and a QRP enthusiast, Miller said   
   he'd been using CW for 38 years. Margelli told Leno he'd been using   
   Morse "for 43 years in ham radio," a phrase Leno echoed. That was the   
   only plug Amateur Radio got during the appearance on the show's "Dinner   
   for 4" segment. Miller says that during rehearsal, the pair had come up   
   with a few lines to promote ham radio and telegraphy, but they were cut   
   during the final dress rehearsal, in the interest of making the segment   
   fit its allotted time slot.   
      
   During the Australian competition in April, a Morse team consisting of   
   93-year-old former post office telegrapher Gordon Hill -- the sender --   
   and 82-year-old Jack Gibson -- the receiver -- topped 13-year-old SMSer   
   Brittany Devlin. In that event, Hill spelled out the message in full,   
   while Devlin used text-messaging shorthand. In that competition, held   
   at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Hill took 90 seconds to send the   
   message, 18 seconds faster than Devlin's message took to reach her   
   friend's cell phone.    
      
   Miller encouraged all who enjoyed the CW-vs-text messaging segment on   
   NBC to contact The Tonight Show, to let the producers know about it --   
   with an eye toward having the network schedule a more elaborate segment   
   "next time."   
      
   "Thanks for the kind comments from all," Miller concluded, advising   
   "let's keep on having fun!--It is a hobby after all."   
      
   Commented Margelli to ARRL: "I completely agree with my fantastic   
   teammate, Ken Miller. It was a lot of fun, just like ham radio, and   
   the show also delivered an important, if subtle, message about the   
   benefits of the 'basic' communication infrastructure that Amateur   
   Radio provides."   
   --- SBBSecho 3.20-Win32   
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