Miscellenious from UA0SN...
Bar code on QSL cards
I think about this idea for a long time. Now when a bar code is widely used it is natarully to implement it for QSL-cards. A lot of time and energy can be saved at QSL-bureaus and at home. Well, as to home I am not sure - I myself prefer to sort cards as a collector studing every QSL and getting a lot of fun of it. But for those who work in contests and DX-peditions the process of checking QSO in a log from incoming QSL-card can be very quick and if some kind of software is used it is possible automate this process. Especially when a log is done on a computer.
The main thing which must be done is a standard for a data and an order of it in the bar code on QSL-cards.
I think there are several choices for a data to be a standard in the bar code:
- Callsign and manager if any
- Callsign, manager, name, city, country , region (e.g. State in U.S. or Oblast in Russia or Prefecture in Japan), subregion (e.g. County in U.S. or Raion in Russia or Gun in Japan)
- Callsign, manager, date, band, mode
- Callsign, manager, date, band, mode, name, city, country, region, subregion
- Invariable data (which does not depend on an initial QSO)
Or we can assume it as "From:" part of the address. - Data which contains QSO data
This we can consider as "To:" part of the address.
The first group can be realized easier as the bar code can be printed into QSL-card at a print house.
If you are interested then please write me to: sterh@irk.ru.
I want to make a summary of suggestions and place it here eventually. As far as I get some statistics we can make a further consideration of a standard.
Please inform others about the idea and let they come to:
http://ua0sn.irk.ru/en/misc.html
CW vs Phone
All those discussions provided last several years lack one point I think. People who speak English and vote for bannig CW never think of a barrier which must be overcome by those who do not know English language. Here in Russia, except the CW exam, we have to pass an exam of knowing English if one wants to work SSB on HF bands. I always think what could be a reaction of Americans if they had to pass Russian or Japanese so that they can work on HF bands. The answer is understandable: a lot of them might move to "CW use only".
Nobody wants to know CW without forcing them. If a "CW must" will be excluded this will bring us that CW will vanish from the air eventually. People who do not speak English can easily study CW not a foreign language. CW is an international means of communications for HAMs.
I taught three persons Morse code and two of them like CW work in the air and are very good at it. It took me one month (one hour per day) to bring them to 20wpm in receiving.
On other hand I myself provided not so many QSOs in CW as I prefer to do it in English to study it. And this helped me to get friends in W, VE, G and others countries, to read HAM related topics in English and to prepare this home page (among other things).
Thus I want to say that we (for whom English language is a foreign language) have to master more things to be able to work worldwide in the air. We have to choose: a language or CW. I myself feel to study English is more challenging task, but do not deny CW.
I decided not to send these thoughts to one of many conferences to save bandwidth.
Thank you for your attention.
If you want, feel free and
write me
what do you think about it.
