TIGHAR
Amelia Earhart Search Forum => Radio Reflections => Topic started by: Martin X. Moleski, SJ on March 13, 2011, 06:29:51 AM
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Walter Runck asked me whether we could put a video on our server.
The answer is "only if the copyright holder permits us to do so."
Otherwise, all we can do is post links for those who want to follow them.
The particular video that interested Walter was a Jay Leno segment that pits Morse Code against text messaging. (http://www.coolestone.com/media/787/Text-Messaging-Vs-Morse-Code----Jay-Leno/) The text message is sent on a dumb phone; Morse Code wins.
Rebuttal from Indiana University. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKrxMhNxv3Q) The text message is sent on a Blackberry vs. a relatively weak HAM; the Blackberry wins.
There are lots of other Morse Code videos on YouTube and other sites.
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To be "fair", the kid on the text phone was presented as being a whiz, the fastest of his peers. The two old guys with olde fashioned eye shades made the text kids look silly. I don't recall if the guy had a straight key, or a Vibroplex. It reminds me of an announcement a few years ago of the world's fastest data transfer rate being held by a canister-full of floppy discs in an Edison-era vacuum message-tube system on Wall street (before computer media chips). The "best" technology is often achieved by revisiting the past and applying it to the present.
Communicating in voice-only may enable faster data transfer, but requires wide, clear, bandwidth. As with any communication method, I recommend practice if speed is desired. Practicing while your life-giving supply of 87- (or residual 100-) octane burns out is too late.