[pc486]

I feel the opposite. Morse code was a major barrier into HF for many different people. Folks who are musically challenged would fail to copy. People with hand disabilities faced major hurdles. Hearing disabilities made it impractical, even though there are plenty of visual-only modes (sstv, digital tty modes, etc).

Removal of morse has allowed far more people to reach more technical levels of ham radio. And, in my anedotcial experience, dropping the requirement hasn't impacted the popularity of morse code. I'd wager its more popular than ever because of how many more hams have HF access compared to limiting access to folks who learned code just to pass a test and to promptly throw away their key.

[hilbert42]

Wouldn't it be easy to apportion small sections of the HF bands to those who are so afflicted? Those who've CW wouldn't be so restricted.

[dbish]

Fair enough. I just loved learning it as a boyscout and applying it to HAM and always think of it as this last ditch backup option

[pc486]

Morse code is fun! It's not just an emergency mode either. Those mountain climbing SOTA hams love code because CW radios are so simple that they can cram several bands into an absolutely tiny QRP rig. Collectors practice on their 80 year old rigs. There's even a club dedicated to making contracts only with straight keys.

Fear not. Code will be with us for decades to come.