09.29.06
Morse Code is back, on TV!
Maybe it will be a shot in the arm for Ham Radio, maybe it will enforce the stereotype that they’re all paranoid conspiracy believers, or maybe it will make people think that those who use it are all spies or government agents, but the new CBS entry, Jericho makes use of Morse Code in it’s opening and as the only link of long distance communications within the show.
The premise is that the US has been Nuked and only a few rural towns, far enough away from major cities, have survived; Jericho, Kansas is one of them.
In the pilot the story develops that as standard communications and the power fails, the town looks for alternatives and someone thinks of the town’s reclusive Ham operator. Needless to say he is portrayed in a brief screen shot as a weirdo who expects foreign invaders to be breaking down his door. Attempts to raise anyone on the rig that night is futile.
In the 2nd episode earlier this week, the recently transplanted former cop form St. Louis goes up to try the radio which has been moved to City Hall. Not only do we hear Morse beeping through, he is also copying it down. However, as character development goes, the cop who seems to know a lot more about surviving a nuclear blast than the average person, keeps what he heard to himself. We shall see how this plot-line evolves.
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