From Dictionary.com

leg·a·cy

1. Law. a gift of property, esp. personal property, as money, by will; a bequest.

2. anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor: the legacy of ancient Rome.

3. an applicant to or student at a school that was attended by his or her parent.

4. Obsolete. the office, function, or commission of a legate. -adjective

5. of or pertaining to old or outdated computer hardware, software, or data that, while still functional, does not work well with up-to-date systems.

Scanning the Amateur Radio forums I often run across the term "legacy modes" being used to describe SSB and CW. A Google search turns up page after page of results for the term "legacy mode". Below are a few snippets taken from some of these results.

…ensure the preservation of legacy modes…
…whether it still supports legacy modes…
…can Morse and other legacy modes be maintained…
…I happen to prefer the legacy modes…
…the idea of adopting a frequency for each of the legacy modes…
…there is a thick "preserve legacy modes at all costs" fog around here…
… our traditional or legacy modes and practices…
… reshuffle that spectrum among existing legacy modes…

and it goes on and on.

So, does this mean that the AM, SSB and CW modes do not work well with up-to-date systems? What is an up-to-date system? If something is developed in the current year does that mean it is up-to-date? What if it's crap? Is up-to-date crap automatically better than older, proven technology? AM, SSB and CW seem to work very well when used to communicate with other AM, SSB and CW stations. Why are these modes branded with such a derogatory term?

Will Ford Mustang lovers stop collecting and restoring older Mustangs because a current model is sitting on showroom floors across America? I don't think so. With each passing year, the older model becomes more valuable.

I know the term is used to widely to go away. That doesn't mean I'll ever like it!

73,

WF5TX

The Simplex Preservation Society
www.73SPS.com