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Are your Morse Code skills ready for the Buildathon on March 25th?
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Daniel KK4MRN
Hello?John Putnum, AC9UV and others,
Are your Morse Code skills ready for the Buildathon on March 25th? I am still trying.? Numbers are the hard thing for me.? I am learning at 12 WPM like Long Island CW Club is doing.? I got less than 2 weeks! So, if you hear an idiot on 40m this weekend sending bad code, it could be me...? ?LOL? ?Just reply and say hello. Long Island CW Club has started a Sked page and a Code Buddy program.? I think they have a chat thing now too and some Discord thing too.? A good way for cw ops to meet up and make contacts to help improve their code skills.? ? And of course, SKCC Group has their Sked page.? SKCC Group membership is free. Nothing like being able to operate and make contacts on your own radio you built with your own hands... 73 Daniel KK4MRN |
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Daniel, The single most important Morse Code skill is tenacity.? Here's what I'd tell anyone who is learning (or like me that has done it for years, sometimes with gaps in operating activity). Just do it and don't worry about it. That's 99.99% of it. If you mess up, you still made a contact. You got some practice and maybe a QSL card in the mail. If you can send nothing more than 599 TU and your callsign, you can work DX with the best of them. I promise. If you've made CW contacts before, ignore my comments or read them and laugh at my stupidity. If not, it might help. I've had plenty of times where I've gotten behind the 8-ball, so to speak, and just got through the QSO as quickly as possible and moved on. That's normal. Go slow. Follow the normal format and don't vary too much from it at first. Chatting can come later. You'll also find that with most ops that have been doing it a while, there isn't a hard and fast, rigid procedure.? I mean, you do hear <AR> <SK>, etc., but everything else more like phone.? It's relatively rare to hear stuff like : CQ CQ CQ DE KK4MRN KK4MRN KK4MRN K? <--- 3x3 is good. I usually do 3 x 2 or 3x3. KK4MRN DE N0QLT N0QLT N0QLT K? ?<----------------? You're more likely to hear someone just send their call once or twice.?? Then you will probably hear N0QLT K? ?instead of N0QLT N0QLT N0QLT DE KK4MRN? KN Some will argue that short form is sloppy operating. I think both are fine. I'm not a stickler for 13th decimal place precision and it's maybe a bit more natural (conversational) to do contrary to the established QSO "rules."? You do need to know how to do it though. It just isn't as common as it was when I was in the Novice bands 30+ years ago. It's something to be aware of. You'll eventually find that CW is a lot more like phone in casual operation than you'd have guessed. Here's what IS important, though. The old Novice-Contact format is really useful and makes a nice stress-free contact because you know what's included. SKCC does a version of this. I imaging LI CW does, too: I DO NOT do the whole send the other station's callsign DE me thing with every transmission. Not necessary. You know who you are talking to. CQ CQ CQ DE N0QLT N0QLT N0QLT K KK4MRN. KK4MRN TU.? UR 599 599 IN MO MO. OP RUSTY RUSTY. SKCC 1074 1074. TNX QSO ES 73. K TU, RUSTY. UR 339 339 IN KY (I forgot your state!) KY.? OP Daniel SKCC 123456 123456 TNX ES 73. DE KK4MRN <SK> DIT DIT 73, DANIEL. DE N0QLT <SK> DIT DIT It's still pretty much the old Novice format, just a little shorter and less formal than: CQ CQ CQ DE N0QLT N0QLT N0QLT K N0QLT N0QLT N0QLT DE KK4MRN KK4MRN KK4MRN K KK4MRN KK4 MRN DE N0QLT N0QLT K N0QLT DE KK4MRN?? THANKS FER THE CALL. UR RST IS 599 599 NAME IS RUSTY RUSTY. QTH IS JOPLIN, MO JOPLIN, MO. HW CPY?? KK4MRN DE N0QLT KN ...? and so on. There's nothing wrong with either. The information is the same, but the SKCC format is a bit shorter.?? The big thing is that either format gives you a framework to keep the pressure off.? You know what is expected (although sometimes the order will be rearranged) and you can be looking for it. It's hard for new CW ops to go about getting all the i's dotted and t's crossed and have to copy long chats right off the bat.? Stick to the basics for now: RST, QTH, Name, 73.? It's really that simple and you'll be surprised at how fast you get better. And even if you don't (you will), you still are reliably making contacts. It's supposed to be about fun, right?? ?I'm an average (at best) CW op. I'll probably never make CW Ops, FOC, or get an award for saving the Titanic II from sinking. But CW IS my favorite mode. I hated it when I was learning it, but it grew on me. It's the majority of all the operating I do these days. And about 50% or more is QRP @ 2W or below with homebrew or kit radios. The other 50% or so is chasing DX.?What you get out of the hobby is what you want to get out of it.? And that might change over time. One other thing... A QRP secret: At least at first, answer the loud stations. If you can hear them well, you've likely got a decent shot in the clear. And don't mention QRP. Uttering those 3 letters on the air will often drop your signal 10dB or more.? UR 579... What? you're running 1W? Oh, your signal is now 119 w/ QSB... ;) Hope that helps some! -HRS ? H. Russell Smith, N0QLT???
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On Wednesday, March 15, 2023 at 08:14:32 AM CDT, Daniel KK4MRN via groups.io <sqldan2000@...> wrote:
Hello?John Putnum, AC9UV and others, Are your Morse Code skills ready for the Buildathon on March 25th? I am still trying.? Numbers are the hard thing for me.? I am learning at 12 WPM like Long Island CW Club is doing.? I got less than 2 weeks! So, if you hear an idiot on 40m this weekend sending bad code, it could be me...? ?LOL? ?Just reply and say hello. Long Island CW Club has started a Sked page and a Code Buddy program.? I think they have a chat thing now too and some Discord thing too.? A good way for cw ops to meet up and make contacts to help improve their code skills.? ? And of course, SKCC Group has their Sked page.? SKCC Group membership is free. Nothing like being able to operate and make contacts on your own radio you built with your own hands... 73 Daniel KK4MRN |
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Daniel,
We will see, my code comprehension is not strong yet. That Sunday is also XYL's birthday so may not have much time to get on the air. But will try. I have been excersizing the CWOps online code excersize program.
? ?Hope to hear you online,
---John AC9UV?
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Daniel KK4MRN
Hello John and Russel,
I hear ya.? I doubt I will be able to make a contact.? I am getting there but I will not be there in time.? I will try to see to make contacts Friday night or Saturday morning before the Buildathon just to see if I can make some contacts using a different radio and antenna.? If I can, that will give me the confidence to try to make a contact with the Sea Sprite+ on Saturday.? I am learning code at the Long Island CW Club speed of 12 WPM.? ?But, I am optimistic in that I will keep practicing to get on the air even once the weekend is over.? ?Really, I think I will be happy if I can at least hear others making contacts using their Sea Sprites on the weekend.? Nothing like operating your own radio you built... And Chuck says the band conditions may not be great this weekend.? I live on a hill so reception is not that great.? I already use an end fed random wire antenna, 9:1 unun, and counterpoise to get on the air.? So, there are losses.? Not great.? But hey, I can make contacts on 160m - 10m. So, I ask others to keep trying to make contacts the whole week.? Weekend to weekend. I will probably be operating on my back porch.? The funny thing is my QSL card has a photo of my back porch with my radio I was operating. 73 Daniel KK4MRN |
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