[CW] Re: I DID IT

[Fred Adsit]

-----Original Message-----
From: "Tom Crawford" <TMCsail@sbcglobal.net>
To: "CW" <cw@mailman.qth.net>
Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2003 12:14:10 -0400
Subject: [CW] I DID IT

Sorry everyone.....
I just gott'a shout this out!
<      >
73,
Tom
W3TMC

Tom! Thanks for shouting! Learning and being excited about it is
contagious and sorta rare these days. We all started out at some speed,
and the way to go now is keep up the momentum. Get on the air.

Most of us spent a good while getting up to conversational speed, but a
lot of us are out here, who will take great joy in talking with you at any
speed you can achieve. You'll feel the speed increasing every once in a
while. You will make it up above 20 wpm in time. How long it takes hinges
on time spent more than any built-in aptitude. If you run into some prima
donna who won't slow down, move. There are some egotists out there -
ignore 'em.

It is one of the few truly satisfying challenges left in ham radio today.
Be a part of it. It will grow on you. You have a right to be excited and
proud. And as for forgetting, you will not. Not if you operate regularly,
even less likely as you get that speed up a bit. It takes effort, as does
anything worthwhile. But on CW, you are communicating with others who went
through similar experiences.

You will lose yourself talking with us about all kinds of stuff. Much if
not most of your progress will just "happen" if you get on the air with
us. Don't let errors rattle you. Most of us will read you anyway and if
you goof, go ahead - send those eight dits - we ALL do it because not one
of us is perfect. After my 55 years, and just recently getting more
active, I sure found out I was far from perfect. I also found out it all
came back in a few minutes of operating, not pushing too hard at first,
and talking at the speed of the other guy or gal.

Welcome, Tom. Don't even think about those who say they can't do it. You
have already done it, and will just keep getting better. See you on the
air. It is great to hear from you. Let's hear you on the bands, OK?

Fred, NY2V
ex-W2ZOJ '48
You may hear either of those calls. W2ZOJ is now a club, with ten
operators around the country. If it is NY2V, it's me. If it is W2ZOJ, who
knows? :-). New QSL cards are coming in the mail to us now. Work 40 and 80
a lot, now that we are in the nosedive of the sunspot cycle. We will be
there as much as we can find time for. Why? Is it possible to have more
fun??