[Elecraft] CW practice

[John Crux]

The K2 built-in keyer is iambic, which I was not used to (and still 
dislike). But rather than use my other keyer which is nearly as big 
as the K2, I got used to the K2 ..... the hard way, by working folk, 
or trying to.  After over a year, I'm sort of OK with the keyer. I 
have also discovered that when you get used to it, the choice of 
paddle is not that critical either. 

If you are tired of sending to yourself with the K2 keyer, locate the 
pile-up for PW0T or TI9M. Park in the middle, you need not even crank 
the power down. Now practice sending your own callsign, at any 
comfortable speed - till you get it right. No-one will notice you; 
no-one will answer.  (Some guys claim to have sat there for hours 
running a KW, and not got a reply.)   There is a bonus; you can take 
a break to listen to how other guys send, and get used to recognising 
the difference between well-sent code and garbage. 

But don't try it with YA5T. Those guys have EARS. Two calls last 
night on 40 with my K2 partly in bits and I got a reply. 

Seriously, there is no magic route. CW takes lots of practice. But 
no-one is going to shoot you for sending slowly. Listening to other 
operators is less boring than listening to yourself or to a machine.
  
John G3JAG