[Elecraft] CW Discussion

[William Myers]

I've really enjoyed the discussion about CW.  Perhaps it is a bit off-topic,
but it is important to keep CW visible, and it is especially appropriate for
a group that builds great cw rigs - the K1 and the K2!

One excellent CW activity that is overlooked by many of us is the National
Traffic System.  Although NTS is not as relevant today as it was in the
past, it is still quite active and serves to keep efficient operating skills
alive. It is so easy to loose (or never develop) efficient operating
discipline (especially with CW) if we only operate casually.  I've just
recently re-joined the NTS activity, and find it still a great way to
fine-tune CW operator skills.  For example, I have copied CW in my head for
many years, and felt I was pretty good at it.  But, NTS forced me re-learn
to copy on paper - and that skill had completely left me!

Our NTS is probably the only remaining legacy of Morse code traffic
handling, since commercial and military services have all switched to more
contemporary technology.  So, if you want to experience what it was like to
be a "traffic handler" at a station like KPH, check into one of the NTS CW
nets.  You will find that it is an enjoyable link to an important profession
that has become extinct!

Worried about speed?  Don't!  There are "slow speed" nets that welcome
beginners, and there is no better way to increase your code speed than by
using CW on the air!  The "old hands" at the NTS game are great teachers,
and I have never seen any impatience to a beginning operator.

By the way, the K2 is an excellent rig for this activity.  It has a great
QSK, and QRP works fine on the local nets - although for the region and area
nets, the K2/100 provides more consistant communications.  One of the real
NTS problems today is getting the traffic distributed within areas like LA
where telephone companies have managed to break up calling areas into many
toll zones.  Using a K1 or K2 (QRP) with these local nets is a good way to
combine QRP activity with learning some new CW skills while being involved
in a public service!

Bill K6IFF
K2/100 # 1760