[Elecraft] CW GET and KPA100

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Hi, Jeff! 

As a CW op, commercial and Amateur, for 50 years (so far...) I'd LOVE to
say that all CW ops are smart, intelligent.... naw... they're human just
like the rest of us. So you ran into a crummy op who deserves a nasty
session with the Wouff-Hong. I'll guarantee that there are a lot of good
ops who know how to send and who know what the Q-codes mean, including
QRS. 

Contests seem to be a great way for a new op to "get your feet wet" with
CW. It's easy because the exchange is simple and regular. Being a nice
guy, I'm sure that you wanted to get the communication finished quickly
and cleanly so the other op would not be held up. That's the biggest
issue with "learning" CW in a contest, but, hey, the other ops have to
dig through QRM, QRN and all sorts of other delays. If there's going to
be a delay in a contest contact, having it be because the other op is
learning to enjoy himself at the key is the very best sort of delay.

One thing about contest operating is that other stations will reply to
you who likely would not acknowledge your presence at any other time.
The reason is that the contest exchange - being predictable - doesn't
demand decent copy for any length of time. So it's worth digging for the
marginal signal that you're likely to lose in a couple of minutes
anyway. 

In my 50 years on the air, at least half of them have been running 25
watts or less and many of them at 10 watts or less. You can have LOT of
nice rag chews at 5 watts or less. But I run a K2/100, and it's at 100
watts out quite often. 

I run a K2/100 because I like to rag-chew with a variety of ops - not
just dyed-in-the-wool QRPers. I spend a lot of time far from the QRP
frequencies, so when I hook up with another station it's likely that he
will be running something on the order of 100 watts or more. If I'm
running 10 watts and signals are good, that's fine. But often conditions
change, and if signals drop guess who has to cram the phones on his head
and dig to hear me while I'm leaning back with "armchair copy"? Yep, the
real work in a QSO that involves a QRP station is being done by the
RECEIVING station, not the transmitting station. So I like to be able to
crank up the power to at least have "parity" with the other station when
I'm working away from the QRP frequencies. If he's having trouble
hearing me, I'm usually having the same trouble hearing him... I draw
the line at buying a "legal limit" amplifier though <G>.  

Being able to match the most common power level - 100 watts - on the HF
band just seems "polite" when chewing the rag. And I have more rag chews
and fewer interrupted ones. And those that are interrupted by changing
skip are interrupted at BOTH ends as our signals fade. 

One thing that I am reminded running the K2/100 after a number of years
at 20 watts or less is that I work more "weak" signals running 100
watts. The reason is simple. When I'm QRP, most stations who call me are
going to be QRO and a lot stronger at my end that I am at their end.
When I'm running the same power the other station has, we're both going
to be closer to the same signal level. So if someone digs into the noise
a bit to catch my call, I'm likely to have to do the same to answer him.
It's then that I'm really thankful for the great receiver in the K2. 

Many ops learning CW discover that it's one thing to be able to complete
a simple exchange on CW and quite something else to "carry on a
conversation". Not having to deal with tough conditions (or having the
OTHER guy missing most of what you say) doesn't help with that skill. 

When you get into a rag chew, expand your repertoire beyond signal
report, QTH, name, rig and antenna. Work out stories about where you
live, your rig, etc., that you can pull out of your "memory" and "plug
in" to the QSO as appropriate. The more you do that, the more
interesting the QSO is to the other op and the better you will become at
'thinking' while you are sending. Pretty soon, you will be "talking"
with your key and not even thinking about it.

73, and I'll be listening for you...

Ron AC7AC
K2 # 1289


Recently I was calling CQ and a person came back to fast for me to copy
reliably. Not only was he to fast, but he was also very verbose. I asked
him to QRS. If he did slow down I cold not tell. Apparently his computer
program cold not transmit slow. That was a frustrating QSO. Perhaps if I
were using a computer we could have run 40 wpm, but I fail to see the
point of that.

I would also love to get a KPA100. It would have been useful in the 10m
contest. I might have even been able to work SSB on the first day. In
160m contest it did not seam necessary. (Now that is strange!) Would it
help me get better at CW? Please someone say yes. I need to justify a
new toy.

Jeff Burns
AD9T