[Elecraft] CW GET and KPA100

[Wallace, Andy]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jeff Burns [mailto:jhburns@attglobal.net]
> 
> On Saturday night I only head a short time at the radio, 
> and did not set up CW-get, but I was able to make
> two contacts by ear. Perhaps using the computer to read CW can improve
> manual copy skills?

I am sure watching the letters scroll by reinforces the 
sound of them. I've got a couple of old desktop style CW
decoders which can be interesting to use. (I hook them up
for SWL friends to sit in on the QSO.) One is a Kantronics
Field Day 2, which is in a plastic case like an old bench Fluke
multimeter. The other is an AEA MBA-RO which has the blue 
fluorescent display. I find the MBA is less tolerant
of poor levels than the Field Day 2. If you can find a FD2
(working!) on Ebay, you might enjoy it, and it won't necessitate
the computer hookup. 

Stick with it. Keep listening. Send PSE QRS as often as you have to,
and if someone refuses, then move on to another QSO... I hear
plenty of slower speed CW around and you should have little trouble
finding a QSO you will be comfortable with. Go down into the Extra
portions of the bands, too -- slow speed can be anywhere, nowadays.

Likewise, in sending, try to send well-formed characters. We've
all heard bad "fists" on the air and they can be a real bear to
copy. Don't learn bad habits and you won't have to unlearn them
later. 

The more you enjoy QSOs, your code speed will slowly creep
up until you are doing 20wpm in your head.

After being inactive for many years, I found the program SUPERMORSE
(this was around 1993) to be useful -- it has a morse training function
where it plays a letter through the PC speaker and you are supposed
to type what you hear on the keyboard. The more you get right, the
faster it goes. No idea if the program is still around or not, or
if it will even run on a Pentium or better!

> I would also love to get a KPA100. Would it help me
> get better at CW? Please someone say yes. I need to justify a new toy.

Indirectly -- more stations with poor antennas will be able to
hear you. :-)

-Andy