[Elecraft] CW Progress

Mon Oct 13 12:48:03 2003

Confession time - it may help others . . .

At my age, 74, I have been working CW for nearly 60 years now. The single
most damaging effect that is beginning to compromise my CW abilities is
*focus*.

As a younger CW operator, I can recall having no problem at all remembering
almost everything said by the QSO partner without taking any notes.
Similarly, I would compose responses in my mind during his transmission and
just play these back when it came my turn.

As I have aged, I find that the length of that "conveyer belt" someone
mentioned has shortened - a lot! I now need to jot down notes on topics I
want to comment upon. That helps on the receiving end.

But the major problem is lining up in my mind what I want to say and how I
want to say it. This is compounded by the perennial CW op's problem of being
able to spell the longer, less common words and keep up the flow of output
code.

So, I suspect that this note has two messages, one good and one not so good.
First, rejoice in the capabilities of a youthful mind and have fun! Second,
expect things to slow down a bit with age and prepare to compensate as
needed.

My Elmer, W5QN, was still operating CW at age 100 the year before he died.
He started on spark in 1914 and never owned a mic or had a phone QSO. He
could make his Vibroplex sound like a tape machine.

You don't lose your code with age, but for some of us, the workload does
increase and we have to be aware of the problems and seek individual
solutions. What once came so easily and automatically now requires our full
attention and effort.

But, it sure is still a lot of pleasure to send and receive "good" CW! Even
if it takes more work!   <:}

73/72, George
Amateur Radio W5YR -  the Yellow Rose of Texas
Fairview, TX 30 mi NE of Dallas in Collin county EM13QE
"Starting the 58th year and it just keeps getting better!"
[email protected]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bruce Rattray" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Cc: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2003 9:37 AM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] CW Progress

>
> On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 [email protected] wrote:
>
> > this I know what I need to work at. Problem is when I think about the
> > meaning too much (difficult not to) I loose characters and fall off the
> > conveyor belt so to speak. So my rule therefore is "no conscious
thinking"
>
> ...Hello Martin...you have described my cw copying problems over the years
> exactly...I can't seem to get beyond the "think about the meaning too
> much" stage...but I keep trying...good luck OM!...72 - Bruce ve5rc/ve5qrp