[Elecraft] CW

[Paul Bartlett]

Tom, and all others who responded so quickly with kind comments and
suggestions.

You've all given me a real boost.

The main obstacle to date (I built the K2 nearly 18 months ago) has been a
fear of making a fool of myself on air.

I'm unable to work at the moment due to ill health and have some time to
kill so I shall spend a few days with one or other PC packages to refresh
the basics and then tentatively plug in the key.

Thanks to you all.

Paul M3CRQ

p.s. Extra special thanks to Bill K4KSR for his encouragement too - and my
one and only QSL card which I have yet to reciprocate. Short contact, bad
Morse on my part but received a 339 in difficult conditions on 40m. K2
running 10W into a full size G5RV (no ATU). We were lucky. Thanks are also
due to Ian, VK2TIP who started it all and Peter G4OST who is my tutor for
the licence.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Hammond" <n0ss at earthlink.net>
To: "Paul Bartlett" <paul at fulking.freeserve.co.uk>;
<elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, September 25, 2004 10:28 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] CW


> Hi Paul:
>
> >I've tried a number of approaches but so far nothing seems to work for
me.
> >Oddly, I can send at modest speeds but seem to be almost completely
unable
> >to read incoming.
>
> This is not at all unusual... and stems from the fact that, when sending,
> you already KNOW what it is you wish to send, and can form the characters
> in your head long before you must spit them out using the key/paddle.
> However, the reverse is not necessarily true... you must first hear the
> code, decode it, and then write it down... as a result for most folks,
> receiving is much slower than sending, and takes a LOT more time/effort
> to  master.
>
> >My nice K2 is sitting forlornly at the back of the bench.
> >
> >Any suggestions?
>
> Certainly... Assuming you already are at least pretty much completely
> 'conversant' with the Morse Code, GET ON THE AIR at whatever speed you can
> muster (sending, of course, at the speed at which you can COPY, rather
than
> at the highest speed you can send).
>
> GUT IT OUT, pal... that's the name of the game... the more you're on the
> air, working other stations, at whatever speed, the more real-time
practice
> you will gain and the better you will become. One can only get so much
> benefit from tapes/CDs/and PCs... you NEED real-life on-the-air operation
> to do it right.
>
> NEVER feel ashamed to get on the air, and NEVER.. NEVER.. be timid about
> asking for a QRS as long as you're not sending faster than you can copy
> (unless asked to do so). Stations you work SHOULD be courteous an send to
> you at the speed YOU are sending. If they don't, politely ASK them to QRS.
> If they won't politely make use of the VFO knob to find someone who will.
>
> Don't spend all your time calling CQ! Find others calling CQ and answer
> them.. even though you might have to send a bit slower than they are
> sending when they call CW... with luck, they'll QRS to your speed for the
QSO.
>
> Try to make no less than 1-2 QSOs each day... If you miss a couple days,
> that's OK, as long as you don't fall into a rut of missing more days than
> you hit! This is also an easy rut to fall into... but totally
non-productive.
>
> Generally, the higher in the (CW) band you operate, the slower the
stations
> will send, though this 'rule' is becoming a bit more 'muddled' with more
> and more 5 WPM operators showing up on the bands. But start out at the
> upper end of the band and work your way down, as required to find a QSO.
>
> Don't worry if you can't copy 100% of that the other guy sends!!! Try to
> find someone sending at a speed which you can only copy about 85% or so...
> this speed will 'push' you a bit, and is just what you're looking for...
if
> you always work stations whom you can copy 100%, then you're not being
> challenged! Try to copy the important words in the conversation... RST,
> name, QTH, etc. Not to work about copying the "the's, and's, of's, etc.",
> they carry little information... write down the important stuff. this will
> become much easier as your speed approaches 15WPM or so, and will usually
> become a necessity once you get to about 22 WPM or above.
>
> Don't get in a hurry!!! Doing it right takes time... and you want to do it
> right!!!
>
> There's nothing(!) wrong with CW training tapes/CD's/PC programs. Just
> don't use them to the exclusion of all other available options, and your
K2
> is the BEST option. You will NEED to avail yourself of being able to work
> stations who don't have 'perfect' fists... only about 10% of the ops out
> there have (nearly) perfect fists... the others will have sending quirks
> which you'll need to learn to deal with, like it or not. If you can only
> copy perfectly-sent code, then you're dead in the water when you get on
the
> air... learn to copy all fists... again, it takes time and a LOT of
> practice, but it's a necessity for complete enjoyment of the mode, and
> that's what it's all about.
>
> Good luck.
>
> ANY time you get flustered and need some encouragement, just ask here...
> there are a BUNCH of CW nuts here who will be more than willing to give
you
> a kick-start... and we've ALL got our own opinions about how to do it
> right, so read everyone's comments...
>
> Cheers,
>
> Tom Hammond    N0SS
> 99.5% CW for the past 46 years
>
>
>