[Elecraft] My First steps on CW

[Fred Jensen]

Hi Ed,

QRP on 40 tends to run from about 7040-7060.  There will be some 
activity above 7100, but not a lot, I think that used to be the Novice 
band.  Lately, it seems some digital modes have moved into the 7030-7035 
range.  Most DX operations are below 7030. 7047.5 is the W1AW scheduled 
frequency.  7058 is the FISTS calling frequency.  A number of CW ops 
cluster "on the 8's" [7038, 7048, 7058].  Nearly all good CW ops will 
QRS for you, those that won't just don't get your call in their logs :-)

Sort of the same on 20, 14040-14065, W1AW at 14047.5.  PSK31 starts at 
14070 and RTTY above it.  You'll find a little CW above 14110 but not 
much except during major contests.  Lots of automated digital stuff 
between 14100 and 14110.  Again, you may find activity on the 8's, and I 
think 14058 is a FISTS hangout.

Consider the SPARTAN Sprint sponsored by the Adventure Radio Society, 
first Monday [in North America] of every month, 0100Z-0300Z on Tue [UTC 
day].  Two classes, Skinny and Tubby.  For tubby, you count your Q's. 
For skinny, you divide your number of Q's by the weight of your KX1, 
battery, paddle, and headphones.  I power my KX1 with a very light 750 
maH 11.7V Lithium Polymer battery [RC model shops], use the integral 
paddle and very light ear buds, and come in at around 0.64 lbs.  Google 
[spartan sprint] for details.

If you have the module for your KX1, 30m is a great place for QRP CW. 
In the Colonies and westward, we're limited to 200W on the band, CW and 
RTTY only, so the chances are higher that if you can hear them well, 
they will probably hear you.  CW congregates at the lower end 
[10100-10125, RTTY above].  The band is sort of a hybrid between 40 and 
20, it opens during the day for shorter skip [CO is strong in CA midday 
on 30m], and stays open at night.  Code speeds are very flexible on 30m.

Many years ago, I made up a card with subjects to talk about and posted 
it by my rig.  I haven't needed the card in decades, but it sure helped 
in the "What to talk about after RST, NAME, QTH, RIG" when I was new.

There are a number of free code programs that will read a text file and 
either send it or write the Morse to an .mp3 or .wav file.  I once 
created a set of .mp3 files from an article I was interested in with 
MorseGen [Google G4ILO], burned them onto some CD's and listened to them 
while driving down to visit with my college roomie of 50 yrs ago. 
Really good practice, and the CD player in my truck lets me back up if 
driving interferes with copy :-)  I wouldn't do this in traffic, 
however, the Interstates work good.

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 2010 Cal QSO Party 2-3 Oct 2010
- www.cqp.org

EMD wrote:

> I understand on 40m a good frequency to get a patient ear is 7114.  Is there
> a similar frequency on 20m?