[Elecraft] My First steps on CW

Fri Aug 6 19:12:02 EDT 2010

I would really like to second and reinforce Fred's recommendation of 30 
meters CW. This is an absolutely incredible band; propagation-wise, I think 
it's the best DX band we have. Last night, using a low wire sloper antenna, 
I copied 3B8CF (Mauritius Island, Indian Ocean, ~12,000 miles) for the 
better part of an hour before he faded into the noise. Never got through the 
pile-up with such a poor antenna, but just hearing Jacky was a thrill. I 
couldn't believe my ears when I first copied his call.

The CW DX lives almost entirely between 10,100 - 10,115 kHz. (15 kHz doesn't 
sound like much, but that much band space goes a long way on CW!) 10,115 - 
10,125 kHz is mostly domestic QSOs -- more rag-chew type Qs to be had here. 
As Fred said, 10,125 up is mostly digital -- RTTY, PSK31, and a plethora of 
other modes.

30 meters is ham radio's best-kept HF secret. Get up some kind of an antenna 
that will load and radiate on this band, and try it!

Bill W5WVO

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Fred Jensen" <k6dgw at foothill.net>
Sent: Friday, August 06, 2010 18:56
To: "Elecraft Reflector" <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] My First steps on CW

> 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?
>
>
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