[Elecraft] CW keys? CW OPS!

[jacob chambers]

Whatever key, or keying device, one chooses, good technique
is paramount. Optimally, the operator receiving your code will have no idea
what particular device you are using, and this is true even with bug-key sending,
if sent with machine precision. I do not say this is easy. Good code, sent by
hand – and all good code must be sent by hand, for who evaluates the timing and
fluency of a computer- is the only aesthetic element of CW shared by both
sender and receiver. This is important for there are many aesthetic elements of
Morse code; there is the pleasure of un-boxing a new key and feeling the finger
pieces for the first time, the first taste of spring tension on an antique bug,
that first test of continuity in the mechanical train and the feeling that a
great friendship, or even romance has begun. Then, there are the hours.  Hours upon hours spent at the oscillator
sending names from the phone directory or the titles of books on the shelf. The
striving for perfection while intoxicated by the sweet rhythm of characters dwelt
over, isolated, sent fast and slow, in pieces and parts until, a thousand times
and still not just quite…yes there it is now. Perfect! 

This is too rich a gift to be hoarded. So, to the ether we
go! And now, and only now, does the true shared aesthetic experience become possible.
We answer a CQ by mustering our very best, well practiced and expectant characters
for the examination of friend. It is just as we had hoped: the characters flow
nicely, the propagation holds, a nice chat ensues, and finally our friend signs
clear with appreciation and a recognition of our hard work, now evident. “GUD
FIST”. 

Code is a gift, and whether a solitary solace or shared experience,
it takes hard-earned technique. As in all things, excellence is as difficult as
it is rare. For my part – I’m back to the oscillator with any old key I can
find…
73;Jake K4JQV