[Elecraft] Elecraft CW Net Announcement

[kevinr]

Good Afternoon,

Let's take a peek into the misty past; when the K1 was young while the 
KPA100 was taking its own time to reach the market.  The Elecraft CW Net 
began on June 6, 2002.  I picked the date to honor my then recently 
departed uncle who was a paratrooper that day. It began with a few 
responses to my shaky fist.  What better way to become proficient at CW 
than to start a net?  Fools rush in ...  Over time there were more check 
ins and the guidance of others.  Tom Hammond, N0SS, crafted much of the 
net's framework and helped me by acting as an alternate NCS.  Tom lived 
in central Missouri so he was inside my first hop on 20 meters.  He 
would call those to the east as well as those too close to me.  I would 
follow along copying each op he worked in turn.  When he handed net 
control back to me he would run through the list but it was just to 
check my copy.  Occasionally he would pass the net to an op in 
Connecticut for another round of check ins.  Most of those I could not 
hear so their list was mandatory.  We reached into Iceland, South 
Africa, New Zealand, Hungary, Russia (from both directions), and a few 
South American countries.

Things were fine until Tom became weaker from his illness.  He no longer 
could act as an NCS.  No one took his place.  But then he had very big 
shoes to fill.  Tom could copy CW at incredible speeds.  I think he 
mentioned 60 wpm, he also said his fingers weren't up to that speed any 
longer.  While I have never attained those speeds I have felt the 
ravages of time effect my own fist. Tom's passing left a large hole in 
the Elecraft family.  He had been one of the field testers for 
Elecraft's first product: the K2.  He also helped anyone in the amateur 
community who asked for his assistance.  He promised to help me with my 
CW copy by providing a bit more 'ouch'.  Keeping the carrot just out of 
reach is a great way to improve your copy speed.  Tom was offering to 
take me past 30 wpm into the medium speed realm of the code.  He is 
sorely missed.

Acting as an NCS is not too difficult.  Just call CQ ECN and be polite.  
Work those you can and thank them for their time.  Keep a list of call 
signs and whatever else they think is important. Kids soccer scores, 
dogs' names, grandkids, even new radio equipment.  Weather is a safe 
subject; it allows those of us who rarely see the sun during the winter 
to vicariously experience it.  When you no longer receive any response 
to your CQ ECN (Tom's name by the way) pass net control back to whoever 
passed it to you.  Send your list and any fills necessary.  Email is 
fine too; this is not a contest so the "rules" are very lax.  I only 
apply a few rules: have fun and be polite.  Tom placed a speed limit 
rule on me too.  At or near 20 wpm and he would work the 'chicken fat' 
operators :)

If you would like to help and you live in my first or second hop please 
tell me and you'll get the NCS hat for a time.  It is a great way to 
meet Elecraft folks and to work on your CW skills.

Please join us tomorrow on:

14050 kHz at 2200z Sunday  (2 PM PST Sunday)
  7047 kHz at 0000z Monday  (4 PM PST Sunday)

73,

    Kevin. KD5ONS

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