From gary.fields at northcomm.net  Sun Oct 18 17:13:41 2015
From: gary.fields at northcomm.net (gary.fields at northcomm.net)
Date: Sun, 18 Oct 2015 14:13:41 -0700
Subject: [HCRA] Share the Knowledge
Message-ID: <20151018141341.68344e51f585b039bd2b53b84027beca.5ed9354b6f.wbe@email13.secureserver.net>

Hope everyone is getting a last chance and going portable before the
snow flies. (It already has here in New Hampshire.)

Don't forget, we are still trying to fill our next "Share the Knowledge"
session on DXLabs. Right now we only have 2 people interested, we would
like to have at least 6. If you are new to DXLabs, and have any
questions or just old school like me, (paper logs) this is a great
chance to learn about computer logging. Bring your laptops! 

Some of the future sessions we hope to offer are: An Introduction to
Digital Modes with Jeffery Bail, Tips and Planning for Installing your
Tower with Gary Fields P.E. I also hope to get Matt Wilhelm to offer an
Introduction to Contesting, (I have not yet asked him.) and get one of
our experienced CW operators to offer an Introduction to CW Operating.

I am calling these an "Introduction" but they are not just for
beginners, anyone who has an interest is invited to attend.

There is NO charge for these sessions. Donation will be asked to cover
the cost of coffee and snacks.

Location and time is yet to be determined. We will as soon as we get
more people.

If you have ideas, or want to volunteer for future sessions, Please let
me know.

If interested email me at: wa1mow at arrl.net

Thanks

Gary WA1MOW



From n1nte.rob at gmail.com  Fri Oct 23 09:58:34 2015
From: n1nte.rob at gmail.com (Rob)
Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2015 09:58:34 -0400
Subject: [HCRA] Learning CW
Message-ID: <CAGc+==qb8kVfdVTZPdmxbOzXP_E-VWvVdcQUa7vznpmT86OqXg@mail.gmail.com>

Hi all,

My teenage daughter, KB1ZUV, has been asking to learn CW with me. Looking
for recommendations on a good key and practice oscillator. I'd like to
start by using a key good enough to use on the air later on.

Thanks,

- Rob, N1NTE

From BrianDive at aol.com  Fri Oct 23 10:38:03 2015
From: BrianDive at aol.com (BrianDive at aol.com)
Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2015 10:38:03 -0400
Subject: [HCRA] Learning CW
Message-ID: <bc973.b7e24f9.435ba04b@aol.com>

I would love to learn that info also!! :)
 
Brian
KC1BDF
 
 
In a message dated 10/23/2015 9:59:54 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
n1nte.rob at gmail.com writes:

______________________________________________
-------Hampden  County Radio Association-------
-----------e-mail list  (reflector)-------------
______________________________________________
Hi  all,

My teenage daughter, KB1ZUV, has been asking to learn CW with me.  Looking
for recommendations on a good key and practice oscillator. I'd like  to
start by using a key good enough to use on the air later  on.

Thanks,

- Rob,  N1NTE
______________________________________________________________
HCRA  mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/hcra
Help:  http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post:  mailto:HCRA at mailman.qth.net

This list hosted by:  http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list:  http://www.qsl.net/donate.html


From paulkelliher at comcast.net  Fri Oct 23 12:28:42 2015
From: paulkelliher at comcast.net (Paul Kelliher)
Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2015 12:28:42 -0400
Subject: [HCRA] Learning CW
In-Reply-To: <bc973.b7e24f9.435ba04b@aol.com>
References: <bc973.b7e24f9.435ba04b@aol.com>
Message-ID: <98359289-F9A7-4A47-8585-5023AB7DBEBE@comcast.net>

If you can find one (ebay or flea markets, etc) The AEA MM-3 Morse Machine was/is a very good keyer with built-in trainor. AEA was bought out by Timewave but they don't make the MM-3 anymore. Watch ebay but they go fast when they hit the market. They also have an RS-232 to connect to a computer.  MFJ makes some keyers as well but can be pricey.

Good luck!

Paul, NF1G

Sent from my iPhone

> On Oct 23, 2015, at 10:38 AM, Brian Mullarney - KC1BDF via HCRA <hcra at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
> 
> ______________________________________________
> -------Hampden County Radio Association-------
> -----------e-mail list (reflector)-------------
> ______________________________________________
> I would love to learn that info also!! :)
> 
> Brian
> KC1BDF
> 
> 
> In a message dated 10/23/2015 9:59:54 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
> n1nte.rob at gmail.com writes:
> 
> ______________________________________________
> -------Hampden  County Radio Association-------
> -----------e-mail list  (reflector)-------------
> ______________________________________________
> Hi  all,
> 
> My teenage daughter, KB1ZUV, has been asking to learn CW with me.  Looking
> for recommendations on a good key and practice oscillator. I'd like  to
> start by using a key good enough to use on the air later  on.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> - Rob,  N1NTE
> ______________________________________________________________
> HCRA  mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/hcra
> Help:  http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post:  mailto:HCRA at mailman.qth.net
> 
> This list hosted by:  http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list:  http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> 
> ______________________________________________________________
> HCRA mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/hcra
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:HCRA at mailman.qth.net
> 
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

From alan.dove at gmail.com  Fri Oct 23 16:26:17 2015
From: alan.dove at gmail.com (Alan Dove)
Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2015 16:26:17 -0400
Subject: [HCRA] Learning CW
In-Reply-To: <CAGc+==qb8kVfdVTZPdmxbOzXP_E-VWvVdcQUa7vznpmT86OqXg@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAGc+==qb8kVfdVTZPdmxbOzXP_E-VWvVdcQUa7vznpmT86OqXg@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <F3A47330-629A-45D7-9ED7-7DC55D0011BF@gmail.com>

Hey, folks:

First, it?s awesome that your teenager daughter is into this. You?re clearly raising her right.

Now for the practical matters. Receiving code is much harder than sending, but fortunately there?s an app for that. Search for ?Ham Morse? on the iOS App Store. It uses the Koch method, which starts out at 15wpm with only two letters. Once you?re used to decoding those two letters, you add another letter. This works much better than trying to learn the whole alphabet at 5wpm and then speed up. I?m sure there are similar apps for Android devices, just make sure they use the same method. There?s also an excellent free web site called Learn CW Online (http://lcwo.net/). Set up an account and you can do a bunch of different drills, including a complete Koch method course and a port of an old DOS app called Morse that?s designed for building speed.

To work on the sending, you?ll need a key and a code oscillator. For the oscillator, you can just use the sidetone in a radio. Most HF rigs have a configuration where they?ll send a sidetone through the speaker or headphones without transmitting. Not only does that save acquiring a unitasking piece of gear, it also means you?re practicing on the actual radio you?ll use for your first QSO. If that?s not an option, stand-alone oscillators are cheap and plentiful. The ARRL even has a simple kit for one (http://www.arrl.org/shop/ARRL-Morse-Code-Oscillator-Kit). 

Keys are a whole subject of their own. I suggest starting with something simple and cheap, like the standard MFJ key. You can also get that as part of a set that comes with a basic oscillator, all for less than $50. The reason I suggest going cheap is that there?s a very good chance your daughter will want to move up to an electronic keyer if she gets serious about CW, so there?s no sense spending hundreds on a collector?s item that will just gather dust later. If she does decide she wants to stay with a straight key, there?s a whole universe of nifty ones to choose from. My own collection includes a set of Kent paddles plugged into a WinKeyer for day-to-day and contest use, a 1916 Signal Electric brass spark-gap key for Straight Key Night, and a couple of bugs that I just think are cool.

Good luck.

          ?Alan (AB1XW, formerly N3IMU)

--
Alan Dove, Ph.D.
Web: turbidplaque.com
Phone: 917.273.0544
Skype: alandove
Twitter: @alandove


From aswoodhull at yahoo.com  Fri Oct 23 17:32:22 2015
From: aswoodhull at yahoo.com (Albert Woodhull)
Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2015 21:32:22 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [HCRA] Learning CW
In-Reply-To: <CAGc+==qb8kVfdVTZPdmxbOzXP_E-VWvVdcQUa7vznpmT86OqXg@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAGc+==qb8kVfdVTZPdmxbOzXP_E-VWvVdcQUa7vznpmT86OqXg@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <923878420.2261080.1445635942139.JavaMail.yahoo@mail.yahoo.com>

For a beginner a cheap plastic base key like the MFJ-550 (about $15) will be adequate. These have been around a long time - It cost about $4 when I was a Novice and I continued to use it until well after the time I passed my 20 wpm test in 1972. In fact I still have the same key. It's lightweight and practically indestructible, as well as cheap. All of these are desirable attributes if it might be handled roughly, as in portable use. You need to mount it on a piece of wood (or you can pay? MFJ twice as much for the 553, which is a 550 mounted on a piece of wood).
The MFJ 557 is one of these keys mounted together with an audio oscillator. But there are also free computer tone generator programs that can be used with a computer and headphones or an external speaker.? The popular free program Audacity, used for audio recording and editing, can also be used to generate a continuous audio tone. 

A few years ago I wrote up a few hints on improving a cheap plastic base key. I sent it to QST for the Hints & Kinks column, but they didn't publish it. There is a copy on the FCARC website at?? http://www.fcarc.org/Files/Cheapkey.pdf 
73, 

Al, N1AW?Albert S. Woodhull 
Leyden, Massachusetts 

      From: Rob <n1nte.rob at gmail.com>
 To: HCRA Mailing List <hcra at mailman.qth.net> 
 Sent: Friday, October 23, 2015 9:58 AM
 Subject: [HCRA] Learning CW
   
______________________________________________
-------Hampden County Radio Association-------
-----------e-mail list (reflector)-------------
______________________________________________
Hi all,

My teenage daughter, KB1ZUV, has been asking to learn CW with me. Looking
for recommendations on a good key and practice oscillator. I'd like to
start by using a key good enough to use on the air later on.

Thanks,

- Rob, N1NTE
______________________________________________________________
HCRA mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/hcra
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:HCRA at mailman.qth.net

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html


  

From n1nte.rob at gmail.com  Sat Oct 24 10:03:09 2015
From: n1nte.rob at gmail.com (Rob)
Date: Sat, 24 Oct 2015 10:03:09 -0400
Subject: [HCRA] Learning CW
In-Reply-To: <CAGc+==qb8kVfdVTZPdmxbOzXP_E-VWvVdcQUa7vznpmT86OqXg@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAGc+==qb8kVfdVTZPdmxbOzXP_E-VWvVdcQUa7vznpmT86OqXg@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <CAGc+==og7MpECXBmbcSZCC--pNFaseCWan8r+HA54XNciDreMA@mail.gmail.com>

Thanks to all for the terrific suggestions and ideas. We'll try a couple of
the trainer websites/apps to see which one works best for us. I'm pretty
sure she'll stick with the CW training. We are enjoying some daddy/daughter
time with kit building and putting up a multi-band dipole in the trees. She
really liked using the pneumatic tennis ball launcher (so did I). :)

- Rob

On Fri, Oct 23, 2015 at 9:58 AM, Rob <n1nte.rob at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> My teenage daughter, KB1ZUV, has been asking to learn CW with me. Looking
> for recommendations on a good key and practice oscillator. I'd like to
> start by using a key good enough to use on the air later on.
>
> Thanks,
>
> - Rob, N1NTE
>

From gjcollins at cox.net  Sun Oct 25 20:06:01 2015
From: gjcollins at cox.net (George Collins)
Date: Sun, 25 Oct 2015 20:06:01 -0400
Subject: [HCRA] Learning CW
In-Reply-To: <Ydza1r01d45oxQM01dzd1G>
References: <Ydza1r01d45oxQM01dzd1G>
Message-ID: <003b01d10f82$196130a0$4c2391e0$@cox.net>

Hi Rob,

I have an extra J-38 military surplus key that I don't need. You are welcome
to it if you like. These are very nice keys for use on the air. My regular
straight key is a J-38. I think you would find it will meet your needs very
well. You can e-mail me at kc1v at arrl.net if you are interested.

73,

George, KC1V

-----Original Message-----
From: HCRA [mailto:hcra-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Rob
Sent: Friday, October 23, 2015 9:59 AM
To: HCRA Mailing List
Subject: [HCRA] Learning CW

______________________________________________
-------Hampden County Radio Association------- -----------e-mail list
(reflector)------------- ______________________________________________
Hi all,

My teenage daughter, KB1ZUV, has been asking to learn CW with me. Looking
for recommendations on a good key and practice oscillator. I'd like to start
by using a key good enough to use on the air later on.

Thanks,

- Rob, N1NTE
______________________________________________________________
HCRA mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/hcra
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:HCRA at mailman.qth.net

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html


From nt1k at nt1k.com  Fri Oct 30 08:43:17 2015
From: nt1k at nt1k.com (Jeffrey Bail - NT1K)
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 2015 08:43:17 -0400
Subject: [HCRA] Holiday Tickets Are Available
Message-ID: <CAHRCJ6e8OAkOmbvhV-ifbO2YJz=bU2=3ysB1RVpSmvMk3CfzbQ@mail.gmail.com>

Even though it feels like the Holidays are still long away, our Joint
HCRA/MTARA Holiday Party is just a little over a month away. Tickets are
available at $20ea per person.

We will be holding the Holiday Party at the Steaming Tender in Palmer MA as
we did in years past. We've been there many times before and it seems that
everyone always has a great time. It's an excellent way to socialize and
have a good time. There will be door prizes for those who purchased
tickets.

For HCRA, there are many ways to get your tickets. You can send a check or
money order to our P.O. Box, you can purchase them at the November meeting
or you can contact Harold Woering (N1FTP at arrl.net) to help you out. We need
to get a count to the Steaming Tender ASAP so sooner the better.

When: Monday, December 7th 2015
Where: Steaming Tender,28 Depot St, Palmer MA
Time: Doors open at 6pm, Dinner starts at 7pm
http://steamingtender.com/
Cost: $20 per members/guest.

HCRA
P.O. Box 562
Agawam MA, 01001

If you do send check or money order, can you please include that you are
purchasing for the Holiday party and include names and callsigns (if any)
of those who are attending.

Stay tuned for ZeroBeat coming out soon!

Thanks,
Jeffrey Bail NT1K