[High-Speed-CW] QRQ

[Tommy]

HELLO TO ALL!

MY NAME IS TOM ALDERMAN - W4BQF. I WAS JUST LOOKING THROUGH THE
HIGH-SPEED-CW REFLECTOR AND NOTED THAT THERE WERE MANY QUESTIONS UNANSWERED
THAT I MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP WITH.

ON MY WEB SITE, I HAVE JUST RECENTLY POSTED SOME COMMENTS ABOUT HOW I WAS
ABLE TO LEARN TO COPY QRQ, SO IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN JUST ONE PERSON'S
PERSPECTIVE  OF HOW YOU CAN LEARN TO COPY OVER 60 WPM, YOU CAN GO TO  

                HTTP://TOM.W4BQF.GOOGLEPAGES.COM/COPYINGCWOVER70WPM

AND READ WHAT I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE SUBJECT.

I HAVE BEEN A CW OPERATOR SINCE 1952, TRIED ALL OF THE OTHER MODES WITH THE
EXCEPTION OF A FEW OF THE LATEST DIGITAL MODES AND SSTV, BUT HAVE ALWAYS
RETURNED TO CW SIMPLY BECAUSE I FIND IT SO MUCH FUN. I PARTICIPATE IN MANY
CONTEST, BOTH DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL AND I HAVE SCHEDULED QRQ QSO'S
THREE TIMES A WEEK ON 80M DURING THE WINTER AND 40M DURING THE SUMMER
MONTHS. ANYONE WHO WISHES WILL BE MOST WELCOME TO JOIN US, PROVIDED YOU JUMP
IN BY USING THE NORMAL PROCEDURE OF 'BK DE (YOUR CALL SIGN). BECAUSE WE VERY
OFTEN HAVE QUITE A FEW 'OLD PHARTS' WHO THINK THEY ARE 'CUTE' BY TRYING TO
JAM US, IF YOU DON'T PROPERLY ANNOUNCE YOURSELF, YOU WILL BE COMPLETELY
IGNORED. WE NORMALLY OPERATE BETWEEN 60 AND 75 WPM AND NEVER HAVE ANY
PROBLEM TO QRS TO YOUR COPY SPEED. (AFTER ALL, AT SOME TIME, ANOTHER 'QRQ
GURU' QRS'ED TO HELP US OUT ALSO!)

MY SCHEDULES ARE ON 3.524 MHZ ON M/W/F EVERY WEEK, STARTING AT 6AM EST. WE
START THIS EARLY ONLY BECAUSE OF OTHER OBLIGATIONS DURING THE DAY THAT WE
HAVE WITH OUR FAMILIES AND/OR WORK SCHEDULES. AS SPRING AND THE LOCAL STORM
QRN INCREASES, WE MOVE TO 40M AND ARE ON 7.024 MHZ. PLEASE NOTE THAT NEITHER
OF THESE FREQUENCIES 'BELONG' TO US AND IF THE QRG IS BUSY, YOU WILL FIND US
EITHER UP OR DOWN FREQUENCY BY ONE OR TWO KC. SOME OF MY QRQ BUDDIES ARE
LYLE/W9FCX, BILL/KB9XE, AND TED/K5LGJ. PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE ARE NOT
'PROGRAMMED' OR 'BROADCAST' CW OPERATIONS, THEY ARE JUST PLAIN OLE ENJOYABLE
RAG CHEWING, BUT AT A SLIGHTLY HIGHER SPEED!

I HAVE BEEN RUNNING QRQ FOR A LITTLE OVER 30 YEARS. AT ONE TIME I WAS
'TESTED' (VERY UNOFFICIAL) AND WAS ABLE TO COPY AT 145 WPM, BUT MY 'NORMAL'
QSO'S WERE BETWEEN 100 AND 125 WPM. AGE HAS RUSTED MY FEW REMAINING BRAIN
CELLS AND CAN NOW ONLY COPY REALLY SOLID UP TO ABOUT 90 WPM.

I WOULD BE QUITE HAPPY TO TRY AND ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS POSTED TO THIS
REFLECTOR.

TOM - W4BQF