[KYHAM] No code proposition for HF

[Pete & Kim]

I learned CW for my general class license. I tried it a few times, and made
an idiot of myself with several foreign stations because I couldn't sort out
the dits and dahs (I had passed the test, right?). I don't care for it, and
it doesn't come as easily to me as it has a friend who could read and send
at 20 wpm before he ever had a live contact. I have made an SSB QSO with a
Polish station on 5W. Two days ago, I got a pc up and running PSK31. RTTY is
a simple next step. Does this make me a poor operator?

 

I can spin the dial from 160 to 20 M and hear cat-calls, unidentified voice
transmission, people tuning up on QSOs, transmissions to no one in
particular, and CQs within 1 MHz of another CQ or QSO. Presumably, these
people also passed 13 or 20 WPM for their ticket. Does that make them better
operators than me?

 

I have finished the ARRL's EMComm Level 1 course, and a weather preparedness
course from FEMA. I am an active member of Skywarn, with at least 20 hours
of service at the NWS office in 2003. None of this used CW knowledge. Does
this make me a poor operator?

 

During a December contest, I was blown out of the water by a big gun station
just a MHz below me. That operator knew I was there, and was told I was
there, but did not move. Presumably that station passed the CW requirement.
Did that make them a better operator than me?

 

A few weeks ago, via Echolink, I talked to three operators from Manchester,
England on a local 2M repeater. They did the standard HF QSO spiel, while I
was telling them about the repeater, it's coverage, and about Metro
Louisville, which the repeater covers. They gave me an RST report, while I
did not. They talked about their rigs, power and antennas, while I did not.
None of this occurred using CW, or any active knowledge of CW on my part, or
with the usual HF protocols. Does this make me a poor operator?

 

I'd like to find some answers to my questions from those on this list with
more experience (6 years), because apparently I'm missing something. From
what I've read so far, there are far better operators than I because they
know and use CW, while I don't.

 

Pete Womack

KF4VCC

 



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