Havin FUN....

[ad5wo]

This note is addressed to you Tech operators who are waiting for the code to go away............ While you are waiting, folks who practiced regularly for just a couple of weeks are having FUN on HF.

I worked 14 DX stations today with 100 watts and a homebrew dipole. I'm not braggin', just trying to encourage you to stop waiting and join in the fun..... http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[KC2PFV]

I'm a no code tech, I'll hopefully be a general before summer. I got my license this month though. I was listening to HF today (I have a 746PRO) and heard France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Serbia and some other places. Two meters can't come close to HF. :-/

Learn the darn code, otherwise wait. I don't see the big deal with people fighting over forcing people to learn the code. I am learning it NOT because it is required for the general class currently, but because I WANT to use it. I find it FUN. This is supposed to be a fun hobby, so have fun. I feel the code should be required for HF operation, but not VHF/UHF. If it wasn't for the no code tech license, I would have probably not have gotten into ham radio (and then find an interested in learning CW). The "stepping stone" license class should be no code for this reason alone.


Have fun!
-KC2PFV

[ad5wo]

I agree....

[kd5dhr]

Reminds me of the religious fanatics trying to get people to join in on there "one true religion". You should try to mentor rather than witness.

[wa4brl]

No religion. #No deity. Nothing but one big picnic and everyone's welcome. Pass that potato salad, please, and 73 to you too.

See your local recruiter, err, VEC today! #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[kd5dhr]

I'm only kidding anyway. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[KE5FRF]

Yep, worked a rare DX call today who was working a pileup in the CQ contest. ZD8Z was calling CQ on 21.335 at noon CST from Ascension Island in the South Atlantic between S. America and Africa, a distance of 5,700 miles from my QTH in Louisiana. I was getting a five over signal on him and he reported 5-9 on SSB. A short while later I jumped in another pileup for a station in Hawaii. So, I worked 2 stations within minutes on opposite sides of the globe, and this with a cheap homebrew 40 meter dipole barely 25 feet high.

I didn't work any CW this morning, but with propogation that good, I imagine I could have made contacts anywhere.

Yes, don't wait any longer folks, it is fun, and you'll be glad you said you got your ticket the old fashioned way.

[VE7NOT]

i've said this 1000 times so i'll bore yall again. I was active on 11m from 94-99. Goty my ham ticket in 98 and was semi-active on 2m. I tried to learn cw twice. Nover could get it right and threw up my hands, mad at the 'wall' they put up. As a result when the sunspots fired up horribly in 99 and cb became useless9unless you want to talk to jamaica as easily as to the guy down the road http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif ) I tried to stay active on 2m but ended up moving around the next several years. Most places I moved to 2m repeater use was so piled up and simplex so unused i turned it of and put it back in the box. Cb other then useful roadtrips in snowstorms having truckers help us out i wasn't active there either. swling I lost interst in as a result of all this and the fact that some places wouldn't let me put up an antennas. Scanner listening lasted tyhe longest until i moved to an area where most srvices were digitalized so that wnt back in a box. No radios. One apartment in alberta let me mount my antron99 on the balcony so we had base-mobile communication but other then the truckers and a few hams using 11m ssb it was dead. I tried 2m in alberta.. I heard one station a day on the repeaters and gave up.

Finnally i moved back here and slowly built back up... 11m first as i knew the locals still used it... then i got bold and tried 2m ... the first day i heard a ham use echolink to contact england... I turned it off and put the radio away.... so much for ham radio i thought. Later though after learning i now had hf privlages i got myself my ts-680 and strung up a long wire. As a result my swling came back as well...HOWEVER now i was faced with a new issue. ...cw I wanted to learn it.. for a challenge and to prehaps use it.... now i no longer viewed it as a 'wall' and felt I had all the time in the world to learn it. For some reason i have been able to get to where now i can copy at 5wpm where before i couldn't. Of course this is prehaps nothing to guys that brag about 30wpm but its enough for me. i will aim for a speed between 7wpm and 10 wpm and that should be good for ME.

Lots of programs helped but i found mainly the simple 'headline news morse' from AA9PW helped the most as it made morse fun. Also cw communiator for sending.

I have gotten back on 2m a bit since simplex is growing in popularity again so there is actually a challenge. (Although i admit i have echolink on this computer i use it for last resort only) Unlike '2m dx contacts' http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

I think in a month or so prehaps i will have the courage to try for a slow speed qso on hf. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[KE5FRF]

Do it now, man! Why wait? The sooner the better.

I can BARELY GET BY copying 5 wpm, and miss half of a lot of the QSO, but who cares? All the info for the other party is on QRZ and the internet, so all you need to be able to do is copy their callsign, and you can BS the rest of the QSO, hihi. Some QSOs I copy everything, and then others I maybe copy half of the characters, and maybe pull out a little information to make me able to carry on what RESEMBLES a conversation...but it doesn't really matter, because I am getting PRACTICE, and air time, and contacts for the logbook.

I must admit, I just finished a QSO, and the guy was really a little faster than I could copy, and the QRM from SW stations didn't help, but I BSed my way through it, and I think he probably knew I wasn't getting everything, but that was OK.

Anyway, don't be afraid to get on the air, no matter how silly you feel. Most people will work with you and slow down if you ask.

73, frf

[N1MLF]

I got my tech+ when I originally tested and like others I ran into a plateau at abt 9-10 WPM.. not enough for the general at the time. there was a lot of 2M activity and about 8 repeaters I could hit with an 11 ele beam so I was basically happy with VHF voice & packet. Packet faded away with the rise of the internet and it left a few loose nodes to work amongst themselves with relays but no reasonably accessible digi repeater or BBS. So I hit the CW again and still could not break the 9-10 WPM. Then the FCC relaxed the requirements & I took the general test. Had tons of fun working PSK and the digital modes as well as some QSO's on SSB. Primarily 20M & above.
I found an online book titled "The Art and Science of Radio Telegraphy".
http://www.raes.ab.ca/TASRT/contents.htm

An excellent read for anyone involved in CW or studying for the test. I has renewed my interest in the mode and I am working with a few locals on a 2M CW net here in Maine. So far so good. I try to listen to an hour a day of cw practice either computer generated or on the air copy. In due course of time I WILL be operating CW. Not because I have to but because I WANT to..

JW

[n0iu]

VE7NOT just let you in on the biggest secret to learning Morse code. It is not about what software program you use. It is not about learning by the Koch or Farnsworth method. It is not about using a straight key, bug or iambic paddles. Learning Morse code is only a wall or barrier if you see it that way.

I see so many anti-code postings from people who say that Morse code testing is an exclusionary mechanism designed to keep people out of ham radio. Well duh! If you look at it that way, of course you will have nothing but a negative opinion about it and not be successful.

I saw an interesting statistic in the March issue of QST in the Correspondence column. Here is the breakdown of the contacts made on the recent Peter I DXPedition by mode:
RTTY = 4,013
SSB = 39,532
CW = 42,975
The author's closing comment was, "... what mode is it again that is outdated and needs to be eliminated?"

[wa5tts]

And here we go.

[KC0W]

Just what I needed to see before breakfast.


Tom kcØw

[AA0CX]

Pass the knife and fork, please, and while you're at it, how about some ketchup or worcestershire sauce?

All kidding aside: CW is far from dead -- and if you're gonna be a "real ham," you'd better learn it. Wooo -- I said it. Not too diplomatically, either -- but I'm in one of those moods this morning.

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[PE1RDW]

Guess I'm not a "real ham" eventough I'm alowed to work on all bands and passed the highest technical examination.

Besides that code does nothing for technical skills I never had any desire to use hf, I could do everything I wanted on 6 meter and up including things that are not posible on hf

[n0iu]

Quote[/b] (PE1RDW @ Mar. 26 2006,06:44)]...including things that are not posible on hf
For instance?

[PE1RDW]

Quote[/b] (n0iu @ Mar. 26 2006,06:46)]Quote[/b] (PE1RDW @ Mar. 26 2006,06:44)]...including things that are not posible on hf
For instance?
Highspeed data (11Mb), ATV, Wideband FM, Satelite etc.

[KF0RT]

Quote[/b] ]Just when the FCC will act on the "Morse Code" proceeding, WT Docket 05-235, remains hazy.

Quote[/b] ]"We certainly hope to release WT Docket 05-235 sometime this year, but we're not making any predictions at this time. We certainly are not saving up any big announcements for Dayton Hamvention." (Attributed to FCC staffer.)

--From "FCC News," April 2006 QST

[ad5wo]

This post is not about the merits of CW. The intent is to remind folks about a couple of facts: (1) The HF bands are by far the most fun. (2) The FCC says you must pass 5 WPM to use the HF bands. (3) #You use the CW portions of HF only if you so wish. (4) While perfectly capable hams out there wait and whine they are missing out on most of the fun of ham radio.

[PE1RDW]

Quote[/b] (KE5DTI @ Mar. 26 2006,09:35)](1) The HF bands are by far the most fun.
That's not a fact, that's an opinion, one that I disagree with, I have far more fun on 6 and up then on HF.

maybe it's because I care more about experimentation then distance you can easely work.

[KB9YCO]

While you may be posting this in an attempt to try and encourage others to upgrade I think the tone of it will only the have the tendency to cause argument, especially with the whole overly-talked-about code debate.
I personally don't care whether they keep or leave it (though I did start learning it some time ago and have gotten fairly good at copying it) since I know that code alone does not make someone a better or more knowledgeable operator in anything besides code. People not learning the fundamentals of radio and electronics is hurting amateur radio much more than the dropping of code could ever do.
But I do completely agree that if you want to be able to listen to all the things available to you in amateur radio then it is a good idea to learn code. It gives you many more things to listen to and is helpful even if it is something as simple as hearing a repeater ID (for other techs like myself that use repeaters, or even scanner listeners for that matter.)
But you will never convince me that code alone will be the savior of amateur radio when people are learning less and memorizing multiple choice tests, well some of them anyway since I think most people in this age of people viewing radio as antiquated that are willing to learn about radio are actually interested in radio. Also, there is a lot to do above 50 MHz and people making claims that you aren't a 'real ham' if you aren't on HF are probably missing out on quite a lot. Just my opinion.
Carry on with the equivalent of a religious debate code conversation, it's always amusing and I myself can't resist jumping in.

[KD6NIG]

Yep, I'm sitting here waiting for the code to drop:

-Talking on FM repeaters every morning.
-Exploring Packet radio
-Exploring the world of 6m SSB and FM, and 2m also
-Monitoring HF sometimes when I have the time.
-With the 6m portion, looking at building antennas for that band for vertical (already have horizontal) because my foray into that cost me a bit of money for the rig....

Not every NCT sits around and whines on the repeater when the code is going away. If it does, fine. If not, fine also. I just wish they would decide-not because I don't want to learn it, but because when they decide at least there can be concentrated "the sky is falling" posts whichever the way it goes http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[K0RGR]

I don't much care about the General code requirement, one way or the other. What I do care about is our entry level license, whatever it is, being restricted to VHF and above.

If you live near a population center, a Tech license is probably very entertaining, or at least has the potential to be if you put in the effort. But if you live on the outer edge of noplace, or can't afford to invest the money in equipment or the time to explore the more exotic modes, the Tech license is not worth a cup of warm spit.

I'd be thrilled if FCC kept the code test, but granted Techs the current Tech + priveleges and digital modes on HF. That would be about as close to the old Novice experience as we're likely to get again - and I think it would be a positive for everybody. I expect, however, that the General code test will go away, in which case, I still hope to see some limited HF priveleges for Techs.

[kc2jga]

Quote[/b] (AA0CX @ Mar. 26 2006,01:07)]All kidding aside: CW is far from dead -- and if you're gonna be a "real ham," you'd better learn it. Wooo -- I said it. Not too diplomatically, either -- but I'm in one of those moods this morning.

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
Yup, here we go again.

So, if I don't want to learn CW, are you saying I am a no good lazy ass tech that has no motivation? Come on over and I will show you what I have accomplished HAPPILY as a tech.

[NO8M]

Can't we all just get along? This is a hobby. Wait...lemme say that again...H-O-B-B-Y. If you fly model cessna's, do you turn up your nose at people that fly model biplanes? No. Yes, code is a pain to learn, at first. Yes, everybody with a keyboard and QRZ in their favorites has posted on the topic. But do you need HF to enjoy amateur radio? Nope. And believe or not, Echolink is NOT evil. It's just another possibility. I've had several QSO's on echolink with an old-timer ham in Japan who uses echolink whenever 20m is garbage. There are an unlimited amount of possiblities in amateur radio...the trick is to find what you enjoy and expand on it. This is not the Knights Templar or the Freemasons....we don't have to initiate our members into a secret society. We're just a bunch of folks who share an interest. Live and let live. If code is what you enjoy, then fine. Enjoy it. If you'd rather do something else...then fine...go do it. Have fun. Share your experiences with others; bring your friends into ham radio. But can we please stop pissing testosterone all over the web, trying to prove who has the bigger "antenna"?