A 40m CW story

Yes indeed...all a walk down memory lane. I too started out on 40cw. It was summer of 1961 and a brother of a hs friend helped me out. He was K8LWQ, now a SK thanks to Sept 11th, 2001.

He helped me build my first transmitter...that didn't work. But he also helped me build from kits my R-100a and the T-50 from Knight Kit. Then helped me fix them both.. hi.

He was not my first qso. But I called CQ for a loooong while and later discovered what 'flat' meant in the handbook.

I keep coming back to 40 cw and I'm still there.

Dan/W4NTI, ex KN8BHH

 

What a great post!  Even though licensed in 1963, I had to wait until the late '80's to get on 40cw and discover what you have described.  It was a super band in the winter from Wisconsin (as KD9UX) - the signals simply jumped out and the noise level was S0 up there.  Now in Phoenix, I have to deal with Home Owner's Association antenna restrictions, but have figured out a way to beat them and still operate 40 when the sun is down... the stealth vertical used here might be of interest to other 40m enthusiasts with similiar problems (see http://pages.zdnet.com/radio_k7zb/K7ZB/id10.html
for the description and results).
73 and C U on 40!
Bob K7ZB

 

I still remember my first QSO, also on 40 CW, in the spring of 1957, when I received my Novice call, KN9IYQ. My first QSO was using a friend's station to contact a very patient OM in the next town over. He had been a ham for at least 50 years, and was then retired. From what I know now, he was very active as a ham and probably was active passing traffic, but he still managed to put up with my very shakey fist. Yes, a shakey fist during your first QSO is indeed a close relative to mike fright. But somehow we kept at it for quite some time at all of 5 wpm.

Boy, was I ever surprised when a few weeks later I received an envelope containing a Rag Chewer's Club certificate! I didn't realize how long we had been sending code back and forth because I was so excited, and I didn't know anything about the RCC either. I quickly found out what the RCC was, and I am still proud of that first QSO.

Later on, I built my own 5 watt, 1 tube transmitter, put up a 30 foot vertical, and found several other Novices living close by. Altogether I had 3 crystals on 40: 7162, 7171, and 7183. These were OK during the day time, but at night, 1 of them was right on top of a broadcaster, and another was dead on a jammer! That left me with only 1 crystal I could use at night, 7162. Even after I built another transmitter and increased my power to a full Novice "Gallon" (75 watts input), I still did not get many contacts. I know now that I needed a much better ground system under that 30 foot vertical. But I definitely was bitten by the ham radio bug.

As a group of new Novices, we soon determined that we all went to the same high school. So we created an informal ham radio club there. Although I have lost touch with the group, I think most of them probably stayed with amateur radio, too. The calls I remember from that informal club were (after they upgraded and lost their Novice Ns): K9GUU, K9IDZ, K9ION, K9IJK, K9LAJ, and K9PZE.

Thanks again for the wonderful story about the mystique of 40 CW. I am now almost 60 and still tuning finals, although these days those finals are in high power (50+ KW) UHF-TV rigs. I doubt, if I had not found amateur radio and had so much fun on 40 CW when I did, that I would be where I am today.