Hooked on CW !!

I've been into CW for 25 yrs. Its great. Remember this:

Talk is Cheap,

Real Hams Beep!!!!

73's
Vic-WD9EMF

 

You guys have me thumbing the pages of my Novice log. On its cover, WN4BJC, Book No. 1, From October 16, 1965 To October 1, 1966...must've taken FCC (& USPS) those missing two weeks+ to get my ticket to me once issued.

The first few pages of that old log have been missing for many years now but I remember Joe, in Dumont, New Jersey...was that WN2TEI or WN2TOI (worked 'em both) who was my very first contact, which just so happened to be on 40 meters...7159 kcs probably...maybe 7170...only had a few rocks back then.

"Dad, Dad...I got 'im, I GOT 'im !" I cried aloud when I heard my own callsign being returned to me through that RME-45 receiver (all-tubes)...my transmitter was a Meissner Signal Shifter, model EX (again, all-tubes...still have one of those...use it regularly).
Dad ( W4MAI ) had been licensed for 18 years by the time of my first QSO (CW, of course). He really helped me out for those first few contacts...must've been as much fun for Dad as it was for me. Yep, My Dad is my Elmer.

Not a single negative comment about CW in this thread (so far).
Do I love CW (and my Dad) ?... you bet, I do !
73.
Bill, N4QA

 

Wow Arnie,

You really touched a cord!  Arnie and I have actually had a QSO a couple of weeks ago on 40m and like Arnie, I too had a long absents from CW.  I had not used the mode since I passed my General ticket in 1979, just a week before going off to the Navy.  Well here it is over 20 years later and I cannot believe how much fun I am having with CW.  I have worked more DX than I ever did on SSB, I have had more ragchew OSO’s on the lower ends of the band than on the upper ends, I have also received many post-QSO e-mails from contacts (a new experience, never received any from my SSB contacts), and when QSL’ing, it seems that I have gotten a better response from my CW contacts than SSB.  CW has really brought back the joy of Ham Radio I once knew as a young Novice over 25 years ago.

One other comment.  A few of the post mentioned that they did not want to let it out that they were 5 or 13 wpm Extras.  Well it has been my experience locally that many of the 20 wpm Extras aren’t even on the air or the only time they do get on is to check into the Sunday night net on 2m.  So I say to all the 5 and 13 wpm Extras, of which I am one, just keep pounding the brass and seek your own level.  And if you get too much heat about it, just ask them to QRV with you some night in the last 25khz of your favorite band.

73 – Bruce / WB7RHT

Imperial Valley ARC

 

For everyone who worries that CW may die out, I hope i'm proof that it won't.  I learned code on a whim, to get a general ticket.  I at first laughed at the idea of using a 100 year old method, but quickly became hooked!  The ironic part is that im only 23, and work with computers.  Despite email, the internet, and cell phones, nothing is quite as romantic and exciting as good old CW!  Hats off to all the code operators out there, you have a fantastic hobby!
PLEASE check out AB7TB's web site, at www.brasspounder.com and GET MORSEMAIL!
Its a way to operate CW on the web, using a web page as a kind of repeater.  As I still haven't purchased a radio (poor college student), its a great way to try out your fist without getting on the air.  Its alot of fun too!  It was featured on the ARRL web site under the heading "Surfin': Morse Via the Net"  

73,
Paul Gallagher
KC8SQC

 

I am heartened by what I am reading. It's great for those of you who are re-discovering cw. My views here may seem paradoxical. I have been licensed for 40 years and 99% of my time is spent on cw. However, I firmly believe morse code should NOT be a requirement for an amateur license. The days of morse being the pre-eminent mode are behind us. It makes more sense to test typing and speech capabilities. CW however, will not die. It is simply way too much fun to use on the hf bands. The thrill and satisfaction of those of you before me in this forum testifies to it. I urge anyone even thinking about it to give it a try. Like the others have said, go at any speed you chose and you'll find many willing participants. CW is not dead, just listen to the hf bands during a contest weekend! Just do the morse thing and have fun that few others anyway will ever have in their lives. God Bless...............

 

Hello Arnie,

Well being a die hard CW nut here, I found this post very heart warming, like some here I to have many fond memories of warming up the tubes, stabalizing the VFO (had rocks also) and warming up the feedline many of nites working alot of wonderful people.

Oh yeah I worked Fone when I first got into ham radio back in the mid & late 70's.  But my heart has always been CW, I think it has something to do with this...

My voice doesn't sound different, they can't make fun of my speach, the can't recongnize my acsent, ummm, hahaha well you get the idea.

Thanks for bring back some very wonderful memories, and if I've worked you on the air thank you so much for being apart of my life, if we haven't worked I hope we do some day.

I could list on and on those that have made Ham Radio so exciting for me, but I won't. (see profile) I find it wonderful being able to get on the bands call CQ and usually get a new one here, or there, but more exciting is the return visits from CW Ops I've worked before, their always excited to hear me on, and we always have a wonderful QSO, you would think the RST, QTH, WX was all that happens if you listened to some folks, but believe me the only thing you get out of CW is exactly what you put into it.

Enjoy, hope to work you all some day.

73 - W8YRB
Rob

 

A lot of folks sure are having a lot of fun getting on HF and working CW contacts.  But HF and having fun aren't the only uses of Morse code.  Check out this pic of W4WWQ racking up the DX Q's from his portable 241 GHz station:  W4WWQ on 241 GHz

Well, he did only make one contact, but that is more than just about anyone else on that band.  The point being that the simplicity of Morse makes it very useful when all you are trying to do is just make any contact at all.  It's a very handy tool for the experimenter.    With further experimentation the Morse may be replaced by high speed digitally encoded voice transmission or whatever, but it was the Morse code that made that first step a lot easier.

For more on that story: http://www.mgef.org/zms_241_2.htm

 

Well I've got to admit, CW's been a blast. I've been licensed for about nine years and decided to get an upgrade to General to play on the HF bands. I bought a K-1 as a reward for passing the 5 wpm test. Did I say pass? It should have been called a squeek!

I built the unit and listened on the bands for a few weeks. Man, some of you can fly! I finally got up the nerve to send out a CQ. And as you Old timers can atest to, I was sending faster than I could recieve. So I had an abortive QSO with some station up in MN. A couple of days later (x-mas eve to be exact) I mustered up enough courage to try it again.

I got an answer to my CQ from K5PSH. He said his name was Jerry and he was from Texas. Turns out he lived in the town I was born in. Go figure! But he kept sending Jerry Texas, Jerry Texas. I was sitting there saying to myself, "Yah yah, I got it... Jerry from Texas!" Anyway we completed the QSO and I was telling my wife about it, and I just started laughing. It suddenly dawnwed on me that he was saying "A Merry Xmas", not "Jerry Texas". A M vs. J, you'll figure it out.

I've made about a dozen contacts since. Five watts doesn't punch many holes through the noise. KG4LDD was a great contact (see above post) and was actually my longest, it lasted about an hour. Sorry, Steve, you were actually my eighth contact I was thinking you were about my fifth but unfortunately misspelled fifth as F I T H. It can be hard trying to spell and send at the same time. HI

I've told a few of the Hams that I've QSLed that I appreciate their slowing down to give me a chance to copy. I liken it to an F-15 fighter having to slow down to the speed of a Piper Cub. The F-15 is trying to keep from stalling while the Cub is trying to keep the fabric on the wings. We're just trying to keep up!

I'd have to say it has been a lot of fun and challenge.

See you on the bands.

72 es GD,
N0YGY

 

for over 35 yrs was a hard core fone man,

one week after i got my novice tic i picked
up a heath twoer 8 hours work i was a novice on
2 mtrs fone, code was for passing tests,

hated hated the code,


well a few yrs ago i wrked es wrked to pass the 20 wpm
extra,

so tnx to some cw loving friends
after my ass to get on cw,

i figured might as well get on cw,

now love it, mostly run low pwr, old xmtrs, DX 20
GRC109, ect

but the most fun has bn running, HB low pwr 7 to 15 wts
es qrp, es qrpp, hb lash ups,

latest lash up is a acorn tube job abt 750 mw, dc in,

not puting out much abt 150 mw out but have made a
contact, thank u N0MF,

it puts 5 or 7 watts in a new qro world

still spend more time on fone then cw

but if i only ran fone it wld be just too much of a boor

tnx 73

mac ola w8znx ex wa8znx wd8mzk kl7hwi wn8pzc

 

You’re right Arnie,

After 26 years of hamming I still wake up early on week ends, call CQ on 20 meters CW and have the same emotion of wondering who is going to call back.

At the beginning, with a manual key and no more than six or seven wpm, I had the opportunity of meeting a lot of veteran hams who taught me the art of having an enjoyable QSO by slowing down their keyers or bugs. I felt honored by those fellow hams. They had the patience of teaching me, just a beginner by then.  They spent a lot of time at very slow speeds and they didn’t seem to care at all. I think they had to feel a kind of satisfaction by doing that, as well as I do now.  Those courteous rules are followed by most of CW operators.

As a CW instructor at the local radio club, I have noticed that many people just want to learn enough CW to pass an exam, but sooner or later they jump into the lower end of HF bands. A friend of mine (Pedro) to whom I was teaching CW in the club, told me once that CW was easy to decode with his computer, so he wasn’t interested in learning CW beyond his need to pass the exam. After getting his license he promptly found out that his computer wasn’t very helpful into a pile-up or when a bug or manual key was being used. Now he’s an enthusiast CW operator and has discovered that world you have well described in your post. Another friend (Carlos), after five years of working on local SSB nets, start wondering what those guys down there were talking about and, after a few days of hearing the signals, he could identify the call-signs on a local CW net in 40 meters. A few months later, he dared to try it and felt the warmest welcome when everybody start transmitting at his very slow speed and encouraged him to continue visiting the net. It was worth the time he spent re-learning CW.  Now, two years later, he is very proud of hanging a DXCC award on his wall.

Like you, Pedro, Carlos and I are now “hooked on CW”. It is hard to express with words, (much harder for me, using a language different to my mother tongue) but you can be sure Arnie, I know exactly what you mean, and must congratulate you on your contagious enthusiasm about CW.

CUL, 73 ES DX
DE JOSE …-.-

 

Arnie!

Be careful, CW has an incredible hook in it. I can't think of anything that gives me a bigger kick than chasing the world with CW. It's a "fer" or "agin" with CW, but most who try it are hooked as soon as they've gotten past the first few QSO's.

I wish you well in your return, and I'll look for you on the bands.

73's

Frank/N7UO

 

Great subject. I have been licensed since 1976. I was able to get my 13wpm and then locked the key away. For the last 10 years I was pretty much off HF altogether. After 9/11 I decided it was time to get back on board. I know that when all fails, CW would be there. I bought the Yasue FT817 (QRP) with the idea that I would be forced to work CW. I have been copying daily and my speed is getting better. I have been afraid to start sending in fear someone might answer. hi hi. Your comments have given me confidence to start getting on the air.

Thanks

Mike KE7MH

 

For years phone ops have been asking me "why CW?" I've always given them the same answer, time and time again. My answer is simply, "because it's fun!"

After reading these posts, I'm glad to see so many others feel the same.

73,

Bill - W2RST

 

Great article Arnie! Put a huge smile across my face to hear about another ham finding out about the magic of CW.

I was fortunate that I loved CW from the git-go. It was never a bad thing, it was just something "neat" I had to learn (30 years ago, at age 14). In those 30 years I've worked almost 100% CW. I find the CW crowd to be almost without exception polite, courteous, and helpful. Just exactly what a ham should be. So keep up the good work guys, and keep spreading the word.

Just a reminder to you and everyone else: If you are interested in preserving CW on the ham bands, if you want to get together with other like-minded hams, check out FISTS at: www.fists.org. It's a great organization, and we have slow-speed nets, a "code buddy" program so that you can have a sked and get your code speed up at your own pace. Check it out.

73,

Mark W1EOF

 

Well....I dusted of my MFJ code tutor and I'm starting to re-learn the code. I, too, learned just enough code to pass my novice test in '84. I recently passed my general test and I am waiting for my new ticket to come in. I am really interested in QRP and bought a partially assembled TEN-TEC 20M CW transceiver on ebay. I intend for my first HF contact to be CW. Thanks for the posts, my interest has been re-kindled.

73
ka5tjw