QuoteThey recently caught an extra (KC0GPV) operating on 88.3Mhz, and he's about to be $10,000 lighter.

My question is "why?" I mean, on a contest week-end, maybe, all bands are hijacked then.. Seriously though, is a hobby worth a $10K fine when there are plenty of frequencies to operate on? Stupid...

Gil.

Some human behavior I just can't understand. It is just beyond my comprehension. The olde I get though, the more I realize that a large part of the population is either plain dumb, mentally ill, and/or sociopathic. Well rounded individuals are few and far between. Of course, you give some individuals a radio to hind behind and they will say and do things they would nerver dream of in person. Same goes for some drivers. They are seemingly the nicest poeple, but behind the wheel, they become foul mouthed monsters. It's that steel cage around them... Until someone get really pissed off and the light turns red with a car in front of them... The best thing to do is to ignore these people as much as possible. Until the time comes to cut their antenna cable and connect a tazer to it and press the button.

Back in the early 80s, still in the CB era, I heard if someone was jamming a channel regularly, they would find the guy and have a trucker with a 1KW amp park in front of his house and transmit at full power to attempt frying his radio. Not sure if this would work...?

Gil.

QuoteThe FCC understood it pretty well way back when they picked 5, 13 and 20wpm as the milestones.

Absolutely. I have experienced those numbers exactly. Well, except for 20wpm. I'm not there yet... That is why I think it is important to learn at a minimum of 15wpm to skip the look-up table stage. I first learned at 7wpm and wasted a lot of time switching to the next step. Better go directly to the sound-to-letter association.

I am starting to hear the most common short words, but it is a slow process...

Gil.

It took me more than six months! Six months to be able to copy the alphabet, numbers and a few other punctuation codes and prosigns at a puny 12wpm. The military used to teach Morse code in a matter of weeks. I don't think I could have passed that class, at least not without a serious headache every night! Let's face it, it's not easy. I don't want to discourage anyone though, CW is the most efficient mode there is. I could have done it faster had I not made a few mistakes in my approach. This is why I am going to tell you what in my opinion is the best way to learn Morse code today.

The first step is to commit to months of study and frustration. That said, some people have a knack for it and breeze through the whole process without breaking a sweat. I didn't. The reward is a lifelong skill few peole possess that will allow you to do much with very small and simple equipment. So, decide now that you will see it through and not give up. It is just a matter of time. You need to oultlast your opponent basically  ::) Progress is slow but each plateau you conquer is very rewarding.

The second step is learning the characters. I suggest three softwares and one web site to do this:

• Windows: G4FON Morse Trainer http://www.g4fon.net
• Mac: Koch Trainer (in the App Store).
• iOS (iPod, iPad, iPhone): Ham Morse https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ham-morse/id315980140?mt=8

I highly recommend Ham Morse because it allows you to listen to current news in Morse code. It is well worth the $4.99.

Do not make the same mistake I made and slow down to any less than 15wpm. I went down to 7wpm to finish the alphabet and numbers. Some characters I knew by sound, others as dots and dashes. Do not visualize dots and dashes! I am still struggling to get rid of this bad habbit. If you do so, you will have two translation steps to perform for each letter instead of one. You can be twice as fast if you associate characters directly to sounds.

In parallel with the software of your choice, depending on your platform, I also suggest that you open an account on http://lcwo.net. Use "Morse Machine" to practice character recognition. Each lesson will give you one more character to indentify.

The next step is to work on your speed. On Windows I use RufZXP: http://www.rufzxp.net. It is free and works great. the program sends you call signs and adjusts speed depending on your performance. It keeps track of your score and maximum speed attained. It is an excellent tool to build speed.

On Linux, similar to RufZXP, is QRQ: http://fkurz.net/ham/qrq.html. Not as goos as RufZXP, but close. You can also run it on the Mac.

Practice every day, twenty to thirty minutes. I did not stick to a daily schedule and it took me much longer than anticipated.

The last step is head-copy. The best way to achieve this is to listen to code on your radio (or news on Ham Morse). I like to leave my radio on in the background on a popular calling frequency, mostly 7030KHz. Once in a while you will recognize a word without really trying to copy or write anything down. This will happen more often as time goes. I read that it is good to listen to code much faster than you can copy. Head-copy is highly dependent on short-term memory. A good way to "increase you buffer size" is to ask a friend or significant other to spell words to you while you put the letters together in your head. Just simple letters, not in Morse code. This way you will be able to put together longer words with a bit of practice. Most of the time you will recognize a word half way through.

Most importantly, as soon as you can copy all the characters, get on the air! Do not care how you sound. Nothing bad will happen if you mess-up a QSO. There is nothing to be nervous about. Call CQ at a speed you can copy, even if it is 5wpm. You should get an answer at the same speed. Try to have a least one long QSO per day while you build up your speed, not just a signal report. If you only practice contest or DX type of contacts, you will miss most of the enjoyment of CW and won't be able to copy regular words reliably.

When listening to code and writing it down, do not dwell on missed characters. Just leave a blank or underscore and keep right on going. Otherwise, you will lose many more characters. By not getting attached to one missed letter you will miss only one, and can fill it in later from the context.

Sending is easier. Grab a book you like and open it on a random page. Send as you read.. Just keep doing it until your code flows freely. Mind your timing. Leave the correct spacing between letters and words. A good way to test your sending is to use a Morse decoder like Fldigi: http://www.w1hkj.com/Fldigi.html. If the text you send is translated by the software, you are doing well! I also use Fldigi as a backup during QSOs, when I am home that is. Outside, I just use a pad and pencil, which forces me to be more attentive. I do stall once in a while though and lose a word or two. Sending, while easier, is also very important. I have heard many operators at a speed I could have copied, had they not been very messy with their sending. Send as fast as you can do so reliably with good timing. Speed will come later. It is more important to be understood. You won't be faster by having to repeat yourself often!

I should also mention CWOps, which is a free class that also helped me by mainly providing feedback from a qualified instructor: http://www.cwops.org. The class meets thwice a week online for about an hour. It is great for anyone who doesn't have a radio yet. In any case, it is a good complement to your personal efforts and forces you to "show-up" for scheduled lessons.

Good luck, have fun, and don't give up!

Gil.

Mine will be an 1873 model...  :o Nice wood n' sh-t..
Big bore antenna  8)

Gil.

QuoteIs it acceptable if I share your tank circuit values with our resident guru and one of the originators of the GWEN project locally (cs - ve3bbn)? Thanks for your thoughts.

It isn't mine, found it on the web, so go right ahead  ;D

I ordered three T200-6 toroids for the purpose... Still missing the wire and capacitor..

Gil.

I might get into it, with a SoftRock receiver. Being a programmer, I am thinking of writing an SOS CW detector. It would listen for emergency calls and send an SMS message to my phone if one is detected. I don't know when I'd have the time to write it, but it would be a neat project. It could also detect if anyone is calling me.. I know CW skimmer can do something like that, but I am thinking of something simpler. I would write it in Python and make it available as a Python module, open source. No graphics, command line only.

Gil.

PM sent.

Thank you guys. If the ads paid enough, I wouldn't need to ask, but they do not..
I also spend too much time monitoring and maintaining the site instead of working  ::)

Gil.

In 2011, my (ex) girlfriend and I went on a 13,000 miles trip across the West. We had a French press and it worked great! There is no filter to change. Just put the coffee in, the metal mesh filter and add boiling water. Et voila! Nothing easier..

Gil.

I would personally advise staying away from technologically complicated options, like a computer, SD cards, etc. Complexity fails easily... Nothing beats paper and a pencil. Make sure you have enough of it, because it does run out.. Save paper as much as possible. I would avoid anything that uses power as much as possible, except for the radio of course, and that has to be low current.

Gil.

Well, I am just about ready to build an 80m end-fed antenna (File attached), so 80m has my interest right now. Not for my house, I don't really have the space, but for camping. I am also thinking of trying it attached to a 5ft. weather balloon...

Gil.

Yep, thank you, much appreciated!

Gil.

About $56 or so if I remember well. I will have to move the site to a more expensive account soon though, because the monthly bandwidth is coming close to be exceeded. The good point about this however is that I might be able to offer email accounts@radiopreppers.com.

Gil.

Thanks to a member who sent a donation some time ago, hosting has been paid for another six months! Help is always welcome. If you would like to contribute a tiny sum every month to make sure we stay in business, please let me know, thanks!

Gil.

Nice one Jonas, thanks!

Gil.