Cw on WT8P's Notes to Self

Twelve Days of QRZ – 2024

Mon, 24 Feb 2025 05:38:43 +0000

This was my third year of the “Twelve Days of QRZ” event that runs from December 1 through the end of February. The object is to have QSLs, that is, confirmation of radio contact, either on QRZ or Logbook of the Web, on twelve separate days. It is pretty easy to get the base award, especially via digital contacts, and I did that 12 days after getting a new antenna launched after the bomb cyclone had knocked it out of the tree. (It took a while to clear out debris so I could do that.)

Iceland Parks on the Air Notes

Sat, 14 Sep 2024 00:08:28 +0000

Before I forget, I wanted to jot down some notes about the Parks on the Air exercises I just did in Iceland and the Faroe Islands. Final statistics: Iceland: 11 parks activated (9 the first time anyone had), 382 QSOs, 277 confirmed (as of writing) for 41 countries. For the Faroe Islands, 172 QSOs, 121 confirmed, 37 countries. I also found my 10,000th geocache.

Pre-trip preparation

Paperwork. The ARRL is a starting point for US hams operating internationally, but their site is primarily a collection of links to documents you’re supposed to pore through and understand. The material can be exceptionally boring (T/R 61-01 zzzzzzz). The Iceland club had a nice summary, only lacking a specific link to the permit needed. (The permit was free, and quickly obtained.) There was a club for Faroe Islands, but it and the Danish authority were challenging to browse with Google Translate. I was unable to find anything specific, and hoped it wouldn’t be a big deal.
Equipment optimizationthrough Trial POTA activations*.*This was also an opportunity to work out kinks with my laptop, re-familiarized myself with the KX3, tried different antenna options, and set up a flow for logging.
Identify potential POTA sites.
Logging is complicated. I had a TF/WT8P from last year, and added OY/WT8P, which was “announced” and led to conversations with DX Daily (who publishes information about DX operations) and a ham who offered to manage sending paper QSL cards.

Notes on Field Day 2023

Sat, 08 Jul 2023 20:05:36 +0000

I wrapped up another field day with my friend Paul (W7PEZ) in Eastern Washington. For the two days, I had 204 contacts, broken out roughly as: Yes, I worked SSB. It was kinda Frankfurt United Norway

WT8P is sporting the 6-day salt and pepper look

Paul worked 200 contacts, nearly all CW. Both are personal records. Neither of us were “running,” which would certainly have bumped up the totals, nor did we operate all the time, because most of the fun of Field Day is Everything Else.

Using Slack for CW Academy

Thu, 15 Jul 2021 02:58:00 +0000

During the latter part of my Basic class, when students were becoming more engaged, we ran into several problems with the email and text messaging. As an experiment, we used Slack in my intermediate class the most recent term. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive. In the spirit of trying to give back, I thought it would be helpful relating our experience.

73, Jim WT8P

Email works for some specific situations such as contacting the entire class and sharing detailed information. There were occasions where my missives were too long and detailed. Some email clients (e.g., Outlook) make it difficult to find messages. Email is poor for any real-time event, such as a student who was on the air right now and looking for contacts.

N1MM+ and CWT

Fri, 12 Mar 2021 17:40:14 +0000

There is also a walkthrough of N1MM+ here that I did for my intermediate class earlier this week.

Some definitions

CW– stands for continuous wave, a simple method of communication where a signal is either on or off. It uses Morse Code, consisting of dots, dashes, and spaces. A dot is a tone emitted for one time-unit, a dash is a tone emitted for three-time-units. Spaces between dots and dashes, letters, and words are one, three and seven time-units, respectively.
WPM– words per minute is a gauge of how fast one is communicating. For Morse code, we typically use the word “Paris” (.–. .- .-. .. …) as the standard “unit.” As a comparison, I can write about 15 words per minute, type about 70 wpm.
CWT– is CWOps‘ CW contest held 3x a week, on Wednesdays at 1300Z, 1900Z, +0300Z. It’s a one-hour contest where the average communication speed is well-above 25 wpm.
N1MM+ – this is a popular amateur radio contest logging program.
KX3 – Elecraft’s all-mode transceiver.

Thus, this blog entry covers how to use the N1MM+ software while participating in the weekly CWT contest. N1MM+ can be used for a variety of other events, not exclusively CWT or even Morse Code.

CWA Basic: Sessions 14 – 16

Sat, 27 Feb 2021 02:55:28 +0000

Sending in-class:

Compose two “Dad Jokes” to send. For example: “Two guys stole a calendar. They got six months each.” (Or: “What do you do with an elephant with three balls? Walk him and pitch to the rhino.”)
We’ll practice more sending of longer passages. Revisit the Wikipedia front page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page and pick a couple of items from Did you know… or On this Day — there is an extensive “Archive” link that will add variety — and summarize them for sending via CW. We’ll probably only have time for one, but in case we can do another, let’s do.
We’ll do an exercise where you’ll call a classmate on Zoom, ask a simple question, they’ll reply, then onto the next classmate. Suggested subject areas: weather, HF rig, antenna, dinner, car, next vacation destination. The added variety is listening for your call sign and sending a classmate’s. If you are unable to copy, send a ? for resend. An exchange might look like this:

CWA Basic: Sessions 11-13

Wed, 17 Feb 2021 01:57:00 +0000

We’re at the two-thirds/homestretch-ish point in the class. The speed creeps up 1 wpm for each the next few sessions, eventually hitting 13. Remember the overall goals are: having fun, making friends, and picking up a new skill for a lifetime. Absent from these goals is “beating yourself up because you didn’t hit flawless 13wpm on the nanosecond the 13wpm session started.”

Learning CW takes time. The CW Academy classes have a very ambitious pace for learning a new skill. It’s rare that everyone lands on the same point. So, relax, relish how far you’ve come(*), and, please, proceed at your own pace. (*If you’d like some perspective, retry the self-assessment tool – scroll down about halfway: and see how far you’ve progressed.) … but not as much time as it’s going to clean my “office” when the Pandemic is over

CWA Basic: Sessions 8, 9 and 10

Fri, 12 Feb 2021 01:42:00 +0000

For Session 8 sending in class: What are your three most valued (to you) household appliances and/or power tools? (e.g., KitchenAid mixer, coffee grinder, and cordless drill)

This weekend are two additional possible contact events for QSOs:

CQ Magazine World-Wide CW sprint on 160m – The exchange is simply a signal report of 5NN and your state. Based on my hour last night, there were a lot of potential CA and WA contacts. (I could hear a few AZ/UT, but they could not hear me, which is a summary of my experience on 160m.) Look from 1.81 – 1.90 MHz.

CWA Basic: Session 6 and 7

Wed, 03 Feb 2021 05:29:00 +0000

As we all have felt, it’s quite normal to feel self-induced pressure at not maintaining perfection and, God forbid, be tempted to drop out and do it another time. A better way of looking at it is “if you stick around, will you be further along in your CW journey (and knowledge of Scottish inventions)?”

Obviously, the answer is yes (though I’m biased :). And, as a bonus, you get to hang out with a great group of fellow hams, have fun and improve your skills. (Consider how much you’ve progressed in a short time!) I’ve found the sweet spot is to shoot for about 80% of the homework, on average. Sometimes you’ll be rocking it, sometimes it’ll feel not, but overall, you’re making good progress and friends.

CWA Basic: Sessions 4 and 5

Fri, 29 Jan 2021 05:06:35 +0000

Sessions 4 and 5 repeat the prior sessions, but bump up the Farnsworth speed to 5 then 6. It doesn’t look like a lot until you’re trying to listen!

As I mentioned, it’s very common to feel an adrenaline bump when it’s your turn to send. If you mess up, or are feeling flustered, take a deep breath, send eight dits, take another breath, and start the word again (unless it’s like the last letter that would be understandable from context). Add more spacing if you like. Just remember, you’re among friends and it’s all about having fun.

CWA Basic: Sessions 1 – 3

Tue, 26 Jan 2021 06:25:18 +0000

The basic class — which I really wish existed when I took CW Academy – serves as a bridge between beginner and intermediate.

Its focus is on Instant Character Recognition (ICR), the ability to hear letters (initially) and words (later) as one unit without any additional steps. The bulk of the official syllabus — which you should glance through as it is the best of the four — uses the Morse Code Trainer web tool. How the 16 sessions work out

CWA Beginner – Session 16

Tue, 10 Nov 2020 05:18:00 +0000

For our last, unstructured session, we’ll do some more sending and copying using these lists of fruits and vegetables, and animals. As with the exercise we did with the state abbreviations, send a word to the next person, they’ll send the word back, “R” if correct. (If they don’t copy, “?” to resend) They’ll send a word to the next person, and so on.

I’ve created a brief tutorial on Morse Runner. On the most basic level, this program is used to practice simple exchanges (call sign + serial number). When it calls you, if you don’t get the full call sign, you can either do nothing and wait for it to resend, hit F7 (?) or try a partial and F5. The partial is useful in a “pileup,” that is, if several stations responded but you only got a partial on one, you’d send what you had and the other stations should ignore it. (In practice, and occasionally in the program, that doesn’t always happen.) The default time run-time in Morse Runner is 60 minutes, but I would not run it more than 10 or 15 minutes because it gets tedious.

CWA Beginner – Session 15

Fri, 06 Nov 2020 20:32:00 +0000

This is the ad hoc, unscripted part of the course.

Bonus homework: If you can, listen to the K1USN SST on Sunday either on air or via Web SDR, see what you can pick off. If you want to try to make an on-air contact, that would be awesome, too. As a reminder, the exchange information is here.

In class, let’s try a few exercises with state capitals:

(Warmup) Send a two-letter abbreviation to the next person. If they copy, they’ll repeat it back, sender acknowledges with an “R”. Recipient then picks a two-letter abbreviation to send to the next person, and so on. If they don’t copy, send a question mark for al resend. We’ll see if we can do a few quick rounds.

CWA Beginner – Session 14

Tue, 03 Nov 2020 18:44:00 +0000

For the bonus homework: Compose an amateur radio-related haiku, a three-line poem where the lines are 5, 7, and 5 syllables, respectively. Some examples from a prior class are below. As you practice at home, think of where it would be appropriate to add additional spacing to compensate for the lack of context clues:

CWA Beginner – Session 13

Thu, 29 Oct 2020 17:34:00 +0000

For the bonus homework: The session includes abbreviations and pro signs. I’ve attached two PDF files. qcodes.pdf has a nice half-page of common abbreviations and some Q codes used in nets, fsd218.pdf, from ARRL has pro signs on the fourth page.

Unfortunately, I didn’t write down what I actually mentioned during class. On my pre-class notes I had an exercise where send a Q-code or abbreviation of your choice, then a very short phrase summarizing what it means. The intent of this would be to think about how you’d communicate this concisely. Pick four of them. We’ll likely have repeats – that’s okay.

CWA Beginner – Session 12

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 17:40:00 +0000

Prepare to send QSO information about the weather, rig (if you don’t have one, what you would buy with unfettered use of the CW Academy AmEx card), and the year you became a ham. Examples:

“ES” is often used as an abbreviation for “AND” (and as an alternative to sending as filler while you compose.

Practice sending your own call sign in CW. If you’re feeling adventurous, also practice sending call signs of your classmates.

CWA Beginner – Session 11

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 00:56:00 +0000

In the official CWOPS Beginner Book, session 11 is divided into copying segments:

and sending segments:

CWA Beginner – Session 10

Mon, 19 Oct 2020 17:27:00 +0000

Session 10 covers Q, X, Z and . The audio file (thank you again, Mateo) is here – 25cpm rate, 7wpm Farnsworth spacing.

In the official CWOPS Beginner Book, session 10 is divided into copying segments:

K, J, 8, 0, X, Q, Z, (five times each)

WL, UR, OK, HW?, QRX, RIG, WX, ANT, PWR, KW, NAME, MEMPHIS, NYC, SF, DALLAS, HOUSTON, NM, NJ, CA, UT, AL, AR, IL , IN, ME, MA, CT, CO, QRM, NE, SD, ND, PA, KY, FL, NC, SC, SDGO, LAX, LA, ON, SK, MB, NT, AB, QC, NB, NS, NR, RST, UK, USA, TOKYO, PARIS, LONDON, HAMBURG, SYDNEY, ZL2TT, VK4OM, JE1TRV, BA1CW, KH6LC, AL2A, AA3B , 8044, 7400, 73, U HV QSB, U HV QRM, NAME?, QTH?, QTH IS NY, QTH IS PARIS, PSE QSY TO 7054

CWA Beginner – Session 9

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 17:17:00 +0000

Session 9 covers ****, 8, J and K, and introduces the first pro-sign, ****. The audio file (thank you again, Mateo) is here – 25cpm rate, 7wpm Farnsworth spacing.

**** is the notation for a pro code. It can also be written with a line drawn above it. When sent, it’s the equivalent of the letters B and T, but without spacing between the letters: illustrated

where the yellow box is a space between letters. To my surprise, **** was not listed on Dan’s website, though Dave Casler video briefly says something at the 4:24 mark.

CWA Beginner – Session 8

Sat, 10 Oct 2020 21:15:00 +0000

Session 8, introduces the letters B and V. (Thanks, Mateo, for sending out the Lesson 8 mp3 file that you can listen to on headphones.)

In the official CWOPS Beginner Book, session 8 is divided into copying segments:

B, V, 7, 9, / (five times each)

vote, at, view, wave, pave, save, vow, valve, solve, volt, vault, bad, body, bore, born, barn, barney, brad, bread, bed, better, best, bill, build, built, bolt, bulb, blame, blend, bland, blow, bv2aa, ba1ro, wb2ae, n6rb/4, w2/ve1ar, ve2/w2le, 6146, 5514, name is bob, name is bill, name is ted, name is vinnie, ur rst is 559, ur rst is 459

CWA Beginner – Session 7

Tue, 06 Oct 2020 20:59:00 +0000

Session 7, introduces the letters G and P, the numbers 7 and 9, and the / character. (Thanks, Mateo, for sending out the Lesson 7 mp3 file that you can listen to on headphones.)

In the official CWOPS Beginner Book, session 7 is divided into copying segments:

F, Y, 3, 6, P, G, 7, 9, / (five times each)

page, paper, pepper, glad, glare, large, ledge, george, geo, chas, chase, change, peg, pug, pig, pen, pencil, pipe, pit, gain, garage, guard, gas, gus, chug, yes, yet, yonder, coy, G4AN/3, N1AR/5, W9UCA/9, W3/PY2AA, F6/N6AM, 2N2222, 7423, 14253679, he is a pro, she is near, do not gape, he is at 19 glen street

CWA Beginner – Session 6

Fri, 02 Oct 2020 20:24:00 +0000

Session 6, introduces the letters F and Y. F is the reversed L. Though it sounds distinctly different, some folks have difficulty between the letters the first few times. (Thanks, Mateo, for sending out the Lesson 6 mp3 file that you can listen to on headphones.)

In the official CWOPS Beginner Book, session 6 is divided into copying segments:

m, w, 3, 6, f, y (five times each)

you, toy, foot, tooth, root, cute, noise, larry, roy, ton, teeth, feet, yet, they, say, ray, hay, your, fair, fare, far, fur, furry, hw?, F5IN, YO1AR, HH5H, NO3M, AA3, U S52R, 1512, 3316, is this fair?, yes it is, the fur flies, she is shy, I say no, she says yes

CWA Beginner – Session 5

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 17:20:00 +0000

Session 5, introduces the letters M and W, the numbers **3 **and 6, and our first punctuation, ?. The question mark has a very distinct and musical sound. It’s also fun to do on a paddle with repeat: hold for two dots, hold two dashes, hold two dots, release. (Thanks, Mateo, for sending out the Lesson 5 mp3 file that you can listen to on headphones.)

In the official CWOPS Beginner Book, it’s divided into copying segments: U, C, 2, 5, M, W, 3, 6, ? (five times each)

CWA Beginner – Session 4

Fri, 25 Sep 2020 17:02:00 +0000

Session 4 introduced the letters U and C.

In the official CWOPS Beginner Book, it’s divided into copying segments: R, H, D, L, 1, R, U, C (five times each)

chat, chair, chin, chart, ouch, couch, touch, such, teach, reach, sun, son, hold, told, sail, rail, tail, nail, oil, soil, toil, coil, rain, cause, sauce, toss, toll, tall, tell, cell, call, NC5A, NA2T, CU1LL, 10, CO5NO, NU4R, CT1AC, CE1NI, 4241, 1452, in the cell, that hurts, at the hall, hole in 1

CWA Beginner – Session 3

Tue, 22 Sep 2020 16:54:00 +0000

Session 3 introduced the letters D, H, L (my favorite Morse letter), R and the numbers 2 and 5.

In the official CWOPS Beginner Book, it’s divided into copying segments: O, I, S, R, H, D, 1, 2, 5 (five times each)

all, tell, tall, deal, the, their, doll, dell, hall, hill, hole, load, lead, late, later, seal, sell, sole, she, shed, her, hear, DL1AT, HH5H, HS1TD, ND2T, NA4T, 142, 451, 1425, a tall hill, she is here, he is late, 4 sheds, 12 hills

CWA Beginner – Session 2

Sat, 19 Sep 2020 16:08:00 +0000

Note: In the official CWOPS Beginner Book, session 2 covers the letters **I, O, S **and the numbers 1 and 4. With more letters, we can make more interesting words.

It’s divided into copying segments: T, E, A, N, I, O, S, 1, 4 (five times each)

TON, TIN, TIE, TOE, NO, NOT, NOTE, IT, AT, ONE, NEAT, NET, NIT, TOES, STONE, TEASE, NOISE, ONE NEAT NOTE, NO NOISE, TIE IT, 1 TON STONE

CWA Beginner – Session 1

Tue, 15 Sep 2020 07:06:00 +0000

Note: In the official CWOPS Beginner Book, session 1 covers the letters A, E, N and T. It’s divided into copying segments: T, E, A, N (five times each)

TEA, TEE, EAT, ATE, AT, TAT, TEEN, NEAT, TEN, NET, TAN, EAT AT, TEN, ATE AT, TEN, AT TEE.

And sending segments: TEA, TEN, NET, TEE, EAT AT TEN, AT TEE

Post class, I send a recap of what we’re doing next time: Next Thursday’s session 2 adds the letters I, O, S and the numbers 1 and 4. I’ve attached a mechanically selected list of words using the letters from both, but anything on the sheet is fine. Hopefully the format makes sense: you take turns sending and we see who can copy. It’s better to send slower and more accurately than fast and make a lot of mistakes. We know our message was received when we see a lot of hands go up **Do people really go through the levels? ** Frequently, yes. There are now four, eight-week classes (16 sessions):

CWA Beginner – Welcome Message

Fri, 11 Sep 2020 10:41:00 +0000

**Note:**I’m advising a Morse Code (CW) beginner course and wanted to capture my notes, questions that have come up, as well as making updates and corrections.

Overview

My primary goal and hopes for the course are to help make it fun and encourage you to make CW friends on the air. The CW Academy beginner course structure is thus:

Sessions 1-10 are learning the alphabet, numbers, and the slant character. These are roughly in order of difficulty:

Morse Runner

Sun, 19 May 2019 03:12:18 +0000

General advice to get started on single call mode in Morse Runner (Ken Tucker, WF6F, Jim Carson, WT8P):

Accuracy is more important than speed.
Wait until the sending station is done transmitting before you respond. If you respond over him, immediately hit the escape key to stop.
Scoring increases as you go along (see below).

If you receive the call correctly, type in the call sign and hit enter. It will fill in the QSO sequence automatically. Listen for an “R,” followed by “599” and, finally, the sequence number. Type that sequence number in, hit enter, and the new one will come almost immediately.