Thanks for the tip on that reverse beacon thing. I plugged my call in and was saw that my puny 90w cw had been picked up by 5 different skimmers yesterday while I was on 30 and 40 meters. Thats cool !
k5jyd

No one around here actually does a real field day anymore, its really just a social event and usually they eat more burgers than they make  qso,s , :-), but it does not matter, its just a hobby. The local clubs are experts at talking about ham radio and how wonderful ham radio is but many of the extras in these clubs know little abt hf and seldom get on hf , some don't even know how to build or put up a dipole and 99% know nothing abt cw  or dx  . I find this amusing since I have never met a modern day ham that didnt want to know cw or was not planning on learning it ,:-). The average modern day ham has radios running out of his ears, (most are vhf/uhf) , usually has a vertical or beam somewhere in the yard that does not work right and he is always going to check that out some day, they don't know cw or chase dx, never heard of worked all states and they brag abt making a phone contact into the next county,:-), they secretly yearn for a disaster to happen so they can save the world with their ht and deep down inside  they always wanted to be a cop or a fireman , :-). Thats ok, its just a hobby .
k5jyd
OOTC

na7u is right , put the mike in the garage or attic and forget abt voice and just become a cw op . Thats how it was when I got my novice, cw only and it worked.I learned it and still use it 99% 0f the time. You will love it.
k5jyd

My two favorite rigs are the yaseu 950 and the ten tec century 21.  Both great cw rigs. Years ago I let the century 21 get away from me, I still regret that.
k5jyd

Use the right hand . All the paddles I have run across are wired for right hand use, except for mine ( I send left handed). Its fun to try out other keys so learn with the right hand and save ur self a lot of trouble.
k5jyd

I just bought a touch paddle and so far I like it  a lot but I make mistakes when trying to run at 25 wpm so keep it down around 22 wpm. At 25 wpm (my max sending) I switch to the Kent paddle and do ok. The Kent is glued to a lb. of steel and does not move at all and has very tight spaces. My rig allows me to keep two paddles plugged in at all times so I switch between the two . I prefer the touch at lower speeds and the Kent at my max. They are both great paddles.
k5jyd

I dropped out of the local club a year ago. Why ? Nothing much in common with the members. No dx'ers or cw ops (not even one)  in the club. Its a social group that interacts via 2m instead of facebook.
k5jyd