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1-10 of 33 messages
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So what is it about CW?
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by WZ7I on October 26, 2002
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The other evening on 40 meters I heard a strong, clear CQ from a fellow I had worked once before who had seemed interesting so I gave him a call. I punched in the 250 Hz filter and the QSK button, and repositioned the headphones a little more comfortably.
It had been a tough day at work but almost instantly all the other concerns dropped away. Soon after the name, QTH, and signal report, it rapidly moved past a mere contact and became a real conversation. There was a sense of privacy that I have found on some of the digital modes but never on SSB. And unlike the digital modes, QSK allowed a more conversational intercourse.
We talked about how hard it was to lose a job after 31 years with the same company, what it was like uproot your wife and move to a strange town to go to school, how hard it was to learn to study again and to compete with young people just out of high school. We talked about preparing to fly to a new city for a job interview and how, after we have done everything we can, sometimes we have to leave the future in God’s hands
I can’t recall ever having this kind of QSO on sideband. It seemed like I was having a private conversation with a longtime friend over a cup of coffee. What is it about CW that gives this feeling of intimacy that we don’t find elsewhere?
My wire antenna up in the trees doesn’t buy any bragging rights on the air, and my fist won’t win any A-1 operator awards. But the other night, I wouldn’t have traded that conversation for 350 confirmed countries or first in the CQ CW contest.
But enough of this drivel! I am going to limber up my new GHD key and see if I can find another new friend on 40 tonight.
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RE: So what is it about CW?
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by KC0IOX on October 28, 2002
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Nice post. That's the same thing that appeals to me about this wonderful mode. I think it's the sense of commaraderie that CW ops have, or perhaps the idea that CW ops for the most part are hams in the truest sense of the word, friendly, inviting, and genuine. This isn't to say that other modes don't offer this. Perhaps it's the lack of any voice inflections, and the idea that one has to think before they move that key as to what they might say. At any rate, the better I become at CW, the more of these conversations I seem to have, and also the more of these conversations I want to have. Nice post there and 73.
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RE: So what is it about CW?
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by WB2WIK on October 28, 2002
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CW, besides being the second-most used and popular mode of amateur communications, is also the most relaxing....ahhhhh.
I can work a CW contest for 24 hours straight without any breaks except bathroom and food/drink, but phone? No way...too hard on the ears!
Even my XYL wonders why I look half asleep when I'm chatting on CW...I'm not really sleepy, just adrift with satisfaction and enjoying the sound of real conversation uninterrupted by interference and noise.
For those who don't use it, it's hard to explain.
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RE: So what is it about CW?
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by KB9BVN on October 31, 2002
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WOW!! I thought I was the only one that had QSO's with my eyes shut. If I get in a QSO with a good fist and my speed, I just kind of lean back in my chair (a rocker) and shut my eyes. I have never gone to sleep during a QSO though. I think shutting the eyes helps to keep your mind from getting distracted. I can head copy MUCH better when I am in this mode.
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RE: So what is it about CW?
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by W5HTW on November 28, 2002
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I haven't yet quite fallen asleep while in a CW QSO but as I get older I wonder about the possibility.
I, too, tend to close my eyes and 'get lost.' Perhaps there is a bit of an opiate to this?
One of the unique things I have noticed is the ability of CW ops to 'tune out' their surroundings. Often tht includes, to her chagrin, the XYL, but maybe that is our way of getting back at the women who tend to tune us out as we talk radio and they are talking beauty salon or the fashion sale.
I've noticed, when that really weak signal is there, I have tended to turn the AF gain up higher and higher, using my own mental DSP to filter out those 'bad boys' that are so close. And suddenly I awaken and hear the blaring speaker, (or learn my headphones can be heard in the next room!)and realize that those loud signals are being heard throughout the house, perhaps through the neighborhood, (I have no neighbors but coyotes, and they don't seem to care) but I didn't hear them at all. No wonder the wife turns off the TV - she can't hear it! And all I hear is that one guy, way in the background, telling me about the military surplus transmitter he is running, to a dipole in the trees.
I can't do that on phone.
CW is a skill, practiced by many of us, at varying levels of expertise, and as such, it is a source of pride. The code-free ham is missing what ham radio really was all about for a good many years. And the keyboard ham is missing the personal touch that made hams, even those with keyers, recognizable on the air by their own sound. I had friends down on 80 meters CW years ago that could send simply "vvv" and before they gave the call sign, I knew who they were. And they knew me. It is your "voice." It isn't the speed - I've never been a hot shot CW op.
It is just the flavor. Muy sabroso.
73
Ed
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The Case of CW.
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by N5JOB on November 30, 2002
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You have to understand one thing about CW operators and the rest of the Amateurs. They are two entirely different types of people.
When I was a young man, I got into radio for many reasons. Radio allowed me to communicate with others at a safe distance. I didn't have to use my voice which I did NOT want to do as I didn't like it. So I communicated with a key and pencil/paper.
Now, 25 years later, I still like CW because I HATE complicated, modern day electronics. I think of radio in terms of "electro-mechanical radio" and "fully electronic radio." And now, it's gotten even more complicated with "microprocessor based radio." I prefer "electro-mechanical radio" over it all.
What can be better than a man at one station, opening and closing a key with his hand, and another man at another distant station, hearing each letter and pressing a key on a typewriter, placing the sent letter on the paper? This is a perfect blend of a man's skill and the machinery. It also takes PATIENCE. Yes, PATIENCE is a determining factor between a good operator and a poor one. Today, that is mostly GONE and I don't like it.
So I listen to CW all the time. CW is still a very real experience. I feel sorry for the saps who missed out.
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RE: So what is it about CW?
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by KC0IOX on December 1, 2002
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Some really nice responses here, and I fully agree. One thing I've also noticed is the ease of operation over phone. This past month, I did the CW and phone sweepstakes. I actually operated more time on the CW weekend, but it seemed much more effort-less than on phone. Before I became proficient in CW, this wasn't the case, but since I now run more CW, sweepstakes and Field day were much more easy than phone. Perhaps it's the narrow bandwidth, or the not hearing the other operators voice. At any rate, I only ran about 6 hours on the CW sweeps due to time limitations, and it was like gravy, but after about 4 hours on the phone one, I gave it up. My voice started to give out, and I couldn't deal with the shouting I heard in the phone pile-up the same way I do on a CW one. I wonder if anyone else has had this experience. At any rate, some nice responses, and CW is the way to go.
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