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1000 CW QSOs

Created by Tate Jackson N3BXZ on 2020-10-12

In April of 2019, eHam.net published a story I wrote titled “50 CW QSOs”.  In it, I talked about achieving the first goal in my journey to become a CW Operator, making 50 On Air CW QSOs.  I made my 50th CW QSO in December 2018.  And I was proud as could be.  50 QSOs is not a lot, unless they are your first 50 QSOs.  On March 1, 2020, I reached my second CW goal, I made my 1000th CW QSO.  Again, not a lot of QSOs compared to many operators, but for me, it was a milestone.  I even had a celebratory slice of Boston Cream Pie to mark the occasion.  I have grown as a CW operator over the past year and a few months.  I decided to share my thoughts and experiences while reaching this goal.

 

As I reviewed my log, I noticed that the number of contacts I made has increased each month and continues to do so.  I remember being a bit timid when I first started.  After my first On Air QSO, I had promised myself that I would make at least 1 CW contact every day.  Making a CW contact each day proved to be challenging at times.  Somedays, I would turn on the radio and immediately hear someone calling CW at a speed I could copy.  I would respond, make the contact and add it to the log.  Somedays, I would have to sit at my radio for hours trying to find someone calling CQ slow enough for me.  For the first month or so, 1 contact required a lot of concentration and energy.  So, on a good day I might make 2 or 3 contacts, but never more than that.  It took a while to lose my new CW OP jitters.  But that was ok, I kept to my goal of 1 CW contact per day.  Most days I would respond to a CQ hoping the ham on the other end would only want a signal report, QTH and name.  If I found myself in a ragchew, I would tire after a few minutes and start to get sloppy, but I would stay with the conversation as long as I could to get the practice and build my QSO endurance.  As time went on and my confidence improved, I would respond to faster operators and have longer and longer ragchews.   My CW skills got better, and I started calling CQ more often instead of just responding to CQs. 

 

Now, I am comfortably receiving around 20 wpm on air.  I am also not so picky when responding to a CQ.  If I can get most of the call sign, I go for it no matter what the speed.  They’ll repeat their call sign at some point during the QSO.  If they don’t, I’ll ask.  I can get to 25 wpm if it is a contest style exchange and I concentrate.  And that reminds me, when there was a big contest weekend, I used to go and hide on the WARC bands to get away for the rapid fire QSOs.  For the life of me, I did not get the fun of contests.  It was all QRM to me.  In time, that changed.  While I’ll never be a contester, I don’t run from them now.  I use them to try to get more contacts for WAS, DXCC, All CQ Zones, etc.   This year’s SKCC K3Y event in January gave me Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.  I just need North and South Dakota and Alaska to complete my WAS.  K3Y also gave me several new South American countries and a few more Canadian Provinces.

 

I started to notice that my sending was improving too.  When I first got on the air, my thought process for sending a letter was the following:

 

  1. I need to send an “A”
  2. An “A” is a dot and a dash
  3. A dot and a dash sounds like dit-dah.
  4. Now I have to make the dit-dah sound with my key.
  5. Now I have to remembered how to make the dit-dah sound with my key.
  6. Now I will make the dit-dah sound with my key.
  7. Start the process again for the next letter.

 

Now, the process for me to send is:

  1. Send a letter.
  2. Send the next letter.
  3. All other steps happen without me thinking about them.

 

My biggest frustration with sending these days is remembering how to spell.    Too many years using spell check at work, I guess.

 

There have been some station upgrades too.  My old eBay Ten Tec Scout has been replaced with a shiny new Icom IC-7300 and my 7 band OCF dipole has been replaced with an 8 Band OCF Dipole.  The new antenna allows me to work 160 meters and my first 160 contact was with a ham in Delaware, a neighboring state that I had been trying to get for WAS.  I also switched to using a Cootie Key.  And I am learning how to use a Bug.

 

For the folks out there reading this story who are just starting out in CW, I’d like to offer some advice from someone who started CW not too long ago.  To learn CW, you have got to put in the time.  There is no short cut to this.  Find whatever CW generating hardware, software or recordings you want to use and then practice with it every day.  The more you practice the faster you will learn, but you need to practice everyday even if it is only for 10 or 15 minutes.   Practice sending too.  And practice sending to a live person so you can get feedback.  This can be hard if you don’t have someone to send to, but it really helped me.  If you can’t find a buddy locally to practice with, join one of the Long Island CW Club (LICW)or CW OPS classes.  Both are fantastic ways to learn code or improve your code.  I have finished CW Ops Classes Levels 1, 2 and 3 and I am currently in the LICW Head Copy QSO class on Tuesday Nights.  The feedback from the instructors and fellow students is invaluable. 

 

When you practice sending and when you are sending on the air, always remember that Slow is Fast.  I know that sounds crazy, but it is true.  We all hear the veteran CW operators sending at crazy fast speeds and we want to be like them.  We will get there.  But first focus on sending good, clean well formed, well spaced Morse code.  Forget about sending fast.  Sending code at lighting speed is no good if no one can understand it because your spacing and timing is wrong.  Make sure your dits and dahs are the right length and consistent.  Make sure your spacing between elements, characters, words and sentences is correct and consistent.  If you focus on sending good, clean code, before you know it, you will be sending good clean code at high speed.  It will just happen before you know it.  And as I have found out, good clean easy to copy code gets you more replies to your CQs.

 

As soon as you can send and receive all the letters and digits, get on the air.  Don’t wait.  Get on the air and get into a QSO with someone.  If you send a CQ at 5 wpm, eventually someone with respond and probably will respond close to the speed you are sending.  You are going to make mistakes, everybody does, so don’t worry about it.  If you keep at it, you will get better.  There is a QSO sequence that most CW ops use. It usually goes something like this:

 

  1. A signal report
  2. Your QTH
  3. Your Name

 

I try to throw in a greeting (Hello, Good Morning, Good Evening, Howdy, etc.) at the beginning and a Thank You or a 73 at the end.  But it’s not mandatory.  I just think it is a nice thing to do.  Write yourself a QSO script with this sequence and use it for your first few (or 100) QSOs.  It will keep you from getting lost in a QSO.  Get on the air every day and try to make just 1 QSO.  If you make more than one in a day, great, if not, that’s ok.  But make sure you get one.  And don’t be afraid of a ragchew.  They are great for improving your code and you might learn something.  You can always tell the other op you need to QRT when you get tired. 

 

And finally, when you have been on the air for a few months and you are feeling comfortable, don’t forget to answer the 5 wpm CQ that is not quite perfect.  Try to match their sending speed, be ready to repeat things a few times and have some understanding if you get a TU and 73 all of a sudden.  The sender is on the same journey you are, they are just not as far down the road as you.  

 

I think that is enough for now.  I’ll check back in when I hit 10,000 CW QSOs.  I’ll listen for you on the air.  I’ll be in the CW Sub-Bands every night. 

Dit-Dit.

Tate

N3BXZ

 

KC3MIO2020-10-31
1000 CW QSOs
Tate

I thought I recognized the call sign and I realized that I worked you last night. I wholeheartedly agree with what you say. Send clean and easily copied code, even if it is slower.

I just checked my QSOs and I am up to 1,051, passing 1K during the NAQCC anniversary. I remember when I first sent out CQ and I hoped no one would answer. You have to put yourself out there and do your best.
TMA342020-10-28
Re: 1000 CW QSOs
http://www.morsecode.nl/A%20Beginner%27s%20Guide%20to%20Making%20CW%20Contacts.html
Reply to a comment by : VE3CUI on 2020-10-12

"...Sending code at lighting speed is no good if no one can understand it because your spacing and timing is wrong. Make sure your dits and dahs are the right length and consistent. Make sure your spacing between elements, characters, words and sentences is correct and consistent..." Truer words were NEVER spoke...!!! I'll contact ANYONE on CW, because I simply like the mode so very much --- but the "...wannabe speed demons" just waste EVERYONE'S time...as in, "Why send TWO dits, when FIVE are just as easy to send," right...?! If people would simply sit back seriously & CRITICALLY self-examine their letter & character formation & spreading, it'd go a long, LONG way to making CW QSO's relaxing, & fun, as they SHOULD be, for BOTH parties engaged in the contact. So-called speed freaks are hardly impressing anyone with their SPEED, per se --- but they ARE leaving an indelible impression as to how very sloppy & inconsiderate their code skills REALLY are, believe-you-me...!
K7DAA2020-10-28
Re: 1000 CW QSOs
Amen to that! I am still amazed (and turned off) by folks that apparently think there is nothing wrong with how their dits and dahs are formed, and the spacing between them. We've all heard them sending CQ or some other recognizable pattern that you can only understand because of the rhythm of the characters!

I've listened to some of these "QLF" folks occasionally calling endless CQ's, and I have to wonder if they are getting frustrated, thinking maybe their antenna or radio is bad, when it's really just that nobody can understand what they are sending.

My suggestion would be to record some of your sending practice, and then play it back to yourself to make sure you can decode it. This is especially important if you are using a straight key, since you have to concentrate just a bit more to properly form the characters. Listen carefully and critique yourself, noting where you could do a bit better. Nobody, least of all me, expect you to send with a perfect fist.

In fact, I am sometimes drawn to people sending slowly, making plenty of mistakes along the way. I try to use extra patience with them, and we often end up in a very enjoyable QSO. They remind me of myself when I first started in the 1960's as a Novice on 40 meters with 3 crystals and an old WWII receiver. It took me years to quit breaking into a literal sweat when I had a CW QSO!

Congrats on your 1K milestone, Tate, and thanks for sharing this info with us!

Reply to a comment by : VE3CUI on 2020-10-12

"...Sending code at lighting speed is no good if no one can understand it because your spacing and timing is wrong. Make sure your dits and dahs are the right length and consistent. Make sure your spacing between elements, characters, words and sentences is correct and consistent..." Truer words were NEVER spoke...!!! I'll contact ANYONE on CW, because I simply like the mode so very much --- but the "...wannabe speed demons" just waste EVERYONE'S time...as in, "Why send TWO dits, when FIVE are just as easy to send," right...?! If people would simply sit back seriously & CRITICALLY self-examine their letter & character formation & spreading, it'd go a long, LONG way to making CW QSO's relaxing, & fun, as they SHOULD be, for BOTH parties engaged in the contact. So-called speed freaks are hardly impressing anyone with their SPEED, per se --- but they ARE leaving an indelible impression as to how very sloppy & inconsiderate their code skills REALLY are, believe-you-me...!
N3BXZ2020-10-23
Re: 1000 CW QSOs
Steve, just go for it. Yes, you will be nervous and you will make mistakes. But as I have said, both of those things are ok.

If you want to set up a sked, feel free to reach out to me. I'd be happy to help.

Tate
N3BXZ
Reply to a comment by : K7OFG on 2020-10-19

Thanks for the encouragement with getting on the air with CW. I've been studying for a while now and do try to practice on a daily schedule. Still have the newbie jitters about answering or sending a CQ. Just have to do it. Thanks, Steve.
AE5X2020-10-21
Re: 1000 CW QSOs
You guys may be interested to know that there's a CW contest geared toward new CW ops:
http://www.k1usn.com/sst.html

The exchange is easy and provides good practice at copying callsigns and other short info. No speed is too slow.

John AE5X
Reply to a comment by : K7OFG on 2020-10-19

Thanks for the encouragement with getting on the air with CW. I've been studying for a while now and do try to practice on a daily schedule. Still have the newbie jitters about answering or sending a CQ. Just have to do it. Thanks, Steve.
K7OFG2020-10-19
1000 CW QSOs
Thanks for the encouragement with getting on the air with CW. I've been studying for a while now and do try to practice on a daily schedule. Still have the newbie jitters about answering or sending a CQ. Just have to do it.
Thanks,
Steve.
VE3CUI2020-10-12
1000 CW QSOs
"...Sending code at lighting speed is no good if no one can understand it because your spacing and timing is wrong. Make sure your dits and dahs are the right length and consistent. Make sure your spacing between elements, characters, words and sentences is correct and consistent..."

Truer words were NEVER spoke...!!!

I'll contact ANYONE on CW, because I simply like the mode so very much --- but the "...wannabe speed demons" just waste EVERYONE'S time...as in, "Why send TWO dits, when FIVE are just as easy to send," right...?!

If people would simply sit back seriously & CRITICALLY self-examine their letter & character formation & spreading, it'd go a long, LONG way to making CW QSO's relaxing, & fun, as they SHOULD be, for BOTH parties engaged in the contact. So-called speed freaks are hardly impressing anyone with their SPEED, per se --- but they ARE leaving an indelible impression as to how very sloppy & inconsiderate their code skills REALLY are, believe-you-me...!