Morse Code at 50wpm with 6x Spacing

If your instant Morse word recognition is stuck somewhere between 40-50wpm, this audio sent w/ 6x normal character spacing might be helpful to get your mind recognizing groups of letters sent quickly at higher speed without becoming overwhelmed by a stream of 50wpm letters sent in words with normal spacing. Kind of a way to bridge the divide between 40wpm and 50wpm to help your brain make the leap. Kurt Zoglmann creates many great Morse code files on YouTube. ~ https://youtu.be/cE58Qn0TcZY

Ham Radio Solutions CW Hotline Device and Websites

 

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Not too long ago I was listening to an episode of the Ham Radio Crash Course podcast where Ham Radio Solution's CW Hotline was mentioned. The device sounded interesting to me, so I decided to look it up, and I'm glad that I did! I've found a community of CW / Morse code learners & enthusiasts who can participate in internet chatroom QSO's in the VBand Virtual CW Band site with just a smartphone’s touchscreen, a computer keyboard or an adapter that can be connected to an actual Morse key / paddle / bug, etc. Owners of CW Hotline devices can also engage in private QSO's with other CW Hotline owners using individually created keys / passwords which are only shared with others whom they want to communicate with.

Winter Field Day 2022

I got out very briefly this past Sunday (Jan 30th) to at least set-up for Winter Field Day. I figured I could at least learn some lessons about portable setup with the Yaesu FT-857D. 

I drove around Red Hills State Park and chose a spot near the lake not far from the old abandoned restaurant. 

In addition to the 857d, I brought the Tecsun S-2000, a weather radio, a QRP tri-bander, the Anytone 878uv HT, and a handheld scanner. I set up a long wire antenna for the Tecsun, and a GR5V-Jr for the Yaesu. 

First thing that I heard was Voice of America in Somali from England with a decent signal. Next, I decided to try some QRP CW. I had a station that heard and came back to me from Georgia, but I was lost in the QRN after that. Than I made contact with another QRP portable station located at Beaver Dam State Park - also in Illinois. 

I had to work early the next morning, so it was already time to break camp and head home to get some ZZZZzzz’s. A local ham radio and fellow former Air Force friend from Olney had stopped by to see the setup. He helped me get everything back into the car and that was that. 

Lessons learned: remember to bring whatever you need to get the antenna up high. Bring more ink pens and fewer radios. Probably one HT, one HF and the weather radio will be plenty. Get set up early on day one and camp out overnight. Get a lighter portable power setup - what I have is too heavy and requires too many pieces of equipment. 

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Useful Morse Code Practice Sites

 

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Learn CW Online

This site will allow you to paste a limited amount of text from anywhere into a text box and then play it back in CW at whatever speed and tone you set up. I used this site a lot back in 2013 when I first thought about getting back into amateur radio after a 20+ year hiatus. It has a lot of cool features and can really help with building your speed and getting an idea of where you stand currently with your copying ability. You can find my profile here: https://lcwo.net/profile/Skunkroot

https://lcwo.net/

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Morse Code News 4.4

Morse News periodically reads one or more RSS/Atom (news) and/or Twitter timelines/direct messages then translates the received messages into precisely timed International (radio) or American (railroad) Morse code. The Morse code can be played as CW radio tones, old-fashioned spark-gap sounds, telegraph sounder click/clack sounds, or to a physical telegraph sounder connected to a serial port. Split speeds are supported for Farnsworth effects. American code generation includes timing nuances that make it sound natural. The CW and spark-gap sounds can optionally be enhanced with realistic noise, static crashes, and ionospheric-style Raleigh fading.

Version 4.4 adds TLS 1.2 encryption for RSS, expanded info on RSS feeds, plus new and revised default feeds. V4.3 Added TLS 1.2 for Twitter. Version 4.2 is a major update, please see the release notes in the help page for the many changes and new features .Version 4.1 adds Twitter direct message support to Morse News, inspired by Garry Tidler WW9GT. Version 4.0 has many new features including low-latency ASIO sound support, inspired by Chuck Vaughan AA0HW for crisp keying at QRQ speeds, all new handling of feeds with a feed connectivity and content checker.

http://morse-rss-news.sourceforge.net/

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I found this site today because my favorite CW app (Ham Morse) seems to have gone offline. I was looking for another place to get Morse news headlines. At first glance, it looks like this is actually a group of live-stream links that are constantly streaming CW headlines at different speeds. Nice resource for practice there. It looks like this is a site that is affiliated with FISTs somehow? But I'm not sure.

http://cw.dimebank.com:8080/

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Tuning through some CW using my QRP rig in the truck.

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Getting the Tri-Bander battery charged up to try to make some 

QSO's on 40m for the first time from the truck.

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Trucking with QRP CW

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Last week I finally got my QRP CW rig set up from the truck while out on the road. These pics were taken in Iowa. I could hear code immediately on 40m, and I called CQ a few times later on a quiet freq, but was unheard that night. I have made a lot of QSO's with this rig from home, so I'm really looking forward to making some contacts while out gallivanting around the country.

 

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15 Meters on a 40 Meter Dipole With a MFJ-971 Tuner

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Today I decided to try my luck with QRP CW using the 40m simple wire dipole that I have with my MFJ-971 antenna tuner. I knew that this would hypothetically work, but I had not tried it yet because I was focusing my efforts on 40m. Why not since that's what the antenna is tuned to. I was pleasantly surprised by the results: four QSO's in as many hours at 3w PEP. The farthest one being about 1641 miles away That was impressive to me based on my prior experience on 40m. I wonder what my 3 watts could do with an antenna that was actually tuned to 15 meters!
 

Greeley, CO to Harwinton, CT - 1641 Miles!

 

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FEB 2016 QSO's

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Greeley, CO to Lexington, TX

 above map courtesy of "As The Crow Flies" Distance Calculator

  QSO: CW QRP / QRS

Date/Time: 19 FEB 2016 / Approx: 0358hrs UTC
Per N9SSA Distance and Miles Per Watt Calculator:

Dist: Approx 816 miles - Pwr = 3w PEP

Dist Per Watt =  204 miles per watt

Rig: KD1JV Tri-Bander

Ant. 40m Wire Dipole w/ MFJ-971 Tuner
Freq: 7.053 MHz

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Greeley, CO to Harwinton, CT
The farthest my QRP rig has reached yet!

 above map courtesy of "As The Crow Flies" Distance Calculator

  QSO: CW QRP / QRS

Date/Time: 11 FEB 2016 / Approx: 2300hrs UTC
Per N9SSA Distance and Miles Per Watt Calculator:

Dist: Approx 1641 miles - Pwr = 3w PEP

Dist Per Watt =  547 miles per watt

Rig: KD1JV Tri-Bander

Ant. 40m Wire Dipole w/ MFJ-971 Tuner
Freq: 21.050 MHz

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Greeley, CO to Choccolocco, AL

 above map courtesy of "As The Crow Flies" Distance Calculator

  QSO: CW QRP / QRS

Date/Time: 11 FEB 2016 / 2144hrs UTC

Dist: Approx 1146 miles - Pwr = 3w PEP

Dist Per Watt =  381 miles per watt

Rig: KD1JV Tri-Bander

Ant. 40m Wire Dipole w/ MFJ-971 Tuner
Freq: 21.050 MHz

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Greeley, CO to Portland, OR
Made initial contact but lost to QSB

 above map courtesy of "As The Crow Flies" Distance Calculator

  QSO: CW QRP / QRS

Date/Time: 11 FEB 2016 / 2054hrs UTC

Dist: Approx 973 miles - Pwr = 3w PEP

Dist Per Watt =  324 miles per watt

Rig: KD1JV Tri-Bander

Ant. 40m Wire Dipole w/ MFJ-971 Tuner
Freq: 21.050 MHz

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Greeley, CO to Corpus Christi, TX
My first ever 15m QSO! Thanks Mike!

above map courtesy of "As The Crow Flies" Distance Calculator

  QSO: CW QRP / QRS

Date/Time: 11 FEB 2016 / 1747hrs UTC

Dist: Approx 967 miles - Pwr < 4w PEP

Dist Per Watt > 239 miles per watt

Rig: KD1JV Tri-Bander

Ant. 40m Wire Dipole w/ MFJ-971 Tuner
Freq: 21.048 MHz

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Greeley, CO to Cincinnati, OH

above map courtesy of "As The Crow Flies" Distance Calculator

  QSO: CW QRP / QRS

Date/Time: 10 FEB 2016 / 0539hrs UTC

Dist: Approx 1066 miles - Pwr < 5w

Dist Per Watt > 213 miles per watt

Rig: KD1JV Tri-Bander

Ant. 40m Wire Dipole
Freq: 7.053 MHz

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Greeley, CO to  Kent, WA

above map courtesy of "As The Crow Flies" Distance Calculator

  QSO: CW QRP / QRS

Date/Time: 10 FEB 2016 / 0129hrs UTC

Dist: Approx 994 miles - Pwr < 5w

Dist Per Watt > 199 miles per watt

Rig: KD1JV Tri-Bander

Ant. 40m Wire Dipole
Freq: 7.116 MHz

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Greeley, CO to Houston, TX

above map courtesy of "As The Crow Flies" Distance Calculator

  QSO: CW QRP / QRS

Date/Time: 09 FEB 2016 / 0021hrs UTC

Dist: Approx 906 miles - Pwr < 5w

Dist Per Watt > 185 miles per watt

Rig: KD1JV Tri-Bander

Ant. 40m Wire Dipole
Freq: 7.114 MHz

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Things I want for my SHTF Ham Shack

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Links to products to keep in mind as I slowly prepare my shack for both emergency situations and portable ops. These are items I've either learned about through other hams who mentioned them over the air, or through online research. I'll include my thoughts about any of these that I own. If you have feedback about items I've listed or something that I should have listed, I'd love to hear from you!

Goal Zero Solar Power Supplies

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Yaesu FT-857D

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N9TAX 2m / 70cm Slim Jim Antenna

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Navy Flameproof CW Straight Key

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QSO Feb. 7th, 2016

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2nd QSO from Greeley, CO to Farmersville, TX

Thanks for the great chat!

above map courtesy of "As The Crow Flies" Distance Calculator

  QSO: CW QRP / QRS

Date/Time: 07 FEB 2016 / 0233hrs UTC

Dist: Approx 682 miles - Pwr < 5w

Dist Per Watt > 137 miles per watt

Rig: KD1JV Tri-Bander

Ant. 40m Wire Dipole
Freq: 7.111 MHz

QSO's Feb. 6th, 2016

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Greeley, CO to Farmersville, TX

Another good CW QSO tonight. I've been lucky with my QRP rig the last few days. 

Hope this keeps up! Thanks Jon.

above map courtesy of "As The Crow Flies" Distance Calculator

  QSO: CW QRP / QRS

Date/Time: 06 FEB 2016 / 0225hrs UTC

Dist: Approx 682 miles - Pwr < 5w

Dist Per Watt > 137 miles per watt

Rig: KD1JV Tri-Bander

Ant. 40m Wire Dipole
Freq: 7.1083 MHz


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Greeley, CO to Seguin, TX

Tonight was apparently destined to be a Texas night. This QSO was great for a few minutes before the QRN took over on my end unfortunately. Hopefully the airwaves will be more cooperative on the next go round. Thanks Art!

 above map courtesy of "As The Crow Flies" Distance Calculator

  QSO: CW QRP / QRS

Date/Time: 06 FEB 2016 / 0529hrs UTC

Dist: Approx 842 miles - Pwr < 5w

Dist Per Watt > 168 miles per watt

Rig: KD1JV Tri-Bander

Ant. 40m Wire Dipole
Freq: 7.053 MHz


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QSO Feb. 5th, 2016

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It is always a pleasure to copy crystal clear code with a super strong signal. My first QSO from the state that I called home for 8 years. Thanks Tony!

Greeley, CO to Oxnard, CA

above map courtesy of "As The Crow Flies" Distance Calculator

  QSO: CW QRP / QRS

Date/Time: 05 FEB 2016 / 0341hrs UTC

Dist: Approx 903 miles - Pwr < 5w

Dist Per Watt > 181 miles per watt

Rig: KD1JV Tri-Bander

Ant. 40m Wire Dipole
Freq: 7.114 MHz

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5th CW QRP QSO

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Tonight's QSO was easily the easiest CW to copy (mostly due to excellent signal strength) that I've experienced yet as a ham. It was also the first time that I'd ever heard someone calling my callsign on the air when I wasn't expecting it. That was fun to hear! My radio's battery cut out during my initial response, so I had to quickly fumble around to get the AC/DC power supply up and running. Many thanks go out to Larry in Ohio for waiting around for me to get back on the air, and then for being patient with my QRS/QRP CW as well.

Greeley, CO to Wapakoneta, OH

above map courtesy of "As The Crow Flies" Distance Calculator

Date/Time: 02 FEB 2016 / 0418hrs UTC

Dist: Approx 1076 miles - Pwr < 5w

Dist Per Watt > 218 miles per watt

Rig: KD1JV Tri-Bander

Ant. 40m Wire Dipole
Freq: 7.053 MHz 

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CWops CW Test (CWT) Wednesday Nights

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I was surprised by how much CW I was hearing from 7.120-7.140MHz this evening, so I had to investigate. Turns out that I ran across the weekly Wednesday night CWT contest. Details can be found here: http://www.cwops.org/cwt.html

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3rd CW Contact

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3d QSO tonight. CW - 4W - 738 Miles. Great Fun!

Greeley, CO to Marcell, MN

 above map courtesy of "As The Crow Flies" Distance Calculator

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2nd CW Contact

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Made my 2nd ever CW contact tonight as part of the SKCC's January K3Y event. I've found that using the K3UK Sked Page to figure out who is on the air from SKCC at any given time, and the Reverse Beacon site for the 40m band makes it super easy to locate CW signals on the 40m band, in real-time, that I'll be likely to copy. 

Greeley, CO to Buffalo Grove, IL

 above map courtesy of "As The Crow Flies" Distance Calculator

Date/Time: 7 Jan 2016 / 0118 UTC

Dist: Approx 877 miles. 

Freq: 7.052MHz 

Rig: KD1JV Tri-Bander

Pwr < 5w

Ant. 40m Wire Dipole

K3Y and the K3UK Sked Page

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Despite having achieved my first QSO on December 30th, I was disappointed that I was unable to make contact with my QRP rig during the 24 hour ARRL Straight Key Night. Luckily, there is another Morse code event happening throughout the month of January 2016, which is the SKCC K3Y event.

While reading about this event, I learned about a page that I think I will be using every time I turn on the radio within sight of an internet-connected computer, which is the K3UK Sked Page, where folks from all of the CW groups are letting others know what they are monitoring on the radio spectrum, and what frequencies they're transmitting on. This will be a huge help in setting up skeds outside of contest times.  

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Straight Key Night 2016

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Tuning around 40m looking for some CW action:

The sound quality in this video is over-modulated, 

but you can still hear the Morse Code in there.

The band was busy tonight.

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First Ever CW QSO!

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I just made my first ever CW QSO: approximately 647 mile contact (Greeley, CO to Fayetteville, AR) using a KD1JV Tri-Bander and a straight key, transmitting less than 5w through a 40m dipole spanning the back yard. Ready now for Straight Key Night.

Greeley, CO to Fayetteville, AR

Map created using: http://tjpeiffer.com/crowflies.html

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