Finding stuff on the 'net

I was looking for something else when I ran into this article.  I got
close to the end when I thought, "I recognize this guy."  A few lines
later my suspicions were confirmed :)  I'm sure he won't mind being
re-posted here.

   73,  Kevin.  KD5ONS

================================================


I find that CW has many practical and engaging aspects that I just don’t
get with computer-mediated modes like FT8. You’d think I’d be burned out
on CW by now, over 45 years since I was first licensed, but no, I’m
still doin’ it :)

Yes, FT8 (etc.) is a no-brainer when, despite poor conditions, your goal
is to log as many contacts as possible with as many states or countries
as possible. It’s so streamlined and efficient that the whole process is
readily automated. (If you haven’t read enough opinions on that, see
"The mother of all FT8 threads” on QRZ.com <http://qrz.com/>, for example.)

But back to CW. Here’s why it works for me. YMMV.

CW feels personal and visceral, like driving a sports car rather than
taking a cab. As with a sports car, there are risks. You can get
clobbered by larger vehicles (QRM). Witness road range (“UP 2!”). Fall
into a pothole (QSB). Be forced to drive through rain or snow (QRN).

With CW, like other forms of human conversation, you can affect your own
style. Make mistakes. Joke about it.

CW is a skill that bonds operators together across generations and
nations. A language, more like pidgin than anything else, with
abbreviations and historical constructs and imperialist oddities. A
curious club anyone can join. (At age 60 and able to copy 50 WPM on a
good day, I may qualify as a Nerd Mason of some modest order, worthless
in any other domain but of value in a contest.)

With very simple equipment that anyone can build, such as a high-power
single-transistor oscillator, you can transmit a CW signal. I had very
little experience with electronics when I was 14 and built an oscillator
that put out maybe 100 mW. Just twisted the leads of all those parts
together and keyed the collector supply--a 9-volt battery. With this
simple circuit on my desk, coupled to one guy wire of our TV antenna
mast, I worked a station 150 miles away and was instantly hooked on
building things. And on QRP. I’m sure the signal was key-clicky and had
lots of harmonics. I’ve spent a lifetime making such things work better,
but this is where it started.

Going even further down the techno food chain, you can “send” CW by
whistling, flashing a lamp, tapping on someone’s leg under a table in
civics class, or pounding a wrench on the inverted hull of an
upside-down U.S. war vessel, as happened at Pearl Harbor. Last Saturday
at an engineering club my son belongs to, a 9-year-old demonstrated an
Arduino Uno flashing HELLO WORLD in Morse on an LED. The other kids were
impressed, including my son, who promptly wrote a version that sends
three independent Morse streams on three LEDs. A mini-pileup. His first
program.

Finally, to do CW you don’t always need a computer, keyboard, mouse,
monitor, or software. Such things are invaluable in our daily lives, but
for me, shutting down everything but the radio is the high point of my
day. The small display glows like a mystic portal into my personal
oyster, the RF spectrum. Unless I crank up the power, there’s no fan
noise. Tuning the knob slowly from the bottom end of the band segment to
the top is a bit like fishing my favorite stream, Taylor Creek, which
connects Fallen Leaf Lake to Lake Tahoe. Drag the line across the green,
sunlit pool. See what hits. Big trout? DX. Small trout? Hey, it’s still
a fish, and a QSO across town is still a QSO. Admire it, then throw it
back in.

(BTW: You now know why the Elecraft K3, K3S, KX2, and KX3 all have
built-in RTTY and PSK data modes that allow transmit via the keyer
paddle and receive on the rig’s display. We decided to make these data
modes conversational...like CW.)

Back to 40 meters....

73,

Wayne
N6KR
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[wayne burdick]

Guilty as charged :)

Wayne
N6KR

> On Jun 8, 2020, at 5:47 PM, kevinr <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> I was looking for something else when I ran into this article.  I got close to the end when I thought, "I recognize this guy."  A few lines later my suspicions were confirmed :)  I'm sure he won't mind being re-posted here.
>
>   73,  Kevin.  KD5ONS
>
> ================================================
>
>
> I find that CW has many practical and engaging aspects that I just don’t get with computer-mediated modes like FT8. You’d think I’d be burned out on CW by now, over 45 years since I was first licensed, but no, I’m still doin’ it :)
>
> Yes, FT8 (etc.) is a no-brainer when, despite poor conditions, your goal is to log as many contacts as possible with as many states or countries as possible. It’s so streamlined and efficient that the whole process is readily automated. (If you haven’t read enough opinions on that, see "The mother of all FT8 threads” on QRZ.com <http://qrz.com/>, for example.)
>
> But back to CW. Here’s why it works for me. YMMV.
>
> CW feels personal and visceral, like driving a sports car rather than taking a cab. As with a sports car, there are risks. You can get clobbered by larger vehicles (QRM). Witness road range (“UP 2!”). Fall into a pothole (QSB). Be forced to drive through rain or snow (QRN).
>
> With CW, like other forms of human conversation, you can affect your own style. Make mistakes. Joke about it.
>
> CW is a skill that bonds operators together across generations and nations. A language, more like pidgin than anything else, with abbreviations and historical constructs and imperialist oddities. A curious club anyone can join. (At age 60 and able to copy 50 WPM on a good day, I may qualify as a Nerd Mason of some modest order, worthless in any other domain but of value in a contest.)
>
> With very simple equipment that anyone can build, such as a high-power single-transistor oscillator, you can transmit a CW signal. I had very little experience with electronics when I was 14 and built an oscillator that put out maybe 100 mW. Just twisted the leads of all those parts together and keyed the collector supply--a 9-volt battery. With this simple circuit on my desk, coupled to one guy wire of our TV antenna mast, I worked a station 150 miles away and was instantly hooked on building things. And on QRP. I’m sure the signal was key-clicky and had lots of harmonics. I’ve spent a lifetime making such things work better, but this is where it started.
>
> Going even further down the techno food chain, you can “send” CW by whistling, flashing a lamp, tapping on someone’s leg under a table in civics class, or pounding a wrench on the inverted hull of an upside-down U.S. war vessel, as happened at Pearl Harbor. Last Saturday at an engineering club my son belongs to, a 9-year-old demonstrated an Arduino Uno flashing HELLO WORLD in Morse on an LED. The other kids were impressed, including my son, who promptly wrote a version that sends three independent Morse streams on three LEDs. A mini-pileup. His first program.
>
> Finally, to do CW you don’t always need a computer, keyboard, mouse, monitor, or software. Such things are invaluable in our daily lives, but for me, shutting down everything but the radio is the high point of my day. The small display glows like a mystic portal into my personal oyster, the RF spectrum. Unless I crank up the power, there’s no fan noise. Tuning the knob slowly from the bottom end of the band segment to the top is a bit like fishing my favorite stream, Taylor Creek, which connects Fallen Leaf Lake to Lake Tahoe. Drag the line across the green, sunlit pool. See what hits. Big trout? DX. Small trout? Hey, it’s still a fish, and a QSO across town is still a QSO. Admire it, then throw it back in.
>
> (BTW: You now know why the Elecraft K3, K3S, KX2, and KX3 all have built-in RTTY and PSK data modes that allow transmit via the keyer paddle and receive on the rig’s display. We decided to make these data modes conversational...like CW.)
>
> Back to 40 meters....
>
> 73,
>
> Wayne
> N6KR
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to [hidden email]

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[Elecraft mailing list]

Thank you for sharing that, Kevin. It was lovely, almost to the point of being poetic.

I just live over the hill from the writer, here in Carson City. The fishing analogy works.

I’m learning Morse Code. I need practice and have a bit of key-fright. Slow-speed CWT is Wednesday, so I’m hoping to make a few contacts with some CWOps folks. That is, if the dog will let me focus on the radio for a few minutes. ;)

One of my instructors was sending slow enough last Wednesday that I could copy him. I logged him as my second CW contact. I also sent him a QSL card.

73 de AG7TX

David Thompson, AG7TX
Jack of All Trades
Master of None
[hidden email]

> On Jun 8, 2020, at 17:47, kevinr <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> I was looking for something else when I ran into this article.  I got close to the end when I thought, "I recognize this guy."  A few lines later my suspicions were confirmed :)  I'm sure he won't mind being re-posted here.
>
>   73,  Kevin.  KD5ONS
>
> ================================================
>
>
> I find that CW has many practical and engaging aspects that I just don’t get with computer-mediated modes like FT8. You’d think I’d be burned out on CW by now, over 45 years since I was first licensed, but no, I’m still doin’ it :)
>
> Yes, FT8 (etc.) is a no-brainer when, despite poor conditions, your goal is to log as many contacts as possible with as many states or countries as possible. It’s so streamlined and efficient that the whole process is readily automated. (If you haven’t read enough opinions on that, see "The mother of all FT8 threads” on QRZ.com <http://qrz.com/>, for example.)
>
> But back to CW. Here’s why it works for me. YMMV.
>
> CW feels personal and visceral, like driving a sports car rather than taking a cab. As with a sports car, there are risks. You can get clobbered by larger vehicles (QRM). Witness road range (“UP 2!”). Fall into a pothole (QSB). Be forced to drive through rain or snow (QRN).
>
> With CW, like other forms of human conversation, you can affect your own style. Make mistakes. Joke about it.
>
> CW is a skill that bonds operators together across generations and nations. A language, more like pidgin than anything else, with abbreviations and historical constructs and imperialist oddities. A curious club anyone can join. (At age 60 and able to copy 50 WPM on a good day, I may qualify as a Nerd Mason of some modest order, worthless in any other domain but of value in a contest.)
>
> With very simple equipment that anyone can build, such as a high-power single-transistor oscillator, you can transmit a CW signal. I had very little experience with electronics when I was 14 and built an oscillator that put out maybe 100 mW. Just twisted the leads of all those parts together and keyed the collector supply--a 9-volt battery. With this simple circuit on my desk, coupled to one guy wire of our TV antenna mast, I worked a station 150 miles away and was instantly hooked on building things. And on QRP. I’m sure the signal was key-clicky and had lots of harmonics. I’ve spent a lifetime making such things work better, but this is where it started.
>
> Going even further down the techno food chain, you can “send” CW by whistling, flashing a lamp, tapping on someone’s leg under a table in civics class, or pounding a wrench on the inverted hull of an upside-down U.S. war vessel, as happened at Pearl Harbor. Last Saturday at an engineering club my son belongs to, a 9-year-old demonstrated an Arduino Uno flashing HELLO WORLD in Morse on an LED. The other kids were impressed, including my son, who promptly wrote a version that sends three independent Morse streams on three LEDs. A mini-pileup. His first program.
>
> Finally, to do CW you don’t always need a computer, keyboard, mouse, monitor, or software. Such things are invaluable in our daily lives, but for me, shutting down everything but the radio is the high point of my day. The small display glows like a mystic portal into my personal oyster, the RF spectrum. Unless I crank up the power, there’s no fan noise. Tuning the knob slowly from the bottom end of the band segment to the top is a bit like fishing my favorite stream, Taylor Creek, which connects Fallen Leaf Lake to Lake Tahoe. Drag the line across the green, sunlit pool. See what hits. Big trout? DX. Small trout? Hey, it’s still a fish, and a QSO across town is still a QSO. Admire it, then throw it back in.
>
> (BTW: You now know why the Elecraft K3, K3S, KX2, and KX3 all have built-in RTTY and PSK data modes that allow transmit via the keyer paddle and receive on the rig’s display. We decided to make these data modes conversational...like CW.)
>
> Back to 40 meters....
>
> 73,
>
> Wayne
> N6KR
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to [hidden email]

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Post: mailto:[hidden email]

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[Buddy Brannan]

Wayne, I couldn’t have said this better, especially the bit about why you (ermmm…I) prefer my cw computer less. Computers are my day job. The Internyet is my day job. I love them both, but I like having that space where they are not. I even like taking it a step further and go straight key or bug. (Yes, I get a strange joy out of using a key that’s larger than the KX3 to which it is connected, but that’s neither here nor there.) I guess that having that space, having that skill, even at age 14 when I tried very hard to not like cw, is why I loved it in spite of myself, and why I love it still. It puts me into this place that nothing else ever has. I love its simplicity, both in concept and in what you need to use it, paired with the practice and skill it takes to use it. I still feel as though I’ve missed out a lot on the building experience, but I’m going to fix that shortcoming one way or another, one time or another. Even so, thanks for saying so well exactly those things I’ve felt for the past 33 years.

Vy 73,


Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Email: [hidden email]
Mobile: [phone]

> On Jun 8, 2020, at 9:02 PM, Wayne Burdick <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> Guilty as charged :)
>
> Wayne
> N6KR
>
>
>> On Jun 8, 2020, at 5:47 PM, kevinr <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>
>> I was looking for something else when I ran into this article.  I got close to the end when I thought, "I recognize this guy."  A few lines later my suspicions were confirmed :)  I'm sure he won't mind being re-posted here.
>>
>>  73,  Kevin.  KD5ONS
>>
>> ================================================
>>
>>
>> I find that CW has many practical and engaging aspects that I just don’t get with computer-mediated modes like FT8. You’d think I’d be burned out on CW by now, over 45 years since I was first licensed, but no, I’m still doin’ it :)
>>
>> Yes, FT8 (etc.) is a no-brainer when, despite poor conditions, your goal is to log as many contacts as possible with as many states or countries as possible. It’s so streamlined and efficient that the whole process is readily automated. (If you haven’t read enough opinions on that, see "The mother of all FT8 threads” on QRZ.com <http://qrz.com/>, for example.)
>>
>> But back to CW. Here’s why it works for me. YMMV.
>>
>> CW feels personal and visceral, like driving a sports car rather than taking a cab. As with a sports car, there are risks. You can get clobbered by larger vehicles (QRM). Witness road range (“UP 2!”). Fall into a pothole (QSB). Be forced to drive through rain or snow (QRN).
>>
>> With CW, like other forms of human conversation, you can affect your own style. Make mistakes. Joke about it.
>>
>> CW is a skill that bonds operators together across generations and nations. A language, more like pidgin than anything else, with abbreviations and historical constructs and imperialist oddities. A curious club anyone can join. (At age 60 and able to copy 50 WPM on a good day, I may qualify as a Nerd Mason of some modest order, worthless in any other domain but of value in a contest.)
>>
>> With very simple equipment that anyone can build, such as a high-power single-transistor oscillator, you can transmit a CW signal. I had very little experience with electronics when I was 14 and built an oscillator that put out maybe 100 mW. Just twisted the leads of all those parts together and keyed the collector supply--a 9-volt battery. With this simple circuit on my desk, coupled to one guy wire of our TV antenna mast, I worked a station 150 miles away and was instantly hooked on building things. And on QRP. I’m sure the signal was key-clicky and had lots of harmonics. I’ve spent a lifetime making such things work better, but this is where it started.
>>
>> Going even further down the techno food chain, you can “send” CW by whistling, flashing a lamp, tapping on someone’s leg under a table in civics class, or pounding a wrench on the inverted hull of an upside-down U.S. war vessel, as happened at Pearl Harbor. Last Saturday at an engineering club my son belongs to, a 9-year-old demonstrated an Arduino Uno flashing HELLO WORLD in Morse on an LED. The other kids were impressed, including my son, who promptly wrote a version that sends three independent Morse streams on three LEDs. A mini-pileup. His first program.
>>
>> Finally, to do CW you don’t always need a computer, keyboard, mouse, monitor, or software. Such things are invaluable in our daily lives, but for me, shutting down everything but the radio is the high point of my day. The small display glows like a mystic portal into my personal oyster, the RF spectrum. Unless I crank up the power, there’s no fan noise. Tuning the knob slowly from the bottom end of the band segment to the top is a bit like fishing my favorite stream, Taylor Creek, which connects Fallen Leaf Lake to Lake Tahoe. Drag the line across the green, sunlit pool. See what hits. Big trout? DX. Small trout? Hey, it’s still a fish, and a QSO across town is still a QSO. Admire it, then throw it back in.
>>
>> (BTW: You now know why the Elecraft K3, K3S, KX2, and KX3 all have built-in RTTY and PSK data modes that allow transmit via the keyer paddle and receive on the rig’s display. We decided to make these data modes conversational...like CW.)
>>
>> Back to 40 meters....
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> Wayne
>> N6KR
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> Elecraft mailing list
>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>>
>> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>> Message delivered to [hidden email]
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to [hidden email]

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