OT - Looking for a "code buddy"

[J. Heide]

I have decided it is time to learn morse code! I have
been using the computer for practice, both sending and
receiving. The K3 in test mode makes a great practice
oscillator. I made my first, very slow, CW contact
today on 20 meters to a very patient ham in Texas. It
was probably the most nervous I have ever been on ham
radio. I would like very much to have a kind, patient,
but honest (brutally so, if necessary) local ham to
work with me on the air a little while each week.
Please contact me off list to set something up if you
are willing to assist me in my learning.

Thanks and 73
Josh K6ZRX
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[George Victor-2]

Why local?


On Tue, May 6, 2008 at 10:25 PM, J. Heide <[hidden email]> wrote:

> I have decided it is time to learn morse code! I have
> been using the computer for practice, both sending and
> receiving. The K3 in test mode makes a great practice
> oscillator. I made my first, very slow, CW contact
> today on 20 meters to a very patient ham in Texas. It
> was probably the most nervous I have ever been on ham
> radio. I would like very much to have a kind, patient,
> but honest (brutally so, if necessary) local ham to
> work with me on the air a little while each week.
> Please contact me off list to set something up if you
> are willing to assist me in my learning.
>
> Thanks and 73
> Josh K6ZRX
> _______________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Post to: [hidden email]
> You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
> Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
>  http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
>

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[J. Heide]

Thanks to everyone here, I have no shortage of help
with my CW! I now have some guys to work with me, and
some friendly frequencies to visit. Now all of you
know my call, and that I am new to CW.

It was also pretty neat to have my first QSO be
someone from the group here. Cookie was really great
on the air, and I really started to get comfortable
with the code as the QSO progressed. Oh, and I didn't
cheat too often with the K3's decoder. Only a little
bit in the beginning, then I felt more at ease, and
copied better.

Thank you all so much for the advice (get on the air
and call CQ) and encouragement. I will be checking out
the SKCC and the resources there.

73
Josh K6ZRX
K2/100 6097
K2/10 6391
K3 722
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[TF3KX]

Congratulations on deciding to learn CW!!  Just a few suggestions...

Make sure you learn the code "the proper way", that will reward you in the long run.  That is, learn each character as a complete sound (A="di-dah", etc.), avoid visualizing code as written dot and dash symbols.  Also, learn each character the "Farnsworth" way, i.e. learn the entire sound of each character at a fairly high speed (say, 20 WPM) although the overall character rate may be much lower and you have longer silence gaps between characters.

You won't make much progress practicing once a week.  Try to stick with it every evening for a while, if possible, and this will help you get over the hurdle.

Finally, don't be shy to start making fool of yourself on the air in simple and slow QSO's.  We've all been there and we all bear with it when we hear new CW ops taking their first steps.  If worse comes to worse you can always pull the plug or sweep the dial and disappear to another frequency... :-)

73 - Kristinn, TF3KX
 

J. Heide wrote

I have decided it is time to learn morse code! I have
been using the computer for practice, both sending and
receiving. The K3 in test mode makes a great practice
oscillator. I made my first, very slow, CW contact
today on 20 meters to a very patient ham in Texas. It
was probably the most nervous I have ever been on ham
radio. I would like very much to have a kind, patient,
but honest (brutally so, if necessary) local ham to
work with me on the air a little while each week.
Please contact me off list to set something up if you
are willing to assist me in my learning.

Thanks and 73
Josh K6ZRX
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