N4REE - Minimalist Ham

Code rehab forever - Make CW a 2nd language

CW

A Century with Jim Vaughan WB0RLJ

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Jim and I had our 100th POTA QSO yesterday. Jim probably doesn’t know it, but he’s my CW mentor. My first QSO with Jim was in May of 2023, not long after I discovered Parks On The Air. It only took a few QSOs with him to recognize his CW operator expertise, and to decide to hunt him as often as I could. Of the many things one can learn from Jim are consistency and courtesy.

Listen for a short while and the consistency is very obvious. He always conducts QSOs the same way, making it very easy to know when to try catching him.

More important, Jim’s courtesy is obvious by listening to how patient he is with all callers, particularly weak signal callers, such as my QRP whispers. His honest RST reports are also good tools. As my sloppy CW improved, so did the R (readability) part of his reports.

Good advice for ALL CW ops

Jim’s Advice for CW POTA Hunters can be very useful for all CW operators. While written as first person “opinions,” I believe they are excellent etiquette points for all CW operators. If all CW operators followed many of these suggestions, we would all have more fun, and avoid annoyances. If you want to be an outstanding CW operator (I’m not there yet), PLEASE take a few minutes to read Jim’s advice.

Personally, as a POTA hunter, I’ll hone in on my pet peeve: the IDIOTS (YES, I mean IDIOTS) that feel the need to tune-up directly over an activator. Your stupidity not only annoys the activators, but blocks others who are patiently waiting. Step aside a kHz, or to a nearby clear frequency, to tune your rig. That kHz is well within the bandwidth of any antenna, and if you don’t know that, you’re too stupid to have passed a license exam. Be considerate enough to stop tuning up over the top of any other signal you can hear. As Jim says, JUST DON’T DO IT.

Returning to being friendly, consider adding a personal bit to your QSOs. Saying “GA Jim” takes only a couple of seconds and signals a kind of friendship. Who doesn’t like a personal greeting? I try, but don’t do it often enough (a resolution in progress.)

Bonus material

Jim maintains a collection of activation recordings at his YouTube channel. These are good for you to:

  • Hear what your own signal sounds like on his end.
  • Hear what a pile up sounds like to an activator … and understand why being a bit off zero beat is a GOOD thing.
  • and maybe hear what an idiot sounds like tuning up on the same frequency.

Lastly…

The POTA site automatically generates awards related to activity frequency. These two were triggered by that 100th QSO with Jim, one for Jim the operator, the other for the park that he always uses. I’m delighted in knowing Jim WB0RLJ and having the awards.

AX1 “dummy load” rides a Trike

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We are blessed to live in a central Florida community that has miles and miles of “multiple mode” paved paths which we enjoy daily for trike riding. Our recumbent TerraTrikes are nearly 20 years old and one of the best purchases we ever made. Maybe I can go play radio on mine.

Let’s make the trike radio-active

First the antenna… The Elecraft AX1 has a reputation ranging from “outstanding” to “dummy load.” My experience has shown it very capable when set up well. It’s not for worldwide DX, but for pure fun, and indeed offers fun for POTA activities. Let’s deploy the AX1 on my TerraTrike.

There is a tripod mount widget for the AX1 which fits the standard camera 10-24 screw. I drilled and tapped a 10-24 hole in the deck of the trike’s panier carrier, and used a hardware store bit of 10-24 threaded rod to hold the antenna. My first attempt was with a short stub a few inches long. I learned later that the antenna was happier being elevated, so the remainder of that rod, 36″ minus the short stub, leaves a 32″ rod. Add a couple of nuts and we’re have a 32″ tower. Mount the tripod widget atop the threaded rod and the AX1 to the BNC connector there. Add 5.5′ of RG-316 coax, 13′ counterpoise wire (simply thrown on the ground under the trike), and some “secret sauce” to make an operational 20M antenna.

Some complain that the AX1 doesn’t work, is just a dummy load. My opinion is that these are the people who don’t understand antenna characteristics beyond reading the advertising hype. They break open the package with “plug-n-play” expectations, or with “my tuner will take care of it” expectations. Some don’t know how to test or adjust their antennas and end up disappointed.

Base loaded vertical antennas are sensitive to radiator length and ground conditions. Those with short whips have especially narrow bandwidth, often covering only a portion of the band they are designed for. Getting them to work at the frequency you want means you need to be very finicky about radiator length.

My secret sauce enables using this antenna with NO tuner. It works because I’ve measured the antenna’s behavior and know the AX1 naturally resonates at the SSB, not CW, end of 20M, or actually beyond in many deployment scenarios. To get resonance down to the CW portion of the band I add a 8″ extension via an alligator clip. Careful adjustment of the whip length then brings it to a beautiful not too steep SWR null.

Along this line, Linus Ly2H advocates using a capacitance hat to moderate the antenna’s reactance component. I’ve tried his suggestion and agree that it helps broaden bandwidth, flattens the curve somewhat. Yet, I find that it also raises the null point up to the 1.5 neighborhood.

I’ll stick with my clip-on extension and this result.

Next, operating layout… I’m not carrying a collapsible table or folding chair on the trike. I prefer sitting in the trike’s seat. But, where to put the gear? My DIY arrangement is made from a simple plastic kitchen cutting board, with a few washers epoxied to it, with a hook and loop patch for holding the Talentcel 3000 mAh battery and QMX radio, and with a non-slip pad to keep my phone in place. The QMX has an absolute voltage ceiling of 12v. So, the blob in the power cable is an inline voltage regulator. I use the wonderful Ham2K PoLo logger on the phone. Some CWMorse keys have magnets built in. The one I’m using did not, but I added them and it now sits nicely on those washers.

Transporting… is easy. The trike has two panier bags, into which I can stow the board, the threaded rod and a couple of Maxpedition pouches which hold the AX1 and the QMX, and other things I might want while riding. …and for places beyond a reasonable trike ride from home, I have a pickup truck that carries both of our trikes.

Note well: NONE of these product links are affiliate links. I don’t need to be making money off of my fellow hams’ interests.

End result… so far… My first tests were from the driveway at my home. Mid morning (14:00z) on 20M isn’t the hottest time of day for the band, but I set up and casually completed 3 hunter QSOs, while fiddling with the antenna in between. Twenty minutes, 559 and 599 RSTs from KY, PA and NY.

That’s a great start for an experiment with a dummy load.

P.S. Lest anyone think that I have doubts about the AX1, check the map below. 82 of the 84 contacts are from INSIDE the screened-in back porch, “lanai” in Florida talk. That’s a 12′ by 30′ area bounded by several rebar reinforced concrete columns and an aluminum structure that supports fiberglass screens. I often deploy the AX1 atop a simple photography tripod about 3 feet high, with a 13′ counterpoise loosely lying on the concrete floor. Knowing how to tune the AX1 makes it a real antenna and not just a dummy load.

Yet another CW tool from Mike and Becky

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How does your code sound? Do you send with the highly desirable 1-3 dit-dah timing ratio? Do you know for sure? Several tools have been around for quite some time, but none are so easy to use as Mike N4FFF and Becky’s N4BKY latest. Some of these tools want you to download and install software, run the app, etc. Mike and Becky’s new tool needs none of that. Open a browser and off you go. Get one of the dongles for attaching your key to a USB port, and let flail with your best Morse. CW Checker will show you loads of information about your code speed, dit-dah timing, and run a real time decode.

Mike and Becky explain:

I’ve been using it to migrate from a straight key to a Cootie without punishing on-air partners.

Filed Under: CW

New QSO Finder tool for CW operators

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Let’s make this tool famous!

Looking for a simple QSO … or a ragchew … or a code buddy … or an SKCC exchange? There are a variety of places to find these kinds of QSOs, but usually for only one type of exchange.

Now, there’s a QSO finder that is highly flexible and fabulous for extemporaneous QSOs of various types. Becky N4BKY and Michael N4FFF have just launched CW QSO Finder, a new tool to help you find the kind of QSO you want. Their intro video tells you all about it.

Several other tools exist, but here’s why I think we all should make this one famous:

  • Spontaneity: Use it right now, when you want it. No need to plan ahead, or sign up for some list that gets updated once in a while and hidden in a box in the back hallway of a website.
  • Handles a variety of conversation types. POTA/SOTA and SKCC have some very useful tools, but are limited to those respective audiences.
  • Modern and intuitive: Each availability spot appears as a card that clearly shows the operator’s QSO interests.
  • Dynamic: Each card lives for 30 minutes, shows when it was posted, is easily modified by its author, and can accept comments from others.
  • BTW… the “off page” link next to the callsign leads to that person’s QRZ page, very handy for learning more about that CW partner.

Filed Under: CW

CW Learning Forever

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  • Best Course – CW Innovations – based on comprehensive ICR (Instant Character Recognition)
  • Best Learning Tool – Word List Trainer – unparalleled flexibility
  • Best Advice – watch Becky & Mike below – straight talk from successful people

GOTA – “Get on the Air to get good,” instead of “get good to get on the air.”. It makes a huge difference. With over 2700 POTA QSOs, I’ve gotten somewhat good. Need more, and different types to get better. NOW OPEN for Code Buddies.

Filed Under: CW