The CW Operators Club Newsletter
April 2022 — Issue 147

Operate the New MST

President’s Message
I’ve been writingthese columns
every month now
since January lastyear and havenever been at aloss for something
to say. This time
I’ve been struggling.

Howard, WB2UZE, details the new Medium Speed
Contest. Story on page 15

The awful events a two and a half hour Easyjet
flight away in Ukraine seems to have been sap(Continued on page 2)

CWops “CWT” Every Wednesday at 13z, 19z,

03z (+1), 07z (+1),1 hour each session
Exchange: name/number (members)
name/SPC (non-members)
Avoid DX pileups!
US Vanity Callsign web site:
http://cwomc.org

CWops “neighborhood”: Look for CWops on
1.818, 3.528, 7.028, 10.118, 14.028, 18.078,
21.028, 24.908, 28.028, 50.098 “and up”
CWops Officers and Directors
President: Stew Rolfe, GW0ETF
Vice President: Peter Butler, W1UUSecretary: Jim Talens, N3JT
Treasurer: Craig Thompson, K9CT
Director: Theo Mastakas, SV2BBK
Director: Raoul Coetzee, ZS1C
Director: Matt Frey, CE2LR
Director: Bert Banlier, F6HKA
Director: Barry Simpson, VK2BJ
Director: Riki Kline, K7NJ
Director: Ken Tanuma, JN1THL
WebGeek: Dan Romanchik KB6NU
Newsletter Editor: Tim Gennett K9WX

Table of Contents
President’s Message ............................................1
From the Editor: The Morserino ........................3
News and Notes ...................................................4W4ZYT: North American CW Weekend .............8
Giving Back ........................................................ 10
KC4D: CWops 2022 Dayton Dinner ................ 12
W6SX: How We Were, MD0CCE ...................... 13
W0TG: Mini Clubs and Vanity Calls................. 13
WB2UZE: A New Contest: The MST ................ 15
KC9YL: The YLRL ................................................ 15
AJ8B: Protecting Your PC ................................. 18
VE3OMV: Learning to Contest......................... 24
ND3F: CQ WW CW from C6 ............................. 25
VK6GX: CanSpeakers ........................................ 27
CW Academy...................................................... 29
CWops Member Awards .................................. 30
New Members ................................................... 33
QTX Report ........................................................ 34
My Story: New Member Biographies ............. 37

(Continued from previous page)

ping away at my motivation for enjoying trivialities like radio these last few weeks. It’s quite illogical too in some ways as these actions are pretty much a repeat of what has occurred before inother parts of the world; what’s happening in Ukraine just feels so close with the distinct possibility it could spread into parts of Europe I know from vacations and ski trips when our children were
small.
Unfortunately CWops hasn’t avoided the fall out as a chunk of our membership has been silenced.
As president I decided I would send a personal message of support to each of our 16 Ukrainian
members. War makes people paranoid and I wondered whether contacting them might put themat risk but I couldn’t see a problem with an email simply saying we miss you and hope you andyour families are safe. We can only guess the condition of the internet in many cities but I’ve had
one bounce and 8 replies which have all been brief but very appreciative. Since then other messages have gone through suggesting everyone is either OK or has left Ukraine and we can only
hope this remains the case in this ever changing situation. The immediate future looks bleak but
all we can hope for is an end to the madness. Jim N3JT said ‘Pray for the good guys’ but what wereally need is for the bad guys to show some human decency.
While this remains in our thoughts CWops carries on. My CWT activity should improve now thatdaylight saving time has begun. Alternate Wednesdays involves a 0530 start for a 130 mile roundtrip to care for our just turned 3 year old granddaughter while both parents ‘get the pennies in’ as
she describes it. It’s delightful but I get home feeling like I’ve just finished a 24 hour contest. Thatmeans I miss the 1300 session and am either too late or too tired for the 1900. The hour delay will
make 1900 and 0700 the following morning easier. The new 0700 CWT is very different with good
propagation at this time of year on 20 and 40 m to VK which hopefully will improve our activity inthose parts of Region 3. There’s also a surprising level of interest from the Eastern seaboard of the
USA which could be dedication or just insomnia! 3830 submissions hoveraround 100+/- with others who don’t send in their summaries so it’s definitely worth getting out of bed for.
The International CW Council of which CWops is a contributing club has
initiated weekly Medium Speed conTests (MST) each Monday at 13001400z and 1900-2000z plus 0300-0400z on Tuesdays. Modelled partly on
the CWTs and with a recommended target speed of 20‑25 wpm they areintended to fill the gap between our full-on CWTs and the slow speed
SSTs run by the K1USN club each Friday and Sunday. At the same timethey should increase overall CW activity which is never a bad thing. Look for the ICWC Medium
Speed Tests on the WA7BNM contest calendar or see the article by Howard, WB2UZE on page 15
for details.
73, Stew, GW0ETF
President

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From the Editor
Morserino
I mentioned in this column last year that I was participating in as many of the K1USN SSTs as myschedule would allow, with the primary goal of improving my sending by hand. Which, as a contester, I hardly ever do, so it needed a lot of work. Dave, W7FB said in his April 2019 Solid Copy
“Morse Code Structure)” article (p12) that “CW IS SENDING! Receiving is what you do when you're
not doing CW!” and I knew I had
plenty of room for improvement.
That effort is going well.

But several months ago, I felt thatmy effort needed a boost to keep
things fresh. Or, perhaps something to reward me for my diligence.
I bought a Morserino.
The Morserino is “a multi-functional
Morse device (Keyer, Trainer, Decoder, even Transceiver etc.)” according to the Morserino website. “It is ideal for learning and practicing Morse code, useful foreverybody from beginner to high-speed pro.” It is available as an easy-to-build kit from Matthew
Pullen, OE6FEG for €88.00 plus shipping. Shipping can be free and, apparently, reliable within
the EU, or available via DHL for a not-inexpensive upcharge outside of the EU.
We have many free on-line resources available to us that can provide some of the same functionality as a Morserino; I hesitate to list them here because I would be sure to miss some. But I was
attracted to the idea of building something and this was a straight-forward build. All SMT parts
came presoldered on the main board; the builder need only install a dozen or so larger, throughhole components, including the 36-pin daughter board with a small LED display. I purchased a
LiPo battery at a local RC toy shop and I was up and running in a day.
The Morserino comes with a set of capacitive touch paddles which might come in handy if you
plan to travel with the thing, but I suspect most in-shack use will be accomplished with your own
paddles plugged in. The capacitive paddles would serve a purpose if you would use the Morserino to learn the Morse alphabet, but if your goal is to improve sending then I think you would
want to use your everyday paddles. Search YouTube for Morserino and you will find many illustrative videos.
Do I recommend it? You betcha. I have primarily used mine in Echo Trainer mode. Configure
the characters you want it to send, choosing from letters, numbers, punctuation and prosigns
along with the number of characters you want sent in each group and how many groups you
want sent before it pauses to let you check your score. Contesters don’t typically hear punctuation and prosigns so I settled for just letters and numbers. The Morserino will send you groups
per your configuration and you send them back using your paddles or key. Be aware that it is(Continued on next page)

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very unforgiving: if you are supposed to sendback a “4” but you mistime your spacing andwhat you send more closely resembles an “HT”
it responds with an irritating beep and you
have a chance to try again. If you get it right, it
responds with a more agreeable bee-boop.
One psychological advantage to this hardware-based platform compared to software is that,every time I sit down at the desk in the shack, I
see the Morserino sitting there, just above the
keyboard. I am reminded to use it and rattle
off a quick 5 or 10 minute practice session.
I’m not sure I would have my memory poked
and practice quite as often if I was using software.
I sense my skill improving due to my practice.
So much so that I am looking forward to thestart of the medium speed contests (MSTs)
next month (Page 15). I plan to continue with the SSTs but I feel like I am ready to graduate mysending by hand to the next level.
73, Tim, K9WX
EditorЯ підтримую Україну

News and Notes
Duncan Fisken, G3WZD
We regret to report that Teunis (Teun) den Ouden, PA5TT CWops #283, became a Silent Key
on 18th March 2022.
Glenn, VE1IJ #457 Effective April 14, 2022, Station VE3GNA and VA3OPN will for all intents andpurposes, cease to exist. On that date I will begin dismantling the station in preparation for mymove to the east coast of Canada, In the province of Nova Scotia, to a small hamlet called St. Alphonse. As the name might suggest this village is essentially French speaking as it was originallysettled by Acadians in the 17th century. I have purchased a 1-acre lot there and will be building
my last home, number 9. Once I get established I will return to the air but in a slightly modified
role. No more 6- or 7,000 messages generated each year or as many as 10,000 in total. No, myremaining years are going to be spent doing a lot more rag chewing, traveling and just enjoying(Continued on next page)

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my remaining time on the planet. As most of you know, my wife of 49+ years passed away earlier
this year and it is because of this I am making this move. I have purchased a small HF+6 rig forthe van and also have all the components for a mobile antenna. So don't be surprised if you heara faint call from VE1IJ/mobile on CW from time to time. I also plan on resurrecting my late brother's call (VE1AQF) and setting up a station in his memory, hopefully in the high school where hetaught Physics for so many years. At least that is the plan.
Dan, KB6NU #1418 My news for April is that I’ll be teaching a one-day Tech class in August at
DEFCON in Las Vegas and HamXposition in the Marlboro, MA (near Boston). I may also be teaching the class at Dayton this year. There will be no charge for these classes. If any of you havefriends or family that may want to get licensed, have them get in touch with me.

Josep, EA6BF #3072 I have recently bought a second hand K3 that a friend of mine in Texas willbring me this week while visiting. My main radio, an IC775DSP has some issues in the ATU andwant to send it for inspection and repair. I have an IC756PROII but that used to give me some RF
problems. Also, and continuing with the bad luck, my 3el Yagi antenna decided stop working on
Thursday, and as many of you know, my rotor was also broken, so many things went wrong lately! I plan to check the antenna by climbing and connecting my ANT analyzer and see if I get any
good readings, if not, probably a trap or anything else is broken. Next step will be ordering a TH3
and repairing the rotor, but it will take some time. If I finally have to do that, I hope to have it
ready in a relatively short period of time. In the meanwhile, I will be using my G5RV while doing
those repair/maintenance works. Will keep you updated.
Ian, GW0KRL #2896 Firstly, I picked up a single paddle key by G4ZPY from my local club in a SK
sale of items from GW3EIZ. It's a lovely key to use with my keyer, however I am now trying tolearn to use it as a cootie which so far is testing me somewhat, rather like my bug skills, or lackthereof!
Secondly a great by-product of regularly entering the CWT's is I have managed to earn the FISTSCW club’s Millionaire award.

Theo, PA3HEN #2481 forwarded this from Jan PA0SIM with a short report on a visit of NTC(Netherlands Telegraphy Club) members to the AGCW meeting in Germany: Theo PA3HEN, Harry(Continued on next page)

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PA3ARM and myself attended the CW weekend of the AGCW group in Erbenhausen.
This was the first visit for Harry and me. We
arrived on Friday in winterly Christmas-like
condx. Just in time, because roads becamevery slippery. PA3ARM received a certificate
for 40 years membership of the AGCW and,to his surprise, it was written in perfect
Dutch. Theo PA3HEN was able to discuss
CW activities with the AGCW. It was a pleasure to have eyeball QSOs with hams we only have met on the air. We had a very goodtime in Erbenhausen and thanks AGCW for
a very well organised CW meeting!
Vic, 4X6GP #5 forwarded this nice notefrom Jose EA7X.
“It was a big surprise to find today in the mail a plaque of the 2021 ARRL DX CW contest, sponsored by your club.
“I've never applied for myself a contest winning plaque in more of my 40 years of contesting career but as former president of the EA Contest Club did sponsored many of them from some national and international contests as we think this action encourages operators all over the globe
to be "radio-active" on the bands and attracts youngsters to this fantastic hobby.
“Thank you so much to the CW Operator's Club for this fabulous gift
and please extend my appreciation to all your members.”
Kurt, AD0WE #2167 We have developed a Learning Approach to QRQ
to achieve QRQ using a structured high-speed curriculum! It is selfpaced and should take about a year to complete. To our knowledge,
this is the first-ever such course. The structured approach to achieving
QRQ is a starting point, open to refinement. With additional feedback
and collective experience, our goal is to make QRQ accessible to as
many people as possible. Working with Jack AA0IZ and Terry WB0JRH
on this project has been a delight! We appreciate all of the critical feed- The Morse Code Ninja web
back while developing the course. We wish you all the best on yoursite has a wealth of CWMorse code journey!
learning resources.
Andy, G0LLX #2954 (Editor’s note: this item is only relevant to members in Europe)
Wanting a CWops lapel badge but being unhappy with the cost of shipping fromthe USA supplier, I decided to search for a UK supplier who could produce ahigh-quality enamelled badge. I was unable to find one who could produce pinswith unique callsigns but have now received a sample without callsign and am
happy with the results. The pin is made from a hard clear resin with gold col(Continued on next page)

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oured backing and has a diameter of approx. 2cm. The cost will be approximately £5 (inc postage) for UK members and £6 (inc postage) for members in mainland Europe. I’d like to stress that
this is not a commercial venture on my part and the prices are
based purely on covering costs. Please email me any expressionof interest.
Dave, WN4AFP #1208 Several days ago, while I was tuning myradio around the 40m CW band, I heard a familiar callsign
WB4YHJ calling CQ. I immediately recognized that it was Stevefrom Tennessee. He was one of my earliest contacts at the ageof 12. He was 17. I responded to his general call and I immediately told him about our first contact 46 years ago. We kept
sending ‘WOW!’ to each other. I am 59 and he is 64!
I asked him to send me an email so we could stay in touch. A few
days later, I was surprised to receive the QSL card that I sent to
Steve way back then. I also found an image of the card that hesent me. I found his card in a photo of me at age 12 at my radios. Above the radios was his card affixed to the QSL board.This
was a one-in-a-bunch odds of happening. It was a very cool
event. I remember making that initial contact with Steve.

Duncan, G3WZD #1979 Finally, some trivia from me. I’ve
just acquired another vehicle having joined the ranks ofelectric car owners (perfect for all the local runningaround), I just could not resist grabbing this personalised
plate for my new wheels! CW(ops) forever!

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North American CW Weekend
Don Lynch W4ZYTThe reborn North American CW Weekend is on, scheduled for June 10-12, 2022. This is primarily
aimed at those amateur radio operators with a particular interest in Morse code (CW) operation FOC, CWops, SKCC, FISTS - but anyone with an interest in Morse code communication is welcome.
After two years of cancellations due to COVID restrictions, we are pleased to welcome regulars
back and look forward to meeting some new players.
We are asking participants to be vaccinated and to use good sense with respect to any recommendations about COVID in force at the time of the weekend. At this point, masks are not required.
There is a nominal registration for the weekend of $25 per couple or $15 per single person. This
will help defray costs and fees. Any excess will be donated to the CWOPS Scholarship fund.
Please send your check, made out to "Don Lynch W4ZYT" to:1517 West Little Neck RoadVirginia
Beach, VA 23452-4717email: w4zyt.don@gmail.com
Hotel:
Fairview Park Marriott (This is the usual for the past several years) 3111 Fairview Park Drive Falls
Church, VA 22042 Phone: 703-849-9400 Reservations: 800-507-8235 (Event is: "North American
CW Weekend") Rate: $ 122.00 plus taxes/night (Friday/Saturday)

Here's your reservation link you and your guests can use to make hotel reservations.
You will find the information for your online reservation link below. If you have questions or needhelp with the link, please do not hesitate to ask. We appreciate your business and look forward toa successful event.
North American CW Room Block
Start Room Block Date: Thursday, June 9, 2022
End Room Block Date: Monday, June 13, 2022
Last Day to Book: Thursday, May 12, 2022
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There will be a hospitality suite between 1800-2400 on Friday and Saturday. Due to COVID restrictions dictated by the hotel, no refreshments or snacks will be available, just collegiality andgood conversation.
Pizza Friday Evening (6/10):
Italian Oven
6852 Old Dominion Dr
McLean, VA 22101.
Salad, beverage (non-alcoholic),
unlimited pizza.
Meet 1800.
Dress casual
Individual checks
Brunch (Sat 6/11; 0900 to 1200):
Home of Nina Lane and Jim
Talens (K4NML and N3JT)
6017 Woodley Road
McLean, VA 22101
Phone 703-241-1144
Time: 9 to 12
Saturday Dinner (Sat 6/11; 1800
until …..):Metro 29 Diner
4711 Lee Highway
Arlington, VA 22207
703-528-2454
Don't be put off by the "Diner"
moniker - take a look at themenu on the web site. This is an
informal place with a class kitchen and a full selection of meal
options which should suit every
taste. Cocktails, beer, and wine Pictures from the 2019 Saturday brunch
available.
Dress casual
Individual checks
We are looking forward to a nice weekend and good participation. Please stay safe and well, drive
carefully, and come prepared for a good time.

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Giving Back Update
Rob Brownstein K6RB
CWops' Giving Back (GB) program is meant to provide on-air QSO experience and practice for anyone who wants it. It was initially intended as a way for our CW Academy students to get some-air experience. We all know that when there is activity on the bands, these days, it's usually a
DXpedition pileup or a contest. Today's CW aspirants have had little chance to work others whoare skilled at CW, operate at moderate speed, and are committed to helping. That's the missionof Giving Back. The GB volunteers get on the air at approximately 7 PM local time and seek out
CQers, or call CQ, and engage in routine QSOs including some conversational tidbits. Here is thecurrent schedule:

Giving Back Operating Schedule 7 PM Local
40 meters 7.035-7.045 MHz and/or 80 meters 3.535-3.545
UTC+9

UTC+7

UTC+3

UTC+2

UTC+1

UTC/BST

UTC-1

EDT
UTC-4

CDT
UTC-5

W2XS

AA0YY

MDT
UTC-6

PDT
UTC-7

HawaiiUTC-9

Mon

JH2HTQ

G2CWO

JO1DGEN6HCN KH6LC

WK4WC

TUE

JH2HTQ E25JRP

SV2BBKGW2CWO

N4TMM WE5P

JR1WYW

K7NJ

K6RB

K0ES

AA0IZ

Wed

JH2HTQK3ZGA W2ITTWB1LLY K8UDH

Thurs

JH2HTQ

SV2BBK

KV8Q

K7NJ

FRI

JH2HTQ

SV2BBKGW2CWON2GSL AA0YY WB7S

K6RB

JR1WYWSat

JJ1FXFSun

JJ1FXFIZ8NXG

W5DT

Here are the March results:
AA0IZ: K3EW, K7CLA, KF7WJY, KI7TGX, W6SGJ, W7JLD, WC7C, WE6M, WZ7E
AA0YY: KA5SG, KC0CCR, W7ZIP, WB8VGE, WA5RES, W5INC, KD9LPR, WA3RSR, W1AAF, AC5XK,
NC7M, WB5HOW, AI4OT, W4AW, KA2UQW, AC4KS, KD8TJB, KA4OQT, WB4DKF, W7BDJ, AI7SI(Continued on next page)

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G0POT: M0KVI, F5MQU, PA7PD, 2E0HXE, G4VSO, HB9GUR, M0NNQ, G4OAB, DD1HL, NE1D
GW2CWO: DF1RE(2), HB9HGR, F6HPY, DL2DBQ, DL3MGY, IW2JJS, I4VOL, SQ9FMU, SM3FBS,
M0KTZ, YO4WO, OK2QX, EA4HAD, UA1APX, CT7AUS, SP5Q, UC4Y, S51NA, M0XIG, OZ30EU,
ON4FLO, EA2EWB, EA1FGV, PA0HTT, IU3CMD, G0JPS, DL2QA, E73AK, YU3TA, IK3UMZ, G4BSK,IK7UKF, YO3FFF
JH2HTQ: JK1FDF, JN1MET, JA2HOP, JF1JDG, JM8QGN, JM1TQH, JM4AOA
JJ1FXF: JL8QLK, UA0CK, JM4AOA(8), JM8QGN(3), JE6WYC, JR6EUL, JA3CGZ, JA5APG, JM4AOA,
BH3DXB, HL5JZ, JM6JFP(2), N1FG, JA4EGT, VK2KJJ, VK2NNW, BI4MBC, JJ1VNV/6, JI1CAZ
JO1DGE: JO1DGE
JR1WYW: N7POV, R0FAM, BH5HQQ, JM4AOA, JM6JFP, 9V1ZV, JR1KAQ
K6RB: KA6CPM, K7BNY, W8OV, W7ZDX, KD0RC, KD7KDO, NX6BC, WA6KDO, W8SEE, WB4DKF,
WB3EGD, K3PI, W4EDE, N9EXU
K7NJ: AG6ZE, AC5WT, KD0YLL, AA2UP, KG7VTO, W3DG, WA3RWP, OK1FVI, NB5Q, KE5AKL, NX6BC,
KD9TSE, AI5EQ, WB2KMR, W4BCZ, WA7MLH, WA4BVY, VE3UXJ, K3RTA, AD6FR, WA3SCM, KF9EP,
KG7A, AC5P, W5WTH
K8UDH: KN4UZO, K5HZ
KE7VE: N6EV, W7JAS, WB1GYZ, KD5RFC, WU7H, KI7NRI, KD7JG, K1OA, N5LB, K8TQX, W0BET,
KA0SIX, NN0D, N8XI, WA9SWW, KD2SEM, N0ENH, KM6KJI, W7NNR, KN6NUN, W1WD, WB0B,
AD5VC, WA7RCT, W1DV, KA2KGP, K8TEZ, N7PHI, WA6MOW, KF4AV, AB7MP, WA8ZNC, W3NP,
KB3NSK, VE4MG, WB4WJA, W0JSL, KF5WJ, W0ZF, AC5RN, K8AMD, K8JD, K9NUD, KK7XV, AA5XA,
K4GM, K8ZAA, KC4NLD, KG5CMS, AD9Z, AD0YM, AA3UJ, KA3KIH, KD0DK, AA3UJ, WB7BWZ,
KC3PZY, AA2MX, WA5YOM, W5WTH, W4KLY, WB9EAO, WB8ICM, KB9RPG, W9SA, N8UKD, W6UT,
NE6ET, K6HL, KM4FO, W4XJ, K7JFW, KQ4CW, NQ2W, K1GAR, K8VBL, KF0Y, K3YP, W4AFB, K5DW,
W6IRA, WT2P, K4CA, KG5U, N0PP, W3RZ, N6TEM, NA7V, KF7W, K1WGM, VE3QAM, K9FW, NM1I,
KA9FCZ, W7SW, K1EBY, WA8Y, KG7YU, W6SX, K9WX, N0TA, VE6RST, KT5V, W0NF, W8FN, NJ6Q,
K8ZAA, K4IVH, WB2FUV, KK0I, KC4ZA, NE5A, VE3KIU, AC1GF, NZ0T, K3WW, WA5RML, KF6C, K3EW,
W0NZZ, K1NIE, KB5RXL, KA8CBZ, K9WA, KB0LF, WM4Q, KR2Q, K3QP, NQ3K, KB3ERI, WN4AT,
N2DGQ, WA0QZK, NG9F, K5LN, W4JIT, N4OW, NV5P, N4LSJ, NQ8T, K3BEQ/4, W0GNZ, AA0NI,
N9EE, W2IW, WA5OBV, K9FW, KB5RXL
KH6LC: N1DRS, KN6NUN, KA2MLH, KN6EZE, KG5NII, K7CLA
KV8Q: K3BVQ, NK4O, W1AU, K8MPH(2), KI4IO, NG9D, AA9MU, N9AK
N2GSL: KC8KYV, AC1BS, VE3NUL, KB9BRS, KC1FUU, W4EAB, WB3GCK, W1DLC, K8ZAA, KC4NLD,W2QCY, AC2LA, AC4GM, AF8E
N4TMM: K8VBL, K8MPH, NI4E
N6HCN: NM5M, AC2K, KF7WX
SV2BBK: YO2ADQ, RN6LJU, YU2CW, SV1DAY, 4X6FB, EA2EWB
W2XS: KE8NTX, N8ZR, K3DGR, WB8VGE
W5DT: WB2KMR, 9A3YT, W0ITT, K3BEQ/8, AA2MK, K4EWG, VE1YVN
WB1LLY: W4MCX, K3BEQ, AE4GM, K0HNL, W8TY, KC8RVD, W3HIZ, WA3SCM, NN0D, K5RIX
WB7S: N9YB, N8AI, N2JPR, VE3WPK, AG7YM, W0ITT, WD8LSR, AG7YM, AG4JT
WE5P: WA5PFJ/P, DH2SK, AC4BN, K1ARR
7N2XZB: JM4AQA, DS1TUW, JK1ESR, JA3MDU, JM6JFP, JO2HTD, UB0J, JS2GBG, JM8POP

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CWops 2022 Dayton Dinner - May 19, 2022
Bill Perkins, KC4D
It’s again Dayton Hamvention time
and time for our Annual CWops
and Friends’ Spaghetti WarehouseAwards Dinner.
Again this year we have reserved
the venue’s largest rear Dining
Room “C” for our Banquet event.
For the past three (3) editions, we
maxed out the room’s 100 seat capacity, but have again been promised overflow space in the adjoining restored Street Car Dining Room. Send me your reservation promptly, and I’ll reserve spacefor you in the Main Dining Room.
The wait staff will take your meal and beverage orders upon arrival at your tables. To speed service to our large group, you’ll be asked to select from among six (6) Spaghetti Warehouse Banquet Favorites:
•
•
•
•
•
•

Spaghetti and Meat Balls
Incredible 15 –Layer Lasagna
Four-Cheese Manicotti
Fettuccini Alfredo
Grilled Chicken Cesar Salad
Chicken Parmigiana

All of the selections include a salad, bread, and non-alcoholic beverage. You may enjoy any of
the first five Spaghetti Warehouse Favorites with associated sides, etc. for the fixed all-inclusive
price of about $21.00 per person (Including tax and standard gratuity). The Chicken Parmigiana
commands a small $2.00 premium. You will receive individual bills including your adult beverage(s), if any, before you depart. These should be paid individually at the front desk. Two of the selections are meatless, but if you have other special dietary needs, I recommend you phone therestaurant a few days in advance and they will try to comply, where possible. The restaurant staff
are in general, a very congenial and accommodating team.
As always, everyone is welcome, CWops members, spouses, significant others, and friends. Don’t
be caught in the last minute rush, email me immediately at wwbillperkins@gmail.com and I’ll reserve your seating. To secure your reservation & be eligible for the door prize drawings, I’ll needname, call (or relationship) and e-mail address for my records.
I look forward to greeting you on Thursday Evening, May 19, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. Remember, theSpaghetti Warehouse venue (35 W. 5th Street) is a short two block walk West of the Downtown
Dayton Convention Center & Crowne Plaza Hotel, traditional home for many of the Hamvention
Hospitality Suites.
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How We Were
Hank Garretson, W6SX
MD0CCE, Bob Barden, CWops # 552
Also MD2C, N2BB
Photo: As WA2RJZ in 1964. “The rig isa Collins 75S3B, a Johnson Ranger andhomebrew amplifier. I was in highschool at the time and it took a year
and a half of lawn mowing, newspaperdelivery, snow shoveling and lawn
mower repair to save the money to
buy the 75S3 new, but it was worth it!”
“My interest in ham radio in Jr. HighSchool lead to my going to college fora BSEE with a specialty in communications. My subsequent career in engineering design and then management carried me all over
the world, and we lived in NY, London, Tokyo, London again, North Yorkshire (UK) and lastly theIsle of Man. The Isle of Man was chosen after extensive research from a list of 35 possible places
around the world to live after we left Yorkshire when I retired for the second time. We have been
here 15 years now.”

Please send your “How We Were” picture(s) and story to w6sx@arrl.net. Then-and-now pictures
particularly welcome.

CWops Mini Clubs and Vanity Calls
Bill Gilliland, W0TG
In late 2017, a group of UK members acquired special calls, G2CWO, GI2CWO, GM2CWO andGW2CWO to be used to promote CWops. This spurred a similar interest in the U.S. and a committee was formed to promote the acquisition of special calls there. The committee facilitated theorganizing of CWops Mini Clubs in each of the fifteen Divisions of the ARRL.
In early 2018, each of the original fifteen mini clubs, joined later by an additional mini club in
Cape Cod, acquired a vanity call sign with the suffix CWO or CWT, and a website at https://
cwomc.org was set up to manage requests to use the calls and to provide a log repository. Eachmini club call has its own QRZ page and a common paper QSL is available either through the mini(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)club or via a QSL Manager. All CWops members in an ARRL Division are automatically membersof that division’s mini club and no application, dues, or other participation is required.

A U.S. mini club vanity call is available for use at any time by a U.S. amateur who (1) has a current,
valid FCC license and (2) is a CWops member in good standing. Permission to use a mini club vanity call may be requested by visiting the U.S. Vanity Callsign Website at https://cwomc.org and selecting the call sign you wish to use. The request form will be sent to the trustee for the call forreview and response. All call signs are available to any member on a first come, first served, basis
and preference is given to members who reside in the division served by the call sign. When operating activity is completed, the Submit Log link on the same Website must be used to submit
your log for archiving. Those who wish to use one of the United Kingdom call signs should contact GW0ETF for permission.

The call signs have been used many times during special events and during regular CWTs andK1USN SSTs. The call signs were very active during the CWops 10th Anniversary in January 2020
when they were joined by special event call signs in several other countries.
We encourage everyone to use the special calls as often as possible to promote CWops and ourgoals. The Website at https://cwomc.org makes the request process to use one of them very
easy, so why not do it in an upcoming event or even create your own event by just operating with
one of the call signs?

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A New Contest: The MST (Medium Speed Test)
Howard Bernstein WB2UZEThe International CW Council, founded in early 2021 and now comprised of 31 member CW clubs, is pleased to announce the inauguration of a new contest called the MST (Medium Speed Test). The MST
will be a mirror image of CWops CWT, but at a slower speed of 20-25
wpm and on Mondays and Tuesdays starting May 2, 2022. The fullrules can be found on the Council website.
With the ever increasing popularity of digital modes, it is very important to populate the amateur bands with active CW operators lest
we might lose some of our allocated frequencies. When the CWT, SST
and the AWT (Japan) take place, the bands light up with hundreds of operators which demonstrate that CW is still alive and well. The fact that the new MST is on Monday and Tuesday now
means that every day of the week except Saturday has a similar contest in place. Contests suchas these are fun and give new operators experience in making QSOs and more seasoned ops aplace to hone and polish their skills.
The Council supports the IARU (International Amateur Radio Union) band plans and you will seethat the MST frequencies are based on what is already allocated to CW worldwide.
We hope that all the CWops members who enjoy participating in the CWTs will be active in the
new MST and support it. Please spread the word amongst your friends and radio clubs which will
help this catch on making the MST a success.

Young Ladies Radio League, Inc.
Anne Dirkman, KC9YL
Did you know that there is an international amateur radio organization, just for
YLs? Their purpose: To encourage and assist YLs around the world. The YLRL
sponsors contests, awards, certificates, and scholarships, and hosts membershipbooths and YL forums at hamfests. Want to know more? Here’s a little history.
The Young Ladies Radio League will celebrate its 83rd anniversary in 2022. A letter from Ethel Smith, W7FWB (later K4LMB) was published in the July 1939 QST
asking YLs to contact her, with hopes to band together. She received 12 responses, and the Young Ladies’ Radio League was formed in September of 1939. Dues
were 25¢ per year. District Chairwomen from each U.S. call district were appointed, and in November the first newsletter - The Harmonics - was published. In 1940, Anita Bein, W8TAY sub(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)

mitted the YLRL Slogan” “QRV-I am ready” and the first YL
nets were scheduled. Most of those original members operated CW and spent the majority of their time rag-chewing.
During WWII, members taught CW and theory and supported
the Red Cross. Dot Knapp, W2MIY was the only female AARS
Army Amateur Radio System radio aide, while Viola Grossman, W2JZX served with the Signal Corps. Helen, K6CTW was
employed with the 9th signal corps in Oahu and sprang into
action when Pearl Harbor was attacked.
If you’ve ever heard a QSO between two YLs, you may havebeen mystified when they send “33” at the end of their transmission. It means “Love, sealed with friendship and mutual
respect between one YL and another YL”, and was coined byClara Reger, W8KYR (later W2RUF) and adopted officially by
YLRL in 1940 – the same year that all licensed female operators became known as “YL” s.
The YLRL booth at the 2019 Dayton

By 1950, the YLRL developed contests to encourage YL partic- Hamvention.
ipation, which continue today. Current contests include the annual YL/OM contest and DX/NA-YL
Anniversary contest.
The first YLRL convention was held in June of 1955 in Santa Monica, CA. National conventions
continue to be held every 3-4 years, with the most recent in Oklahoma City, OK (2018) where 22
states and Canada were represented. There were scheduled demonstrations & speakers, a Saturday night banquet, a VE session, and lots of time to venture into downtown on our own fortours, shopping and dining. Past conventions have been held in Vancouver, Boston, Huntsville,
Denver and even an international convention in Munich, Germany.
YLRL members range in age from pre-teens to 100-year-olds, with approximately 450 members
world-wide located in 35 different countries. Many DX members have their dues sponsored by
YLs in the US and Canada. Some of those DX adoptees, in turn, also sponsor their US counterparts’ memberships in their home countries.
The Young Ladies Radio League hosts a membership/info booth at Hamvention – a gatheringspot where YLs can meet and greet throughout the weekend. In keeping with this year’s Reunion
theme, all YLs (an amateur radio license is NOT required) are invited to attend our 2022 YL Forumand get (re)acquainted with each other. Guest speakers and the team of officers are on hand toanswer questions, promote membership, and share the benefits of belonging to the largest YL
organization in the world! YLs also set up membership booths at ham fests and swap meetsthroughout the country.
The YLRL sponsors awards and certificates to encourage operating on HF and Echolink. Whilesome awards such as the YL-CC, YL -WAS, and YL-WAZ are challenging, some are geared toward
the casual operator with limited equipment, and members are able to exchange contacts using
other modes, such as Echolink.
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The YLRL publishes a bi-monthly electronic
newsletter. District Chairs solicit articles ofinterest from the YLs in their call area. Eachissue is filled with stories from YLs around theworld. Our new Webmistress Michelle,
W5QMC has been working tirelessly, uploading the old YL Harmonics issues, so they are
now available online as well.
The Young Ladies Radio League sponsors
three memorial scholarships for a total of$5,000 each year. Recipients must be a licensed YL, seeking a bachelor’s or graduate
degree at a U.S. College or University.
Our website has been completely revamped,
becoming more user friendly with a modern
look. Dues are $15.00 per year and include
full access to the current and archived newsletters. We have an active Facebook page Young Ladies Radio League - where members
can share their accomplishments and inspireothers to be radio-active!

Yuki, 7K4TKB and Anne, KC9YL

By my count, an even dozen YLs are membersof BOTH CWops and YLRL, but within ourgroup there is a genuine upsurge of interest ofoperating CW. Some ladies needed to pass
the code test years ago to upgrade their licenses and want to regain that skill, while others (like me) are looking to stretch their brain,score some rare DX, add some points for theircontest clubs, or just have fun! Amateur radio
Michelle, W5MQC, Andrea, K2EZ, Rita NE0DB, Judi,and Morse code are dying? The YLs will tell
N5KUO, and Ria N2RJ at the 2019 Oklahoma City Conyou: NO SIR!
ventionIf you’re wondering about my connection with the YLRL, I joined after I heard the club secretary,
Anne WB1ARU, calling CQ (SSB-that’s all I knew!) on a Thursday night in 2013. What started out asa casual conversation has resulted in my making - and meeting - new friends from around theworld. I am currently the DX Treasurer and process memberships for our DX YLs as well as their
U.S. sponsors. I also maintain the member database for our e-newsletters. Everyone isn’t lucky
enough to have a supportive local radio club, and the YLRL gives these ladies a connection to others who share their enthusiasm for amateur radio.

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Protecting Your PC — More Complex than Ever
Bill Salyers, AJ8B
Imagine this situation. You are at
the contest station of Dave, K8DV.
Jay, K4ZLE, finishes working thelast multiplier needed for an alltime new score in excess of 9million points for the 8th call areain the CQ WW CW. The teamstands together, just taking a
deep breath and wondering if itwill be enough. Suddenly, K8CR,
Chuck asks me what a bitcoin is.
Being an IT guy, I freeze before
asking, “Why?” Chuck says that hetried to copy the logbook database to a thumb drive and when
he selected it, he received the ransomware window in Figure 1.
Now we have a real problem. We can pay the requested $300 to get the files unencrypted (if wepay within one hour and 20 minutes), or, we don’t pay and lose the weekend’s record-breaking
work. Other than the blackmail issue, $300 may be worth it. However, what if it were $3,000? In
fact, in 2019, the average ransomware charge was $84,116.
This is a worst-case scenario, but, it is very possible. There are also denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, phishing and spear phishing attacks, drive-by attacks, password attacks, and more. You
may think that this is just a Windows issue, but in February, vox.com released a report that said,“The amount of malware on Macs is outpacing PCs for the first time ever, and your complacency
could be your worst enemy.”1
Linux/UNIX is certainly a better platform to minimize virus activity, but I can remember a coupleof sleepless weekends at GE Aircraft cleaning up work stations after we were hit with the Morris
Worm.

There are two types of questions that I hear all the time. The first is about the need to stay prepared. I hear questions such as, “Who would target us?” or “ I am just a single user.” or “We are asmall company!” The reality is that most successful attacks did not directly target the victim. The
villain throws a wide net hoping to catch anyone! The second myth is that these attacks are put
together by someone who has extensive resources and a lot of money. Successful attacks havebeen launched against companies and individuals from a coffee shop using little more than theinternet and Facebook.
Cisco produced an excellent video a few years ago that I still use as a teaching tool. This is a true
story about a company about to go public. The attack eventually forced a CEO to resign and cost
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(Continued from previous page)

the company millions of dollars. You can view this video here.
Needed Concepts
There are a couple of computer concepts that we need to discuss, so we can then understand theremedies. I will stay very general in these discussions as each one has books written about them,and I don’t want to bore you even more.
The first is Domain Name Services (DNS). DNS is
the phone book of the internet. Imagine that inEditor’s Note:
stead of www.aj8b.com, I told you to view my website at an IP (internet protocol) address of
The original version of this story ap50.28.8.76. And then, later, due to expansion, cost,
peared in The National Contest Journal.
or a host of other issues, I decided to move to a
Reprinted with permission, September
different hosting company. Now my address is2020 NCJ; copyright ARRL.
23.235.203.61. A system was developed to provide
the appropriate IP address when asked. When
asked what the IP address for a particular website
is, a DNS server will respond with the current IP address of the particular domain in question. A
vast majority of attacks use invalid or redirected IP addresses to cause havoc for the local PC oron the network.
The next concept is operating system access levels on the PC. Many hams use the PC right out of
the box and don’t set up any sort of user access level. Windows typically allows for two different
types of users; local users and administrative (admin) users. Local users can execute programs
that use local resources. Web browsing, office applications, and logbooks are examples of local
programs. If a local user attempts to change a system setting, such as deleting a disk drive, theywould not be able to do that. However, an admin level user can do anything. If you use the computer out of the box, then you are probably running with admin access.
It is important to understand that when a user executes a program, that program inherits the access and permissions of the person who executed it. If you are erroneously attempting to run aprogram that would unknowingly execute a phishing attack for instance, that may fail if you are
just a local user, but it would succeed if you had admin level access associated with your account.
You don’t have to log in as administrator to have admin privileges. If the person who set up thecomputer created an account, they can associate a level of privilege with an account. For instance, a log-in account of AJ8B could be either a local user or an admin user, depending upon
the setup.
Finally, it is important to have some idea as to how computer programs execute in a Windows
environment. When you double-click on an application — let’s say AJ8B Cool Logger as an example— that application is loaded from the hard drive into RAM, and resources are lined up in a specific order, with specific links and interfaces set aside for that application. Windows will determine
how much memory, I/O, and other resources it will allocate. Once AJ8B Cool Logger is loaded into
RAM and the resources are connected to it, AJ8B Cool Logger is off and running. The danger is that
AJ8B Cool Logger may not be the application you expected it to be. For instance, if you loaded a(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)compromised copy of the software that you downloaded (or were sent), all may seem just fine.
But, when you run it, strange things may happen as the “bad” code is now attempting to do what
it wants.
Many applications are compromised, and you won’t know it even after you have started to run it.
For instance, in our example, perhaps AJ8B Cool Logger is doing what it was expected to do. Itmay, however, spawn off a task that would search for credit card information, log-in and password information, or bank account information. You would not — and may never — realize thatyou have been compromised as everything appears to be just fine.
In the 1990s, a popular “word processor” also contained a key logger that would capture log-in
and password information and pass it along to the nefarious creator. It all makes you want to go
back to paper logging, doesn’t it?
Layered Approach
So, how can you address all of this? It would seem like a lot to worry about, given the complexityof operating systems, networking, and the internet. MalwareFox2 has a model that we have modified to identify the threat level and the corresponding approach to mitigate the threat. You haveto think of this as a holistic approach. I like to describe the problem as a one-story building
shaped like the Pentagon. You may have all the doors fully monitored and protected and all but
one of the windows covered, but someone eventually will find the “open” window.
Although this article may seem like a plug for these products, it is intended to show the layered
approach and the reason why we choose a particular product. We could have hours of discussion
about which approach and mix of products are the best, and there are probably hundreds of
combinations. The layered groups of products
discussed here, however, have successfully protected our 500+ PCs, servers, portable devices,and mobile devices, and I am passing along what
has worked for us.3
If the data we want to protect is at the center, or
the target, we have wrapped layers of protection
around the data as shown in Figure 2.
•

Operating System Level — Whether your operating system is Windows, Mac OS X, Unix,
Raspbian, Ubuntu, or any other, it should be
up to date. Our entire approach assumes
that you are using the latest and greatest.
Older versions of these operating systems
may work just fine, but, if you are concerned
about threats, then it’s time to upgrade.
Make sure that you are receiving the patch bundles and upgrades for your operating systemand for your applications.
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(Continued from previous page)•

Anti-Virus Level — For many years, Microsoft Windows Defender was little more than a “metoo” addition to Windows XP and Windows 7. However, Microsoft committed resources tobring Windows Defender on par with the best out there, and has included it, and the regularvirus definition files, free of charge as part of the Windows 10 operating system. PC World
magazine reviewed Defender in July. The review said, “Multiple test results make the case that
Windows Defender is good enough to protect your PC from viruses and malware.”4 MalwareFox
said, “Windows Defender is a well-integrated security system built-in to the operating system.”5

One of our two silver bullets is a product called Morphisec.6, 7 This Israeli company has developed
an approach that allows Windows programs to start up while monitoring them, comparing their
behavior to the typical Windows program start-up behavior. Remember our discussion about
Windows tracking resource requests and then allocating PC resources? Morphisec has a way to“morph” — or scramble — “the process structure relocating and transforming libraries, functions,variables and other data segments in a controlled manner. Each run is unique, per process instance, making the memory constantly unpredictable to attackers. Applications continue to load
and run as usual. A lightweight skeleton of the original structure is left as a trap.” This is all the
explanation they will give, but I can testify that it works, and it works well.
The real benefit of Morphisec is prevention of “zero day” attacks. You can make sure that your anti-virus definition files are up to date and the operating system and applications are patched, butwhat if you are among the first users to get the “new virus?” There is no protection yet. The historical approach was to hope someone else was infected and then download the necessary files
from the anti-virus companies when they became available. The approach that Morphisec takes
will catch the zero-day attack as it starts to run. There are no files to keep current. Morphisec
monitors the execution of the program to determine if something is wrong. It is by far the best
$24/user/year we spend. This is a revolutionary approach to protecting PCs, and it really is effective. (Since this article was first published, Morphisec no longer offers a consumer license. You
can search on “zero-day attack prevention” and find alternatives.)•

Anti-Malware Level — Even though we are patched, have our virus definition files in place,and have other products working for us, users may still go to a website directly, or click a linkin an email, that takes them to a site that may try to introduce a harmful app. What can bedone about that? We use a product from Cisco called OpenDNS, now called Cisco Umbrella.
This is our second silver bullet. This free product for home users addresses the issues of internet browsing, both intentional and unintentional. Our discussion about DNS is useful now.
I mentioned DNS servers are out on the internet, but I did not mention where. Cisco has
worked with hundreds of companies to be their DNS provider. In fact, they are now the largest DNS provider in the world. They have a huge database of DNS requests and results. As
soon as a link is flagged as being a problem (ransom-ware site, phishing site, etc.) it is recorded in the DNS database. If you are using OpenDNS, you will be alerted that the link you are trying to go to, or that some application (bot, rogue application, etc.) on your PC may be goingto, is fraudulent and the request will be denied. Remember the key-logger application that
had hijacked a word processor? OpenDNS would have flagged that key-logger application andblocked its ability to transfer the information it had collected from your PC. How large is the
OpenDNS database? Cisco monitors 200 billion internet requests every day from 100 million
active users in 190 countries.8 (Since the article was first published, Cisco Umbrella is a com(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)

mercial product only. However, consumers can get the same capability for free by searchingon OpenDNS)•

Firewall Level — To be honest, I really don’t do much with this layer at home. I have foundthat the default settings of the Windows firewall per PC and the default settings that most ISP
modems have in place are adequate. If you are hosting websites on your network, then you
would more than likely need more than the PC and ISP would provide and that is most definitely a discussion beyond the scope of this conversation.

•

First-Level Security — There are two aspects of first-level security: Access level, and file backup. As mentioned earlier, the real issue with access level is that the program executing takeson the privileges of the person who started the program. If you are the admin (full rights),
then the program will have full rights to do whatever it can. If you are standard user, then theuser will behave with the rights of a standard user. You need admin access when you are doing things such as installing software, changing some operating system settings, or deleting
files and directories. You don’t normally need admin access for the day-to-day usage of yourcomputer. So why take the chance? I recommend two accounts. The first is your day-to-day
login that has standard user privileges. The second account can be used to perform admin
type duties. It is a basic safety procedure.

Gary Sutcliffe, W9XT, wrote an excellent NCJ article about backing up your files.9 In my case, I havea Dropbox directory set up and all my contest files are located in that directory. As soon as a fileis saved, it is backed up to the Dropbox cloud. (dropbox.com)
You (User) Level – As Voltaire said, “Common sense is not so common.” That is certainly true
when it comes to using your computer. You might think that with all of the layers of protectionthat we have wrapped around your data, we would not need to talk about the safest way to use
your computer. However, that is not the case.
For instance, one of the Big Three auto manufacturers had a design division shut down by a network “worm” that was doing no more than replicating itself to every other computer (Windows)
and workstation (Unix) on the network and then starting the process over again. It was happening so many times that the network was swamped, and no one could get any work done. They
eventually found that the worm was introduced by an e-cigarette charger that had been plugged
into a USB port on a PC on the network. You never can tell.
Web browsing and handling email present many of the same dangers. Here are some things towatch out for:•If you don’t recognize the sender’s email address, and the subject is not something you would
normally receive, be wary.

•

The sender’s email address is from a suspicious domain (i.e., AJ8B@hoax.ru)•

An email has an embedded link or an attachment, that may be a dangerous filetype such as
an .exe or .bat file.

•

A sender asks you to click on a link or open an attachment to avoid a negative consequenceor to gain something of value.

•

You go to a particular website. Although the URL is correct, the site you reach want your cred(Continued on next page)

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it card information.
•

The website I am using to troubleshoot my logging program wants to take control of my PC. Be very careful.

Summary
By all accounts, cyberattacks in general and ransomware attacks, will continue to increase. According to the FBI, ransomware has netted more than $1 billion for criminals, and thatfigure is expected to rise. If you follow the layered defense
plan I described, or at least some of it, your chances of a cyberproblem will greatly diminish. It is important to note that evenwith all of this in place, you may still encounter an issue. The
more you have in place, however, the more you can mitigate
the risk, and that is what this is all about.
Postscript
There have been two changes in the industry and product offerings since this article first appeared in NCJ:
#1 - Cisco Umbrella is now a corporate product and cannot be purchased for home use and is nolonger free. OpenDNS, which was purchased by Cisco and turned into Umbrella, is a free, homeuser product. (https://www.opendns.com/home-internet-security/) At the time of publication,
you could go to the Cisco Umbrella site and launch over to the OpenDNS site. You can't do thatanymore, However, the product is free and is available to consumers.
#2 - At the time we investigated Zero Day attack products, we evaluated 5 companies that provided corporate and consumer protection. The enterprise version was a per user charge and theconsumer version was free. I just researched all 5 of those and none of them offer a free version
anymore. My home copy of Morphisec continues to be updated, but that is due to the"grandfathering" of the products. As of June of 2022, it will no longer be available.
Notes
1.

www.vox.com/recode/2020/2/12/21134681/mac-pc-virus-malware-malwarebytes
www.malwarefox.com/layered-security/
3.
products.office.com/en-us/business/customer-stories/791885-towne-properties-professionalservices-windows-defender-antivirus?returnURL=/en-us/sharepoint/customer-stories
4.
www.pcworld.com/article/3434097/why-you-can-stop-paying-for-antivirus-software.html
5.
www.malwarefox.com/is-windows-defender-enough/6.
www.morphisec.com/
7.
www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2019/08/27/improve-security-simplify-operations-windowsdefender-antivirus-morphisec/8.
https://umbrella.cisco.com/why-umbrella/interactive-intelligence9.
“Handling Contest Computer Files — Part 1 and Part 2,” by Gary Sutcliffe, W9XT, NCJ, May/June
and July/August 20192.

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Learning to Contest
Maria Polyanska, VE3OMV
I heard about contests when I started learning CW. Although I knew they existed, I didn't know how to participate in them. My experience through learning how to take partin contests was exciting and I was able tolearn a lot from different hams along theway. It all started with the SST and within 34 months I tried the CQ WW. The CQ WW
was the stepping stone which inspired me
to enjoy this wonderful and fulfilling hobby.
I was encouraged and informed of these
big contests by my past CW Academy Advisors. At first, I felt worried and didn’t evenknow the exchanges. After-all, the only contest I operated before that was the SST! I
tried to look at various tips and tricks but
wasn’t really successful in using any. My
first experience with big contesting was the
CQ WPX CW contest, which I participated in with my father (VA3UKR) being the control operator(as I was yet unlicensed). I never thought that copying numbers would be so hard - especially because I was at a much lower speed during that time. Later, I was able to catch on to what was
happening and what I was supposed to send. It simply clicked into my head and I started to enjoy
contesting after that. I knew what was happening which made it much easier to comprehend
what I was going to hear - instead of being puzzled during a lengthy ragchew.
I searched for other contests - participating in almost any that I could. I began to run instead of
Search & Pouncing. The first time I actually ran, was the SST/K1USN. I made many mistakes atfirst, but then when different operators started to answer me, it encouraged me to continue andtry. It was funny when I would send my name “Maria” in the exchange but some operators would
respond with my father’s name which they probably got from the QRZ page (Hi Hi).

Before the CQ WW, I tried the CWT and quickly grew with it. Again, afraid to run at first, I justsearched and pounced. It was harder than I thought. With so many people in this contest, withnearly all frequencies in use, the bands were extremely thunderous. It was hard to distinguish
who was who! With that said, over time, I gained confidence and started running. I learned thatsince I operated as a “Little Pistol” (Low power), not many people answered. When they did, mostof them would be very quiet with much of QSB. When I tried running at the end of the contest,
more people answered me. I thought this was because they had collected most of the runners
and were searching for fresh “meat” (as in new stations to work). I made most of my contacts towards the end when everyone had already gotten through most stations. At that time, many stations answered and I felt thrilled and excited! This was an important piece of experience - I now(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)know when I can have a higher QSO
rate. This was the contest where I heardsome familiar callsigns which later became supporting and encouraging
friends.
December was YOTA (Youth On The Air)month. I decided to sign up at the participating station and got my special
event callsign VE3YOTA thanks to the
RAC and YOTA organizations. I quickly
discovered that not too many YOTA stations operated CW. It encouraged me totry and get on the air more. CW can bechallenging at first, but ends up being
an extraordinarily gratifying experience.
Overall, I enjoy my time contesting and Building a Cobweb antenna prototype for our small city lot.
plan to participate in many future
events. If I never attempted to get on the air, I would have never discovered this amazing andsupportive community.

CQ WW CW from C6
Brian Skutt, ND3F/ C6AQQ
Another fun trip for CQWWCW; the weather was delightful and the time away from work andwith my wonderful spouse was much needed. The radio operations were not so good…
We try to make some improvements each trip. This time, Terry, W8ZN, created a single integrated
box for all of the power supplies, tuner, and control / relay / bandswitching connections. The box
made packing and setup so much easier—the only cables outside of the box were AC power, DC
power for the radio, and a short RG8x coax jumper for RF, plus the Winkey/paddle connections.
The box worked great with a K3-10 instead of my venerable KX3.
The little guest house we rented was set back about 25 m from where I had planned to mountthe antennas (see photo, next page), so I needed to bring a lot of coax and control cable. The antenna switch feature in the new box helped make that easy—we had a daytime and nighttime(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)

setup that worked great. The site,
located about 5 miles west of Nassau, had a great view from west
through north to east, and not sogood to the south.
We arrived a bit earlier than expected on Thanksgiving after painless travel, and spent only ~2 hours
setting up. The small Q52 switchable
2el beam has worked well on about
20 trips, and this one was no exception. I brought couple of 10’ poles forthe ends of the 40/80 m wire, installed as a low inverted-V, and a non-conductive push-up pole for the 160
m ground plane with tuned radials-important because it detunes fromany metal near it. The install went well—only minor adjustments to the antennas were needed.
So we could relax and settle in with more than 24 hours left before contest start.
By 0000z, I had staked out a good frequency on 40 m. The first hour was productive (150 Qs) withfairly high noise (everyone else said conditions were great; for me the noise was S9 on all bands
even with the K3-10’s noise fighting features). After that, it was a slog on the low bands. I was
thrilled to get over 100 Qs on 160 m with low power and a compromised antenna--no real DX,
but US and Caribbean stations called in. 80 m was just OK--I couldn't hear well, and when I did
S&P, the DX couldn't hear me, probably from having a low, short antenna. I crashed at 2:15 local
as planned, with alarm set for 5:15am. Got up on time and picked up a few on 160, 80 and 40 m
before heading for 20 m at local sunrise. At 7 am, the S9 noise went away for the rest of theweekend! 20 m was just opening, and I did a quick S&P run and then CQ'd. That went OK, andafter 90 minutes I went to 15 m--maybe a bit too late because that band was rocking. Did a quick
S&P--very loud EUs--and found a CQ frequency and went to work--lost that frequency in about
1/2 hour--and kept trying to squeeze in and get a run going. No great hourly rates, but consistently had the short term meter around 300—with slowdowns for the turkeys that just had tosend their own callsigns as part of the exchange (uggh!) and messed up the rhythm. Then I
checked 10 m--not open yet. I bounced between 20/15 and kept checking 10 m with decent results until about 1130--then I had a short run of G/EA/F and a couple of others on 10 m—andthen the new interface box just stopped working. No smoke, no pops, and sadly, no RF out. I
spent perhaps 2 hours troubleshooting with no joy, (note for next time—bring a meter and sometools), and eventually shut down--1200 Qs in 14 hours. Usually I hit 1 million sometime around 4
pm Saturday, and I had almost 700K at noon so that's an above average pace. However, I didn’t
meet either of my precontest goals—a 200 hour each day (best was something like 180), and 3840 hours in the chair (BIC).
When the box failed, Linda was out shopping, so I watched some college football and napped
and then we went to dinner. Then I messed around with trying to fix the box some more, and fi(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)nally just set up for QRP. I did 600 Qs QRP in about 8 hours of operating using C6A/ND3F, and it
was hard going, with a few highlights when some CWOps got that long call 1st time!.
After the contest, I was able to run QRP--with around 400 Qs across the bands. A highlight wascompeting a sked with Robert S53R who needed C6A on 12M digital, first call. We also did ourusual beach and tourist things—Nassau has not quite recovered from COVID, and some of theusual things we like were virtual or closed—there was no Junkanoo rehearsal, so we missed
some fine local music and holiday food. A few restaurants that we liked were closed, too, but wefound plenty to enjoy.
I contacted some of the locals to see if I could get a PA for 160 or at least a 100 w radio—to use
for ARRL 160. That didn't work out, but I did make some new friends and I left 100' of nice RG8x
as a gift for the local club—and established some good connections for the next visit. The ARRL
160 m contest was a bust QRP. Many stations were loud but couldn't hear me calling. Ended up
with about 50 Qs in 8 hours.
Travel back was a little stressful with the change to COVID testing rules the day before we left. On
each trip, it seems like they find something in our bags to question—often it is the paddles(heavy base I guess), and it has been everything from a large bottle of local hot sauce that I wasbringing to home to a fellow ham, or even (recently) rolls of Scotch 88 tape! This time, it was coax
jumpers in my computer bag—I guess they thought I could use them as rope. Fortunately theinspector guy was a Baltimore Ravens fan, and we chatted about the NFL until he let us through.
I’m looking forward to fixing the box and trying again soon!

CanSpeakers
Phil Hartwell, VK6GX
In the mid 80's I was involved in the formation of a Radio Club, in the Perth Northern suburbs,(VK6ANC). Being the main CW operator, I became the Morse instructor for new members, as
Morse was still a requirement for a HF licence in VK in those days. I hurriedly built a 555 CW practice oscillator, enclosed in a cardboard box. Horrible, but functional! I believe it is still in the clubmuseum. Of course, the square wave was hard on the ears using a wide range speaker or headphones, so rather than spending time trying to smooth the oscillator to something resembling asine wave, I fed the output to another device I had been experimenting with, a CanSpeaker, asmall speaker soldered into a tin can, with a horrendous resonance at 800Hz, the sidetone frequency of my TS-830s, which was also an annoying square wave. The response of this speaker
was so sharp that it filtered out all the annoying harmonics of the sidetone of my rig and the CWpractice oscillator and sounded like a pure sine wave. The students were very impressed when I(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)demonstrated the difference between the CanSpeaker and full range speaker.
So not only were the students treated to a pleasant sounding oscillator, it gave them a project, toconstruct their own CanSpeaker, to enhance the intelligibility of CW signals of their rigs, many ofwhich, did not have CW filters, IF shift, PBT etc. in those days.
We all have different sidetone preference and that will probably change as we age, mine has lowered over the years and now is around 425Hz, so my CanSpeakers have been either modified or
new ones built to account for this change. This lower frequency is beneficial, as the lower thesidetone frequency you can tolerate, the better the filter between your ears, can differentiate between close spaced CW signals, even if your rig can't.

Locating a CanSpeaker is critical to your perception of it's performance. Positioning must be donewith the operator in their normal operating position and posture. Once the “sweet spot” is found,sometimes under a nearby shelf, the operator should not move their head or the enhancement
effect can be lost. I can hear extremely weak CW signals with a CanSpeaker that are not audiblewith the rig speaker, on numerous rigs too. It saves me from wearing headphones, which I findfatiguing for long periods and during hot WX, which we get plenty of in VK6.
Suitable speakers can be salvaged from old equipment or PC's and a selection of tin cans fromthe pantry. Matching the speaker to a specific can is the secret to success. A couple of hours experimentation can yield spectacular results, and the only cost is your time.
Full details are on my QRZ.com page, if you scroll down far enough!

Five VK6GX CanSpeakers, all resonant at 500Hz.

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CW Academy
Kate Hutton, K6HTN Joe Fischer, AA8TA
Bob Carter, WR7Q Roland Smith, K7OJL
We often talk about developing skills and practicing receiving emphasizing a concept called instant character recognition. There is a complementary skill to this: instant character sending.
Since amateur radio involves two-way communications, being able to send well enough for another ham to understand is important.
The instant character part mentioned means that we should use our subconscious to handle recognizing a character and not analyzing the sound trying to match patterns or count dits and dahs.
Similarly, in sending, the person will effortlessly send a character so that it sounds like it should.
In our classes, students begin learning character sounds then in short order send the sounds andthey will begin to learn what they need to do to get their characters to sound right.
The CW Academy has always emphasized paddles and keyers because this makes it easy for the
student to send well-formed characters. This is important since beginning students are not comfortable with what well-formed characters sound like so the paddle-keyer combination makes
this easier.
A frequently asked question is what kind of paddle to get. There are two main types: single- anddual-lever paddles; either one is acceptable. Additionally, a question of iambic or squeeze sending sometimes comes up. There is not universal agreement on whether new CW operators
should learn iambic sending or not and some advisors may have strong feelings one way or another. Whether iambic keying is used or not, the goal is to be clearly understood on the otherend.
As far as specific makes or models of paddles, this can be a tough question to answer. Sales
numbers for these devices is not large so themarket can be somewhat limited. With the recent shortage of many types of parts for almost
anything, paddle manufacturers have sometimes been impacted. It is not necessary tospend a lot on paddles however well-madepaddles can be an investment and should lastfor many years.
The Bencher BY-series of paddles are very popular and often show up at hamfests or swap
meets. Whatever type of paddle is chosen, themechanical action should be smooth, the electrical surfaces should be clean and shiny, theThe Bencher BY-1 paddle, by Vibroplex
controls should move smoothly and allow for
accurate adjustments. In general, a mechanically sound key should be chosen. If an experienced
CW operator can help in the selection, so much the better. Perhaps that operator has a paddle
that can be borrowed for a couple of months.
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(Continued from previous page)The next question concerns adjustment of the paddle.
Usually, a person will adjust their paddles and then want toleave the adjustments alone while the muscle-memory of
keying is learned. A frequent way of adjusting the contact
spacing is to slide a piece of white typing paper between
the contacts and setting the spacing so that the paper has
some resistance when it is removed. Tension is a little
trickier; see the “Editor” column (page 3) in the August2021 issue of Solid Copy for one approach to adjusting tension using coins.
Once the paddles are obtained and the keyer is hooked up,
it is time to start sending and having some fun!
73,
Kate K6HTN, Joe AA8TA, Bob WR7Q, Roland K7OJLCW Academy Managers

Adjusting paddle tension using coins.

CWops Member Awards
Bill Gilliland, WØTGMonthly Update
During March, additional members submitted logs and the number of active participants in theawards program increased to 208 participants. The scores and rankings for the first week of April
2022 have the same familiar calls in the top ten, but there’s some shuffling of positions. The top
ten this month are KR2Q, K3WW, AA3B, N5RZ, K3WJV, KG9X, NA8V, DL6KVA, K7QA and VE3KI.
Forty-seven members have contacted CWops members in 100 or more DXCC entities, with N3QE
and SM0HEV joining the DXCC list this month. The number of participants who have accomplished CWops WAS grew to 129 this month with the addition of DF7TV, G4PVM, N3QE andNR3Z. You can see complete rankings for all award categories at https://cwops.telegraphy.de/scores.
CWops Award Tools Participation
The Top 100 ACA scores reported in Solid Copy represent active participants only, meaning you
must have submitted a log in the current year. Since ACA scores reset to zero at the beginning ofeach year, active participants are those shown with a non-zero ACA score.
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(Continued from previous page)

At the end of 2021 we had 257 active participants in the Member Awards Program. As of April 4,2022, we have 208 active participants. If you haven’t yet submitted any logs for 2022, please doso soon, and we can include your score among the participants. Inactive participants previously
achieved scores in categories other than ACA that are not shown in the Searchable and Sortable
Scores Table. To see rankings and scores for both active and inactive participants please use theScore Overview Table where inactive participants are listed with ACA scores of zero, but theirscores in other categories are listed at the highest level that was previously submitted.
You can see the final 2021 scores or final scores for any other year by going to the Score Overview Table and selecting the desired year from the “Final scores:” list at the top of the page. All
scores categories on the page will then show the final scores and standings for the end of the selected year. This year, Fabian has added a new feature to the Searchable and Sortable Table thatgraphs your current year’s ACA scores by date and allows you to compare your progression tothat of others. Check the Plot button for the ones you wish to see plotted and they will all appear
on the same graph.
The CWops Award Tools website main page provides a means of printing your CWT Participation
Certificate. You may request a downloadable certificate by clicking the “CWT certificate download” selection at the top of the page. For more information about CWT Participation Awards,
please go to https://cwops.org/cwops-tests/ .
About the CWops Member Awards Program
Several operating awards are available for contacting CWops members. These include Annual
Competition Award (ACA) recognizing the total number of CWops members contacted in a single
year, Cumulative Membership Award (CMA) recognizing the total number of members contacted
on each amateur band since January 3, 2010, CWops WAS Award for contacting members in all
50 states, CWops DXCC Award for contacting members in countries on the ARRL DXCC list,
CWops WAE Award for contacting members in Europe, and CWops WAZ Award for contacting
members in each of the 40 CQ zones. All contacts must be via CW and between current CWops
members. To qualify for these awards, you must submit your logs via the tool at the CWops
Award Tools website https://cwops.telegraphy.de/. You can also print out your awards certificates at that same website.
A set of tools for managing your awards status is provided on the CWops Award Tools website
and if you regularly upload your logs your awards will be automatically tracked for you. To viewcomplete data for all currently active participants and see where you and others rank
among active participants in the awards program, use the tools at https://
cwops.telegraphy.de/scores-by-call. For more details on the tools provided, see the August2021 Solid Copy article.
Please Join Us!
Fabian, DJ5CW, who created the website and the tools, made it extremely easy to participate in
the awards program. If you are not among the CWops members who are currently participating,please join us! It adds a lot of friendly competition and fun to your operating.
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(Continued from previous page)

More Information
For more information on the CWops Awards Program, please go to https://cwops.org/contact-us/
awards/, and address any questions or comments to cwopscam@w0tg.com.
Here are the top 100 ACA scores as of the first week of Aprl 2022:
Rank Call
ACA
1
KR2Q
1358
2
K3WW 1295
3
AA3B
1281
4
N5RZ
1075
5
K3WJV 1035
6
KG9X
1024
7
NA8V
1011
8
DL6KVA
999
9
K7QA
968
10
VE3KI
967
11
N3QE
966
12
N7US
913
13
W0UO
860
14
K1VUT
859
15
WT9U
843
16
K3JT
841
16
NA4J
841
17
NJ3K
829
18
K4WW
827
19
K9WX
809
20
W1RM
807
21
AA5JF
765
22
K3PP
764
23
CO8NMN 737
24
N4CWZ
725
25
KC7V
722
26
K6NR
713
27
N5KD
712
28
WN7S
686
29
W9ILY
666
30
N8BJQ
665
31
K3ZA
663
31
VE3MV
663
32
VE3TM
641
33
N2UU
639
34
AF4T
627
35
K3QP
626
36
KV8Q
619
37
K1DJ
617
37
K4TZ
617
38
N5XE
616
39
WT3K
611
40
W4WF
607
41
KC4WQ
604

CMA
5372
9261
11873
7720
6718
5234
7246
6311
5158
6977
7346
5545
3381
4734
5219
5046
3523
3173
4514
4717
8101
3086
4935
3501
2512
4792
4029
2135
3770
5835
7279
2151
3186
3018
5148
2484
2606
2568
4045
2563
2811
3718
4112
2821

DX WAS WAE WAZ
150
50
54
37
129
50
48
37
129
50
48
38
119
50
44
36
111
50
48
30
82
50
36
26
111
50
47
35
174
50
61
36
83
50
38
29
138
50
53
37
128
50
48
35
110
50
40
33
59
50
33
21
75
50
40
22
103
50
41
30
97
50
44
30
73
50
33
24
65
50
37
21
82
50
36
29
94
50
36
30
214
50
61
38
77
50
37
27
102
50
45
27
69
49
34
22
47
50
27
17
88
50
35
32
61
50
28
28
79
49
39
29
72
49
34
24
132
50
45
36
133
50
48
39
42
50
29
16
80
50
41
20
80
50
41
23
112
50
46
31
67
50
35
25
74
50
35
24
59
50
28
20
95
50
42
27
41
50
18
16
69
50
34
24
78
50
42
25
84
50
39
29
50
50
24
22

Rank Call
42
K2TW
42
KM4FO
43
W1UU
44
WA4JUK
45
WT2P
46
K4GM
47
N4FP
48
K4EU
49
KT5V
50
K1SM
51
W6LAX
52
W1AJT
53
W0VX
54
LB6GG
55
9A1AA
56
NR3Z
57
AF5J
57
W0TG
58
W0NF
59
KE8G
60
WW3S
61
EA6BF
62
OZ3SM
63
AC6ZM
64
F5SGI
65
N3CKI
66
K0TC
67
DJ4MX
68
K2YR
69
NN4K
70
W3WHK
71
DF7TV
71
EA2KV
72
K3ZGA
73
VE3KIU
74
N1DC
75
G4PVM
75
N1EN
76
KT4XN
77
EA4OR
77
N5ER
78
I2WIJ
79
M0RYB
80
KA1YQC

ACA
601
601
600
598
593
591
590
585
583
567
560
558
530
526
524
521
516
516
515
499
478
477
476
474
473
472
470
466
464
461
460
459
459
447
446
445
442
442
434
433
433
432
425
420

CMA
3338
2559
4110
3479
4285
3665
2381
922
3159
3852
1926
1671
5296
2772
3877
2602
1951
2711
990
3196
1611
1159
2421
3751
1670
1075
2826
2340
2005
2590
2892
2208
1291
1817
931
4444
2008
3148
2047
2301
807
3498
1891
1472

DX WAS WAE WAZ
58
50
30
21
44
50
16
16
112
50
40
32
83
50
41
26
84
50
31
27
84
50
36
27
56
49
31
18
37
48
19
14
78
50
29
29
131
49
46
36
35
49
13
19
61
49
34
22
126
49
44
36
92
45
50
30
123
49
52
38
75
50
37
24
47
50
20
19
61
50
25
25
19
49
6
12
78
50
35
25
65
48
34
24
57
43
39
17
99
48
47
34
64
50
34
22
84
46
46
26
40
47
23
14
60
50
25
21
78
49
42
29
45
49
29
17
61
50
30
21
72
50
33
21
96
50
48
33
59
45
38
21
51
50
27
17
31
46
20
13
86
50
40
24
90
50
46
29
123
50
46
34
60
50
27
18
72
50
43
26
23
46
13
10
89
49
44
30
74
46
43
22
59
49
32
19
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Rank Call
81
WX8C
82
W8OV
83
AA8R
84
K4EES
84
KE4S
85
K5YZW
86
G4LPP
87
W2CDO
88
GW0ETF
89
OK1RR
90
F6HKA

ACA
416
414
410
408
408
406
404
403
401
395
391

CMA
584
2159
1922
1577
3021
1620
1555
2273
3682
3412
7141

DX WAS WAE WAZ
13
46
7
8
52
49
23
19
77
49
37
26
43
50
20
19
107
50
45
29
43
49
19
18
77
48
43
25
61
50
36
20
111
50
49
35
147
50
52
38
201
50
58
38

Rank Call
ACA
90
W4CMG 391
91
KB4DE
388
92
W0EJ
387
93
KN7T
381
94
HB9ARF
378
95
WA2USA 373
96
W2VM
368
97
W7GF
366
98
SM0HEV 362
99
EA3FZT
355
100 W7PEZ
354

CMA
1057
1566
2063
622
2318
1829
2177
1725
2021
1602
873

DX WAS WAE WAZ
33
48
15
13
52
49
28
17
50
50
20
22
7
46
1
8
82
48
44
27
50
50
26
20
60
50
31
17
47
50
13
21
100
48
46
32
69
46
43
21
31
50
12
14

New Members
Trung Nguyen W6TN
With great pleasure we welcome the following new members to CWops:
CWops
3145
3146
3147

Call
W7ZDX*VE5UO*
SP7OGP/SP7N

Name
Bog
Dave
Piotr

CWops
3148
3149
3150

*Life Member

As of April 8:

Call
W5GN*
N0VRP*N9TTK*

Name
Barry
Chris
Justin

CWops
3151
3152
3153

Call
N9UNX*K5MR*
W0CAR*

Name
Chad
Steve
John

Current Nominees
Need Sponsors: W4SV, KE5AZ, W2KA, NC3I, DK4RW, DJ9BM, ZS1ANF
Invitations Extended: N8CC, KC1KUG

For more details about nominees and up-to-date status, check the “Membership” then “Members
only” page on the website: http://www.cwops.org.
For information about joining CWops, check the “Membership” page on the website: http://
www.cwops.org
Notes: If you have updated your personal info, e.g., new QTH, new callsign, or additional callsign,please send it to membership@cwops.org so I can add it to the roster. Vice versa, if your callsign
becomes inactive I can remove it, too. Then the roster will be accurate and current for our usage.
73,
Trung W6TN, Membership Manager

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QTX Report: Enjoying the Art of Conversational CW
Bruce Murdock, K8UDH
Sometimes we forget things. I know I do. It happens more often than I would like to admit. It’s
always a good thing though when something forgotten can be taken care of later with no major
consequences. That’s the way it works with QTX reporting.
Here's what I mean. At the beginning of each month our QTX ragchewers submit their report forthe previous month via the CWops website. The deadline is the 6th of the month in order tohave your totals for the previous month in Solid Copy. If at some point you discover unreported
ragchew QSOs from earlier in 2022, please let me know. Also, let me know if you see any errors
or omissions in the QTX Report so I can correct it.
The CWops QTX Program celebrates the Art of Conversational CW. Everyone who enjoys CW ragchewing is welcome to join us. Now let’s take a look at the comments from our ragchewers.
Comments from QTX Submission
N8AI: I actually conversed with VK2DPH QRP who was camping just across the strait from Tasmania, where one of my Basic Class students’ lives!
W8OV: One mini-QTX was with one of my Beginner students at about 10 wpm, but he was only
half-way through the class. He finished at 5 wpm. Realized I was not getting in many rag chews
as in the past, so decided to work on that this year. I'd have to go back over 66 years to add up
rag chews. If I can figure out an easy way to do it, I'll let you know. Longest QSO was 38 mins. atabout 30 wpm with CWops #1499 Jose, KP3W. Another very interesting QSO was with Steve,
W5BIB, CWops #2350 who has a great QRZ page and also with Alan, AC2K, CWops #35.
G3WZD: March was a very quiet month for radio thanks to antenna damage resulting from
Storm Eunice, catching Covid and a week at sea. April will be better!
K6DGW: For some reason, every time I got on for a CW session this month, I was able to find stations who would stick around for more than 10 mins. One of the 20 min Q's began with me taking three msgs for delivery followed by a chat ... total time 30 min.
K9OZ: It's a good rag chewing month for me if I break 50.
AA0IZ: I had an amazing QTX with a ham who was born in 1937. He and his family moved fromNew Jersey to California in 1946, and they made their journey along Route 66.
W9EBE: Improving band conditions this month made for some good ragchews and other enjoyable CW QSOs -- SKCC, POTA/SOTA, DX -- it's all good!
N2DA: CW ragchews all with sked buddies this month. After one sked, Steve WA3JJT and I madea Novice Rig Round up QSO, each of us was using a Knight T-60 transmitter.
KG5IEE: Fun month of QSOs. In addition to my regular SKEDs, had a nice Vintage Rig Roundup(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)

QSO with my Intermediate CWA advisor Tom WA9CW and my Beginner advisor Bruce K8UDH.
But the highlight was a QSO with James K0FE. James was a student in the Beginner class I led thispast session. That was a thrill for both of us.
W3WHK: Only 1 QTX this month, but it was a good one: Had a long and interesting chat with fellow CWops member Jose KP3W(#1499) on10 m.
N0BM: Busy month on the traffic nets. Too bad some of those sessions couldn't count for
QTX :>) Looking forward to April.
N6HCN: QTX operating is like hanging out at the General Store in a friendly small town. Nicechat with Tom, NJ8D in rural Michigan about flying tail draggers. Also heard that K6RB plays jazzaccordion.
K7VM: My first entry to the QTX page. It's a good incentive to have longer QSOs. Thanks Brucefor setting this up.
NE0S: You know that some months it is hard to find QTX willing hams out there. Well, not during
March. Had a record for me without trying. Nice to meet so many new QTX buddies (of course,
can't get rid of the old ones, John hi hi). Thanks and looking forward to the trend continuing in
April.
AA0YY: KC0CCR Randy, learned CW from his mother, who operated until she passed at age 96.
KD9LPR Bill, his rig was out of a US Bomber.

K5YQF: A great month. Made some new friends and had a 72 min and a 70 min QTX.
AJ1DM: QTX down a bit this month due to some travel that took me away from the shack.
Thanks for the rag-chews!
KB6NU: Just missed my goal of one per day again! Oh, well. Better luck next month.
K8UDH: It's always a privilege to work someone for their first CW QSO. It was extra special thistime with Cal KN4UZO, one of my CWA Beginner students from last semester. Also, I had greattime operating vintage Drake 2-C and 2-NT rigs in the Novice Rig Roundup with some nice ragchew QSOs.
Awards and Medals for 2022
Medals for 2022 are awarded for three different levels in QTX.
Gold – 400 QTX QSOs
Silver Medal – 300 QTX QSOs
Bronze – 200 QTX QSOs

(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)

Bruce K9OZ is in the lead with 141 QTX QSOs followed by Joe KC0VKN with 119 QTX QSOs. Cecil
K5YQF is close behind with 112 QTX QSOs.
QTX for March
Call
K9OZ
K5YQF
N5IR
KB6NU
WA2USA
NE0S
K4AHO
AA0YY

QTX
51
37
35
29
29
29
24
22

Call
N6HCN
F5IYJ
KC0VKN
VE3WH
W9EBE
KG5IEE
N2DA
K8UDH

QTX
21
19
18
17
14
13
12
11

Call
W8OV
KG7A
W7JRD
W0GAS
AA0IZ
AJ1DM
K7VM
AA5AD

QTX
8
8
7
6
6
6
5
4

Call
K6DGW
WA9ZZ
N0BM
W3WHK
GW0ETF

QTX
4
3
1
1
1

Call
VE3WH
W7JRD
AA5AD
K5YQF
W8OV
K8UDH

MQTX
12
9
8
8
7
6

Call
AA0IZ
KG7A
N6HCN
K7VM
NE0S
K4AHO

MQTX
5
5
5
5
3
2

Call
N0BM
AJ1DM
G3WZD
WA9ZZ

MQTX
2
1
1
1

Call
VE3WH
N2DA
NE0S
K4AHO
W9EBE
KG5IEE
K8UDH
AJ1DM
F5IYJ
AA0IZ

QTX
56
51
46
44
40
31
25
24
19
14

Call
W0GAS
W7JRD
AA5AD
AC8RG
K6DGW
KG7A
W8OV
AB7MP
W3WHK
WA9ZZ

QTX
14
14
11
10
10
10
10
6
6
6

Call
K7VM
MI0WWB
N0BM
GW0ETF
SV2BBK
G3WZD
WT9Q

QTX
5
4
4
3
3
1
1

Call
MQTX
GW0ETF
36
MI0WWB
34
K5YQF
24
K8UDH
19
K6DGW
18
AA5AD
17
KG7A
14

Call
AA0IZ
N6HCN
W7JRD
AB7MP
K4AHO
W8OV
N0BM

MQTX
13
13
11
9
9
8
7

Call
NE0S
AJ1DM
K7VM
W3WHK
G3WZD
WA9ZZ
AC8RG

MQTX
7
6
5
5
4
4
3

MQTX for March
Call
W9EBE
SV2BBK
AA0YY
KG5IEEK6DGW
GW0ETF

MQTX
24
23
17
14
13
12

2022 Totals for QTX
Call
K9OZ
KC0VKN
K5YQF
KB6NU
WS1L
WA2USA
AA0YY
N5IR
N8AI
N6HCN

QTX
141
119
112
87
87
81
70
69
67
61

2022 Totals for MQTX
Call
N8AI
AA0YY
W9EBE
WS1L
SV2BBK
KG5IEE
VE3WH

MQTX
97
71
62
47
46
44
40

Ham Radio is a wonderful hobby. I hope you have lots of fun with CW.
73,
Bruce K8UDH, QTX Manager
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My Story: New Member Biographies
Bog Nevinger W7ZDXI was born in Missouri in 1952, joined the US Army in 1970. I spent 22
years in the army, 9 years overseas, 1 year Vietnam (combat tour), 1
year Desert Storm (combat tour), 2 years Germany and 5 years in Korea.
It was during a tour in Korea in 1983-1984 that I was HL9SN and
AAB6SN (Independant MARS operator). I used a Yaesu FT-101 ZD and
G5RV antenna for most things. I did have a 6 element 10 meter beamfor phone patches, complete with 35 foot rope boom. I ran phone
patches into Twenty Nine Palms, CA on the MARS bands. I was an SFC E7 in charge of a pipeline terminal, 61 miles of 8" and 6" pipeline, 9 soldiers, 1 American civilian, and 106 Korean Nationals.
I worked thousands of stations as HL9SN. I hope I still have the QSL
cards back in Missouri. I have been sitting on a DXCC for over 37 years
because I refused to part with my QSL cards. Those cards represent
small pieces of memory a million times better than a certificate tellingme what I already know. I love to chase paper but the truth is I don't
care about it. What I do care about and enjoy is the folks I meet along
the way.
Some of you old timers might remember a good friend of mine Jim
Smith VK9NS. I always tried to get him to do more CW Hi Hi. I also
spoke with his wife but I don't remember talking to their son. There isalso Ekendra Edrisinghe, 4S7EF that I have been working to get back on
the air. Worked him June 24th, 1983.
In 1999 my best friend and QSL Manager KA5EPI became a SK. The next
12 years I spent off the key. When I got back on my late wife Barbara decided to raise chickens so
she turned my ham shack into a brood house in the dead of winter. "Happy wife, happy life!" On
December 23rd, 2020 I lost my happy life to Stage 4 cancer. She died in my arms at the hospital
because I refused to follow their rules and leave her alone. I wasn't in good shape at the time, I
had been on oxygen and a ventilator for over a year. The VA is trying to figure if it was the Agent
Orange or anthrax vaccine that toasted my lungs.

I am just trying to move on and ham radio is my life. I changed my old call of over 40 years N5FSN
to W7ZDX. Started all awards over and became interested in county hunting, POTA and SOTA.

Barry Merrill, W5GN
Licensed as K4CSY at 13 in 1955, started Notre Dame K9VRU in 1958, completed six semesters
and went to active duty in U.S. Navy as a Radioman, and operated maritime mobile SUBMERGED!
Won Navy NESEP Scholarship to Purdue, finished BSEE, MSEE 1967, then to Nuclear Power School
after commissioned, then to USS GATO SSN-615 in 1969.
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(Continued from previous page)

Went to Woodstock, and then to Guantanamo
Bay to run the charter airline and operate a LOT
as KG4CS 1970-1972. In 1971 Solo Operation as
K4CSY/KC4 from Navassa.
Left Navy 1972, joined State Farm HQ in Normal,
IL , and changed to W9MVE callsign, commuted
to Urbana on Honda CB500 to finish EE PhD,
then moved to Dallas and W5GN call.
In 1984 created MXG Software product from
PhD research when Judy, KA5PQD (real CW Novice), who had taught business college, said that
she'd run the business and I'd write the codeand she does and I do. MXG is used worldwide
by IBM Data Centers to measure response time,
utilization, security audit, etc. from SMF data,
written in SAS. At State Farm, I was the first licensed user of the SAS System.
In 1985 Mexican Earthquake, made over 500 phone calls for folks in Mexico City that had no long
distance service and were OK.

K5MR - Steve Taylor
Thank you to my lifelong friends K6NR, N5RZ
and N5TJ for nominating and sponsoring me andto K6RB who was also kind enough to sponsor.
I began an interest in radio around the age of 13
with a Hallicrafters S-107 receiver and was immediately hooked on DX SWLing. Soon after agroup of us in our neighborhood discovered amateur radio and began learning CW and studying
to get a Novice license. First it was WN5AAR(now N5RZ) and WN5AAS (now K5NZ) getting licensed and shortly thereafter they helped melearn CW with a code oscillator built in a cardboard box and a Radio Shack straight key. In
January 1970, at the age of 14, I was licensed as
WN5AOF with a Eico 720 transmitter, about 3
crystals and the Hallicrafters receiver.
The three of us lived within a few hundred feetof each other and were constantly on the air trying to work any DX we could hear on the 15 m
(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)novice band from our own stations. Talk about QRM from locals! We were fortunate to grow up
in an area that included Collins Radio and Texas Instruments, so there were hams and engineers
everywhere to help us, including N5RZ’s father K5LHO, and new friend at school WA5YMV (now
K6NR), and his father W5EQ. We each participated in the 1970 ARRL Novice Roundup, and thecontesting bug bit hard. Fast forward 52 years and I still get a thrill operating radio contests, especially on CW my favorite mode.
During the 1980’s I contested with well-known operators at the N5AU multi-multi station in the
Dallas, Texas area. Just a few of the world class operators that were part of the crew there include N5AU, N5RZ, K5ZD, K5TR, N5KO, N5CR, N5TJ, K5MM and KN6M. You get the idea. In 1986
we won the CQ WW SSB USA M/M category, the first and only time a W5 Zone 04 station has
been able to accomplish that. I was also fortunate to operate the CQ WW contest three times
from VP2E. After leaving my contest station in the country and moving back to town into an HOA
restricted area I was off the air for 10 years. While mentoring a friend’s father who is new to hamradio, he encouraged me to get a radio and get on the air to work him. Fast forward to March2022 and I am back on the air with an IC-7300 and a 40m EFHW wire up about 30 ft hidden between trees in my backyard. I discovered the CWTs on Wednesdays and joined in on the fun andworked a bunch of old and new friends.
I have been married 43 years to my wife Pam and have one grown daughter who is married andworks as a child advocacy public policy developer in Austin, Texas. We reside in Frisco, Texas
with our cat Sabrina and recent rescue dog Tanner. I recently retired after a 22-year career as aproject manager in defense electronics and telecom, and then 20 more years as a facility engineer/EHS manager for a photomask fab in the semiconductor industry.
While I was off the air after moving into town I discovered an interest in music and guitar andtaught myself to play, but I am not very good! I wish I would have started to play guitar a longtime ago. That led to a second career as volunteer guitar tech for The Zeppelin Project, a Led
Zeppelin tribute band. We play frequently in the Dallas area and around the southwest. In my
photo I am holding a replica I built of the dragon guitar Jimmy Page used while recording Stairway to Heaven.
I enjoy domestic and DX contests as well as daily DXing with an occasional ragchew. Thanks forthe opportunity to join CWops and I look forward to meeting each of you on the bands.

Chad Brown, N9UNX
I was first introduced to amateur radio in 2010, when I met Reid Crowe (N0RC). We were working
together in Greenland for the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (a National Science Foundation funded Science and Technology Center). Reid was already an accomplished amateur radio operator, and of course brought some radios along for the trip to operate as OX/N0RC. He
was gracious enough to let me goof around with the radios (no transmitting, of course!), and I
think it’s fair to say I was hooked after that. I was first licensed in the spring of 2011.
Born and raised in Indianapolis, IN, and have spent most of my life here. I’m married to a very
patient and understanding wife, and have an amazing 9 year-old son. My formal education is in(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)

Computer Science. At present, I manage a
DevOps team and a DBA team for a financial
sector company.
I began my Morse code journey in the fall of
2020. I had always wanted to learn (several
failed attempts over the years), but was really
determined in this last iteration. I learned on
my own, mostly using a Morserino-32 (Kochmethod at 20 wpm, in echo mode – send backwith the key what you copy). Perhaps not themost efficient method, but it kept me engaged and making progress. Once I got
through the letters, numbers, and a few symbols, I started using MorseRunner. To thisday, I practice nearly every day using a combination of: RufzXP, MorseRunner (with andwithout N1MM), G4FON contest trainer, and Just Learn Morse code.
I enjoy all of sorts of different CW activities, and am starting to get into contesting, although it canbe difficult for me to participate meaningfully in contests, given family responsibilities.
I’m proud to be a member of CWops, and appreciate my nomination and sponsors. There are
too many people to thank for helping me get here, but I would be remiss if I didn’t thank my wifeand son for being so patient with me as I’ve spent countless hours listening to the “beeps” (as myson calls it).

Justin Ogle, N9TTK
Thank you W9RE for the nomination, I'm happy to be a partof CWops.
I was licensed in May 2020 as
KD9PLD and last month I became N9TTK. I learned CW
with a lot of help from my
Elmer, Steve, KB9RPG. I spent
many hours listening to
G4FON Morse trainer while atwork as well as a lot of on air
practice with Steve. I enjoy
DXing, contesting, and portable operations (POTA). I also
enjoy talking on VHF simplex
with the locals here in Indianapolis, IN. I have made many friends despite the age difference, I'm(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)

the young guy at 31 years old.
I am a member of the Hoosier DX and Contest Club, The Society of Midwest Contesters and Indy
United ARC. I enjoy going to meetings and events where I can meet and learn from experienced
contesters. I also enjoy watching presentations about ham radio on YouTube or live on zoom. I
look forward to attending Dayton Hamvention this year where I'll be attending Contest University.
I was invited to operate M/2 at W9VW for the ARRL International CW contest this year, I learned a
lot and had a great time. I have ambitions of multi-op contesting and going on DXpeditions in the
future.
I owe much of my interest in ham radio to my father, KD9PIT/SK (4/1/2022). Dad was licensed
years ago and let it go while I was growing up. One night while talking on the phone we sparked
each other's interest to get licensed, a month or so later we both tested and passed. He reallyenjoyed ham radio and always mentioned how proud he was that I learned code. I'm gratefulthat we were able to share the ham radio hobby together.

John Curtis, W0CAR
Greetings from Colorado!
I was certainly pleased to receive my membership invitation via Jim, N3JT on April 1st (!). I particularly thank Dan, W8CAR, for nominating me and for continuing to remind me that great fun was
to be had if I would just start participating in the CWTs – he was correct! I also thank my sponsors for their instant response to my nomination: Rob, K6RB; Jim, WT9U; Chas, K3WW and Jamie,
WW3S. Much appreciated Gentlemen!
I am blessed to be a husband,
father, and grandfather. Following university studies anda tour as a USAF officer, mycareer revolved around petroleum geology and geochemistry. I was employed both inindustry and as a professor(now emeritus) at the Colorado School of Mines.
First licensed in 1964, I havebeen continuously licensed
since 1968. In addition to CW(if you ever hear me on Fone,
W8CAR will at the other end), I
enjoy restoring and operating
early 60s boat anchors and(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)building small tube projects.
I held an Advanced ticket (WB8AHH) from 1968 to 1978, when I received my Extra Class ticket, inthe days of FCC examiners and 20 wpm code tests. I am a Life Member of ARRL and belong to theDenver Radio Club.
My radio obsession began as a SWL. I lived in Charleston, WV, in the days of Cold War megashortwave stations. I was fortunate to meet Joe, now KA8VZB, in the 8th grade. He had a Lafayette KT-135 regen that worked quite well. My parents were supportive of my SWL dreams and I
built a Knight Span Master for Christmas – which I still have in the Shack!
When we moved to Euclid, OH, Dan (W8CAR even then), introduced himself on my first day in the10th grade. He was instrumental in setting up my Novice exam. I expected to receive a great calllike his – but instead became WN8OQW, which (at 5 wpm) seemed to take most of a day to call
CQ with my DX-60. However, I was eventually able to select W0CAR to honor our life-long friendship. Noted CWops member Ron, K8NZ, also went to Euclid HS!
The picture shows me wearing my (shockingly uncomfortable) Brandes Superior cans that I usedwith the Span Master. My Bride, Mary, knows how to use a straight key, having been a CW & RTTY
operator in the US Army in Germany in the mid-70s. Sadly, she has no interest in getting her ticket, but after a career in statistical analysis, she enjoys gardening, quilting and playing the flute in
her Church choir.
My modern rig is an Elecraft K3-line. We have a city lot, but I have bent a 135ft dipole around it
and have an A3S on a roof tower. This seems to play quite well – even during 160 m contests
which I always enjoy.
I hope to work you during future CWTs and, so I may try to give back to our wonderful hobby,
during the SSTs and new MSTs.

Helmut Klein, OE1TKW, N0XW
I want to thank Herbert, OE6FYG for nominating me to
CWops and my sponsors for sponsoring me for the club.
I am glad to be able to join a huge number of fb CW ops
all around the world.

Aged 17, I was able to go on the air with my brand newcall OE1TKW, that was 1973. Working with a CW only rig
for the first years, CW remained my favourite mode until
today. What a happy day when the station was finallyrigged with the famous Drake 4C twins, which servedme a long time.
With time I was able to gain more experience and CW
speed. I was honoured to represent Austria in two HST(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)

championships and I like contesting, also in teams e.g. with OE0HQ.
I am now retired after a busy work life in the power control business. Despite this, I was able toearn CW DXCC Honor Roll and finally Top Of The Honor Roll in mixed mode, leaving me now withcasual DXing.
Business travels often brought me to the USA, I got to like Minneapolis, MN very much.
A friendly ham community there was the reason I wanted to also pass the US ham exams and I
did so up to the Extra Class with CW at the St.Paul Radio Club. I was lucky to also meet Paul,K0LNF in his famous ARCC consignment center.

I enjoy collecting all sorts of telegraph keys: straight keys, sideswipers, bugs and electronic keyers(non-iambic). With time, a fine collection of keys, preferably Vibroplexes emerged. It was probably caused by my first encounter with a green based Vibroplex Original Bug which someone waslending to our DXpedition team and I struggled to master it as a newcomer. Ever since then I try
to find this bug again, but I never came across a green based Vibroplex. It is easy to imagine I
liked the US radio flea markets very much, Vibroplexes at nearly every table. I use my collectible
keys by and by on the air instead leaving them behind glass windows.
My other hobbies are sailing, tennis, archery, kayak and Canadian paddling.
I look forward meeting you in the CWT activities and anywhere in the CW bands! Occasionally
you will also find me with the contest call OE1H.

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