The CW Operators Club Newsletter
December 2021 — Issue 143

Mobile Contesting

The AD4EB 2000 Montana Van has been used in
30+ QSO parties and has almost 300K miles on it.
Story by Jim AD4EB on page 12.

CWops “CWT” Every Wednesday
Start: 13Z, 19Z, 03Z (+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

President’s Message
There’s a photo
that’s been doing
the rounds on social media thesepast few months
which features an
op at a radio withhis fingers on a
Morse key and acaption that reads“CW – It’s Like FT8 –But For Men”. It made it to the CW Academy Facebook page recently and got a few comments
including one that pointed out that there arealso women who are excellent CW ops, including some of our members – the writer for his(Continued on page 2)

Table of Contents
President’s Message ............................................1
From the Editor: Morse as a Plot Device .........4News & Notes .......................................................5
K6RB: Giving Back Update ..................................9
W6SX: How We Were, W1RM .......................... 11
AD4EB: Mobile Contesting............................... 12
K7NJ: The Award for Advancing the Art ......... 14
IT9VDQ:Remote Operating .............................. 15
PA3HEN: Netherlands CW Club ...................... 16
K1RF: Loudspeaker Design Considerations .. 17
N3JT: My Other Hobby ..................................... 20
CW Academy...................................................... 22
CWops Member Awards .................................. 25
New Members ................................................... 29
QTX Report ........................................................ 30
My Story: New Member Biographies ............. 44

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pains was accused of not seeing the funny side. FT8 has clearly divided ham radio these past few
years but each time I see this sort of thing I wonder if there could be a better way of approachingit than poking fun.
I quite often see familiar ‘CW calls’ using FT8/4 on the clusters so obviously there are some whoare happy to quietly mix the modes and stay away from social media. Anecdotally though, there
seems to be many, probably newer licensees, who are on this mode due to the disappointmentsof poor results on HF phone with mediocre hardware and possibly a challenging location with highnoise levels. For an hour or so of software set up they can be loading their logs with lots of juicy
callsigns on FT8 and they’re happy - and why not? But I occasionally hear of some who eventually
become bored with the monotonous unvarying nature of the exchanges once the initial flush of
excitement has waned; what if we could get hold of these individuals and show them there is another ‘chat mode’ which for some outlay in effort will give them great satisfaction, a sense ofachievement and a good few dB over SSB?
The most obvious way this approach could be made is through local clubs. So if you notice a disgruntled looking FT8er sulking in the corner, why not engage him or her and wow them with a few
words about CW? It may even bear fruit but ridicule certainly never will. QRZ pages are one possible avenue too – it’s a common reference for many after or during a QSO and I will deliberately
make a few FT8 contacts occasionally confident that some will end up reading all about CW and
CWops on my page. I don’t mind doing this if it advertises CW and it’s easy enough, even fun up toa point! I may not convert many but even if a small proportion of our significant membership did
similar it could make a difference. As some ‘official graffiti’ I once saw on the wall of an Islamic
school in Malaysia put it – “A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step…”
I’m just back fromCQWW CW and an interesting visit to thePeak District moors
where I was part of asmall G6XX team hosted by Nick G4FAL.
There was a big storm
forecast for later Friday into Saturday but
myself and fellow
CWops member PaulG4PVM made it OK intime for a team of 3.
Just before the startwith now gale force
winds both the 160
and 80 m antennas(verticals) got trashed,so we were left withjust 40 m overnight(Continued on next page)

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which I volunteered
for; that is until 0515
when we lost power.
When I put on a headtorch and ventured
outside I found a huge
dump of snow which
was drifting alarmingly in the wind, no wonder 40 m and the 4-SQ
had been doing weird
things! Power didn’t
come on until after
2300 so we told our
4th team member
G4RCD not to botherdriving over from
Yorkshire. He probably wouldn’t have got
there anyway andwe’d already decided
Nick G4FAL left and Paul G4PVM rightto downgrade theweekend into a morerelaxed ‘see what you can do’ affair. Thanks to all the members who called us; you could havebeen working member 919 or 2413 and I’ll try to work out a schedule as the intention to remainorganised on this front got lost in the confusion of the storm.
So we approach the end of another year with CWops undoubtedly in a good place with continuing
success and many reasons to be cheerful and optimistic. Membership numbers have passed 3000
and continue to increase. The CW Academy has carried on the trend of last year with truly impressive numbers of students passing through the various levels. Many of the advanced graduates become our newest members and some enthusiastically join in our CWTs and help to set the bands
alight with eye-catching bursts of activity each week. The recently introduced Thursday 0700 session becomes part of the awards program at the start of January and is part of the ongoing push
to increase overall activity beyond the shores of North America. We’ve also moved further with theaims of supporting learners to get on the air with the weekly K1USN Slow Speed Contests and Giving Back program. None of this happens by magic and there is a small army of ordinary members
who throw themselves headlong into making all this happen – and that includes of course Solid
Copy which is the only reason you’re reading this. I salute you all and wish everyone a very happy
holiday season and a great 2022….!
73, Stew GW0ETF, President

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From the Editor
Morse Code As A Plot Device
I get some interesting correspondence as the editor of Solid
Copy. One email that arrived not
too long ago came from Bob
Houf, K7ZB. He’s not a CWops
member but his info merits sharing here. He writes:“I am a CW operator fromway back - first licensed in
1963 as WN8KEX and soon. Details in QRZ.com:
https://www.qrz.com/db/
K7ZB“Currently I am in a condo and still figuring out how to get back on the air. In addition to my TS-570 I just bought a QCX+ and also build homebrew QRP gear.
“Most recently I operated CW Sweepstakes at a friend's QTH, AB7E.
“I was taught code as a Novice by a railroad lightning slinger, K8OUQ, copied TACAMO CW on a Polaris missile submarine during the Cold War, got out of the Navy,earned a BSEE at Ohio State, worked in electronics and kept my hand in on CW as
years went by. Here's the TACAMO story: https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?
threads/trailing-wire-antennas-tacamo-and-submarine-radio-shack-ops.597958/“I am good for 35 wpm (40+ on a good day).
“The reason for reaching out is that I have written a trilogy around telegraphy thatyour members may enjoy - free of charge and is available on the Internet Archive
here: https://archive.org/details/the-telegraphers-trilogy“It has been highlighted in a number of newsletters of other CW/Morse Code group's
and I thought it might be of interest to yours.”
We’ve had feature stories in Solid Copy about nearly every aspect of CW. But this is the first time
we’ve had works of fiction where Morse code is a plot device. His stories are too long to include
in the newsletter but I enjoyed reading them. He has found yet another way to enjoy CW.
73, Tim K9WX, Editor

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News and Notes
Jerry Weisskohl AC4BT
We regret to report that George T. Daughters, K6GT, CWops #939, became a Silent Key on
October 11.
Jim, N3JT, CWops Secretary: If you are not a life member and your membership expires thisyear, please submit your 2022 CWops club dues now (before the holiday expenses arrive!). Go towww.cwops.org and click on Membership, then Pay Dues. Life membership makes administration so much easier, and it alleviates the need to remember to pay dues ever again! Not sure
about your membership expiration? Click on Membership and then Roster. On the left you’ll see
your membership status. Thanks!
Josep, EA6BF: To all US Operators working the 60m band.
I have a request about the working frequencies. Many times I have seen US stations spotted in
the RBNs, and some of them I could hear very well, but I believe they weren't actively listening for
EU stations trying to contact them on that band.
In my case, Spain doesn´t have the allocated frequencies like in the US, so many times I call CQ
on 5353 and then say "QSX CH xx", where xx is 1 for 5332, 2 for 5348, 3 for 5358.5, 4 for 5373
and 5 for 5405. I have never had the chance to QSO with any US station yet so I kindly request
the US guys to check 5353KHz and see what QSX frequency we are using so we can maybe have a
QSO.
Thanks for the opportunity to provide this information and I am looking forward to working some
US stations on the 5Mhz band!
Glenn, VE3GNA: I would like to share the following e-mail I received from a fellow ham in Ohio
after I sent him a congratulatory radiogram upon his completion of one level of CWA. In a nutshell it explains why I enjoy sending these messages so much.
Glenn,
This is Bud Kline, KD8RGW, in Westerville, OH.
I want to thank you for sending me an Amateur Radio Radiogram recently. It made its way throughthe system until Stan, KD8KBX finalized it. Stan resides in New Albany, OH, a Columbus suburb adjacent to Westerville where I am located. Stan took the time to print the radiogram and physicallymailed it to me so I would have the hard copy of the radiogram.
I was elated to receive it, my first. It is going to be framed and placed on the wall of my shack. It
meant a lot to receive the radiogram and your well wishes. So, thank you for taking the time to send
it. Some of my fellow CWA classmates received radiograms as well but no one got an actual hard
copy. It was special.

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(Continued from previous page)You may have sparked an interest for me in slow traffic nets. I am an older ham (75) attempting tolearn Morse code. This really appeals to me, at least now, more than contesting. You may have also
given me a new, close-by, CW buddy in Stan. 73 and enjoy the holidays. Hoping we will cross paths on
the air sometime after I get more proficiency and confidence.
Bud Kline, KD8RGW, Westerville, Ohio
Bob, N4BP: I wrote the following for my own documentation and for a friend in Paris who uses
my station via remote:Due to latency. it is impossible to send CW by hand on the WinKeyer while listening to sidetone
from a remote transmitter. This mod solves that problem by routing local WinKeyer sidetone tothe headphones during transmit and remote audio during receive.
To accomplish this, a 5VDC SPDT relay is installed in the WinKeyer and is controlled by the PTTline. I used hot glue to mount the relay
on the top of the WK board between the
PIC chip and one of the opto-isolator
chips. One side of the coil is wired to the
PTT1 line and the other to the filteredside of L1 for +5VDC. Since the PTT1 line
is floating (opto-isolator), it is necessary
to jumper the return side of the PTT1 line
to system ground. The photo shows the
position of the jumper on the back of theboard (right).
To prepare the WinKeyer cabinet:
Mount a 1/8" stereo jack on the left side of the box. The jack should be centered L/R and as close
to the PC board as possible. Carefully measure the location to drill a hole for access to the trimpot with a pocket screwdriver. Err toward the PC board to help with clam shell fit later and enlarge the hole enough to fit a small grommet. A third hole is drilled to fit a grommet for entry of the sound card stereo
cable, also as close to the PC board as
possible. It will be necessary to nibble
some aluminum from the bottom part ofthe clamshell for it to fit. Nibble aluminum where the bottom runs into the 1/8"
jack. Nibble aluminum where the bottom runs into the grommet opposite thetrimpot. The grommet for the soundcard
cable should be in the clear. These two
locations are hidden when the cabinet isreassembled (right).
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To extract sidetone from the WK, I removed the piezo speaker and installed a 100 ohm trimpot in
its place. The arm of the trimpot is connected to the NO side of the SPDT relay. Access to thetrimpot is through the grommet mounted on the side of the WK. The other audio source being from the computer
soundcard, I hardwired a stereo audio
cable through the grommet on the sameside of the WK and wired both channels
to the NC contact on the relay. I put abead of hot glue on the back side of thegrommet to act as a strain relief. For theheadphones (or earbuds), the COMM
contact of the relay is connected to the
1/8" phone jack mounted on the sameside with the two channels tied together(right).
I use WKremote v1.5 for my server and client WinKeyers. All it takes to make audio work with mymodification are three mouse clicks.
In the Local WKUSB box(bottom center), check "PTT","Port1", and "Tone". The delay
defaults to "1.0Word" which isthe shortest available and acceptable to me. If you want alonger hang time, select it from
"Paddle Hang" toward the leftof the display. You can also
select the pitch of the sidetone
from the "Frequency" window, bottom center.
Use whatever relay you have. In my case, I ordered a 4-channel relay module from ICStationsome time ago but found it useless due to a counterfeit Prolific USB to Serial adapter. The price
was only about $6 and gave me four of the type relay used for this mod.
My Source:
http://www.icstation.com/icstation-micro-channel-relay-module-control-relay-module-icse012a-p-4012.html
Chuck, WS1L: I've been trying to use my old Yaesu FT-101ZD more and recently I tried it out on
SSB for one of the very few times since I bought it at a hamfest flea market in Slidell, Louisiana atleast ten years ago. I had owned one as my first HF transceiver in the 1980's and couldn't resist
the pull of nostalgia. Unfortunately, my recent check-in to a Sunday morning net with friends
was met with an observation that I was transmitting double sidebands with a carrier... AM, in oth(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)er words.
I already knew this rig had been modified for 11-meter CB use because there were 11-meter crystals in three of the four 10-meter band positions. I had scrounged up the original crystals andmeant to swap them in and re-align things but without much Solar Flux incentive I kept putting it
off. The rig worked great on CW, and I enjoyed using it. But this was something that needed fixing!
A look at the IF board showed a 6 kHz AM filter in place of the CW narrow filter. Changing that toa 300 Hz CW filter had a very odd result - the rig was receiving with a 300-Hz bandwidth on every
mode EXCEPT for the proper CW-Narrow one. That mode was receiving through the stock 2.4
kHz SSB filter. Somehow the rig was using the CW Narrow filter when it was supposed to be using the SSB filter, and vice versa.
After much perusal of the schematics and the service manual,
I figured out that the control lines that apply 12 volts to the proper diodes were swapped where
they entered the IF board. My first thought was the mode selector switch had been re-wired, butthat switch must have had two dozen wires hanging off it, and nothing looked like it had been
modified.
My next thought was "well, if I just swap those two pins on the plugs going into the IF board jacks,then it should work correctly." So, I dug out my magnifying glass and a tiny screwdriver and went
to see if I could pry the pins out to swap them. The first thing I saw were the pry marks a previous owner had made when they swapped the pins in the first place - to allow a full 6kHz AM signal, they needed to be able to select the CW filter while in AM mode, and the simplest way to dothat was to change the default filter from the SSB slot to the CW slot.
Now the old rig works great on
SSB, and my signal is a nice clean
2400 Hz wide. I think the reason
I never noticed the odd filter
while operating CW was that myfirst 101ZD never had the CW
filter, so I was expecting the 2.4
kHz bandwidth and hadn't
looked further. I've since added
the companion FV-901DM VFO,
the YO-901 bandscope and an AL-80B amp to this line-up so it
makes for a great trip down
memory lane when I fire it up. I
still like my K3S/KPA-500 combo
but there is something about using old gear that can't be beat!

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Hal, N4GG: My book, Ham Radio Tips and Tales, was recently published and is available on Amazon. Editor’s note: Hal will be writing a feature story on the writing and publication of his book for a
future issue of Solid Copy.
Jim, N3JT, CWops Secretary: CWops has donated $200 to Bruce
Horn, who runs 3830scores.com. He sends this note in thanks:“Please relay my thanks to the officers of the CW Operators Clubfor the club's very generous donation. Not surprisingly there are
more posts for the CWops mini tests throughout the year thanany other contest. “Joe, AA8TA: Yours truly was interviewed the Red Summit RF showthat seems to focus on portable operating; recording
here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iOEo3waDKg. Lot ofgood questions about CWops, the CW Academy and how to learn
Morse code. As usual, I am amazed at how many people "outthere" think that CWops and CW Academy are synonymous.
Ward, N0AX recently submitted an interesting item to the ARRL’s November 24 Contest Update:"Here's an 1844 quote sent by postal mail from Samuel Morse to his partner, Alfred Vail, regarding telegraphy: '... there is one defect in your writing [sending] which I wish you would pay particular attention to - Make a longer space between each letter, & a still longer space between each
word, The letters and words are often confounded for want of this simple attention.' Even at the
beginning, nearly 180 years ago, running characters together was a problem!" Reprinted withpermission.

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 (nextpage) is the current schedule:(Continued on next page)

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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

UTC-5

UTC-6

UTC-7

UTC-8

HawaiiUTC-10

KE7VE

N6HCN

KH6LC

K7NJ

K6RB

K0ES

AA0IZ

Mon
JH2HTQ

G2CWO

JO1DGEJH2HTQ E25JRP

W2XS
WK4WC

GW2CW

SV2BBK

N4TMM

JR1WY
W

KE7VE
Wed
JH2HTQ

K3ZGA

JS2AHGWB1LLY

W2ITT

KE7VE

Thurs
JH2HTQ

SV2BBK

KE7VE
K7NJ

FRI
JH2HTQ

GW2CW

SV2BBK

N2GSL

JR1WY
W

KE7VE

K6RB

WB7S

Sat
JJ1FXF

KE7VE

Sun
JS2AHGIZ8NXG

W5DT

KE7VE

K6RB

JJ1FXF

Here are the results of last month’s GB efforts:
Volunteer: Stations Worked
AA0IZ: K6TXE, K6ZGN, K7CLA, K7DWS, K7NJ, KJ7RIE, KN6KNE, N5NLP, NT9L, VA3RXB, WA7SDV,WB6WYF, WL7WH
E25JRP: HS2KWO, HS5NMF(2), VU2EEI, VU3CTA, YB1MIG, E21HYR, HS0GWL, VU2TMP, HS?PHX,
HS7JENGW2CWO: OK2JOW, OH8UBJ, EA8CN, OK2YH, F6HZF, UT3UGI, F5OKB, LZ1ON, DC5YJ, SQ9JNX,
S53KS
IZ8NXG: IK5LPN, G3UKI, G0TFL, RK3AGG, UT2IY: , I1BPU, S57V, E73KW, W3ICM, OH2ENW, DJ3GS
JH2HTQ: JJ1VCU, 7N2XZB(2), JH2VEPJJ1FXF: 7N2XZB(2), JQ6RZZ, JJ1EJD, JR6SBI, JJ2JVU, JK1QYL, JF6JYS, JA9AYV, JJ1XTG, JF7URV, JJ1VCU
JO1DGE: JR3MWP, JM8QGN(2), JJ1VCU, JJ2JVU, JR1JWR(2), JR1DTN, JJ1XTG, R0CDP
JR1WYW: JM8QGN, JA5EWQ, JE0ERZ, JK1XDX, JJ2JYU, JS2HBXK3ZGA: K9FW, K3XI(2), K1PUG, KS6KCC, W6JIM, WB9ICH, K8MPH, W2SUV, N3RT, W1ZAH, WB2FQL(Continued on next page)

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K6RB: VE7RIE, KA9FON, KQ3S, W7KB, N5IR
K7NJ: N1ZUC, K1CDX, AD5A, NB3W, CL3OR, KB9W, KF9JA, N9DDC, VA3IIF, WA5OBV, WU7X, AA0IZ,
K4WNY, KI5AL, N9AK, WF5K, NP3K, K5SLO, W4SKB, G4RMV, W1AAF, W5FKW, AC4GX, K3UT, WK0B,
KA8WWA, VA3BUF, N3AML, WC9D, WA3RSR, K5KV, K3TW, V21C, K4FET, KA2BKG, AI5DD, WB2KMR,
KE9IX
KE7VE: AC2K(3), K0GLT, KB1CKT, JN1THL, W5OBT, K6DDS, WD0ETG, KJ4KPW, KE0ZAR, W1EQ,
VE3KI, K2DFC, K0LUZ, N3JT, AL7LO, N8KH, K3YDX, N2NI, WJ8Y, K8MFO, KE4S, N8CPA, AA3B, K6TJ,
KF6I, WA6O, K5GN, N7IR, W9RE, KA3LOC, NE6ET, KC9YI, K6VVK, VE7JBX, W3TOP, KZ3W, AC2SG,KA3LNA, KH6AQ, WN7S, AC5XK, K4IBZ(2), W4NPX, WA9VDW, K4PQC, WD0FHK, N7JMP, KV0I,
WD6T, NE9XX, AA0IZ, AB6BR, K1USN, W4BA, N5KB, K3PP, K3EYJ, KN4YHP, NA4A, WM4Q, WA6LJW,
WA6TQJ, KD5VGJ, WB5HOW, WW5W, K1LGQ, W7DLZ, K4ZDH, KE4COH, KR2Q, WB2ERJ, KK6KL,
WD9DWE, NN2X, WA6LJW, KJ4RMJ, K7HZ, W1WE, W8FJ, W6IX, W1GU, WS7L, WI9V, W9UIY, K5CM,
K1EBY, W9MA, WX5T, W7EVC, KB3NSK, KC0QWE
KH6LC: RN3CT, WX7V, K2JVB, K7WDA, K2HZO, NX2E, W6OYW, K6RC
N2GSL: W0RJW, KC2KC, WB4IT
N4TMM: K8MPH, N9DDC, KB5RCF, N8AFT, KB1DC, AA5KV
N6HCN: N0FU, K6JJR, KI7NRI, N5NLP, K7HZ, W5CUB, WB5OSD
SV2BBK: DK1QG, SV2HSZ, F5IND, R3LAI, DM2PR, IK1YEN
W2ITT: N5EP
W2XS: W1AU, W1WAV(2), WA4NLF, N2JPR
W5DT: K0ES, K1LKD
WB1LLY: N8LAG, AF4PD, K0WHW(2), K8DSS, KA9KWR, N5URL, KD5RDD, N2TQT, KF8R, KJ6HYJ,W5WTH, WB8APR, W6JJZ, KF9GI, WB0POQ, K7BNY, K0WVL, WB4RDG, KD9MFA, N3JJTWB7S: K4CAB, AF4PD, KN6IPE, WX5T, N2WBJ, KY4ID
WK4WC: WB8CCR, W9MET, VE2GDI, K3PR

How We Were
Hank Garretson, W6SX
W1RM, Pete Chamalian, CWops # 8
Pete has been a ham for sixty-five years. He
worked at ARRL Headquarters. He was CWops
Founding President. He is a super contest operator with many victories and plaques to his
credit. He is the consummate CW operator.
A not well-known story. For many, many months
Pete was at the top of Brass Pounders League
standings, often beating out the legendary Mae
Burke, W3CUL for top spot. I have great memories of high-speed traffic handling with Pete on
the New York State Net in the late fifties.
Pete as K2UTV in 1958
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Pete says, “One of my fondest memories was a early morning session of Morning Watch(remember that) where W2RUF and W3CUL both checked in. They swapped some traffic andman were the dits and dahs flying fast and furious! It was a thing to hear.”
Please send your How We Were picture(s) and story to w6sx@arrl.net. Then-and-now pictures
particularly welcome.
CW Exuberantly! Hank, W6SX

Mobile HF Contesting in State QSO Parties
Jim Hall, AD4EB
I recently gave a presentation
about HF Mobile Contesting to
our local ARES group in Williamson County, TN (WCARES). The
focus of the presentation wason the setup and preparationneeded to operate competitively
as a mobile station in State QSO
Parties. One of the goals was toencourage members to participate in upcoming QSO parties,
and to perhaps consider trying
their hand at operating mobile
in one of these contests. The presentation was recorded by one of our group members, Cliff Batson, which he made available on YouTube.
My interest in mobile contesting began in 2009 with encouragement from Ted W4NZ and Don
N4ZZ, both are fellow CWops and TCG contesters. They said if I would get my van set up and giveit a shot, I would see how much fun it was. Well they were right, it has been a blast and my favorite ham radio activity. Thanks to the incredible support of my wife Melody KI4HVY, who is thedriver/navigator on these excursions, we have now done over 30 QSO parties as mobile. These
have been mulit-op with Don N4ZZ and Melody in AL, TN, and GA, and single-op in TX, FL and IL
with Melody doing all the driving.
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(Continued from previous page)The presentation begins with explaining
what state QSO parties are all about,
how they are scored, and the special
advantages provided to those thatchoose to compete as mobiles. I describe how it is like being a “rare DX”
station as you enter each county. Information is then presented on how theMontana van is outfitted for mobile
contest operation. Included are details
about the antennas, grounding, power
distribution, software, GPS, and ARPS.
I have found that one key to our success in this type of radiosport can be
attributed to extensive preparation beGetting set to leave for the 2011 Georgia QSO Party, L to R –fore the contest. The preparation inJim AD4EB, Melody KI4HVY, Don N4ZZ entered as multi-op.
cludes planning the route, which cantake many days to come up with the “perfect” route. In the presentation, I discuss in detail steps
taken to come up with our 2021 Florida QSO Party route, and how the route information is utilized. For example, on my QRZ.com webpage I provide useful information for the contest participants. This includes a map or our route, estimated county line crossing times, and a link to
APRS.fi which shows live our current location in each county along the route.

The 2021 FLQP turned out to be the best performance Melody and I have had thus far, ending up
with 3,431 QSOs in the 20-hour long contest.
I hope you enjoy the YouTube presentation, and look forward to working you in one of these exciting mobile QSO Party contests.

AD4EB operating in the 2019 Texas
QSO Party. The radio is an IC-7600
along with an HP laptop PC running
N1MM Logger Plus.

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Melody KI4HVY after driving the 1,006-mile route in the 2021
Florida QSO Party. She is the real key to our success.

Back to Table of Contents

The CWops Award for
Advancing the Art of CW
Riki Kline, K7NJ
CWops is pleased to announce that it is now accepting nominations for this prestigious award forthe year 2022.
The purpose of the award is to recognize individuals, groups, or organizations that have made the greatest contribution(s) toward advancing
the art or practice of radio communications by Morse code.

Criteria:
Candidates for the award may be one or more of the following:
•
•
•
•
•
•

Authors of publications related to CW
CW recruiters, trainers, mentors, coaches and instructors
Public advocates of CW
Organizers of CW activities
Designers and inventors who advance the art or practice of CW
Other contributors to the art or practice of CW

Note: The award is not limited to amateur radio operators or their organizations.

Nomination
Nominations may be made by anybody (not limited to CWops members). Nominations should be
emailed to <awards@cwops.org> with a copy to <secretary@cwops.org>. An email confirmation
will be sent acknowledging receipt of each nomination. In order to be considered, a nomination
should be received by March 18, 2022 and include:•••

A detailed explanation supporting nominee qualifications according to theabove criteria.
Name(s) and call sign(s) (if applicable) of nominee(s), and contact information
including their postal address(es), email address(es), and telephone number(s).
Name, telephone number, email address, and call sign (if applicable) of theperson submitting the nomination.

Presentation of Award
A plaque will be presented at the Dayton Hamvention. If the recipients are not present, it will besent to them.

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Remote Operating
Giu Giunta, IT9VDQFor many years I have been hearing about the possibility to use a "remote" radio station and I’ve
always been curious about it; as in all things, there are very good comments but also very bad,given that on many occasions there have been episodes of radio amateurs who have used
remote stations in an "unclear" way.
As in my new house I can only mount small antennas on the balcony on the eleventh floor and I
cannot always be present in the IB9T contest station, with the help of Gabriele IT9RGY I started totake some timid steps in the "remote "; I must say that for an "old Telegraphist" I am not very
familiar with PCs, modems and all the modern things present in our radio stations today, but I
was positively surprised by the speed Gabry set everything up, with a video call on WhatsApp, on
my home PC; He worked for some months in setting up his remote station, so i had easy accessto his station.
IT9RGY’s remote station in Palermo city (about one kilometer from my house):• PC, Internet fiber, TS590sg, Spiderbeam, 40m dipole, 80-160 CW dipole
IT9VDQ home station:• PC, internet fiber and… that's it!

As said before, a short video call was enough to make Gabry fix everything on my PC: AnyDesk
for the remote connection, ARCP-590G to control theTS590SG transceiver by PC, a VSPE for COM ports,“Remaud client” to stream the audio, “ERC” to turn theantenna and lastly QARtest an exceptional contest
software, simple, intuitive and very powerful (also in
English). He also made me add the "Webswitch" Appto my mobile phone, to turn on/off the PC at homewith one click.
Having done everything, it is time to "go on the air"and here the troubles have begun! For a "differently
young" OM like me, not having a transceiver in front of
you to tinker with my faithful Bencher, to greet some
QARTest by IK3QAR
friends with "hello" or "hey" and having to control
everything via a keyboard is not that easy! The firstexperience was some QSOs in S&P and then slowly melting down a bit, running at low speed.
One Sunday I also tried to run the Marconi-Memorial, making even more than three hundred
QSOs! I must say that as you get to know more and more the various management software, you
become familiar with "Ctrl+K" and remember the various messages of the memories, everything
becomes easier, focusing again on receiving the correspondents. Every now and then some"freezing" occurs and it is immediately panic, but if you reflect a little on it, the problem is solved(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)

within a few seconds; I also did a low speed CWT due to some very small internet delay still to be
fixed and it was nice when some CWops friends greeted me with “tnx remote qso”!
I have to say that as a first experience I really enjoyed it, obviously without reaching that
performance of speed and concentration in the QSOs of the “not remote” station of all time; I
hope that slowly, by using this "way of operating" more and being able to implement it with
N1MM+ and other useful software, even a "differently young" CW Operator like me (who cannot
mount antennas on the roof of the house), can make the most of that progress makes available
to us.

Netherlands Telegraphy Club (NTC)
Theo Kindts, PA3HEN
A new Telegraphy club in the Netherlands? Yes, you are correct! Apart from thewell known “Benelux QRP Club” and “VHSC”, there are no CW clubs in the Netherlands; the founders of NTC (PA7RA, PG4I & PA3HEN) would like to change
this.
What is the goal of the NTC? Quite simply, we wish to promote Morse Code byreaching as many Telegraphy operators as possible in order to promote more
CW activity on the bands and to reach operators who use other modes andhelp them to explore Morse Code. Encouraging inter-Club CW cooperation,
joint activities with clubs in countries around the Netherlands in order to increase the CW activity in general and to enjoy our nice hobby and mode together. NTC wants to be there for all kinds of CW operators, newbees, slow ops,
high speed devils and everyone in between. Let’s keep CW alive together, preserve and promote our heritage.
Meanwhile, NTC has been accepted as a member of “EUCW” and “International CW Council”.
Because NTC aims to be inclusive for all Telegraphy operators we have a very simple “low level
access rule”. Only two active NTC members need to be contacted to complete a membership application. The membership application form can be found on our website; download, complete
and forward it by email. Membership is completely free.
Our activity program includes;(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)•••

Work NTC Members (W-NTC-M) award
Monthly QSO party
The development of a second award is in progress

Find out more by visiting our website (also still work-in-progress) or send a message to: nettelclub@outlook.com
You can also check directly if you have already worked some NTC members or start with this directly. Check the website (www.qsl.net/ntc) for the membership list. Our members are also listed
in the CW Club RBN Spotter.
Non-NTC members are also welcome to participate in NTC activities. We look forward to meetingyou on the bands.

Loudspeaker Design Considerations for CW
Steve Dick, K1RF
What drove me to write this article was the high cost of speakers sold by the big three with minimal specifications and finding “good” speakers only by reviews or word of mouth. I wanted toprovide some information on what’s important in amateur radio speakers, especially for CW reception. Fortunately one of my sons is an acoustical engineer and I learned a lot from him andeven built/tested several home-brew speakers in an acoustical lab. I hope to convey what's important if you want to purchase one or build your own.
If you’ve ever operated in a lengthy CW contest such as Field Day, you are certainly familiar withlistener fatigue. It’s a phenomenon that occurs after prolonged exposure to an auditory stimulus
which includes tiredness, discomfort, pain, and loss of sensitivity. Some causes of listener fatigue
in amateur radio include:•••

Receiver contributions to audio distortion (oscillator phase noise, demodulation process, audio amplifier)
Listening to weak/noisy signals for long periods of time
Repetitive noise sources (Noise from appliances such as plasma T.V.s, computerswitching power supplies, CFL and LED light bulbs, etc)

(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)

•
•
•
•
•

“Communications quality” audio in voice modes, resulting in missing important speechcomponents, due to narrow-band filtering
Speech compression due to its unnatural sound
Listening to CW amidst key clicks from nearby signals.
Use of narrow receiver filters which produce CW ringing, mainly a problem in older
rigs.
Poor performance of many transceiver built-in speakers.

Let’s try to establish a set of ground rules for amateur radio speakers to minimize listener fatigue. I’m assuming the speaker must accommodate not only CW, but good quality voice. I’m also
assuming it is a passive speaker.
What is the required bandwidth for a good amateur radio speaker?
In telephony, the usable voice frequency
band ranges from approximately 300 Hz
to 3400 Hz. The voiced speech of a typical adult male has a fundamental frequency from 85 to 180 Hz, and that of atypical adult female from 165 to 255 Hz.
Thus, the fundamental frequency ofmost speech falls below the bottom ofthe "voice frequency" band as defined
above. However, enough of the harmonic series will be present for the brain tofill in the blanks though the missing fundamental, but it doesn’t sound naturaland adds to fatigue.
“Hi-fi” voice energy falls in the region 100 Hz to about 7 kHz so let’s use that as our baseline. Energy above and below this range should be discarded as it contains unnecessary noise and adds tofatigue.
The easiest way to make a homebrew speaker is to use what is known as a full range driver,which can produce most of the audio frequencies found in high quality voice and is used in many
commercial ham speakers. Multiple drivers, such as a woofer and tweeter, use the sweet spot of
each driver, but cost more and require crossover networks which increase complexity and losses.
It is also difficult to match their sensitivities, and the crossover network adds additional delays
and phase shifts.
What is the main limitation of a full range driver? At higher frequencies the speaker becomes
more directional, and its cone starts to develop bending modes, referred to as 'breakup'. If the
rig has a receiver equalizer, adjust the upper limit to stay within the specified driver range or lower.
Unlike hi-fi amplifiers, a typical rig can only put out about 2-3 watts before distortion sets in, so(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)

it’s important to have an efficient driver. Efficiency is measured in SPL, or Sound Pressure Level at
1 watt/1 meter. In my experience, drivers for radios should have at least an 85 dB SPL. 90dB isbetter. If you’re building your own, their Thiele-Small Parameters, first commonly used in the
1970s, should be specified. These define their electrical and mechanical properties at low frequencies and allow the right enclosure volume to be used for optimum settling time and low frequency response. A good place to start is parts-express.com/ for drivers. They often have low
cost clearance items but with specified T/S parameters, along with recommended enclosure volume.
There are also on-line calculators to compute volume from these parameters.
What about sealed enclosures vs. ported enclosures? For amateur radio use, stick with a sealed
enclosure. You don’t need the added low frequency response of a ported enclosure typical in hifi applications, and a sealed enclosure requires less volume, a simpler enclosure design, a quicker settling response by roughly a factor of 3, and at the low end, smoother roll-off, smootherphase response, and a better controlled cone excursion.
How can we maximize power to the speaker before distortion starts setting
in?
•

•

If the rig permits, use a 4 ohm speaker instead of an 8 ohm speaker.
You will get twice the power into the speaker for a given input voltage
rail.
For homebrew rigs, use a bridge-tied load output stage instead of a single ended output stage (See figure, top right.) This provides FOURTIMES the power output capability compared to a single-ended output
because it essentially provides twice the voltage swing to the speaker.
So instead of being roughly 12 volts, it looks like 24 volts.

More details on speakers for amateur radio can be found at this web page.
One of the author’s homebrew speakers is shown in thephoto (bottom, right). If you want to purchase a readymade speaker, I would recommend a sealed centerchannel speaker, optimized for voice. One I have used,and several hams have had good results with, is the BIC
Venturi DV32CLR which is a sealed speaker with 90dB
SPL for about $46.00.
Some CW enthusiasts swear by resonant speakers. They
are basically a driver mounted in a resonant cavity suchas a PVC tube, a can, or specially designed cabinet. Compared to a standard speaker, they improve weak signal reception, help to reject nearby interfering signals, and reduce noise above and below their resonant frequency. They are very efficientat their resonant frequency, which helps to reduce distortion from the relatively low power output stage of a rig. They may require experimenting with the best placement as they have a rela(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)tively narrow acoustical beam width. They also make a unique conversation piece for visiting CW
ops. Some examples of resonant speakers:••••

Resonant speaker by Steve Ellington, N4LQ
Also by N4LQ – adding a resonant sound tube to an IC-7300 speaker.
One more resonant speaker by David E Hassell Sr.,N5IW.
Scroll down on Phil VK6GX’s QRZ.com web page for an example of a can speaker.

My Other Hobby
Jim Talens, N3JT
A non-radio hobby I enjoy when in Florida is flying radio-controlled airplanes. I cannot do thatwhen in Virginia because we live within a restricted flight area, not far from downtown Washington, DC. While I am not an expert pilot, I do find successfully controlling the planes through loops
and rolls and ultimately landing them in one piece satisfying.
Most of the folks in my area who fly RC planes fly at the West Delray field in Florida. This is in thesame park, though half a mile away, where the Boca Raton Amateur Radio Association has its
club station with towers and beams. I fly in the early morning when the air is relatively calm. The
planes we all fly at that hour are electrics, not gas-powered planes. Gasoline planes are becoming
the minority these days, in fact. One of my planes, called a VisionAire, is essentially a stunt plane,
which means it has a lot of control surfaces that are used to allow the plane to respond quickly
and severely to even minor attitude adjustments. I minimize the extent to which those surfaces(like the ailerons) can move during flight, but still a great care is required, unlike my other twoplanes that are more forgiving overall. A split-second error in attitude control can mean an almost instantaneous crash for the VisionAire, unless I am flying it at least “two mistakes high,” aterm that is understood to mean high enough to allow time to maybe correct one such error.
Of course, at any lower altitude the risk of crashing is vastly higher. Because of the sensitivity ofthis plane and my limited experience in the hobby, I have crashed the VisonAire many times,
even a few times when I am positive the receiver did not respond to my commands! That does
happen on occasion for unknown reasons. Crashes with these high-speed planes tend to resultin a significant amount of damage to the foam structure, a broken propeller, fractured fuselage,(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)

distorted motor mount, etc. And my VisionAire has experienced all of these! Still, I am committed to keeping this plane flying. It now weighs twice what it did originally thanks to so many layers of epoxy, my preferred way to implement repairs, Sure, I could replace parts but why pay forthe plane over and over again! Its takeoffs are iffy and doing a loop requires full throttle. In fact,
keeping it in the air requires at least ¾ throttle, which is a lot! Flight time is down to a few
minutes even with a hefty battery (3000 mAh 30C LiPo).
Landing, too, is harder because considerably more speed is needed to keep it aloft during landing approach. This plane has been repaired so many times and looks so weird from the epoxy
and rubber bands keeping to together that the other guys with whom I fly suggested I send photos of it to Model Aviation, the magazine published by the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA).
The AMA is a trade association that provides, among other things, liability insurance. Everyone
who flies must be a member of AMA. To my surprise, they included the picture in the August2021 issue of their Model Aviation magazine.
And now too the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires registration of the planes, andrecently imposed a written (online) test for authorization to fly at all. Under FAA rules, all planes
are classified as “drones” and are limited in where they can be flown, how high, etc. Even flying adrone on your own property is a violation if the area is not considered approved by the FAA.
Regulatory issues aside, for those who are really into this hobby there is no limit to the kinds andstyles of planes that can be bought or built and flown. The costliest are the jets, which run on real(Continued on next page)

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jet fuel and both sound and fly like real jets, meaning very fast and very loud! They also go for
upwards of $10,000 so if you crash one of those it’s a major financial setback. But like most hobbies, there are some people who go the extreme. Not me. I’m happy to fly around in circles andland safely, chat with the other guys (who, like hams, invariably have interesting stories to shareabout just about everything), and go home with my planes intact!
Just as there is the adage in ham radio that if your antenna didn’t come down in a storm it wasn’t
big enough, the model flyers say that if you haven’t crashed your plane you haven’t flown it
enough yet. One other way of losing a plane is not keeping your eyes fixed on it in flight. I’ve
seen guys turn around for just a second to respond to a question or glance sideways at something only to then lose sight of their plane as it disappears over the trees into the Everglades never to be recovered. There are lots of planes out there for the alligators to nibble on.
The nice thing about flying at the West Delray Park is that, after flying, I can always wander down
the road to the Boca ARA club station and see what’s on the air!

CW Academy
Kate Hutton, K6HTN Joe Fischer, AA8TA
Bob Carter, WR7Q Roland Smith, K7OJL
Let’s take a look at the 2021 CW Academy progress, and start with numbers.
January-February semester:•

Total registered students: 818.

•

Number of students who verified: 616 (75% of total registered).

•

Number of students who completed a class: 500 (61% of verified).

•

Number of students promotable: 424 (84% of completed).

•

Beginner graduates: 177.

•

Basic graduates: 96.

•

Intermediate graduates: 90.

•

Advanced graduates: 61.

•

Number of advisors: 83.
(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)•

Number of classes: 95.

This continued our trend of growth that we experienced through 2020; was it because of the pandemic? Seems like it, but we experienced a big increase in student signups in starting in 2020.
The basic class continued in its popularity.
April-May semester:•

Total registered students: 874.

•

Number of students who verified: 672 (77% of total registered).

•

Number of students who completed a class: 518 (59% of verified).

•

Number of students promotable: 431 (83% of completed).

•

Beginner graduates: 124.

•

Basic graduates: 148.

•

Intermediate graduates: 88.

•

Advanced graduates: 71.

•

Number of advisors: 80.

•

Number of classes: 97.

More basic graduates than beginner – first time that has happened. Continued growth; note thatmany students here are students who have taken a class previously; either they are taking thenext level up or repeating a class. A concern to me is the gap between basic and intermediate.
September-October semester:•

Total registered students: 877•

Number of students who verified: 549 (63% of total registered).

•

Number of students who completed a class: 434 (50% of verified).

•

Number of students promotable: 352 (81% of completed).

•

Beginner graduates: 108.

•

Basic graduates: 90.

•

Intermediate graduates: 85.

•

Advanced graduates: 69.

•

Number of advisors: 73.

•

Number of classes: 94.

Why the huge number of students who signed up for a class but declined to commit to a class?
Beginners back to being the most popular group. Basic and intermediate almost lined up. Notethat we are graduating many more advanced students than we used to. Number of advisors
around 80, more or less. Number of classes approaching 100.

(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)

All of 2021:•

Total registered students: 2,569•

Number of students who verified: 1,837.

•

Number of students who completed a class: 1,452.

•

Number of students promotable: 1,207.

•

Beginner graduates: 409.

•

Basic graduates: 334.

•

Intermediate graduates: 263.

•

Advanced graduates: 201.

•

Average number of advisors: 79.

•

Average number of classes: 95.

A BIG year, we were busy.
It is not possible to emphasize enough the passion and dedication of the advisors we have. As
you can see, many are leading more than one class per semester and a few are leading fairly
large classes, usually with the assistance of associate advisors.
These advisors really care about helping their students and sometimes take their student success, or lack of, too personally. We hear praise from students about their advisor and their class.
You can read that yourself by perusing the new member biographies in Solid Copy; many of
those new members are CW Academy graduates. Several become members during their class.
We are now about to begin 2022 with more CW Academy classes starting in early January.
73,
Kate K6HTN, Joe AA8TA, Bob WR7Q, Roland K7OJLCW Academy Managers

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CWops Member Awards
Bill Gilliland, WØTGAs always, there was a lot of movement in the ACA rankings this month, but AA3B remains atop
the rankings where he has been all year, with KR2Q in second place and K3WW very close behindat number three. NA8V moved into sole possession of sixth position and K1VUT entered the top
ten at tenth position. Forty members have contacted 100 DXCC entities, and 103 members have
now completed CWops WAS by contacting members in all 50 states. IT9VDQ, KT4XN, N4CWZ,
NA4J, VE7KW, W2VM and W3WHK are newly reported WAS awards this month. At this time, wehave active CWops members in all 50 states, so each passing month should bring new CWops
WAS awards. You can see complete rankings for all award categories here.
Please remember that ACA scores will reset to zero at the beginning of 2022 and the January column will show final rankings for 2021. Please upload your scores for December 2021
prior to January 3, 2022.
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 with 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 atthat 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, DJ1YFK, who created the website and the tools, made it extremely easy
to participate in the awards program. If you are not among the 235 CWops members who are
currently participating, please join us! It adds a lot of friendly competition and fun to your operating. 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.
Current ACA Top 100: Here are the rankings for the top 100 ACA scores as of the first week ofDecember 2021:(Continued on next page)

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CWops Member Awards Standings
RANK

CALL

ACA

CMA

DXCC

WAS

WAE

WAZ

1

AA3B

1736

11448

127

50

47

38

2

KR2Q

1635

4610

145

50

52

37

3

K3WW

1603

8779

129

50

48

37

4

N5RZ

1506

7140

117

50

43

36

5

K3WJV

1440

6418

109

50

47

30

6

NA8V

1378

6841

107

50

44

34

7

N5AW

1326

4229

83

50

39

31

8

K7QA

1283

4510

81

50

37

29

9

W1RM

1268

7637

212

50

61

38

10

K1VUT

1263

4451

74

50

40

22

11

K3JT

1256

4730

92

50

43

29

12

N7US

1251

5264

108

50

38

33

13

K4WW

1248

4215

81

50

35

29

14

VE3KI

1221

6661

137

50

52

37

15

KG9X

1208

4774

75

50

34

24

16

WT3K

1193

3495

74

50

41

24

17

K3PP

1170

4631

102

50

45

27

17

W4WF

1170

3928

79

50

38

29

18

WT9U

1169

4937

101

50

40

30

19

W0UO

1153

2953

55

50

31

20

20

N8BJQ

1147

7130

132

50

47

39

21

AC6ZM

1132

3542

59

50

33

21

22

DL6KVA

1127

5291

172

50

60

36

23

W9ILY

1121

5556

131

50

45

36

24

K9WX

1115

4347

91

50

35

29

25

F6HKA

1113

6956

199

50

58

38

25

K8AJS

1113

3990

101

50

43

30

26

NA4J

1102

3239

69

50

32

24

27

K6NR

1100

3555

60

50

28

28

28

AA5JF

1057

2547

71

50

35

26

29

N1DC

1054

4264

84

50

38

24

30

WN7S

1045

3440

67

49

33

22

31

W8FN

1032

3369

55

49

29

18

32

VE3TM

1026

2627

74

50

40

23

33

K1DJ

1006

3843

93

50

40

27

34

NJ3K

998

2731

58

49

36

19

35

KG5U

972

4056

81

50

29

28

36

N2UU

963

4953

109

50

45

31

(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)

CWops Member Awards Standings
RANK

CALL

ACA

CMA

DXCC

WAS

WAE

WAZ

37

K3ZA

957

1860

37

50

26

14

37

KE8G

957

3107

78

49

35

25

38

KC7V

956

4569

87

50

34

32

39

WS1L

946

2302

58

49

35

19

40

CO8NMN

937

3098

67

48

34

22

41

K1ESE

920

4996

127

50

47

35

42

DJ4MX

901

1889

69

49

39

25

43

DF7TV

895

1927

85

49

45

33

44

W2CDO

894

2052

55

50

35

20

45

W0VX

892

5047

125

49

43

36

46

AF4T

891

2149

60

50

34

24

47

I2WIJ

888

3066

79

49

41

29

47

K8PK

888

3177

80

50

38

30

48

K4TZ

887

2431

36

50

16

16

49

K2TW

886

3056

56

49

30

20

50

9A1AA

881

3784

121

49

50

38

51

K1SM

858

3637

130

49

45

36

52

KV8Q

857

2402

55

50

26

20

53

KM4FO

856

2293

41

50

15

16

54

W3WHK

845

2754

72

50

33

21

55

LB6GG

843

2468

86

45

48

28

56

NK4O

840

1735

60

47

29

23

57

K8JQ

828

4321

62

50

28

23

58

NE2V

817

1473

46

49

26

16

58

NR3Z

817

2130

63

48

32

22

59

EA4OR

812

1849

72

49

43

26

60

OZ3SM

811

2261

90

47

44

33

61

W6LAX

808

1828

34

49

13

18

62

KT5V

800

2873

73

50

26

29

63

AF5J

795

1623

40

50

18

17

64

N5XE

785

2334

66

50

33

24

65

WA4JUK

779

3184

80

50

38

26

66

N4CWZ

777

1930

38

50

21

17

67

N4FP

772

2092

50

49

28

18

68

W2NRA

771

2514

73

50

36

22

69

W1UU

767

3835

108

50

38

32

70

K4GM

765

3419

80

50

33

27

71

KC4WQ

761

2325

43

50

23

18

(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)

CWops Member Awards Standings
RANK

CALL

ACA

CMA

DXCC

WAS

WAE

WAZ

72

N4ZR

758

3857

93

50

40

29

72

VE3MV

758

2862

76

49

39

20

73

W1AJT

740

1393

51

49

32

20

74

NF8M

734

1903

39

49

20

17

75

GW0ETF

727

3513

110

50

48

35

76

K0TC

717

2633

57

50

25

19

77

KT4XN

680

1924

56

50

26

18

78

WW3S

673

1299

59

48

33

24

79

AA8R

672

1638

72

49

36

24

80

SM0HEV

671

1873

97

47

46

32

81

K3ZGA

665

1041

32

49

22

13

82

N4DW

664

5316

117

50

42

35

83

VE7KW

662

986

22

50

9

13

84

N5IR

656

4215

120

50

45

33

85

KA1YQC

654

1254

48

49

30

16

86

F5SGI

653

1327

74

45

45

24

87

W0TG

651

2422

58

50

23

25

88

AG4EA

649

1491

43

47

26

16

89

G3WZD

647

1401

79

46

40

27

90

F6JOE

640

4059

110

50

48

33

91

K2YR

617

1571

39

47

25

16

92

EA3FZT

615

1421

65

45

41

21

92

W8OV

615

1988

48

49

22

18

93

KE4S

608

2832

103

50

44

28

94

DK3WW

603

1556

71

49

41

25

95

WA5LXS

602

1770

45

49

17

17

96

OK1RR

599

3299

146

50

51

38

97

G3XTT

598

1975

78

46

41

27

97

WA2USA

598

1597

39

50

24

16

98

G4LPP

597

1249

62

44

39

20

99

N1EN

592

2953

122

50

45

34

99

W2VM

592

2081

58

50

30

17

100

K4EES

591

1308

37

50

18

16

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

Call

Name

CWops

Call

Name

CWops

Call

Name

3066

KW0J

Gary

3070

KC9YL*

Anne

3074

W3SA*

John

3067

KK0U*

Jim

3071

KP4JRS*

Jose

3075

N2MG*

Mike

3068

VE6RST*Max

3072

EA6BF*

Josep

3076

ZA1EM

Elvira

3069

W3ZF*

Danny

3073

G4HLN*

Larry

3077

VE3KIU*

Dave*Life Member

As of December 8:

Current Nominees
Need Sponsors: KA1EFO
Invitations Extended: W0ZP

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
Here’s something to ponder. Why do we do what we do? Since we are ham radio operators, I
would look at it another way. Why do we “do” CW and why do many of us say that CW is our favorite mode? We have many more ways to communicate today than we had just a few years ago.
Maybe the answers are obvious. I believe we choose to be a CW operators because we enjoy
CW.
All of us have things we need to do, have to do, should do, must do, would like to do, and want to
do. The want to dos always seems to fall to the bottom of the list. Many of our ragchewers havecommented about all the things going on in their lives right now, often to the exclusion of ham
radio and CW. That’s certainly been true for me. I know things will change in the future. They
always do. We’ll see what the future has in store for us.
So, I hope you have the time to do what you love to do. For me it’s CW ragchewing. Whatever
you enjoy with CW is great. If it’s CW it’s all good.
Now let’s take a look at the variety of interesting comments from our QTX operators.
Comments from QTX Submission
K6DGW: Pretty thin on the QTX in Nov but ... one was another 3-way for 85 mins! Almost to thepoint where I'd have had to break for the bathroom. All of the mini's were answering CQ's andended by the other guy.
AC8RG: Had some enjoyable rag chews this month with some great folks. What a great hobby.
W9EBE: I enjoyed some very nice QSOs this month. One of the nicest (and longest) was with
Sam, VE3WH. We happily ragchewed for over an hour. Thanks, Sam, and welcome to CWops!
AA0IZ: The bands were tough this month, but despite all that I managed some good QTX time. I
worked a friend's brand-new call sign "NT0D" and I got that broken in nicely!
AA0YY: Even worked a little DX this month with two new entities for me.
N0BM: Had two enjoyable chats, one with an Italian ham on 30, who was all bug, all the time. I
was not familiar with the manufacturer of his bug, so I need to do some research. The second
was with an OT who was using a 1947 Vibroplex Original (my first bug). we discovered that weboth had some of the same keys on our shelves. We both had the old Lafayette bug with theplastic cover. Had a chuckle reminiscing about calling them "coffin Keys".
K5YQF: Another good month. Enjoyed openings on 17 m (8) and 15 m (2).
WA2USA: Two QSOs come to mind with several comments about the Elecraft K4D performance(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)

and the performance of the KPA1500 amplifier. I enjoy hearing what hams have to say about
equipment, especially equipment I am interested in. Both Q's were lengthy and detailed.
Another Q, on 40 m, was with a ham running both receivers of his FTdx101D with an horizontal
antenna connected to receiver #1 and a vertical antenna connected to receiver #2. Both receivers synced to the same frequency.
W3WHK: Got to know fellow CWop N9EP, also nice QSO with K6RB. The most exciting was:
W3GC called me from Florida….our first QSO in over 50 years, though we had made contact via
Facebook in recent years. He was W3ZSX back in the 1950s and we, along with the late Doug
ZP6CW (then K4EZL), hung out on the Eastern States Net (7080 kcs). We even attended an ARRL
national convention together in northern VA. So it was quite a thrill to work him again!
N6HCN: Discovered that Jim, K7HZ is an atmospheric scientist and worked with my graduate advisor during the discovery of the ozone hole. Never expected to discuss climate research on CW!
AJ1DM: Continuing to have rag chews with a nice mix of old friends and new acquaintances. 73
es tnx QSO om de John AJ1DM
N2DA: Limited time on the air due to Thanksgiving festivities! Nice ragchews with CW sked buddies.
KG5IEE: Always enjoy my regular SKEDs with Bruce K8UDH, Dan KE0SSV, and Bob KD5NDQ. We
were all in CWA Beginner class over two years ago. Bruce was the advisor and Dan, Bob, and I thestudents. Also fun to randomly run across other friends from CWA calling CQ, such as Mark
AA0YY.
AA5AD: got distracted chasing DX this month, will have more rag chews in December, promise!
KC0VKN: Had a nice month, lots more lowband ragchews!
KB6NU: My favorite QTX this month was with Don, W2LID. Don is 99 years old, and has had hiscall sign for more than 80 years!
K8UDH: Several of my QTX QSOs were with new CWops members, Anne WA9ZZ and Walt
KA1NP. Both are CW Academy graduates from the fall semester. Joe KK5NA, was their Advanced
Class Advisor.
Medals for 2021 are awarded for three different levels in QTX.
•Gold – 400 QTX QSOs•

Silver Medal – 300 QTX QSOs•

Bronze – 200 QTX QSOs

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(Continued from previous page)

Chuck WS1L is in the lead with 755 QTX QSOs followed by John K1ESE with 635 QTX QSOs, Bill
N5IR with 476, Bruce K9OZ with 475, Chris N8AI with 469, and Joe KC0VKN with 401 QTX QSOs.
All of them have earned a gold medal. Phil F5IYJ with 345 QTX QSOs has qualified for a silver
medal. Dennis WA2USA with 290, Dan KB6NU with 274, Chip W9EBE with 271, and Cecil K5YQF
with 261 QTX QSOs have qualified for bronze medals. Congratulations to all of you.

QTX for November 2021
Call

QTX

Call

QTX

Call

QTX

Call

QTX

WS1L

97

KC0VKN

33

W7JRD

12

NT0D

4

K5YQF

77

N8AI

30

AJ1DM

11

AC8RG

3

N5IR

47

W9EBE

24

AA0YY

9

W0GAS

3

K1ESE

43

KB6NU

23

K4AHO

9

AA5AD

2

K9OZ

42

AA0IZ

13

K8UDH

7

K6DGW

2

WA2USA

40

N6HCN

13

W3WHK

7

N0BM

1

F5IYJ

39

KG5IEE

12

N2DA

6

SV2BBK1

MQTX for November 2021
Call

MQTX

Call

MQTX

Call

MQTX

Call

MQTX

N8AI

47

K6DGW

13

W7JRD

8

K4AHO

4

WS1L

29

KG5IEE

13

AJ1DM

6

N0BM

3

W9EBE

23

SV2BBK

13

W3WHK

6

NT0D

1

K1ESE

22

AA0IZ

11

AA5AD

5

AA0YY

19

N6HCN

11

AC8RG

5

K5YQF

15

GW0ETF

8

K8UDH

5

QTX

Call

QTX

Call

QTX

Call

WS1L

755

KG5IEE

133

W3WHK

27

KF9VV

7

K1ESE

635

AJ1DM

119

SV2BBK

22

M0MUI

7

N5IR

476

K8UDH

117

GW4VXE

17

KK5NA

5

K9OZ

475

N2DA

117

N5LB

17

NT0D

4

N8AI

469

AA0YY

87

N0BM

15

W0GAS

4

KC0VKN

401

AA5AD

61

WT9Q

13

N3FZ

4

F5IYJ

345

W0OJ

59

W7JRD

12

N5PHT

4

WA2USA

290

AC8RG

56

VA3DKL

12

W1AJT

3

KB6NU

274

AA0IZ

51

G3WZD

11

AB7MP

2

W9EBE

271

NN0TE

40

EA2AJB

10

K1BZ

2

K5YQF

261

PU5DGS

40

W0HY

10

MI0WWB

2

N6HCN

190

K7TRT

32

W8UA

8

W3PNM

2

K4AHO

143

K6DGW

29

GW0ETF

7

K1PJS

1

2021 Totals for QTX
Call

QTX

(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)2021 Totals for MQTX
Call

MQTX

Call

MQTX

Call

MQTX

Call

MQTX

N8AI

544

GW0ETF

67

AJ1DM

29

K1BZ

7

WS1L

257

AC8RG

63

W3WHK

26

W0OJ

7

K1ESE

249

G3WZD

60

K8UDH

25

NN0TE

5

SV2BBK

248

N6HCN

56

N0BM

16

N3FZ

4

W9EBE

194

W2USA

55

VA3DKL

13

N5PHT

2

KG5IEE

132

K5YQF

52

AB7MP

9

W0HY

2

AA0YY

118

AA0IZ

44

W7JRD

8

W8UA

2

K6DGW

103

K7TRT

38

KF9VV

8

WT9Q

2

AA5AD

90

GW4VXE

36

M0MUI

8

NT0D

1

K4AHO

87

MI0WWB

32

W1AJT

8

K1PJS

1

We have a variety of ways to enjoy CW. For many of us ragchewing is our favorite way.
73,
Bruce K8UDH, QTX Manager

My Story: New Member Biographies
Anne Dirkman, KC9YLFirst of all, I’d like to give a big thank you to Bud AA3B for nominating
me and to Anthony AB9YC, Jim N3JT, Anne N1YL and Max VE6RST forsponsoring me.
I am a late bloomer to amateur radio, first licensed at the age of 57,
after a friend - Mike KE8IL - suggested I give amateur radio a try.
Growing up in Northeast Wisconsin, my “spare time” growing up was
spent baling hay and feeding the cows. I didn’t know that ham radio
was still a thing! I was looking for a hobby to ease myself into retirement and keep my brain busy. Amateur radio has certainly done that,and CW – while challenging – has given me opportunities to compete
against myself – and others - and strive to improve my operating techniques.
(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)My CW journey started on a Thursday Echolink YL Op Net when Ruth KM4LAO mentioned that,after taking several CW Academy classes, CW was her favorite mode. I was looking to expand myamateur radio horizons, so I signed up for Level I with Dallas K1DW, followed by Level II classes
with Mark K5GQ and Al K0AD. I then went on a bit of a CW hiatus since I was completing my 2ndround of Level II in the midst of retiring and training a replacement for my position as Bookkeeper/Payroll & HR Specialist at our local public school district.
In June 2020, I was a guest on HamNation Episode 456 – Hams Gone YL’d 3.0. Fellow guest was
Leann W4LEA, who spoke about the Long Island CW Club. I joined LICW and took in a few classes
at the intermediate level, since I had a good base from the CW Academy instruction. We wereencouraged to GET ON THE AIR so I became more conscientious about doing just that. I warmed
up a bit with K1USN’s SSTs, tested the waters in the CWTs and found I really enjoyed the fasterpace. Also keeping me motivated are my weekly practice sessions with (fellow!) CWops members
Tom WA9CW and Cathy W4CMG. I have recently started participating in QRP events and enjoy
the challenge of chasing Foxes and Zombies at 5 watts.
I belong to several amateur radio clubs, including SMC (Society of Midwest Contesters), Long Island CW Club where I lead a Monday night YL Open House and YLRL (Young Ladies Radio League)
where I serve as DX Treasurer. I enjoy operating special event stations – NB9QV aboard the USS
Cobia WW2 submarine docked at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc and W9ZL at
the EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. In my spare time, I enjoy playing Mah Jongg and ukulele, running, and pickleball. I am looking forward to my next HamVention where I will be adding
to my CW key collection! Hope to see you all there!

Gary Huff, KW0J
Thanks go out to Joe KK5NA for a nomination to be amember of CWops, and to John K0HD, Tony KB9LLD,
and Frank K1EBY for sponsoring. I enjoyed the classes
Joe gave. I’m proud to be part of a group of dedicatedHams keeping the heritage of CW communications
alive.
A high school buddy who started listening to theshortwave bands opened my eyes to radio in 1969,
showing me around the high school radio club. I assembled a Knight Kit Span Master short wave receiver($25.00 mail order kit). With tapes and the radio I
learned the code (probably improperly) and one evening I copied my first CW exchange of a ham radio station. This was so exciting! Months later my friend got
his Novice license and I had to get licensed! A gentleman named Dave K0AGJ (SK) mentored and tested me.
He was a retired Army Signal Corps Officer who emphasized proper CW protocols and on air operating
rules. He had a Collins S-Line and wow he let me oper(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)ate it as a Novice! My first call was WN0UZG and as a novice I built a five watt cathode keyed
transmitter and got a Hammarlund HQ-170A receiver to get on the air. I made plenty of Q’s on 40
meters. My parents gave me the evil eye due to TVI on TVs and telephones occasionally but always supported me in the hobby, letting me erect antennas around the house.
I entered the Navy in 1972 becoming a Radioman, also they sent me to “Submariners’ Morse
code operators school” but was never assigned to a sub. After 4 years enlistment I graduatedfrom college with a degree in electronics. I changed careers after 3 years and excepted an offer
of a 4 year apprenticeship for journeyman electrician. I worked in heavy industrial for 30 years. It
was interesting, varied and challenging work, always requiring more training. I’m retired now for
three years and totally enjoying retirement with my wife Barb, Ham Radio, my Corvette Coupe,
and many grand kids.
I enjoy CW DXing, rag chews, RTTY, and a few contests on the HF Bands. I operate on 2 meters 160 meters now. Occasionally we’re in a CW contest and I’m always on the lookout for another
DXCC credit. I think POTA sounds interesting too. I normally operate my TenTec Orion II for CW
and FSK but I like to fire up the tubes in my Drake C-Line from the 80s too.
I’m a member of a couple of ARRL ham clubs locally. EIDXA (Eastern Iowa DX Association) andRBWOC (River Bend Wireless Operators Club). I’m active also in a local Corvette owner’s club. A
road filled with curves is like a nice RF sign wave! Incidentally when we had a boating hobby, we
named our cruiser “Continuous Wave”.
I am looking forward to working members of CWops on the bands and further refining my headcopy skills.

Larry Bennett, G4HLN
I was born in the City of Bristol, SouthWest England, in 1959. From the age of 13
I discovered short-wave radio, and took akeen interest in broadcast band DXing,
which served as a useful radio apprenticeship.
I attended radio college in Bristol between
1976 and 1979, obtaining all my R/O qualifications in electronics and commercial
working, as well as radar maintenance. In
1979 I joined the BBC Monitoring Service
as an electronics technician, but in early
1980 I was offered the post as a Radio
Officer at Portishead Radio/GKA, where I
stayed until the station closed in 2000.
Part of my duties involved being an examiner for radio amateur Morse tests, which I(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)undertook until 1985. I subsequently worked for BT Satellite Services, allocating Inmarsat numbers for UK-registered ships and land mobile terminals.
When BT sold the Aeronautical and Maritime service in 2001, I joined the UK Hydrographic Officeas editor of the Admiralty List of Radio Signals (ALRS), subsequently becoming manager of the
ALRS team in 2011.
I served on various Maritime Safety Information (MSI) committees worldwide, and was secretary
and then chairman of the IMO NAVTEX Coordinating Panel, overseeing the installation and operation of NAVTEX stations worldwide.
I took early retirement in 2019, and have been using my time researching maritime radio history.
I have had two books published; the first one about the history of Portishead Radio was published in 2020, and my latest one about the history of the UK Coast Radio Station network was
published in 2021.
I was initially active in amateur radio between 1977 and 1982, returning to the hobby in 2010. I
enjoy CW, operating with my ex-Portishead Radio Morse keys, and operate from my home QTH
with a Kenwood TS570D into a 4BTV vertical antenna.
I also enjoy QRP operating and playing with antennas – my garden is very small so I do not haveenough room for a large antenna system!
Other hobbies include family history research, model railways, local history, amateur dramatics,
playing my guitar, collecting records and following my local football team – Bristol Rovers.
I live in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, very close to the former Portishead Radio site, with partner
Wendy. I have 3 grown-up children (all boys) from a previous marriage, but sadly they have nointerest in amateur radio.
I hope to work many of you during CWT.

Josep Torres, EA6BF
I am from Ibiza Island in the Balearic Islands.
I was introduced to radio starting with CB for a couple ofyears, making mainly DX contacts. Soon after I get myfirst ham radio license as a Novice in 1991, EC6QZ, and ayear after my general class. My callsign was EA6ACC, but
doing some contest at that time, I thought a shorter
callsign would be better, so I applied for EA6BF in 2003
and get it, so since then I am the owner for this callsign.
Interested always in CW, (in fact, my radios don’t have a
microphone attached!), I have done contests, ragchewing
and specially DX. Regarding DX, I was very active on Top(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)band, were I have achieved a total of #239 countries right now.
Have been a proud member of FOC for 15 years, from 1999 to 2016, then I stayed several years
off of the radio due to personal issues, and last year 2020 I started again with a lot of strength.!
Happy to have joined CWops Club and also have been nominated for FOC again, so I guess to bein the FOC by December.
Made good friends over the years, so CW a is a real family I am happy to be part of!

Jim Smith, KK0U
I started in ham radio in 1991 at the tender age of 27. I
passed my Novice, Tech and 5 wpm in one go, and
N0OCT was on the air!
My first rig was a second-hand Kenwood TS-820S (a greatrig), purchased from Don KE0FX (SK). My first QSO was on
10 m SSB, with CX4PA Carlos. Pretty soon I worked a local, Corey KB0HOB (now KF0U). He and I became fast
friends, and we pushed each other to quickly advanceour knowledge, skills and license class. By December we
had both passed our Extra exams and the 20 wpm code
requirement. Corey also spurred us both to get our General Radiotelephone tickets. The test at that time wasbased largely on the Extra Class ham radio exam, so why
not?
We worked Field Days together, did some SSB contesting, and had a lot of fun working RS-12/13
satellite contacts, 15 m up, 10 m down. I can remember working a late night bird pass in the 90s,
twisting the BFO knob on my R-390A to adjust for the Doppler shift, and having folks come backto me simplex on 15 m. Hard to explain in the middle of a fast-paced satellite QSO that you’re
not listening on 15 m. Hope those sunspots come back!
I soon fell in with the St. Louis QRP Society -- an active group of folks keenly interested in building
flea-powered gear, original projects, antenna experimentation and operating. They’re still a greatbunch, and I owe a debt of gratitude to Dave NF0R, Keith KC0PP, Jeff N0MII, Matt W0MJ, Walter
K5EST, Stan AK0B (SK) and Randy WA0OUI (SK) for encouraging me to experiment, contest at QRPlevels, and continuing to learn.
Life presented bigger priorities, and ham radio took a back burner for a while.
In 2019, I decided to give CW Sweepstakes another shot. It had been 10 years since I did any contesting, and 13 since I’d done SS. That was a real eye-opener. I was still using my trusty old TR7,
manual tuner, TLF contest software (a great program for Linux) and my 40 m dipole. My CW skills
were not what they once were, and clearly my shack set up was not as frequency agile as it could
be. So, I set myself a course to improve my skills and my station. First, I changed my call sign
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(Continued from previous page)from N0OCT to KK0U -- shorter, sweeter and sounds good on CW.
Next I bought a KX3. In November of 2020 I started dipping my toe into the weekly CWTs. That
was intimidating -- I’d have to listen to exchanges 3, 4 or 5 times to get solid copy in my head, andget it all down on paper.
Humbled but undaunted, using the guidance of the CW Academy courses, I set about improving
my speed. I went from 11 QSOs in the first CWT hour I reported in November 2020 to 51 by February, all QRP. I quickly upgraded to 100 Watts. By September I hit my first 100 QSOs/10k score,
and was having a ball doing it. (I would have gotten there sooner, but there was a 3-month stint
QRP as DL/KK0U while my wife and I helped out with our first grandchild).

I have other hobbies that I enjoy apart from ham hadio -- sailing, cycling, shooting, sewing gearfor all my other hobbies and homebrewing -- both beer & radio bits. SOTA is a natural fit, as I enjoy operating outside and hiking. I’m a chemist by training, and have worked at the same small
industrial detergent company for over 25 years.
When Dwight KM4FO asked if I’d like to be nominated to join CWops, I jumped at the chance.
Thanks to Andy AA5JF, Shelby K4WW, Doug KR2Q, Jim N7US, Bill W0TG and Hank W6SX for sponsoring me. Thanks to all who make CWops happen, who keep the art of CW alive and well, andwho encourage hams new and seasoned to give CW a shot.
I also have to thank my wife Jeanne, for being tolerant and even encouraging in all my hobbies.
She makes sure that this ham stays ‘balanced.’
Hope to work you on the air!

John Eigenbrode, W3SAFirst I would like to thank Jim N7US andthose who sponsored me for membership.
For me it’s an honor after 58 years in amateur radio to finally get my CW skills up to adecent level, now to keep going.
I have been tinkering with radios since
about age 10 but was first licensed on
March 1, 1962 as KN3SKB thanks to my
Elmer Bill Myers W3DXA now a silent key.
Started out with a Hallicrafters S20R Sky
Champion and a second hand Heathkit DX25 tuning for max glow in a neon lamp on
the antenna.
Built and operated lots of Heathkits from Twoers, Sixers, HW-101, SB-200 and eventually settled
mostly on Kenwood equipment.
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(Continued from previous page)

Served several enlistments in the US Navy as an Electronic Technician before moving into the civilian world where I have been a communication technician for Los Angeles County, a production
test technician and test engineer at Hughes Aircraft Radar Systems, test engineer at General Dynamics and network and operations manager for Crown Castle retiring in 2010.
I was involved in the special temporary authorization for HF packet radio in the 80s, operating an
HF BBS as KD6SQ in Rancho Cucamonga, Calaifornia. I have since move coast to coast 3 times
and finally settled in Indian Trail, North Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte.
I am a casual contester for CW and RTTY contests, not much for SSB contests.
When I retired, one of my goals was to get back to operating CW and it has been an enjoyable
journey but I still have much to improve. It’s also a good way to keep the grey matter in good
shape as you age.
I also enjoy the experimenting with small microcomputers such as Raspberry Pi and Arduino andwood carving which I find very relaxing.
Looking forward to working the CWTs as a member.

Dee Hester, K7UD
Most folks in the ham community call me Uncle Dee. I thankyou for the warm welcome to CWops.

Let me take this opportunity, first and foremost, to express mygratitude to those who helped me get here: Both of my CWops
advisors, Mark Tyler (K5GQ) and Phil Schechter (W0OJ), myfriend Fr. David Probst (ND4K), and all those sponsors whojumped in after Phil’s nominating me.
I’ve been licensed since 1972. My dad, who was not a ham, fostered my curiosity about electronics and radio from an earlyage. We built a crystal set together, using an actual crystal andcat’s whisker along with a hand-wound coil. He and a colleagueof his (who was a ham), encouraged me to study theory, learn
Morse code, and get the regulations down pat. I finally put it all
together and passed the Novice exam earning my first callWN2JLO. Very few years later, while attending Cal Poly in San
Luis Obispo, I made a trip to the FCC in San Francisco where I
passed the General and Advanced exams. I was granted the call N6BQR. Upgraded to extra over
25 years ago and the vanity program helped me capture my present call of K7UD.
I’ve earned a living in news writing, technical writing, radio reporting, engineering, marketing,sales, and finance. Ham radio has been a terrific hobby and constant companion throughout mymany vocational journeys. Last year, my bride of 38 years, Miss Kitty, and I retired to a home webuilt in the Hill Country of central Texas. Been spending time in our new home finishing all the(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)custom woodwork as well as building the latest K7UD station installation.
I enjoy building kit radios and antennas – mostly wire types. I’m a big fan of Elecraft radios. In
addition, I’m an avid shooter, handloader, and reader.

Dave Hamilton, VE3KIU
Ham radio has been a lifelong hobby
for me, and I’m thrilled to be part of
the CWops club. Thanks to Jim, N3JT,
for nominating me, and to F6HKA,
K5UV, and K3WJV for their sponsorship.
My brother and I were introduced tothe hobby through our grandfather
VE2UE (SK) in the 1970s and I got myticket in 1978. From the very beginning, Morse code was my favourite
mode. I remember sitting in mygrandfather’s shack as he’d work
someone with the bug, then showme what the other fellow sent,
teaching me the abbreviations, theintro and extro to an exchange, andso on. It wasn’t long before I recognized the sound of his call without
knowing the letters/number, and it
struck me then that the code wasvery similar to music.
I went on to study geology and physics at Laurentian University and while there, I set up a Heathkit SB-102 and a dipole and had daily skeds with my grandfather and his pals. From there, I went
on to graduate studies at the University of Western Ontario in geophysics where my brother
VE3SIF and I had regular QSOs. I eventually landed in Ottawa working for the federal government. The next few years were a bit of a blur, with raising a family and doing all those family typethings which, for us, was primarily baseball 24/7.
I left my government work in 2010 and taught English Literature at Carleton University until 2018.
Now, I’m a full-time fiction writer and writing coach where I help aspiring novelists to realize their
dream of writing a book. My novels are primarily science fiction and most of them have some linkwith ham radio, and they are all available on Amazon.
The radio bug bit me hard again in 2019 when my brother (VE3SIF) and best friend (VE2USM) andI went out to the bush and brought along an old HW-7 to play around with. There’s something
magical about hearing CW echoing through the woods on a quiet, star-filled evening. From there,(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)I discovered the SKCC and eventually CWops. I try to be active in as many CW events as I can,time permitting, and really enjoy the rush of high-speed code and contesting. Not only is it themost reliable mode, in my opinion, but it’s also the most fun!
Other than radio, I enjoy long-distance cycling, reading, painting, and model railroading.
I look forward to meeting you all on the air!

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