Morse code
Some things I will share about my CW struggles and victories..
4/23/2023
Straight Key Century Club operating frequencies
1.813.5
3.530
3.550 *primary
7.038
7.055 *primary
7.120
10.120
14.050
14.114
18.080
21.050
21.114
24.910
28.050
28.114
50.090
144.070
3/23/23 I started listening to code about the time I got my technician license. In the beginning it was about being able to use my tech lic. to the fullest extent.. well fast forward a year and I am still plugging away at it.. I am 52 years old and for me to learn a new language has definitely been challenging to say the least.
3/28/2023 I joined the Straight Key Century Club last year it is a great resource for anyone learning CW. I linked the photograph below if you want to see..
4/28/2023 Nearfest in Deerfield NH my QRP morse set up and I made my first two in the log official contacts.. Lots of fun at Nearfest practicing morse code and seeing all the fellas in my radio club.
5/1/2023 Here are some abbreviations for CW I found a couple fellas in the club who are a bit better than I am and we have agreed to meet once a week for about a half an hour practice.
5/7/2023 went to the Londonderry NH flea market today. My wife sells crafts and I play QRP… sent a lot of CQ CQ tried joining up with a couple fellas in the club to practice on 10 Meters. The Flea market is under a powerful set of power lines so bad conditions… That’s my story and I am sticking to it..hi hi
Buddipole got to practice tuning it in.. got 10 meters to match up pretty good and 40 as well…I roped it off with red rope so nobody would trip over my cables…
6/3/2023 Perpetual video loading do not wait for this LOL I found the vortex.
10/21/2023 Nearfest set up for this year I love the new whip antenna
I signed up for the January classes for CW OPS looking forward to the lessons and getting an Elmer to help me move forward in my CW adventure
11/20 finalized my enrollment to the CW OPS academy I am starts in January the interesting thing is they want you to learn with a paddle only so it will be an interesting transition for my from my regular straight key..
12/18/2023
I entered the 10 meter contest 2023 CW only for me. I got a total of 6 contacts and submitted my log.. baby steps
This week I entered the Rookie Round-Up ARRL contest CW. This one was a great learning experience for me.. I used a macro to call CQ but still had to receive manually. I found most people would slow down for Rookie but some would not.. I did manage to make 3 contacts and lost a couple due to my copying skills… These first contacts gave me some courage and taught me a few good lessons.. I am looking forward to Winter field day to try again :)
73
Tim
KC1QDK
1/6/2024
Check out this button below to see the CWOPS Academy fundamental class
The instructor is teaching us to head copy and said we could adjust our speed we do not have to do 25 wpm.. instead of typing our copy we are recording our voice. Then transcribing into the LCWO Web applications
73
Tim
KC1QDk
1/29/2024
So much happening so far in 2024. I am loving the cwops classes I feel like its helping me get unstuck from my former speed and moving me forward with my copy.
winter field day 2024 happened and the true spirit of the hobby was there with my friends in the club. We shared our skills and knowledge with each other and had a real fun time camping out in our ice huts and playing radio..
My 2024 winter field day set up
Got to operate as K3Y/1 NH Straight key century club station this year as well… Had a lot of fun and made a bunch of cw contacts at my friend Mary and Barry’s house who where generous enough to let me operate their very impressive remote NH station..
Did the winter carnival with the club.. We set up at the VFW table and they gave me this cool American flag sticker for my leather straight key box.
Been doing a couple public stem outreach things with the club. I set up an oscillator with a straight key and teach folks their name in Morse code. Its been a lot of fun and I make them a Morse code name tag after as well…
Here are some punctuation marks to practice.
December 2023 I won first prize in New England in the CW rookie roundup.. I only got 12 points but obviously there was not a lot of rookies participating.
I graduated from the Fundamental level CWOPS Academy course. It was a great course and I highly recommend this for any beginner to take the class. They have different levels and test you to see where you belong.
4/5/2024
I have been very fortunate to find some friends to practice code with, we get together once a week and practice our code. I like to think of them as my Code Buddies, its really great to have a code buddy if you can find one and help each other along and have fun learning code consider it a blessing. If you want to become a code buddy and practice with us follow the link below.
4/20/2024
I activated my first POTA park using Morse code.. happy happy dance for this one today. Achieving a goal you set two years ago felt amazing and this is a photo of the station I used to do it.. ICOM 7300. Just wait until I report this to Team ICOM they will be happy to hear about it HI HI.
`73
Tim
KC1QDK
7/15/2024
Went to the Raymond Town Fair yesterday and my friend Mark (K1RMC) who set up a homemade CW tube transmitter with a WWII display. I was going to try to make a QSO with him from my house but turns out I needed to go down to the park for some support. I brought my QRP CW set up and we tapped some nice QRS code back and forth across the common together all afternoon. what a great w and opportunity to see some crystal tube equipment in action. Every time this happens I feel very lucky and glad I took some time to check things out.
73
Tim
11/17/2024
I have had some fun activities over the Summer and Fall of 2024. The club camped out at Bear Brook state park in October BRR activated the park using CW only. I also have been working on an Alex loop QRP antenna that a member of the club gave me this summer. The challenge is to keep it hands free. I have a mini tripod and a tomato stake that seems to do the trick prior to that I was strapping it to the table I use for POTA activations.
12/9/2024
I can’t climb the mountain so I think I will find a way to jump over it. A 160-meter story
By Timothy Cates (KC1QDK)
Let me start by saying I have a great group of friends who are also Ham Radio operators. They have all helped me and inspired me in so many ways that I do not even think they realize and I should tell them all as often as I can because they really do mean a lot to me and have made a big difference in my life in so many ways. I also am very lucky to have the most understanding XYL on the planet who tags along with me on all my crazy adventures and helps me do all these things that I dream up and never runs for the hills.
Last summer I set up camp Cates in the Derryfield park in Manchester and invited GSARA members and Code Buddies to come to hunt parks on the air contacts for the summer support your parks weekend. The meetup was a success lots of members and code buddies showed up and hunted POTA contacts and some got the support your parks certificate for participating in the event. This got me thinking that we could have a park meet up focused on CW and POTA and everyone may enjoy participating together.
Every night the Granite State Amateur Radio Association has a nightly net with different net control operators each night. On Saturday nights Bill Arcand (W1WRA) and Tom Perkins (AC1J) two of my Elmers, friends and fellow club members always run the net and have a question of the evening or a “Tale from the dump” (I know Tom is laughing right now) where we answer a question or talk about something that happened at the dump. I know quirky but very entertaining ham radio business for Saturday evening. Anyway, the question for the evening was from Tom and it was “Have you ever made a 160-meter contact?” As I sat and listened to everyone chime in and answer the question, I found the most common answer to be no I have not made a 160-meter contact, and I was among all those who said no.
That question on that night sparked a sudden curiosity in me about the 160-meter band. I started by reading about the band and making sure myself as a general class operator had privileges on the band (which I do) I also read that a lot of people call it the Top Band because it is the highest frequency band in our allotment and it is also called the Gentlemen’s band because in the early days of radio it was reserved for those with a higher-class license and was less chaotic than the lower bands. I started asking some of my Elmers in the club Including Bill Freeman (KE1G) and others about 160 meters at breakfast on Wednesdays where we all meet at a café in Bedford and do show and tell and talk about radio business and various topics and gathered some more information about what I would need to get on this Gentlemen’s Top band and see if I could join the Yes, I have club for the Saturday 160 contact question. Then it hit me, I should think of a way to make it so all of us could answer yes to the have you ever made a 160-meter contact question. But how?
From what I gathered from my reading and speaking with my Elmers and friends. The Top Band opens at night and during the winter and required a really large antenna. September 2024, I started planning my equipment without having an event. In typical amateur radio operator style, I bought a 160 manual tuner and a new old stock MFJ 160 dipole about 100 yards long and put it aside waiting for the plan to come together on how to get this all up in the air and working in a portable way.
The ARRL 160 METER CONTEST AND POTA
I will be setting up a 160-meter CW station equipped with an antenna and a straight key while activating Mount Monadnock State Park on Friday December 6th Through Sunday December 8th. A heated tent will be available for our use. I suggest that those planning to join bring a chair and dress warmly. As I have secured a campsite, we are permitted to have a fire, so feel free to bring firewood, as well as items such as s'mores or hot dogs to cook over the fire. I view this as an enjoyable opportunity to make some 160-meter CW contacts, especially since the ARRL 160 Meter CW contest will be taking place that weekend, providing ample chances for good CW exchanges, which are like POTA exchanges. If you wish to come by to say hello, enjoy some fresh air, or perhaps make some CW contacts (if you prefer using a paddle or a bug, please bring it, as I will only have a straight key), it should be an enjoyable experience. My tent is large, and I have a tent heater, ensuring a comfortable environment. I am looking forward to some enjoyable outdoor radio activities. Whether you are an experienced CW operator, a novice, or someone who has never made contact, you are warmly invited to join us and either participate or simply observe what it entails.
This was the ad I wrote for the club’s website and as you can see it seems that POTA and the ARRL 160 Meter contest seem to be a match made in heaven and I had all the pieces to make this into a fun weekend of CW and 160 contacts camping and comradery. I was not disappointed I will tell you that.
I Booked our campsite for the weekend and basically planned to use it as a ham shack/ rec room and I also booked a room at the INN up the road to go and shower and take a nap as needed (best way to get your xyl to go winter camping is to promise an easy escape to the inn up the road with a warm bed and a shower hint hint)
Friday morning rolled around first day of the contest that was starting at 5pm and it gets dark around 4 430 pm and its windy about 20 degrees outside and it had snowed a few inches the last couple nights before we arrived to the mountain. The camp was snow covered and the road was chained off no access. The only way in was with a sled and about 100 yards uphill hike through the snow. I walk with a cane and have mobility issues so this sled hikes up to the campsite with gear was not an option for me and my wife was willing to try it but did not look like she was going to be a very happy camper. I went to speak with the ranger and ask him if I could camp in the unoccupied pavilion instead (December has a surprisingly low number of people camping on the mountain lol. Mainly just us and someone else who works at the headquarters. The Ranger was very kind and had a plow truck, he went and cut the chain off the road and plowed a path up to our campsite so we could drive up and park right at the site. Kim and I thanked him over and over and he said no problem and reminded us next year if it snows, they chain that road off so there may not be access. Shout out to the park ranger (our hero)
Kim and I went right to work because the sun was setting very fast and setting up a tent and a 100-yard wire antenna was no easy task in 18-degree weather windy snowy and dark. Task one Tent. The Tent went up relatively easy had to put a footprint down on the ground underneath it in order to insulate it from the cold ground and then tie and nail it down really well to keep the artic breeze from blowing it away. The next task was getting the antenna up in the trees. My friend, Elmer and fellow club member Eric (N1JUR) gave me an air gun to shoot a line up into the tree, sounds easy right? Nope shot the cork up and the line disconnected and the cork disappeared into the snowy abyss… Kimmy and I searched high and low to find it no cork. Luckily, I had brought an arborist bag that my wife had sewn for me out of an old corn hole bag and a wheel bearing race and some rope (Thanks Bill (KE1G) for telling me to bring it anyway even if I had the potato gun.) and we proceeded to raise the 100-yard dipoles first leg about 60 ft up into the air along the side of a fifty-yard stretch of unplowed dirt camp road near the mountain. The second leg of the dipole was planned to be a Sloper making It into an inverted sloping L by the advice of my Elmer friend and fellow club member Bill (W1WRA) and it went directly out fifty yards into the forest across what appeared to be a set of very large fresh moose tracks in the snow (thankfully Bullwinkle never stopped by the camp, although we did see rocky a few times)
As soon as we got the antenna in the air and got the coax in the tent and our artic mountain station set up with the buddy heater blasting my Yaesu DX-10 all hooked up with my favorite straight key (NYE with the navy knob) I got from Dennis Markell (N1IMW) at Nearfest a few years ago and have not managed to break it. The rig tuned right up on 160 and to my delight the water fall was full of the beautiful sound of CW no open spots. I sat there from about 5pm until about 10 pm listening and making contacts from Maine to Florida all on 160 first time operating it was so exhilarating like a kid with a new toy. Kim was so tired she actually fell asleep on the cot in the tent I had to wake her up to go to the Inn for the night.
Saturday came and I ran to the camp bright and early to see if the band was still alive and sure enough 160 us is just as I expected, like night and day. The band was dead except a few loan stations tapping out into the abyss. Saturday is usually the day my friends and club members all get together at “The Barn” early in the morning and sit around and talk more radio business show and tell have coffee and enjoy each other’s company. In my life I have never had early morning friends like my Ham radio friends we just get up early squirrely in the morning and join together and have a good ole time. I missed out because of camping but the fellas were not going to let it go that easy because some of them were come to see me today. So, first Casey (KC1NID) woke us up at 5 am with an urgent text letting us know he was coming and if we need anything we could let him know. Casey came by and Tom (AC1J) got me on the repeater and we did a daytime sked contact on 160 CW my first CW contact with Tom which made me really happy because I have always admired Tom’s CW skills and have been his helper logger and watched him operate but have not had the chance to work him. Then Ralph (KC1TLY) and Brian (KC1SVS) came by to see me and brought the G-90 and a buddipole. Ralph activated the mountain on 10 meters and Brian brought Kim and I some fresh local apple cider and cookies and helped haul firewood which I am forever grateful. Then John (KB1ICL) Stopped by and set up his Wolf River coil and activated the park from his nice new truck.
After all the company had come and gone and the sun started to go down the Gentlemen’s band began to call my name again. The water fall lit up and it was so thick with CW signals that from 5pm until 10pm it was difficult to even tune in on just one signal and again from Canada to Southern Florida our little artic campsite was filled with the beautiful sound of people tapping Morse code and communicating on the Top Band. Like night and day this thing is and I hunted and pounced on as many stations as I could activating the Park for a second time and then a third time as the Universal Clock changed days from Saturday to Sunday making my park activations climb to a total of three at the state park one for each day of camping and all on the 160-meter band a feat that had never been done before. I was feeling pretty great about this as we shut it down for the evening and Kim and I headed back to the Inn
Sunday Morning, we got up early as possible and ran back to camp to see if we could make some more contacts and, in the meantime, I checked my E-Mail My Friend, Elmer and fellow club member Barry (NF1O) had sent me an E-mail the night prior because he heard me hunting and pouncing and tried to catch me but missed. I called him to see if he was still tuned up and he was but had already submitted his log. He said you can amend your log and would do so if I wanted to do a sked contact and I said please, so I did a contact with Barry (NF1O) and then Mary (NE1F) so happy to get my friends in Unity NH Their signal was very loud and clear too in Jaffery NH. So with Barry and Mary in the logbook Kim and I decided to wrap it up we took down the Camp Cates cooked one more meal on the fire (burgers then S’mores for dessert) then we headed back to the city with a feeling that we just did something really fun and accomplished something pretty remarkable and unique.
I say if you have a vision of something you want to do, just do one step at a time until you see it come into fruition. We only have one go around so do what makes you happy and surround yourself with people and things that inspire you to do your best and be your happiest self. I know that I may never be able to climb Mount Monadnock again like I have many times in the past, but with radio waves and the help of a 100-yard dipole a buddy heater, good friends, a very understanding and helpful XYL I can use my radio and a straight key to jump over the mountain.
73 everyone and thanks for being there
Tim
KC1QDK
I operated ask K3Y/1 again this year it was a great honor at my friends Barry and Mary’s house.
2/7/2025 Below check out some photos of 2025 Winter Field Day KC1VYM Kim and I camped out on Bible Hill at Ralphs house KC1TLY with the Granite State Amateur Radio Association I was the CW Station captain made contacts on six bands 6-160.
Club Members of GSARA and the Straight Key Century Club gathered for an op lunch for those who operated the K3Y/1 special event station. SKCC 2025 STRAIGHT KEY MONTH
Operators operated for our 19th annual Straight Key Month event in January. They worked K3Y stations in ten US call areas plus KH6, KL7, and KP4 and specially assigned stations in six WAC continental regions. They worked all 19 areas for the SKM Grand Sweep QSL card!
those in attendance
Barry NF1O #164S K3Y/1 op Mary NE1F #13408T K3Y/1 op Jack Breault KC1UUJ #29731 Family member Debra Breault Family member Doug Breault KC1UUH #29328 K3Y/1 op Doug Breault Jr. KC1UUI #29723 Family member Ben Cuperman W4LRB #11021S K3Y/1 op Janelle Cantil W1JNL Family member Dan Cantil AC1KV #24660S K3Y/1 op Michelle Worth KC1UML #28553T K3Y/1 op Charlotte Worth Family member Tom Kerxhalli WB1ANA #26472S K3Y/1 op Tim Cates KC1QDK #26311 K3Y/1 op Jim McHale NM1W #13718S K3Y/1 op Mark Swartwout NX1K #11024S K3Y/1 op Bill Rossi KA1QYP #12164S K3Y/1 Bills Dad Family member
Looking forward to next year
