The First 100 Years Are The Hardest

I was able to get my 100th country confirmed on LotW last month, qualifying me for the DXCC / CW Mode Certificate.  My first CW contact was confirmed with K4KCG from the Kentucky Contest Group back in June 2021 when I first learning CW and relying completely on CW macros.  I focused on completing the WAS Triple play award in January 2022 before focusing on DXCC. I continued to improve my CW skills, practiced my sending, but it wasn't until April 2022 that I joined the Straight Key Century Club SKCC and made the personal commitment  to completely avoid electronic keyers and macros when possible.  The majority of my contacts from that point on were made with either a traditional straight key, or a sideswiper, which is like a paddle but is a fully manual version of the straight key with horizontal action.   Along the way I got the pleasure of working many countries during contests - the ARRL International DX contest is a good way to pick up many new countries over a weekend.   During