The First 100 Years Are The Hardest

The Straight Key Month special event (aka SKM) celebrates manual Morse radiotelegraphy using straight keys, bugs and cootie keys. It runs from Jan. 2nd through 31st.    Individual operators schedule time to be the special event station K3Y for their call areas, and only one station can operate for that call area at a time (usually in 1-2 hour blocks).   Hunters chase as many K3Y stations across as many bands possible for bragging rights.    Real time updates are on the SKCC SKED page, and the group even has a SKCC SKIMMER to that monitors your local log file to keep track of who you need to work. Working all 10 US stations is your basic "SWEEP"... add in KP4, KH6, KL7, NA, SA, EU,  AF, AS and OC for the Grand Sweep.  Logs are submitted by the K3Y operators, and the results are posted ever day to track Sweeps, Station Statistics and Participant Standings.   This year more than 200 stations operated as K3Y, logging 52,695...

Wikipedia CW Rererences for Q-signals and Prosigns. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QN_Signals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosigns_for_Morse_code _____________________________________________________________________________________ The SSN is a group of Radio Amateurs using Morse code have established several informal radio nets to promote the use of the sideswiper, so called "cootie" key. https://www.sideswipernet.org/ COMMON PROSIGNS AR = Means end of a transmission. It is not necessarily an invitation to transmit. AR is used after calling a station with which  contact has not already been established. AS = Wait, stand by for a short time BT = Separation, or break, between address and text; between text and signature in a radiogram. Also used between topics in a  QSO. IMI = Yes, this is a standard CW question mark. But it also can be used to ask for a repeat of difficult words as well as to indicate  a query (?). SK = The communications is concluded or clear. End of Wo...

 For Winter Field Day 2023 I decided to set up a 6M Roving Station to try out the Stressed Moxon 6M by PAR Electronics .    The moxon is a lightweight, compact beam, equivalent to a two element yagi with similar gain and F/B per the companies website.    The mast is from the fiberglass handle of an old tree saw that I broke years ago (it pays to hang on to stuff like this).  The mast sits in a 50 lb steel patio umbrella base that I bought with this purpose in mind.    Cargo straps secure the base to keep it from sliding around during transport.  With this setup in the bed of the truck,  the moxon can be raised 12 feet above the ground,  more than half a wavelength on 6M so I think it will work pretty well.  The beam can be further adjusted with the “Armstrong Rotator” as required. I know its not the traditional season for “the magic band” but if this works out today I’ll be set for Summer Field Day later this year.  I’ve h...

I got out Saturday afternoon to activate K-3010 Fort Parker State Park, which is located in east Texas just a few miles south of Mexia.  I stayed two hours, and took time to explore the park and read up on its history before heading home.   The park was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps Company 3807c during the Great Depression.  The men completed a dam across the Navasota River in 1939, creating Fort Parker Lake. The dam, roads and park buildings were built using picks and shovels to quarry limestone from the local quarries, from which the county also takes its name.  The corps also built a replica of the old fort a few miles south of the park, now known as Old Fort Parker, as a 1936 centennial project. The park encompasses the old town of Springfield Texas, which at one time was larger than Dallas or Houston, but had virtually disappeared after the civil war.  The park was established in 1936 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Indian raid on...

I was able to take vacation for the last two weeks of December over Christmas Break.  First week was a working vacation, but the second was "fully" off with plenty of time to play radio.  I was able to complete my Senate Quest with the SKCC, and organize some of my ham radio projects. I've also had time to use the Mosley Mini 32A extensively and must say that it performs admirably.  The receive on the beam is much quieter than the dipole, and combined with the Mercury IIIs really knows how to break a pile up. I've worked 24 countries and completed 159 QSOs (mostly on CW) over the break - with many on 20, 15 and 10 meters.  Calibrating the antenna to beam in the right direction was very easy using the Yaesu 450.  During a QSO, directional bearings for specific call signs are integrated with ACLOG, QRZ and the SKCC SKED page.   As I mentioned in my previous post, the mounting location on the roof is a bit of a compromise but overall I'm very happy w...

Just before Christmas I got the Mosley Mini-32A two element triband antenna installed on the roof top at about 35 feet.  The job took two roofers about 4 hours to install and they did a fantastic work.   The majority of their time was spent in the attic adding the blocking and the braces required to support the roof-top tower as recommended by W8IO.   I believe the tower was made by Glen Martin but not 100% sure since I got it in a trade Grant, W5XJ.  The mast is 1.5 inch EMC. I used a Yaesu G-450ADC Medium-Duty Rotator, and a Yaesu GS-065 thrust bearing.   The tower is grounded to an 8ft ground rod right outside the entrance to my shack.  The antenna is fed with 100ft of brand new RG-213 coax. Mosley does a great job packing and shipping the kit.  The material is top quality.  The instructions were clear and easy enough to follow.  I assembled the antenna about 7ft off the ground and completed the test recommended in the manua...

For the past few months I've been joining the Sideswiper Net on Sunday and Thursday as family and work schedules permit.  The net was established a long time ago to promote the use of the sideswiper also known affectionately as the "cootie" key.  The cootie is a horizontal "straight key" which relies on the operator to form the dits and dahs versus using an electronic keyer associated with IAMBIC modes. I really enjoy the challenge of improving my CW skills in a directed net format.  My key for the SSN is usually the Titan made by Steve Roberts W1SFR who also joins the net on a regular basis. Darrel - AA7FV is usually the net control station for the sessions I join.  Allen - KA5TJS, Ron - N9EE/4, TJ - K9TJL, and Bill - WA4FAT  also join the net on a regular basis.  All are excellent, friendly CW operators and many are also members of the SKCC.    I've not had much luck hearing the DX stations on the net but I hope that will change after I add a M...

 I've upgraded my Yaesu FT-857D mobile setup since getting the new GMC Sierra AT4 this summer.  The truck has a ton of space so that I can operate comfortably from the driver seat and even better from the back.  For CW I'm using a 3D printed single lever paddle wired up as a cootie from CW Morse. The ATAS is grounded to the frame and mounted to the truck bed with a Breedlove mount.   All cables were easy to run into the cabin using one of the punch-out plugs in the backseat floorboard.  The radio, battery, solar charge controller and duplexer fit under the rear fold down seats.  New for this setup is an MPPT solar charger for the LiFePO4 battery, and a Diamond MX-62M duplexer so that only 1 antenna is needed to cover the 7, 14, 21, 28, 50, 144 and 430 MHz amateur bands.  Instead of snap on ferrite chokes I’m using a feed line choke from Palomar Engineering left over from a previous project.  I've found the ATAS tunes easier with a choke, and ...

The "Cootie" key or "Sideswiper" is a double-sided straight key known for being difficult to master, but with some practice I’ve found it easier and more natural to use than IAMBIC paddles. There are some very nice professionally made cooties. I have the Titan made by W1SFR Steven Roberts, who is also one of the NCS for the sideswiper net . Begali, the “Ferrari” of morse code keys, has the Sculpture Swing which looks like a real work of art. I was inspired to make my own homebrew cootie key after seeing so many homebrew pictures shared by members of the Straight Key Century Club over the past six months. I've put together a few kits like the Kent Single Paddle Key which can be wired like a sideswiper (mine is). But these single paddle keys just don't have the same "swinging" feel that I love in a true cootie key. This my first attempt at a homebrew. You can make one for less than $5 at Home Depot depending on what you already have in yo...

  I love my Elecraft KX3 but as I learned on a mini-DXpedition to St. Martin this summer sometimes 10 or even 15 watts is not enough power to make a decent QSO rate, even with a resonant antenna.  I know I could buy a 100w rig for travel, but I’d like to keep the KX3 and get more use out of it.  The KX3 travels nicely, and the antennas, cables and batteries all pack down into a backpack that's convenient for air travel. There are several HF power amplifiers on the market designed for portable QRP radios, including the Elecraft KXPA100, the RM ITALY MLA100 and Chinese made MX-P50M which is currently “Amazon's Choice” for what that’s worth.    After some research I settled on the Hardrock 50 which is a complete amplifier kit that is FCC approved for commercial sale by HobbyPCB.com . The amplifier is based on Jim Veatch's award winning design developed for the ARRL's 2nd Homebrew Challenge competition.  The Hardrock 50 covers 160M - 10M bands and supports...

  I have had a lot of fun building my shack since getting my license back in May 2020.  My primary rig is a Flexradio 6600, feeding an 80-6 meter off center fed (OCF) dipole multi-band antenna mounted at 35 feet.  I also have a Mercury IIIs solid state amplifier and Mercury AT automatic tuner but most of the time I run barefoot.   SSB and CW are my favorite operating modes.  In addition to RWK, I’m a member of the Old Man International Side Band Society (OMISS #13552) and the Straight Key Century Club (SKCC #25995T).  Like many of you I also actively work POTA when there’s not much else going on.  Along with the Flex I have a Yaesu FT-dx3000 and a Yaesu FT-991A.   Both are fine radios but I prefer the Flexradio.  The last time I ran the FT-dx3000 was about a year ago when I had to send the 6600 down to Austin for two weeks for repairs (the damage was self induced).   The FLEX-6000 series SDR Transceivers are great, but many function...