Ohhh my word ..... ON-008

First of all I have to apologise to all I have worked this afternoon. Boy was I nervous hihi. My cw was awfull to say the least. At some point I didn’t know the difference between “Y” and “Q” and “6” and “9”. Sorry guys.

The activation was a close call as it started raining at noon. Still I left and after an hours drive the sun came through. Just in time to put up the antenna and tx on a bench close the french memorial at the summit of the Kemmelberg.

I had QRM from 7.029 to 7.034. Don’t think it was local though as I detected some QSB but it was s8 here and very annoying. I found a little gap between the QRM and PSK stations. Was found by Roy G4SSH (tnx!) and others appeared.

Tried around 7.118 later but it was too late in the afternoon and full of BC stations. I will have to leave earlier next time weather permitting.

And then it started raining again and winds were strong all afternoon with the occasional nut from the trees falling on the table. Still it was great fun, but I promise to work on my CW more. It is a big difference between a comfy chair in your shack and a windy location outside. And this summit is just a piece of cake.

Thank you to all I worked, the QSL is on the way.

73, de Peter ON3WAB - …- . .

In reply to ON3WAB:

Sorry I missed you Peter. Dont worry about the cw - at least you got the key out and used it which takes a lot of nerve if you are not used to it.

Hopefully I will work you next time you are out on the hills.

73 Glyn

Fine business Peter. Hopefully we can do a CW summit-to-summit contact sometime soon, and I know Jimy M3EYP would love to do an HF SSB summit-to-summit with you.

Keep up the good work,

Tom M1EYP

In reply to ON3WAB:

Hello Peter, It was great to work you this afternoon on your activation, congratulations on a job well done.

Your cw was just fine and dandy and very easy armchair copy.

It does come as a shock the first time you operate cw out in the field, especially when you are centre of attention of the pile up, hi.

Trust me, it does get easier after a few sessions.

Well done.

vy 73 de Mike
GW0DSP

In reply to ON3WAB:
was listening for the summit on ssb, but nowt in the uk.

In reply to ON3WAB:

Hi Peter

It was a real pleasure to be your first CW contact as an activator and I had no problems with your CW, which came over just fine.

I think that you handled a most difficult situation particulrly well. With a huge wide data transmission swamping out 7029 to 7034 KHz you called on 7035 and made a lot of chasers very happy.

There will never be another “first time CW” to worry about, so I look forward to another activation on the key under less difficult conditions.

Congratulations on a job well done.

73 Roy
G4SSH

In reply to ON3WAB:
Hi Peter,
think your CW is ok , but i only know it from you as a chaser.
Think beeing nervous is normal for the first activation. the second one, is easier then :wink:
I have the same problems with my cw on the summits . not the same giving cw in the shack, or giving cw-sigs on the ground in the forest or so. same problems with me, often i have mistakes in u es v , or h es 5 at example. but i don´t work at my cw,because at home its ok :wink:
gongrats to your for your first activation. now hope to see u again from the summits as chaser or activator.
thanks nice qso´s at the weekend…

vy 73 es gl Klaus

Thanks for the reassuring comments guys, makes me feel more comfortable :o).

Next time I will definitly try SSB but above 7100 it was all Broadcast QRM. Called just below that but should have maybe announced it in CW so someone could post it.

It does feel strange to be the center of attention for a change, but will try to do better next time. I am still trying to figur out if I have the call correct from the second station I worked. I am pretty sure it was G3WP but have my doubts. His name was Reg. Someone familiar here on SOTA?

Peter

In reply to ON3WAB:
Your CW was fine on Sunday Peter, no problem to read at all.

Thanks for the QSO!

73
Roger MW0IDX

In reply to ON3WAB:
Peter

Sorry I missed you - the G3WP will be G3WPF Reg who lives near Manchester. I operated the CQWW 160m CW Contest multi op with him and GW3YDX in Wales about 1985 but haven’t bumped into Reg since, except on the air!

73 Phil G4OBK

Thanks Phil !

Peter

In reply to ON3WAB:
Hello Peter, y am not remenber a qso with you in this summit! y hope to copy you in another! for me it’s also difficult in CW!! y am working! to become better! it was for this reason, that y activate in ssb, y do not want to make kill by the chaser, because I am not good to earth call in cw pile up,… hi hi hi
And when y use a “pioche” it was a disaster for the speed!!!
good luck Peter
best 73’s
f5nep
Lionel

I think practice, practice and again pratice is thte best thing with CW. After all we couldn’t speak properly either the first year of our life hihi.

Hope to work you soon, Lionel. I will try to activate this one more often. The other ON summits are on the other side of Belgium and will be done during a long weekend in the Ardennes.

73, thanks for your comments, Lionel, au plaisir de vous contacter!

Peter