I don’t think I’m the only one to be tired of hearing right after a spot a computer sent twice a completely non-human call-sign generated by a PC! Yes, you read that right, twice every time!
This is not a problem in itself, but often the activator responds but the PC not and continue his automatic calling sequence … making QRM on weak sigs !
Why ?
Because they haven’t learned the CW enough? Yes
Because they want to contact as many summits as possible, even if they don’t understand what’s going on? Yes
Because they already have bad habits in SSB but still get results? Yes
Should we blame them? No
It’s the times that are like this and things if they are not corrected in time, they will only get worse.
Welcome guys and learn enough to join us without fear of bothering anyone
I have the names of the troublemakers, I still keep them for myself hoping that they do not only read the spots on this beautiful tool that is SOTAwatch
My 2 cents…
Enjoy CW like me and many other
73, Éric F5JKK
Edit : I don’t talk of memory keyer from for experienced users
Hi Eric,
Good to hear from you. It makes a pleasant change to hear from a Chaser, you are all so important in the activation process. I also have noted the MGM. I can cope with that, but what can annoy is when there is a fault in the MGM sending, such as smudged letters, that are repeated over and over again.
I would also ask chasers to send their call just once. I still follow those fine words from G0KJW (silent key), “never leave the pilup”.
I don’t like communicating with a machine at CW at all! It’s like an answering machine … do you want this: dial 1… do you want that: dial 2…
For me CW is still a very personal mode. Everyone has his style, his rhythm and many are recognizable.
In the direct exchange one can react wonderfully to each other… e.g. if someone sends only the Prefix, because he did not receive the Suffix yet. One can insert consciously small (thought) pauses, one can increase the distances of the numbers / letters stressed around something to clarify… and so there are many examples depending on the situation.
All this expresses the personality of the QSO partner makes CW for me a very individual thing.
Yes - and if the activator squats uncomfortably on a tree stump in the middle of the forest and is plagued by ants or flies … one hears this possibly also… just like the clammy cold fingers in winter.
This makes the CW not perfect - but personal! And I love that!
73 Armin…who also sometimes has days when things don’t go well at all at the key.
When this happens to me - and that’s often due to the many on-summit distractions - and my sending goes bad, I always imagine the chaser sitting in his shack drumming his fingers impatiently and thinking this guy’s an idiot … because they can’t see what’s causing the trouble.
I’ve not had the pleasure of the MGM morse, mainly because I haven’t had many cw activations this year because of the winds.
My CW is frankly average at best in ideal conditions. Last year I got hassle from a load of wasps on Knott (G/LD summit) whilst activating. I felt sorry for the chasers and still managed to get one chasers callsign wrong despite him sending it multiple times. There were dits and dahs all over the place
Maybe the MGM sender has no option to use that method and just needs a bit of help to make it more appealing, after all I hope that I haven’t developed a list of chasers who have to brace themselves when I send
Well, I can honestly say that’s what chasers get from me on every activation that I use morse. It is rare for operating conditions on a summit to be ideal and being someone that suffers from Raynaud’s Syndrome, I’m afraid it is what it is… often utter rubbush. However, I amazed that I am so very rarely asked for a repeat.
With the majority of SOTA exchanges being relatively simple, unless the chaser has a physical handicap, I would hope to hear hand sent morse. Using an computer to read morse, say to check on what is being received, is another matter as it doesn’t affect the contact. As has been said, many chasers have their own style and this is useful in picking calls out of a pile up.
Hi Armin,
I might be completely alone with what I think. I would wellcome a modular licence, in such way that if one wants to use CW one has to pass a CW exam, one wants also to use digital modes, an exa for that and so on. My general impression is that one can compare a considerable number of radioamateurs to someone who has a drivers licence but cannot drive. They can build an repair a car but cannot drive.
Shortcomings in operational technique is compensated by high power.
I chase sota with 5W and a 3m long antenna, I can work every station I am able to hear, with over 1000 sota qsos chased I have may be 4 or 5 I had to quit chasing a particular station because of QRM, QSB or QRT etc.
To be perfectly honest as an activator I don’t object to what is being called MGM Morse Eric. If the chaser is using the F keys to call and complete the QSO and has an accurate reader to decode the Morse no problem! However I would PREFER the chaser to “play it by ear” and understand what is being received that way rather than the technque you speak about, which bears similarity to using FT8 or a datamode - which I also enjoy using in their own right.
Now if that person doing the MGM method of sending and receiving the Morse does not understand the code because they haven’t learnt Morse sufficiently to understand what is going on, not only will the process be mechanised but the chaser will not understand the procedure, or be able to read Q codes and actually know who is transmitting at the time. So it likely that the operator will make a fool of themselves on the air because of this and spoil it for the genuine CW operators who are also calling for a SOTA QSO.
From the tone of your email I feel you are finding this is happening a lot. I have heard it occasionally I admit, but it isn’t spoiling SOTA Chasing or Activating in CW for me yet. Let us hope the numbers doing this don’t continue to increase.
So I say to those using this so called “MGM Morse technique” before you try it make sure you understand the procedure and be sure you know who is transmitting at any one time. It is no use guessing what you hear repeatedly based on what you see on SOTAWatch - you need to understand what is happening on the frequency of interest, or you will make an complete idiot of yourself and there will be 10s of people bearing witness to that who are a lot more experienced that you are.
Don’t be that spoiler or we will know who to avoid in future!
My apologies, MGM does refer to Machine Generated Morse. I should have provided the description. MGM has been around for many years and certainly pre-dates the personal computer (PC).
Not the first time it’s happened. Unfortunately some newer operators think CW is just another data mode and, because they can’t read it, they have no idea what’s going on. That leads to unintended QRM. It’s probably worth contacting those doing this to let them know that they are causing problems; otherwise they will have no idea.
It’s a common mistake. Just two days ago someone asked me if they could enter CW contests using a computer to do the reading and sending. They had no direct knowledge of CW.
