On activating, I am phasing in CW alongside SSB. So I make a few calls on SSB and then some more on CW, just to get the hang of it. It also helps choosing a band that is not very “hot”, propagation wise, to keep some level of sanity, namely the “dxpedition” level pileups.
I also make mistakes on sending but after watching many youtube videos of SOTA activations in CW, I know that I am not alone in that department, so, don´t worry!
Hope to catch you on the air soon, for a S2S or chase.
I am in the the same situation as you and want to start with CW on SOTA!
As member of B33 (OV Eckental) we are located nearby in the same region and could envisage some joint activities to ease the start in the new adventure.
I’ve tried it and A) it’s harder to send than /P as I have to think and B) nobody was impressed and dropped everything and called me in. I went back to /P which seems to work better.
There was a whole thread on hear a year or two back, regarding what was best - /P or S2S.
I think for us Europeans /p stands out and was most popular - not many callsigns use /P unless they are portable. But the stroke or slant makes it stand out !!
I have only heard S2S being used once to attract attention. It did attract my attention but that may be because it sounds slightly like SOS which is very distinctive which is why it was adopted for distress use at sea. I’m not sure S2S would be so obvious in a pile up though.-
I used MorseRunner for practice pulling callsigns out of a pileup. I put my unit in practice mode and tried to send paragraphs from books for paddle practice.
Yes Brian - I’d heard of Morse Runner but had never tried it until this week. I’m in the process of mastering the N1MM+ Logger contest logging software. I don’t need the Morse practice as I have used the mode for over 40 years. However, I set it up in Morse Runner mode to practice the operation of running in a contest.
Practicing like this could be used for Morse practice within N1MM+ if you wished. I found it excellent for simulating callers in a contest and logging them as I went along, similar to what one does when activating SOTA. QRM and QRN can be introduced on the signal coming out of the computer sound card and some of the callsigns I logged are recognisable calls that are in use by real contest operators! I can imagine even without using Morse Runner within N1MM it is a very effective learning tool and more use to learners hoping to use CW on a summit than trying to learn a dictionary of words in Morse, which seems an odd idea to me.
Some folk can’t get out to activate as often as you do Tom (or don’t have a suitable QTH at home). I’ve found if I go weeks between activations that my Morse skill has deteriorated a bit (perhaps an age thing). So, knowing that, it helps to ‘top up’ using a Morse app as well as distract me from the cabin fever.
The best advice is to just get out there doing CW. When I started out with CW, I liked to start off by chasing S2S. This was easy because you basically know what is coming your way and the only variable is the RST. Of course, you will have to send your summit ref and RST back, but if you make mistakes, no big deal just send a bunch of dits and start over. If it takes you 10 attempts to get it right, no one cares. If you send the wrong letter and don’t catch it, its also not a big deal because the other station can check your information on the spot list later and can correct any issues. Once you are in a groove, throw a spot out there and take some chasers. If you don’t get a full callsign, just send what you got and a ? until the other station gives you a RRR. after a few excurisons, you’ll be having a ton of fun and will continue to improve over time, making it even more fun! Congrats and good luck!
This is the way. Don’t think about it, do it. Enjoy every second of activation, that’s what Sota is for.
And if it gets too much for you, switch off, nobody blames you. And if you feel like things didn’t go so well, forget that immediately. It certainly went a lot better than you think.
Yesterday I worked with a “beginner” in cw and I was very happy that he had the courage to use the key again.
And another thing. Nobody is perfect, we all make mistakes because we are not - yet - robots,
Yes Chris, our governments give us an amateur radio licence because if they didn’t we would all be “at it” anyway - broadcasting all sorts of stuff on all sorts of frequencies!
Breach of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949, Phil? The pathway into amateur radio for many a young man (and badge of honour).
When the UK government killed the ‘Pop Pirates’ (Radio Caroline, Radio London, etc ) with the Marine Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 (Recall that the BBC Light Programme broadcast an hour or two of pop music a week at the time), many teenagers like me were pretty upset with the older generation especially politicians.
Yes, for sure. I had built the FM transmitter for a friend and luckily I wasn’t on the wanted list. The transmitter was a converted 0V2, which of course was confiscated.
Yes sad day that Andy for sure. Up north where you now live we had Caroline North, 3 miles north of Ramsey Isle of Man. Booming signals into Lancashire and Cumbria night and day. One of my old favourites they played repeatedly, Woolie Bully, Sam the Sham and the Pharoes. After they shut them down I tuned into Radio Nordsee International for a year or two, on my CR-100, before I went away into the RAF and got paid for playing with radios.
