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Bum Rap
How the End-Fed antenna get's a bad reputationI regularly use an end-fed antenna when I operate portable because it's so easy to just get one end of it up in a tree. I then only have to get some coax...
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Stuck at 20wpm
Learning CW is not a sprintI am in the 9th month of my CW / Morse Code journey and I will readily admit that in my case it has been slow, steady progress rather than a sprint. Some weeks I think I'm...
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The Best CW training app for Android
Morse Trainer for Ham RadioI'm always on the lookout for useful tools to help increase my copy speed and enjoyment of CW/Morse Code. Training applications for beginners that teach letters and letter...
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Where is that blasted noise coming from?
Evil RF noise in Ethernet over power adaptersMy internet comes in at a corner of the house. In that room I have my cable modem and a WIFI router. Unfortunately the WIFI is seemingly non-existent at...
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QRP in many languages
Thinking MulticulturalHam Radio and CW is used and heard throughout much of the world. We live among many great cultures, each with their own language. I thought it would be fun to see the QRP motto...
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Just the medicine for lowering impedance
Pill bottle balunJack-WD4E is a fellow NAQCC member and he sent me one of his QRP creations that I just had to share.If you are staying on your meds you probably have the perfect enclosure for a QRP...
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Beep Beep - No not the Road Runner
Practice sending CWLet's turn back the wheel of time a bit. This entry is about how I practiced Morse Code earlier in in my CW Journey. My first key was a MFJ-557 practice oscillator. I used to set...
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You have two ears but only one mouth
Listen more than you sendIn honor of Mothers Day this weekend here in the U.S. we recall what our wise Mothers told us... Listen more than you talk because God gave you two ears but only one...
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Not all things are QRP
This is not a QRP antenna rotorAnother Saturday morning working at the Excalibur antenna site... Dick (N4HAY) and I were doing more maintenance on the tower. Part of that effort was to determine why...
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Twisted dummy
Improving the ugly dummy loadA few months back I built an ugly dummy load using the simplest method I could... I soldered 20 2watt 1k ohm resistors across two pieces of romex wire and soldered it to a...
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Comparing CW audio The Elecraft KX3 and the Ten-Tec EagleThe bands were very poor today from my home and finding stations to operate were few and far between, especially at QRP power. So I thought I'd...
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Peanut whistle
The Elecraft KX2Steve (WG0AT) published a video demonstrating Elecraft's newest QRP radio. The tiny KX2.I'm sure there will be more news about this new wonder-rig from Elecraft announced at Hamvention...
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Let your fingers do the talking...
Let them play different instrumentsKeys left to rightNye Viking, Kent Hand key, Vibroplex Original Bug, N3ZN ZN-QRP paddle, Palm Single paddleMy collection of keys has grown over the past few months...
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Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub
Talk to a submarine using Morse CodeThe NAQCC sent out an announcement about activating the station on the submarine USS Requin (SS-481) as NY3EC. They were operating QRP CW and I made my contact with...
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The extreme opposite of QRP CW
Bit by the digital bugMy posts have been way down over the past couple of weeks on this blog. Sorry about that but I've been distracted by a new toy...Tytera MD-380 DMR HTI've written about it on...
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First Field Day as a CW operator
Field Day 2016 with the Knightlites QRP clubI had the privilege to be part of the Knightlites WQ4RP 2016 Field Day event. They are a great bunch of folks dedicated to QRP radio. They operated CW and...
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BLT+ Tuner portable Test
A shot in the darkI wanted to test the BLT+ Tuner portable with a ladder line fed Doublet but my time has been limited. After getting home from work one night I assembled a 40m Doublet fed by 450 Ohm...
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Head Copying CW
There's more to using Morse Code than Learning Morse CodeIt's been about 18 months since I started learning Morse Code in order to use it for making CW contacts in amateur radio. Learning the code...
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You can swing a dead cat but you shouldn't swing your Bug
If it ain't got that swing, that's a good thingThe bane of those who work Bug key operators is the dreaded "swing". Swing is when the DAH to DIT length doesn't match the accepted ratio of 3 to 1......
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Get used to the common stuff
Common QSO words...Rick -- KA8BMA, kindly shared with me some common QSO words that he uses for practice. These practice groups go from short 2 letter words/symbols up through 6 letter words. Also...
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