My quest to learn CW (30)

  Already my number 30 blogpost about learning CW. I wonder when I will be at a point I don't find it important to report about it anymore. I'm in my 3th year of learning and still train almost every day. Most times with LCWO but use other software as well. Once and a while when time permits I make CW QSOs if I feel confident enough to make them. Sometimes QSOs are going very well and at other times I mess up completely. I still can't follow a normal CW QSO when listening on the bands. Only a few words and that's it. Although I have the feeling I'm doing well in LCWO. How is my trainig going now...

Concentrating on random letters + numbers + .?,/ codegroups doing lesson 40. Training goes up and down. Overall I get a score between 70-80%. Speed now is 28/20 wpm. I wish I could do this with a score of 80-90% but it doesn't happen. Today I'm at 156 attempts in 101 days. I guess te only thing I can do is going on. It will happen some day.

Plain text training and word training is more important. I see a slow improvement in the last weeks. With a speed now of  28/22 wpm is reach between 70-100% score. Depending of the words used. I pick up more and more words, also longer words like "never" and "over".

After 445 attempts I reached an average accuracy of 86,1%. I promised myself I will go up in speed (28/24 wpm) when I reach 90% average. Last month I was on 85,4% so the improvement is really slow but at least it happens.

This weekend there is the CQ WPX CW contest. Time to make some CW exchange QSOs. This time I will use my own call since it is more unique as my contestcall PA6G. Luckily I can choose. I will try to participate for a few hours on Sunday.

Beetsterzwaag radiomarket 2026

   I did notice I didn't write about this radiomarket (or in some parts of the world it's called radiofest or radiorally) for a few years. But actually I attend this every year. Since a few years with my colleague and fellow radioamateur PD8HW Herman. It's not about buying all kind of gear but more about the atmosphere and meeting old and new friends. And of course we met a lot of them and after all I missed some. Sometimes I didn't even know because I've never seen them before and we were so close and probably seen each other but didn't meet. This happened with Jim PA8E and PA3KL Kees both participants in the CWops intermediate at the start of the year. I also met some people from the Netherlands Telegraphy Club and had a nice talk with them.

This year I bought two jackplug adapters. A mono one and a stereo one to connect various morsekeys to my radio(s). Most old keys have a 1/4 inch (6,35mm) jackplug. But newer and QRP radios mostly feature the 1/8 inch (3,5mm) jack or phone connector. This one solves it.

Lots of old gear seen. A lot of garbage as well. With a lot of OM that go SK there is a lot of items sold from estates. A lot of it is homemade. Not always the best looking. But those items have a story if you know the OM personally. Without the story it's worth almost nothing. 

A few years ago they displayed one. But it seems there is a whole family.

Well we had a great time and with this being the biggest hamradio market left in the northern part of my country I guess we will go there next year as well.

A lot of vintage stuff as well. Notice the coil sets they used in radios 100 years ago.

 

#6m #4m propagation last 24h @PE4BAS

 

 

It seems not every contact has been picked up by PSK reporter. But it is a nice overview of the propagation on 6m and 4m. the 4m band briefly opened, dark red spots are on 4m.