My quest to learn CW (15)

 15 months of learning CW now and still not able to make a real CW QSO (chat) with someone. At least, I could make a QSO with kind of a standard template or so. But if the station would ask me something I would not understand, which worries me the most.

My monthly overview again. You see, I try to practice every day. Sometimes I have no access to a computer, in that case I use the morsemania app on my iphone.

Not the most important but I try to do 2 lessons each day to improve my speed. The rest of the time is spend on plain text, word or callsign training. I also train numbers with a speed of 30/18 and have most of the time 100% score. However the combination letters/numbers like in a callsign is far more difficult.

If time allows I'm listening to CW on the radio and do some training with the Begali paddle. This evening I listened to 2 stations on 60m. IK2JET and HA2PP. I spotted them on the cluster and got some reaction from them both which was nice. However I didn't dare to try and make a QSO. I was listening to HA2PP when he made a QSO and was not able to figure out what he was actually keying. It was way too fast for me and only a few decodes could be made. That was a little frustrating and discouraging. But I will persevere learning the code. I always estimated that it would take at least 3 years to master it and make a normal QSO with CW. And if I look back and see how far I came already I think it is still possible.

I started a user group on LCWO, my main CW learning and training platform.

I'm the only member and founder right now. If you like to join me that would be nice...

And at the end of this blogpost I want to share this:

PACC 2025 CW pile up recording

 

Bas Lev · PACC 2025 CW pile up

Listen to the pile-up I had on 20m. It actually was like this all the time on any band. Imagine that for a beginner CW operator this is all a bit overwhelming. I could not do CW for longer as about 30-45 minutes, it was just too much. When I listen to it I wish it could be more smooth, I try to listen carefully but it is hard to pull a call out of the pile. Please comment if you feel I could do better. I want to learn from my mistakes.

This is also for archive purposes. I want to compare with the next PACC. Will there be a lot of progress in one year of training?

I did some CW practise as well last weekend. Partaking in the ARRL CW international contest working USA/Canada. It went very well although I only did S&P. Worked 50 in one hour on Saturday afternoon and worked another 50 early Sunday morning also in one hour. Wish I had some more time but since it was my XYL her birthday we had visitors till late in the evening. And although radio is my passion my family will always be on first place.

PACC 2025 contest review

Contest: Dutch PACC 2025

Section: SO AB QRP mixed

TRX: IC-7300 @5% (5W)

Antenna 10m: 4 element LFA @14mh

Antenna 80-15m: Doublet inverted-V @12mh

Antenna 160m: Inverted-L with CG3000 tuner

This was my first PACC in which I didn't use any computer decoder for CW. I just tried headcopy. And it went well I think. I hope the final result will tell if I made less errors compared to last years. My goal was to beat last years score. And it certainly did happen. With 106 QSOs more and 16 multipliers more. I think there is still room for improvement, CW should be my first priority in this contest. It costs time to make SSB contacts, CW is so much faster if you are QRP.

Red dots = CW, green dots = SSB

Note that the green dot near Nigeria is wrong because of a wrong locator for a German station. I cannot change that. I was surprised my operating time was less compared to last year. ODX was with a Chinese station but I doubt he was in the contest? For QRP operation it is most time an European contest and less DX as you can see in the picture. Although I worked some Canada on 10m both CW as SSB I didn't hear VE9KK this time unfortunately. However again K1ZZ worked me on 5 bands CW again, something that's almost unbelievable. I think he has the best ears of the world. 

I worked 37 DXCC in last years contest. This year I worked 42, a 5 DXCC improvement. And now....why improvement for next year is possible:

You see that a lot of QSOs were made in the last 3 hours. That was the point were I got more self confidence and more experience in making it in CW pile-ups. I'm shure if I'm able to improve my CW skills I will make even more contacts in this contest. 

It was certainly fun this year. And I felt less stressful about CW. Propagation was actually great on 40m both CW and SSB. I don't have good antennas for 20m and 15m but with CW it seems that it doesn't matter that much. I got a good antenna for 10m but propagation has been better lately.

Previous blogger PA0K Paul made a video when he heard me on 40m SSB. I was surprised by my own signal especially at the second part of the video. Thanks very much Paul.

It looks like Paul was using a webSDR. Don't know which one? But it is nice to hear my QRP signal came trough with punchy audio.

I also made myself a recording from my CW efforts. I do not yet publish it before I listened to it. I might use it for another post.

If you participated in the PACC, I hope you had some fun! If you contacted me, thanks very much. Hopefully till next year. 73 . .

PACC 2025 announcement

 

Tnx PB7Z for the pic. CQWW RTTY? Let it go.... RTTY is so old fashion. Join us for the PACC... ;-)

Personally I will be QRV in the QRP section which is always a mixed section. I will do SSB and CW. Please QRS for me on CW as I'm a CW beginner. If your call is not too long I will probably get it the first time. Otherwise I will try the second time.

Just as reminder for myself: Goal is to beat last years score and QSOs. https://pe4bas.blogspot.com/2024/02/pacc-contest-2024-review.html

Need more as 425 Qs and 143 mults, Total 2024 score was 60775.

WSPR 12m 2nd Feb. 2025

 1W in the gainmaster 1/2 wave vertical at 16m above the ground

12m has significant less users compared to 10m I think.

On RX I received EP4HR from Iran. The station that looks like it is in the pacific probably has his locator wrong. It think it is also a station from Iran.

I love WSPR Watch app on my Iphone. It gives some more interesting info. And the map looks so much better but my iphone is just too small to make a screenshot.

Interesting that 5000km is the best distance for me on 12m. Signal reports are sometimes very strong. Like +6dB in the US. 

WSPR 10m 1st of Feb. 2025

Transmitting 1W WSPR-2 in a 1/2 wave gainmaster at a height of 16m above the ground.

First new one on WSPR in 2025. ZD7BG from st. Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Above my RX efforts.

My quest to learn CW (14)

 Slow it goes. But the rate is going faster. To learn ICR I increased the speed to 30wpm after I got this advice from several people. 30wpm is just slightly faster as 28wpm so there is no trouble at all to decode for me. However it is all about the real speed...

I'm trying to do training outside of my comfort zone. So that's plain text training with 30/20wpm. It is a ridiculous fast speed and I got only 70% right on average. But it helps me decoding lower speed after I did this training a few times. The lower speed is 30/14wpm which I use for callsign, word and figure (numbers) training.

The initial plan was to make a CW QSO everyday. But unfortunatly that's impossible for me. It was a good plan but in real life I have not enough time. However I made a few POTA hunting QSOs and a few with the WWA stations. Just exchanging reports that is, and even that I screw up. But it seems that doesn't matter. At least I'm on the air with CW. The goal is to make a decent QSO in the future but that will take a long time I think. I'm trying to decode CW that's on the bands. I found some nice slow CW on 80m on several days. But even that is difficult to follow. Yes I do hear some letters and abbreviations but I can't really figure out what it is all about. I really have respect for those people that make CW QSOs like it is their second language. But hey, learning English was not a matter of days or a year for me. It took at least 10 years of school before I mastered it. My daughter picks up english from the internet, she learns fast, at least understanding and speaking it. But grammar is a whole other story, she really needs to learn that on school. And after that, exercise in real life. Just like learning morsecode...

I also have fun with CW. I try to decode the word from morsle.fun everyday. Here are my stats so far:

The PACC contest is in 2 weeks. Since I partake in the QRP section, which is a mixed section, I really need to train CW for that to gain some extra points. I have no illusion I will ever win this section since the top contesters in this section will use 2 radios at the same time. But at least I'll do my best to get as high place as possible.

CQ World Wide 160-Meter Contest participation

 Last participation in this contest was in the winter of 2023. Since time is an issue right now I just participated in the early morning of Saturday and Sunday before I had to go. Main goal was training my CW skills. I was using the IC-7300 @100W and my inverted-L with autotuner. Of course I only used my ears and brain to decode. I even called CQ a few times with some success. Average transmission speed at my side was 20wpm. I'm not able yet to decode a complete callsign the first time I hear it but after repeating two or three times I'm able to complete the callsign. Even with speeds up to 30wpm or higher.

The PACC will be more difficult as the DX is sending progressive numbers. Of course I'm training numbers as well as the abbreviated ones like T for 0, A for 1 and N for 9. But if it goes too fast I will not be able to decode, that will be my worst nightmare in the contest. Anyway, I should relax, it is just a game...

Faster as expected

 

I surprised myself. It took me only a couple of days to do this practice at 28/13wpm without any errors. I continue with a speed of 28/14wpm. Normally I only do 2 or 3 of these practices a day. I concentrate myself on callsign training and numbers training for the upcoming PACC contest. I also try to make a CW contact every day only with my radio, my ears and the morse paddle. Oh my, I make so many faults sending morse. But it seems no one cares... I will get better in time. Excuse me if I send 4 dots instead of 5 when sending 5, I seem to have no control over it.

2024 Statistics

 

2024 was certainly the year in which I worked the most DXCC compared to all the previous years. I seems phone is still my preferred mode. But CW is increasing. Digital modes is mostly FT8/FT4, it is what it is. You can't stop the digital future. Compare this to 2006 just for fun:

I did 100% phone in the year that I seriously got back into amateurradio. What a difference it is...

Well, you can see that the radio hobby is primarily something I do in winter. I have less time in summer. Feb, Mar and Okt are the contest months for me. 

Lots of SSB, a little more CW compared to last year. Lots of FT8/FT4. Less VARAC contacts. And surprisingly 2 MSK144 meteorscatter contacts. I always want to do more experimenting with all kind of digimodes. But in real life I don't think of that when in front of the radio.

I was surprised by the number of 160m contacts. I counted it again and indeed I made 453 QSOs on 160m. I'm not surprised by the number of QSOs on 10m. Most contesting I did was on 10m. This year it looks like 30m and 17m are left behind. I try to do more on the WARC bands, and most of the contacts there are "DX". It only looks that I'm more often on the other bands but it isn't. It is only because of contest contacts.

My DXCC numbers at the end of 2024:

I've also seen stats from LOTW and or stats from confirmed DXCC. For those hunting for awards that may be necessary. I don't really care if a DXCC is confirmed. Working the DXCC is enough for me. I don't have to prove anything to anyone...

Agenda 2025

 

As always for archive purposes...

My radiohobby agenda for 2025. 

Feel free to copy.

I always have to balance my time between my family and hobby. With a agenda and planning I want to prevent conflicts if possible.

08/09 Feb. 12-12 UTC 24 hrs PACC 2024 contest (SOAB QRP)

29/30 Mar. 00-24 UTC 48 hrs CQWW WPX SSB 2024 contest

24/25 May 00-24 UTC 48 hrs CQWW WPX CW 2024 contest

25 May Beetsterzwaag radiorally

25/26 Okt. 00-24 UTC 48 hrs CQWW DX SSB 2024 contest

8/9 Nov. 10-12:30 local time PA-beker contest CW / SSB section 2024

16 Nov. 11-14 local time Friese 11 steden contest 2024

29/30 Nov. 00-24 UTC 48 hrs CQWW DX CW 2024 contest

13/14 Dec. 00-24 UTC 48 hrs 10m ARRL 2024 contest