Putikeeg CW trainer and some issues I have

 

  The CWops CW Academy team meeting has its own challenges. I ran into some issues I was not prepared for. First of all it has to do with the keyer. I first thought of using the internal keyer from the IC-7300. But the problem is that you can't shut down receive noise in between using the keyer. So I thought of a solution by buying a cheap Putikeeg CW trainer. 

I did read some reviews, saw a youtube video about it and decided it was just what I needed. Not really for the training but just to act as a keyer. However in the last meeting I couldn't get the letter "Y" out of it, and also the letter "R" was an issue. At first I thought it was a paddle issue, so during the meeting I switched to my touchpaddle. Unfortunate for me I ran into the same issues. Very annoying and after the meeting I tried both the letters again. From the 10 times I keyed the letter "Y" only two were ok. I key in iambic mode so for the Y I press the right paddle and hold it while after the first dash I press a short time with my thumb on the left paddle. Well you know how it works. But the Putikeeg keyer does not react all the time. That's a big issue for me. This CW trainer is not usable for me,. I'd better save some money to buy a good one. 

Second issue on the teams meeting is my use of a headset, or actually they are earbuds and the mike is in a small block were the wire splits. This mike is not really sensitive and although I had maximum input and even +30db amplification it was still not good. Luckily I still have my USB microphone I used for FreeDV on my desktop. I use it now and it seems my modulation is fine now. 

Well the keyer is still something I have to solve. Next time I will use the IC-7300 again I think. I got an old Winkeyer K12 from Gerard PA3BCB (SK) but don't know yet if that's something I can use? 

No other issues, except for one computer shutdown which I cannot declare? I really enjoy the interaction with other HAMs in the meetings. Something I was really looking for. Homework goes well but will soon be more difficult I guess.

2025 highlights & statistics, 2026 goals

   Normally a post I do at the end of December. Looking back at 2025 and forward to 2026. Completely with graphs and a logbook breakdown. I will not do it this time. Other things are on my path and I have to spread my time. After I finished a new attic on the 3rd floor I'm still busy building a new second floor bedroom which is not easy as I'm not a carpenter. Besides that I have to go to my job of course which is as busy as it is. But if possible I take some time for the radiohobby. Anyway, here am I looking back at my hobby in 2025 and forward in the new year.

2025 Highlights

Looking through my own archive lots of things happened. Of course we were on the top of the 11 year solarcycle with excellent propagation on the bands. Huge steps were made with CW training at the start of the year. And compared to 2024 I had much improved. The speed I trained with in January 2025 was already 30/20 wpm. That is fast, too fast. I have other insights now and think training with a speed like that is too fast for a beginner. About that in another post. I did my daily CW training for sure and I learned a lot. The yearly PACC contest was a success, I even got a third place which was not expected. This is for the most difficult section QRP mixed. I rebuilt my experimental halo antenna in March and it is still doing fine. DXing was going on as well although expected F2 propagation on 6m was not really there unfortunately. On 60m I worked 8 new ones, on 6m I worked 3 new ones with the best one TZ4AM on CW, On 4m I worked 3 new ones and only 2 all time new DXCC this year. It brings my total on 300 worked DXCC. According to clublog I got 253 DXCC confirmed by LotW and QSL but actually I don't really care. I know what I worked and don't have the need to proof it. 

 What is more interesting is the mode ratio. See how my CW contacts have been going up against digimode. By the way, this is only the QSOs made with the PE4BAS call. PA6G is not involved. Well, overall when I look back most of my posts were about morsecode. I made my first straight key QSO in September. I took part in several CW contests. It looks like.....I was only having CW in my mind. But besides that I did some other experiments with the interesting digimode software VarAC. I even did appear on FreeDV mode digital voice which was very interesting. And I did setup some Meshcore devices for a free on air legal network which is forming well in our area. At the end of the year I decided to take part in a CWops CW Academy Intermediate course to improve my morsecode skills which are not yet what they should be. 

2026 Goals

What was my goal for 2025? You can read it here. I did well, I did make more CW QSOs and did some CW contests. I am improving my morsecode skills but still not where I want to be. Hopefully the CWA course will help me to make a huge step forward. For my blog readers this means that I have to spend even more time training the next months and will have less time to write blogposts. One thing will continue, the "Quest to learn CW" posts will keep you informed at the end of the month. Another thing that will be on my mind is improving the Meshcore equipment. It will be completely off grid, electricity from the sun. I already have plans. I still have 3 solarpanels waiting for another off grid project as well. I might combine things. 

My dear blogreaders I hope you still like the posts I make. Although my interests at the moment are much into the direction of morsecode. This blog is at the first place an archive for myself. But of course over the years I wrote things that are interesting for others as well. 

The importance of morsecode in the modern world

 Even in today's world we still need people that are able to know morsecode. Because when all things fail we will go back to the basics. Morsecode is that basic thing in communication. You can do it with very simple equipment or no equipment at all as long as you know the language.

This video is showing a great antenna and a way of direction finding at the cold war era. It also features the importance of morsecode in the military even today. Although the video is 5 years old it still is relevant today.