CW practice continues

I am using just about every device I own that is capable of sending Morse these days, toward my goal of being a competent CW operator by Spring. Wherever I am, if I have a few moments to spare I have some way of practicing sending and/or receiving.

There’s the KD1JV Morse Trainer, a W1REX Night Sender Key, an old Speed-X straight key practice oscillator, and an Arduino-based random Morse generator built by WD9GNX that I bought from him at a hamfest a few years ago.

Besides these, I have also been using Andre’s “Let’s Learn Morse Code” online tool on my phone. I read about this on the QRPer website a few weeks ago and started using it almost immediately. Since I am trying to break all the bad habits at once I have most everything set for 20+ wpm.

The KD1JV trainer and the little paddles follow me around the house mostly, but sometimes travel along with me when I anticipate having some idle time along the way (no earbuds while driving). I try to use it for sending because my paddle work is still sloppy, I am still much better with a straight key. The Speed-X lives on the kitchen table where I eat most of my meals. The WD9GNX machine lives in the car; I find its single random characters not too distracting while I am driving. I actually have two of the Night Sender units because I thought they might be fun on a camping trip, sometime. My wife and I have been sending to each other across the living room a couple of times a week. My copying and sending are both improving, if not as quickly as I would like; maybe if I made a bit more time for practice that would change!

Thank you for visiting driftlessqrp.com today! I’m trying to post new stuff every few days, so bookmark this site and come back soon!


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