CW ain't thaaaaat hard to learn...right?
So I've been studying my butt off trying to learn CW (continuous wave, or "morse code"). I've been adding a few characters here and there over the last few weeks since I started hitting it hard. Then all of the sudden: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12u1nA7bXzc. I'm not even kidding: it's like the mental block I had just washed away. Now, the letters and characters just make sense to me.
Which is great timing, because I finally got my Bencher BY-1 paddles on Saturday (bought from Bruce WW8II, first two photos are his as well)!
They needed a re-wiring job, as they had loosely-bound wires that were short and didn't terminate into a 1/4" jack:
So, I bought a spool of 18awg 3-conductor wire, some 1/4" stereo plugs, and went to work with my trusty soldering iron.
The end result:
Then, here's me taking them for a test-drive, connected to the MFJ-407D for sidetone generation:
For those playing the at-home game: I'm sending "CQ CQ CQ de KM4SQS KM4SQS" in the video.
Now, I'm definitely not the worlds best CW keyer, but I don't think that's too bad at all for literally the 2nd time ever touching a CW key!
The CW class is coming up soon, so I hope to get more proficient from there. Going to also be working a lot of my copying ability, as I've heard sending tends to be easier than copying.
Wish me luck!
Which is great timing, because I finally got my Bencher BY-1 paddles on Saturday (bought from Bruce WW8II, first two photos are his as well)!
They needed a re-wiring job, as they had loosely-bound wires that were short and didn't terminate into a 1/4" jack:
So, I bought a spool of 18awg 3-conductor wire, some 1/4" stereo plugs, and went to work with my trusty soldering iron.
The end result:
Then, here's me taking them for a test-drive, connected to the MFJ-407D for sidetone generation:
For those playing the at-home game: I'm sending "CQ CQ CQ de KM4SQS KM4SQS" in the video.
Now, I'm definitely not the worlds best CW keyer, but I don't think that's too bad at all for literally the 2nd time ever touching a CW key!
The CW class is coming up soon, so I hope to get more proficient from there. Going to also be working a lot of my copying ability, as I've heard sending tends to be easier than copying.
Wish me luck!
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