Author: Tim K9WX

The CW Operators Club Newsletter
August 2021 — Issue 139

Lahra “Flip” Svare, KT9X in her mobile RV station. Story on page 15.

CWops “CWT” Every Wednesday
Start: 13Z, 19Z, 03Z (+1),1 hour each session
Exchange: name/number (members)
name/SPC (non-members)
Avoid DX pileups!
US Vanity Callsign web site:
http://cwomc.org
CWops “neighborhood”: Look for CWops on 1.818, 3.528, 7.028, 10.118, 14.028, 18.078, 21.028, 24.908, 28.028, 50.098 “and up”
CWops Officers and Directors
President: Stew Rolfe, GW0ETF
Vice President: Peter Butler, W1UU Secretary: Jim Talens, N3JT Treasurer: Craig Thompson, K9CT
Director: Theo Mastakas, SV2BBK
Director: Raoul Coetzee, ZS1C
Director: Matt Frey, CE2LR
Director: Bert Banlier, F6HKA
Director: Barry Simpson, VK2BJ
Director: Riki Kline, K7NJ
Director: Ken Tanuma, JN1THL
WebGeek: Dan Romanchik KB6NU
Newsletter Editor: Tim Gennett K9WX

When did you last take a real good look at the CWops website? If you do and you're anything like me I'm sure you will be proud that we have such a high quality shop window to showcase our club; remember the website will for many be their first contact point with CWops and first impressions count. Kudos to all those whose efforts maintain this crucial club resource. cwops.org is the hub for everything we do; from member rosters and new signups to operating awards, from QTX totals to CWT results, and from the CW Academy program to every issue of Solid Copy (take a peek at the very early issues from 2010..!). Please reference the catchy address whenever possible such as in your QRZ profile or in QSOs with likely potential new members or Academy students; easy enough to send 'see cwops.org for more info' as I often do in my Giving Back sessions.
There is a great deal of resource material on our website too, both 'in-house' like the CW Academy syllabi and practice exercises, as well as 3rd party stuff such as phone apps, books and other training material in software or text form. It is all offered freely for anyone to use but bear in mind most if not all will be covered by some sort of Copyright stipulation if anyone wishes to reproduce extracts or use the software in the public arena such as in a club newsletter. This can be as simple as an acknowledgement to the author(s) and not making alterations, to some esoteric extras like a QSL card to the author! ('QSL-ware'). Check for copyright or reproduction rights within the material and if in any doubt a simple email to the author is usually all that is required and can avoid embarrassing misunderstandings.
I heard about a case of a potential new member declining an invitation to join CWops recently which got me thinking. It's nothing new but this time the invitee felt uncomfortable because he routinely uses a CW decoder instead of copying in his head. Whilst admiring this individual for his honesty I'm intrigued as to how the use of a decoder can be so well hidden within his QSOs with other ops such as our members. If I turn on the decoder on my K3 I can usually get it to work rather well with machine type CW but usually only after some delicate tuning adjustments and varying pauses while the algorithm synchronises the audio. I can't imagine relying on it for normal QSOs. Maybe rag-chewing with well keyed CW could be possible and perhaps Search & Pounce in a contest, but running a contest with the delays and distractions would I imagine be totally unworkable. In my mind the CW decoder remains a tool to help the learner along the road to head copy but perhaps I’m being naïve and software more advanced than the now rather dated K3 is more capable..?
Everyone should by now have seen the reminder from Bruce N1LN about the CW Open coming up on September 4th. This is our premiere contest and in fact the only authentic contest we do involving standard log submission, cross-checking and official results, not to mention the awards sponsored by Icom America. It is also unique amongst all other contests with its format of 12 hours of contesting split into 3 separate four hour periods within a single day. The team element has proved extremely popular and once again I shall be putting together a TeamUK to compete against the many US/VE teams and the increasing European interest. This year with the relaxing of travel and social mixing restrictions some of our previous and potential UK team members seem to be busy catching up on holidays and family visits after kicking their heels in last year’s lockdown. It’s quite possible I may become a casualty myself but rest assured I shall be making every effort to be there on the day and working hard in the meantime to ensure we have at least a full team able to commit to the effort. Please spread the word……
73, Stew GW0ETF, President

President’s Message

Table of Contents
President’s Message 1
From the Editor: Save Ferris 3
News & Notes 5
N1LN: 2020 CW Open Score Correction 10
N3JT: Inviting somebody to Join CWops 11
SV2BBK: Meet the New Members 13
N1LN: Are You Ready for the CW Open? 14
KT9X: Full Time RV HF Mobile 15
N3CW: Some Seldom-Seen CW Keys 18
W1WEF: Mix Matters 21
W0TG: CWops Member Awards 22
K6RB: Giving Back Update 26
CW Academy 29
New Members 30
QTX Report 31
My Story: New Member Biographies 35

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From the Editor
Save Ferris
Most of us have probably had the experience of sitting down to watch a YouTube video and falling down the rabbit hole, seduced by YouTube’s list of suggested videos designed to keep us on the YT page. Several years ago, the XYL and I were cooking dinner and we had a question about some aspect of our menu, which we decided to research on YouTube. Two hours later we finished watching The Making of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off with no idea how we got there and with our dinner yet to be cooked.
On July 6, Pete N4ZR posted a question to the CWops list with the subject “Need Advice on Adjusting Begali Sculpture Janus Paddle.” I don’t own a Sculpture Janus but I felt the pain of his frustration as he struggled to get the feel of his key just right. I have a Begali Signature and I could never get it to feel comfortable. I wanted the gaps and the tension for both sides to be as equal as possible and could never get there.
One response to Pete’s post came from Al KE6JAC who referenced a G0PNM YouTube video with the seductive title of “How to properly adjust and maintain your key!” G0PNM has a whole series of videos reviewing different Begali keys. But I steeled myself against repeating my Ferris Bueller experience and stayed on task, watching just the adjustment video, which calls for the use of a feeler gauge to set the gaps and then a dynamometer to set the tension.
I don’t know if my Signature, purchased at least 15 years ago, came with a feeler gauge. If it did I had long since lost it. G0PNM’s key came with a 0.03 mm gauge and I realized I had a set of feeler gauges in my tool box. Why hadn’t I thought of this earlier? A quick check showed I had a .038 mm gauge, the smallest gauge in the set, and I was able to easily get my left and right gaps to match each other. (Hint: if your feeler gauges have been used to gap anything automotive, make sure you clean the grease and oil off before you get it anywhere near your Begali. Don’t ask me how I know this.) I cranked open the gap for each paddle way wide, inserted the gauge, and then slowly closed the gap until the paddle started to send. I then backed off on the adjustment screw just enough to allow me to withdraw the gauge.
But I didn’t have a dynamometer. Fresh out. And, I could not find a reasonably priced dynamometer online.
I did recall, however, that a US nickel, our $0.05 coin, weighed 5 grams. G0PNM wanted his key to have 20 grams of tension and I figured I could stack 4 nickels together to get close to 20 grams and then add additional nickels to the stack if I wanted to increase the tension. You can probably find information on the weight of coins from other currencies online; here’s a web page for the coins of the EU and page for the coins of the pounds sterling, and a similar page for the coins of Canada.
I used double-sided tape to make my four-nickel stack and, with my key turned on first one side and then the other, adjusted the tension until the contact would just close. I took care to stack the nickels at identical locations on each paddle so that I would have identical moment arms. (Careful, another YouTube video!). Like G0PNM, I decided that 20 grams of tension was my sweet spot, so a four-nickel stack was my stopping point. I finally had a key with the symmetry of paddle tension and gap that I had long wanted.
Did my adjustment exercise suddenly vault me into the ranks of the QRQ operators? No, of course not. But for the first time in 15 years my key feels right and unequal spacing and tension is not a distraction.
I always have the goal of becoming an incrementally better operator. One step at a time.
73, Tim K9WX, Editor
Background image page 3 from Wikimedia Commons.

Setting the gap with a feeler gauge. I used a 0.038 gauge, the smallest gauge in my set.

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Setting the tension with a stack of 4 US nickels. Thanks Thomas Jefferson, POTUS number 3!

News and Notes
Jerry Weisskohl AC4BT
We regret to report that K8RD, Edward Warren (CWops #145), became a SK on July 25, 2021.
Jim, N3JT: I Fly radio-controlled model airplanes when I'm in Florida and I'm not busy with ham radio. One of my aircraft was featured in a recent issue of Model Aviation, the magazine published by the Academy of Model Aeronautics.
But the attraction was that the foam plane had "more glue than foam remaining" due to many crash landings the plane has endured! More info about my "other hobby" will appear in a future issue of Solid Copy.
Peter, W1RM: W1RM has seen a shift in automation to using the Green Heron Everywhere controller to switch antennas as I change bands. I’ve also added the Green Heron rotor control with a nifty map. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my K4D which hopefully will be shipped later this summer/fall.
On July 10, Bobbie (WB1ADL) and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary by getting married (for the second time!).
Riki, K7NJ: I'll be QRV from 4X4NJ.
I will be active from 4X4NJ from August 9 to August 29 on 160, 80,40,20,15, & 10 meters.
Dennis, WU6H: I've been traveling cross-country for 3 months with my XYL (W6LPG), while still managing to stay in touch with friends in the West via HF remotes, Echolink to the local Club repeater, and the DSTAR system. Traveling doesn't mean you have to give up radio. It's amazing how much fun you can have on the road using the many different means available to us.
During this trip I was able to set up in the driveway of my kid's house in Southside, Alabama for a month, during which I made over 500 CW Q's during Field Day 2021. What a great time, between visits with family and the usual daughter-do's that pile up. It was also really cool to reconnect with many CW ops I met a few years ago while traveling through the South. Tnx for the Q's and hope to hear you on CWT soon!
Les, VE3NNT: I’ve been at my remote station for the past month. I went home briefly the other day and was very happy to see the beautiful plaque for my participation in the winning team (CCO#1) for the NAQP CW contest, August 2020.
I want to thank CWops for sponsoring this contest and for the award!
Theo Kindts, PA3HEN: I received the box with medallions for the European CWT participants.
I will send/forward the envelops from my head office where I can send to outside EU union for Ukraine & Russia.
CWops Members in the August QST: CJ WT2P was the August “Member Spotlight” biography (page 13), Frank W3LPL was the winner of the May 2021 Cover Plaque Award, Chris W4ALF was the author of “Tips for Earning Nine-Band DXCC” (page 59), and Greg WA3GM was featured in a photograph that illustrated “Anatomy of a Special Event Station” (page 62). Reprinted with permission, August 2021 QST; copyright ARRL. Editor’s note: please send similar information on CWops members who have been recognized in the media of national ham radio organizations to Jerry AC4BT at jweisskohl@gmail.com.
Duncan, G3WZD: Antenna upgrades at G3WZD.
The last few months have seen some changes with significant upgrades to the G3WZD antenna farm.
The first project was to replace the Optibeam rotatable 40m dipole with an Optibeam 40m Moxon. The work coincided with some brisk Westerly winds (the location is just a few miles inland from the Atlantic coast of North Cornwall), making wrangling the assembled antenna onto the luffed over mast rather difficult. Although only some 35kg in weight, the sheer size of the antenna made it very unwieldy, particularly keeping it upright to mate it with the luffed mast Nevertheless, with a neighbour on hand to provide some extra muscle, the job was completed without incident.
The performance upgrade has been significant with the antenna delivering the claimed 18 dB of F/B and about 3.5 dB of forward gain. I decided to give the antenna a workout in the CQ WPX CW contest as SOSB (40m) QRP and was pleasantly surprised at the results!
Having endured several wild Westerly gales in the last few years (winds more than 65 knots), I had decided it was time to replace the lightweight 15m trailer-mounted mast with something considerably more robust. A ground mounted 18m heavy-duty crank-up 4-section lattice mast was ordered from Ecomasts in Aberdeen. The Optibeam 9-5 would be relocated onto the new mast.
The replacement mast was scheduled for delivery on a Friday and, so as not to interfere with the all-important Wednesday CWTs, I planned to decommission the trailer mast on a Thursday (right after the new 07:00 CWT). The civil works for the ground post foundation block were completed several weeks previous and the concrete would have ample time to cure by the time the new mast would arrive.
The 9-5 was disconnected and removed without any hiccups and the trailer mast removed from site (ready for sale). Once the ground post works were complete, I dug a trench from the shack and laid 68mm plastic pipe as a conduit for the feeder and rotator control cable (the cables to the previous mast were supported by a catenary). I installed two messenger lines before burying the conduit. With the conduit installed, I ran the feeder and control cables (leaving one messenger line in situ), tested the coax against a dummy load and the control cable with the new SPID BIG RAK rotator sitting on the ground. So far, so good!
Gary (MM0CUG) arrived with the new mast as scheduled and, thanks to my neighbours who kindly moved their sheep, was able to drive his truck to within 50 metres of the site. George, one of my other neighbours, is also a farmer and agreed to assist us with his telehandler which made unloading the mast and transporting it to the location of ground post very easy. George deftly controlled the telehandler and kept the mast positioned on the ground post so I could knock in the Clevis pin. The luffing wire was threaded and secured to one of the two electric winches so the mast could be supported in the horizontal position.
Prior to fitting the head unit to the mast, Gary and I mounted the rotator, thrust bearings (I had specified two), inserted the stub mast and aligned everything. The head unit was fitted, and the mast was then raised a few degrees so the beam’s U-bolts could be slipped over the stub mast.
Nothing left to do now other than connect the rotator control cable and coax. I had previously cleaned the connections on the balun and at the feed point of the antenna, which were all in surprisingly good condition considering the prolonged exposure to salt-laden wind and rain.
Another hour and job done; everything back up and operational in time for the Friday 20:00 UTC SST! The antenna is just about level with the treetops and not visible from any of my neighbours’ properties. I am on very good terms with them (and plan to stay that way) so have not yet cranked it up to the full 18m; I will probably only do that for the occasional major contest!
Davy, K4HR: Here is a photograph (next page) of me, Davy Plexico, K4HR with a portrait of my 3rd great grandfather, Robert Shand.
The portrait was painted by Samuel F B Morse in Charleston, SC circa 1820. The painting is now in the Columbia, SC Museum of Art.

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The telehandler in action

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Lufted

The Finished Antenna

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CW Open – Correction to 2020 Team Results
Bruce Meier, N1LN
It was brought to my attention that there was a reporting error in the 2020 CW Open Team scores. It should be noted, that by making this score correction, the increased score has no impact on the order of team finishes.
ERROR: When the team roster for TEAM UK was submitted, the roster incorrectly listed a callsign. Specifically, G4NVR was listed on the roster and it should have been Phil’s contest call M2D. As a result, Phil’s reported score for all three sessions was ZERO “0”.
CORRECTION: By making the correction and using the call that Phil actually used (M2D instead of G4NVR), the total score for the sum of all three sessions increased by 34,853. Below is what the Team score should look like with all correct scores / calls used. Please note, as stated above, the team placement of 12 out of 24 remains the same.
FUTURES: First - For all Team submissions, please be sure the calls entered on the TEAM SUBMISSION link are correct. Second – when the results are first published in SOLID COPY, please review them and let me know ASAP of any suspected errors. There is a lot of data and errors are possible. I will post the corrections, if any, in the next Solid Copy issue.
Thanks for past and future CW Open participation!!
73,
Bruce N1LN CW Open Manager

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12. Team UK (Revised)
	Call	Session 1	Session 2	Session 3	Total
1	GW2CWO	20,736	27,666	43,056	91,458
2	G3WRJ	1,505	2,530	5,292	9,327
3	G3XLG	0	8,772	12,928	21,700
4	G3TXF	48,165	64,390	100,188	212,743
5	G3LDI	6,800	7,448	12,604	26,852
6	G4PVM	0	8,181	5,135	13,316
7	G4DRS	12,546	28,223	40,725	81,494
8	M2D	2,989	15,540	16,324	34,853
9	F4VSM	8,200	25,926	59,296	93,422
10	G3YLA	1,800	2,914	4,864	9,578
		102,741	191,590	300,412	594,743

Inviting somebody to Join CWops
Jim Talens, N3JT, CWops Secretary
Many of us have nominated or sponsored prospective CWops members. The first step, of course, involves asking the nominee if he or she might be interested in joining our club. That typically occurs by email, and in fact to be a CWops member you have to have an email address because that’s the only way the invitation to join is sent. But what I want to address here the frequent “no thanks” response to the initial inquiry we all have received. There are ways to spin the solicitation to improve the likelihood of a positive response. Yes, there are many hams out there who simply do not want to be bothered with membership in any organization, so this is all a percentage effort. You can’t win them all. But sending a well-spun message at the outset may help some of those who are on the edge decide they want to be part of CWops. So here we go. The email message below has been written or edited by several former and current CWops officers. It may seem a bit long but it says what needs to be said. You can use it as-is or edit it as you wish. It is the kind of message that has seen considerable success.
Hi xxx,
We’ve worked several times on the air in the last year and I thought you might like to know about the CW Operators’ Club (CWops), of which I am a proud member. This is a CW club that is entirely focused on the preservation and expansion of CW as a ham radio mode. The club’s CW Academy (CWA) trains upwards of 1200 people annually at 4 levels of proficiency, from learning the letters to being proficient at 25 wpm. Classes are held on a schedule basis via Skype or Zoom with an advisor (teacher) -- and includes homework, which consists of practicing CW sending. If you’ve listened on the bands in the last couple of years you’ll notice that there are far more CW operators than there had been, and this is a direct result of the CWA. Best of all, CWA classes are free. Anybody interested just has to sign up on the CWops website, which is www.cwops.org. Maybe you are a graduate of that program, I don’t know. But I see that your CW is really good so I know you find CW a wonderful skill that you appreciate, use and enjoy. I am hoping you will want to be part of the CWops effort to support CW as an active mode now and into the future.
CWops has a lot of facets, all of them directly supporting and encouraging CW. It has weekly and annual on-air QSO parties, sponsors many CW contest achievement awards and issues an annual State of the Art award recognizing the person or organization that has done the most to foster CW. Its QTX awards system tracks and recognizes ragchewing. There’s no aspect of CW that CWops does not support. The club even sponsors a scholarship fund managed by the ARRL Foundation. Further, its monthly Solid Copy is one of the best ham radio publications out there, with features about all aspects of ham radio but with a focus on CW. Put simply, there is no club that does more than CWops to preserve and encourage the use of CW. If you are a CW enthusiast and you want to help keep CW alive and well into the future, I ask that you consider joining CWops.
To join, you need one nomination, which I would be honored to submit, and three additional sponsors. Each such sponsor must have had 2 QSOs with you at 25 wpm or faster in the last year. If you’re okay with me nominating you and you’re wondering who the remaining 3 sponsors might be, go to cwops.org and look at the roster of members. There is no reason you cannot ask current members to sponsor you if you have had the required QSOs with them. Or you can wait for members to sponsor you once your nomination is published on the club website. When you’ve have the necessary sponsors you will receive an invitation email and instructions to complete a registration form and submit dues (which aren’t very much but are needed to support the activities of the club).
I hope you will say “yes” to my invitation so I can soon welcome you as a new CWops member!
73, etc.

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Meet the New Members
Theo Mastakas, SV2BBK
Beginning in 2017, Solid Copy, the CWops newsletter, has included bios of new members. These bios help us find out a little bit more about these new members, including how they got into the hobby, their aims, their experience with the club, their plans for the future, and much more.
Member bios have proven to be a very popular feature, and most of the time, the first thing one reads, when Solid Copy is published. That being the case, some members proposed a website feature that would allow users to search for a members bio and then be directed to the relevant Solid Copy issue. These ideas were discussed at some length, but for one reason or another, this feature was never implemented.
A few months ago Jim, N3JT, brought the issue up again. This time, Dan, KB6NU, proposed that we create a separate record for each and every member who had a published bio that contained the members bio, photo and location. Using this scheme, we determined that it would be possible to search for member bios using location criteria as well as name and call sign. Dan then created a “custom post type” that would allow us to store this data on our WordPress website. At that point, all that was needed was to build the data records. Even though we realized that this task would be quite time-consuming. I offered to bring that task to completion.
I collected members’ name and call sign from Solid Copy PDF files and created the data records. Fortunately, our membership secretary, Trung, W6TN, includes links to the Solid Copy issue in which the new member’s bio appears in the membership roster. In addition, Tim, K9WX, provided me with member bios from his archives and bio texts were inserted to the corresponding records. Member photos were extracted from the PDF files, matched with the members and uploaded to the records. Finally, I added location information, including city, state and country. Mission accomplished!
Now, it’s easy to find new member bios. To search for them, go to www.cwops.org/member-bios or from Membership Menu->Member Bios and enter your criteria into the search box. Read through them and you’ll see a broad and interesting cross-section of people who are CWops members.
Members that have joined the club prior to 2017, and would like to have an online bio, can send their bio and photo to mastakas@otenet.gr, and I’ll add them to our database.

Are You Ready for the CW Open?
Bruce Meier, N1LN
Get your rigs warmed up, antennas tested and software configured! The 2021 CW Open is getting closer and is now just over one month away so it is almost time to PLAY!!!
Session 1: Sept 4 (00:00 – 03:59 UTC)
Session 2: Sept 4 (12:00 – 15:59 UTC)
Session 3: Sept 4 (20:00 – 23:59 UTC)
It is also an excellent time to get your team registered. Last year there were 26 registered teams with 24 of them active. Most of them had a full 10 member roster, but that is not required. We even had active teams with 2 members. Talk to your ham buddies and sign up!
This should be another fun and, hopefully, record breaking event. If you have not yet participated in the CW Open, but enjoy the weekly CWTs, you should give the OPEN a try. It is more of a contest and less of a sprint. You don’t need tons of aluminum in the air and KWs of power – low power and dipoles work just fine for this event. Plaques and Trophies are awarded for all power classes.
For additional information please refer to the CW Open website. Look down the web page for the team sign-up link. It is lots of fun as a single op but even more fun to be part of a team. The team membership has NO GEOGRAPHIC RESTRICTIONS. It can be local, national or international.
Each session is separately logged, checked and awarded. 3 separate contests!
Who? Open to all amateur radio operators, worldwide
Modes? CW only
Operator categories? Single operator
Power categories? HP (more than 100 watts); LP (more than 5 watts up to 100 watts); QRP (5 watts of less)
Use of spotting? No limitations on using clusters, RBN or skimmers, but please, no self-spotting.
Exchange? QSO number + given name (e.g. 12 John).
Scoring? 1 point per QSO per band (each session); 1 multiplier for callsign the first time it is worked (each session). Scores start at 0 for each session. Work someone once per band per session.
Reporting? Separate logs for each session. Logs must be in Cabrillo format and may be submitted via http://www.b4h.net/cwops/ Paper logs are NOT accepted!

CWops CW Open Awards are sponsored by Icom.

Full Time RV HF Mobile
Lahra "FLIP" Svare - KT9X
About seven years ago, my husband Doc, N9DRS, and I turned to each other after the third round of plowing out from under a winter storm in Montana and decided we were done. Fifty-three days later, we had sold EVERYTHING, including our home and we were living in Las Vegas. Later that summer we moved to Pahrump, Nevada, in the Kingdom of Nye, where we have made our home base for the last seven years.
There are many things that change when you go from living in a three bedroom home on the Missouri River to a 400 square foot fifth wheel RV. Besides the inevitable shock of being a country girl and now living amongst other humans in close proximity, there's the question of "what about my shack?"
I had a very large room dedicated to my shack back in Montana. I had a 48 foot Rohn tower, a plethora of radios, antennas, tuners, power supplies, wall maps, world clocks and so much more. What about my drawer full of unattached wall warts? I really had no idea how I was going to go from that to...well, what would we do? Fortunately, I am married to the most understanding and supportive husband in the multiverse and he decided we would give up the dining table in the RV and it could be my ham station.
I sold the very large and heavy Yaesu 1000MP Mark V and just about everything else (not my keys!), and paired down to an FT991. As usual, I bought it and a week later Yaesu came out with the "A" version -- but that's a complaint for another day. So with my meager station having arrived, we had headed down to the high desert to begin anew. It didn't take long for me to realize that I missed having a bigger station and over the next six years I sold and bought radios until I had exactly what I wanted. So my current RV station consists of a Yaesu FTDX101D, an Elecraft K3, a Yaesu FTM100DR for local comms and an Elecraft KX3 for when we go camping. Yes, we sometimes leave the RV to actually CAMP in a tent, and my radios and keys come along.
So here is a little bit about how I setup and use my RV station. Antennas are always a sticking point. I went through a few stick antennas, wander-leads and things that sort of worked, but it felt very handicapped. Art Bell, W6OBB, told my husband and I all about his loop antenna on his RV. He used glass standoffs and basically ran it around the whole perimeter. Ok - there was an idea that seems a step up from the stick antennas. But in the end, we finally came up with something that worked very well. We use a 73 foot longwire with a 9:1 UNUN up on the roof and then shot it up into a tree at 40-50 feet, depending on which tree. We have to move every nine months, so we bring it down and shoot it up again with an air canon, each time with a slightly different placement, depending on how it lands. It's basically sitting as an inverted L right now. In addition to the longwire, I have a Sigma Euro-Comm SE-HF-360 fiberglass vertical, 18 feet long. It doesn't play as well as the longwire, not even close, but occasionally it will hear something better and I also use it as a second antenna for my second receiver in the 101. In my photos you can see that my OM has built a frame that mounts to the RV ladder, to which the Diamond vhf/uhf antenna and the Sigma Euro HF vertical can mount. Behind that in the photos you can barely see the longwire where it comes down to the roof.
Because we want to be able to resell the current fifth wheel we are in, we didn't want to create a permanent pass-through in the RV. Our next RV will be our last, and I have plans that include a great pass-through panel. But for now we are using the small window next to the table as a make-shift pass through. I placed thick foam above and below the cables to protect them and to keep out bugs and the seldom seen rainstorms here. It works very well and makes it easy to remove the cables, so I can pull the slide in when we move the fifth wheel. Doc also built me a table to match the exact measurements I wanted and a custom "hutch" to set on the table that fits all my radios and tuners and equipment well. I wanted something nice and stable. When we first started doing this, the old table was wobbly and no fun at all to work on.
We have the frame of the fifth wheel grounded to the electrical pedestal and that is about the best we can do for a ground, as they frown upon us pounding anything into the ground here, not to mention the ground is pretty much like solid rock anyway.
I have very little issue with noise, unbelievably. It's not the S1 noise floor I was used to back on the Missouri River in Montana, but it's a fairly consistent S3 with only occasional interference from Area 51, nearby. (Just kidding - but really I'm not sure what the weird interference is, and my friends who work up there aren't talking.) There are approximately 270 RVs in the resort where I live and so far only ONE person has ever complained that "beeping" noises were coming into his RV FM radio. I'm pretty sure it was me, as I think I'm the only "beeping" ham in the resort. We do have a fair number of hams here, but most of them are only on VHF/UHF and the few that operate HF are not CW operators. But they all notice our antennas and stop by to say hello.
I am having an incredible time with my RV station and at present it rivals my old home station. Everyone who RVs and is also a ham seems to have a different way to do it. All I know for sure is that over the years my station has changed with my knowledge and desires, and I thoroughly enjoy being an RV ham!

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A Pictorial Look at Some Seldom-Seen CW Keys
Ed Goss, N3CW
This will be an easy article to write – my purpose is to present some photos of several of my favorite, but somewhat obscure, CW keys. I would suspect most CWops members are familiar with many of the mainstream CW paddles, including such devices as the Vibroplex Vibrokeyer and the Bencher BY-1 paddle. Many CW operators can send awesome code with such keys, but many others prefer to upgrade to a key that may include more advanced design features, such as magnetic actuation, finer contact adjustment, or use of specialized materials. Included in this advanced group might be the Begali keys, various Schurr models, and the excellent N3ZN devices. However, for this article, I wanted to take a look at a half-dozen outstanding keys that are not often seen…either because they are no longer made or they may take some effort to find. Given that these keys are somewhat rare, I hope the photos will allow my fellow CWops members to appreciate the design and craftsmanship that went into each key. These and many others, along with expanded descriptions, electronic keyers, keyboards, code practice oscillators, and much more are included in my book called “Compendium of Automatic Morse Code.”
The N0SA ESP QRP Paddle
The N0SA miniature paddle seen above is called the ESP model. The ESP can be easily removed from its base and used as a standalone paddle, and it is easily transported for QRP field work. This paddle exhibits an amazing level of workmanship, and offers the operator the feel of a much larger paddle. N0SA has said he is no longer making keys, but at times he does offer some for sale. His website appears to have been taken down.
The 9A5N Solid State Paddle
The 9A5N solid state paddle is unique in that it is based on strain gauge sensors and software. Since the arms do not move, there is no response time or moving inertia to consider. The model seen here comes with a brushed stainless steel base made by Steve KB3SII of QRPWorks; this version is known as the Pro-Paddle. Fingerpiece keying pressure is adjustable from 5 to 50 grams via software algorithm. No contacts, magnets, or springs are used in this design. Microprocessor circuitry is enclosed within the aluminum cover that also provides shielding from RF. Internal batteries provide a 700 hour operating life. Steve reports that, “I have good stock of the iambic version with the stainless steel base. My email for that is steve@qrpworks.com. It is not on any website at this time.”
VK2DLF Model 901 Morse Paddle
The VK2DLF Model 901 seen above was made by Georg Goerge of Sydney, Australia. This paddle features an interesting arm shape/cutout which allows the opposing arms to pivot on one set of ball bearings; there is another set in the arms themselves. Lever arm return is via spring tensioning. The Model 901 uses a polished brass base and stainless steel hardware. The VK2DLF website seems to have been taken down, but if one were interested in his paddles they could write and ask about having one made: vk2dlf@yahoo.com.au
WK4DS Excalibur Paddle
The WK4DS Excalibur paddle was made by David Saylors in his Georgia machine shop. David briefly sold several models of keys he designed, but like so many other excellent key builders, found that unique cutting edge keys were not cost effective for a small shop to make. The above key is S/N 005, and features an experimental 72 tpi adjusting screws. The Excalibur has the shortest, lightest paddle arms I am aware of, and so is very responsive to a light touch when sending at high speeds.
IMEL M1 Paddle
The IMEL M1 paddle was made by Billy Imel, K9ESE, of the Bell-Imel Group, which also made unmanned aerial vehicles at one time. Only a few of these were made; the one shown here is S/N 003. The paddle features mostly aluminum construction with carbon fiber fingerpieces and stainless hardware.
Parkwood KXer
Richard Meiss WB9LPU designed and fabricated the key seen above, called the Parkwood KXer. This portable key has removable legs which can be stored in the base. The KXer can be used as a standalone key, or can be mounted to an Elecraft KX1.

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Mix Matters
Jack Schuster W1WEF
When we move back and forth to and from our summer QTH on Cape Cod we cancel one cable service and join the other. We have been doing this for about 40 years but this year for the first time we had a lot of “cable box” failures in Connecticut. I had to replace the box 6 times because of hard failures. Actually a couple of the replacements were because the “new” box I was given didn't work right off the bat.
After six boxes, my wife happened to be watching TV when I got on 160 m and I immediately wiped out any cable reception. This time I quit right away and a “reset” brought the box back after 15 minutes. Later, I decided to try 160 again and all it took was one dit to wipe it out. I can’t say for certain if the hard failures were caused by my operating on 160, but that band was the only one that caused a problem.
I had a couple large ferrite cores in my collection and tried winding as many turns as I could with the RG6 feeding the cable box, around both cores of unknown mix. Neither core made any difference...one dit was all it took to knock out the TV. Thanks to W1HIS for a suggestion using three 77 mix cores and to W1VLF at ARRL for the attached chart, it was obvious that I had to use a 77 mix. I ordered ONE core on line (postage cost more than the core) and also purchased a more flexible RG6 which allowed me to wrap the turns more tightly on the core. I managed to get ten turns on the core with the flexible RG6, and did the “dit test”. The 77 core made all the difference in the world and I can now send as many dits as I like.
Hi! No more TVI!

CWops Member Awards
Bill Gilliland, WØTG
Starting this month, and in response to several requests, we’re going to again include ACA rankings as part of the Solid Copy monthly column. Only active participants in the CWops Awards program will be included here, and for complete, up to date, scores and rankings, you should still go to https://cwops.telegraphy.de/scores. Recognition as an active participant means that you must have submitted an update to your scores within the past two months at the CWops Award Tools website https://cwops.telegraphy.de/. If you are not currently a participant in the CWops Member Awards program, please go to https://cwops.org/contact-us/awards/ for more information. We hope you will choose to participate.
Fabian, DJ1YFK, has added some terrific functionality to the scores tables at https://cwops.telegraphy.de/scores. I will try to lead you through the changes, but you must actually experience them to see how much they add to your ability to compare and interpret the scores. There are now two scores tables: the Sortable and Searchable table and the Score Overview table.
First, we’ll discuss the Score Overview table that you can reach directly at https://cwops.telegraphy.de/scores or via the Score table link at the top of the main page of the CWops Award Tools website. This table provides score and rank for ACA, DXCC, WAS, WAE and WAZ. Rolling over a callsign in one of the tables highlights that callsign in the other tables and clicking on the callsign locks the highlights so you can scroll up or down the page to see all scores for that particular callsign. To cancel the highlights so you can highlight a different callsign, click any call sign on the page and then move the highlight to the new callsign and click again to highlight scores for that callsign. It may seem a little tricky at first, but you’ll soon get the hang of it.
The other table, completely new this month, is the Sortable and Searchable table that you can reach directly at https://cwops.telegraphy.de/scores-by-call or via the link at the top of the Score Overview page. Initially this table presents scores and rankings in a single table sorted alphabetically by callsign, but the amazing functionality of this table is in the searching and sorting capability provided. You can rank by score in any of the categories by clicking the header at the top of the column, so for example, click DXCC to see everyone ranked by DXCC count or click CMA to see everyone ranked by CMA score. If you are interested in comparing the scores of several participants, you can do so by entering their calls (separated by spaces) in the Filter box above the table. The filter box also accepts regular expressions to provide enhanced searching capability, so for example, you can enter d[a-r][0-9] to filter for all German calls, or you can just enter M to display all calls that contain an M.
If you have any questions or comments about the table functionality or any general questions about the CWops Awards program, please direct them to me at cwopscam@w0tg.com.
Here are the top 100 ACA scores as of the first week of August 2021.

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RANK	CALL	ACA	CMA	DXCC	WAS	WAE	WAZ
1	AA3B	1568	11024	126	50	47	38
2	K3WW	1393	8438	126	50	46	36
3	N5RZ	1366	6871	116	50	43	36
4	NA8V	1240	6595	107	50	44	34
5	K3WJV	1231	6123	107	50	45	30
6	KR2Q	1157	3685	125	50	49	36
7	KG9X	1077	4514	75	50	34	24
=	W1RM	1077	7431	209	50	60	38
8	N7US	1075	5004	104	50	35	32
9	K7QA	1072	4132	79	50	36	28
10	K4WW	1062	3986	80	50	34	29
11	K1VUT	1055	4172	71	50	37	22
12	AC6ZM	1045	3405	58	50	33	21
13	K3JT	1025	4314	90	50	42	29
14	W4WF	1011	3600	73	50	34	28
15	W0UO	1002	2576	49	50	28	19
16	VE3KI	993	6427	135	50	50	37
17	K8AJS	992	3899	100	50	42	30
18	WT3K	987	3172	70	49	39	24
19	F6HKA	984	6809	198	50	57	38
20	K3PP	975	4312	100	50	44	27
21	WT9U	969	4673	98	50	38	29
22	NA4J	958	3055	68	49	31	24
23	N8BJQ	953	6951	128	50	46	38
24	N1DC	928	4109	84	50	38	24
25	W9ILY	914	5324	129	50	45	36
26	K6NR	904	3264	60	50	28	28
27	K9WX	902	4075	85	50	32	26
28	WN7S	896	3226	62	49	30	21
29	AA5JF	889	2085	63	49	33	25
30	K8PK	888	3177	80	50	38	30
31	W8FN	867	3188	54	49	28	18
32	WS1L	864	2166	56	49	34	18
33	VE3TM	847	2306	67	50	36	22
34	N2UU	840	4828	107	50	44	31
35	I2WIJ	835	2973	78	48	40	29
36	KC7V	798	4423	86	50	33	32
37	K1DJ	796	3598	92	50	40	26

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RANK	CALL	ACA	CMA	DXCC	WAS	WAE	WAZ
38	K3ZA	793	1561	30	49	21	12
39	WA4JUK	766	3157	80	50	38	26
40	K2TW	760	2883	56	49	30	20
41	AF4T	758	1901	52	50	30	22
=	N4ZR	758	3857	93	50	40	29
42	NJ3K	757	2431	55	49	33	19
43	EA4OR	743	1687	71	49	42	26
44	K4TZ	727	2261	35	50	15	15
45	K8JQ	724	4222	62	50	28	23
46	NR3Z	717	1985	63	48	32	22
=	W3WHK	717	2605	71	49	32	21
47	NE2V	715	1219	45	49	25	16
48	K1ESE	714	4775	123	50	44	35
49	KT5V	709	2819	73	50	26	29
50	DF7TV	708	1566	77	47	42	31
51	KC4WQ	699	2198	43	50	23	18
52	W2CDO	693	1643	46	47	30	17
53	NK4O	685	1435	56	46	26	22
54	KV8Q	684	2272	53	49	24	20
55	N4FP	683	1933	46	49	27	17
=	W2NRA	683	2408	71	50	34	22
56	NF8M	681	1806	38	48	20	16
57	CO8NMN	679	2732	66	47	33	22
=	LB6GG	679	2081	79	44	45	25
58	W1AJT	675	1302	48	49	32	19
59	K1SM	670	3471	128	49	43	36
60	OZ3SM	666	2054	85	47	41	31
61	KM4FO	659	1996	40	49	14	16
=	W6LAX	659	1657	34	49	13	18
62	W1UU	655	3684	107	50	37	32
63	GW0ETF	653	3424	109	50	46	35
64	W0VX	645	4788	120	49	41	36
65	WW3S	631	1185	53	48	30	23
66	AF5J	624	1275	36	50	17	17
67	K2YR	617	1571	39	47	25	16
68	K4GM	614	3287	77	50	32	27
69	DK3WW	603	1556	71	49	41	25
70	G3XTT	598	1975	78	46	41	27
71	K0TC	597	2526	55	49	23	19

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Giving Back Update
Rob Brownstein K6RB
CWops' Giving Back (GB) program is meant to provide on-air QSO experience and practice for anyone who wants it. It was initially intended as a way for our CW Academy students to get some on-air experience. We all know that when there is activity on the bands, these days, it's usually a DXpedition pileup or a contest. Today's CW aspirants have had little chance to work others who are skilled at CW, operate at moderate speed, and are committed to helping. That's the mission of Giving Back.
The GB volunteers get on the air at approximately 7 PM local time and seek out CQers, or call CQ, and engage in routine QSOs including some conversational tidbits. Here is the current schedule:
Here are the results of last month’s GB efforts:
Volunteer: Stations Worked
AA0IZ: AJ6QL, K6TXE, KM6ZX, KG7MVH, N6LW, N7PTR, N8AFT, N0NNO, W6SLA
AG4CC: WI0T, WA3SCM, WA8SIE, W9BZ(2)
DF7TV: G3GJV, M/HA8BS, M0WDO
G0POT: IZ2VTO, DK4AC, DJ9QQ
GW2CWO: M0MCL, ON4RO, RW3AG, DJ7BU, OH2BFZ, DK7DC, DL4HJ, OK1YR(2), OH2BVT, DL1NKS, DJ2AX, G0MBV, EA3HTZ, OZ6PP, DL3HWO, HA6OD, PA/WB4WB, DL2SAS, I0QMY, SM4MWB, G4PKW, G4ZYU
IZ8NXG: DJ8XE, F5JHK, SV8ANW, EA2HI, F6IFG, HA2RQ, IU2GDV, HB9GZP, EA5JA
JH2HTQ: JE0ERZ(12), JA3EBL, 7N2XZB(8), JM8QGN, HL2KL, JH2NYZ, JR7YSL, JA3MDU, JG7EDO, JH4GUM, JA9GAN, JG3NIN
JJ1FXF: JM8QGN(2), JQ3DGT, 7N2XZZ, 7N2XZB(3), JF7URV, W7OM, JF3IPR, JG1LHB, JA1MFT, JE0ERZ(2), JA5GDN, JR2IUB, JQ3BVC
JO1DGE: HL3KL, JE0ERZ(2), JG7EDQ(3), JK1BZC, JK1QYL, JQ2NUD, KE7VE, NL7V
JR1WYW: JM8QGN(4), JE0ERZ(2), RC0LAR, JF1HEZ, JA3EBL, JF7URV, JK1BZC, JQ2NUD, JA8EQZ, WB2LIL/DV9, YF8HYV
JS2AHG: N5RZ, JM8QGN(2), JH4GUM, R0CDP, K7HK
K3ZGA: G3ZXZ, WG0K, W6UT, WN2T, K4IBZ, K4KVC, KW7D, C09GBB, W4RFT, VA7HA, K9FW, KN4ZQ, N9GUN
K6RB: KB6VME(2), K7BNY, KW5KO, KG7MVH, NE5A, NN6T, WB7S, W7JAS, KB3NSK, WB4DKF
K7NJ: N2MN, KD5RFC, KA5HZV, W0NV, W0CC, KB9FNN, WB4DKF, K5EX, NE9H, AJ6QL, WA6JCH, K6ZGN, WJ7S/P, KB5RCF, KJ4HRH, W9XW, NT5TT/P, W0AAS, KK7XY, K6FTU, QA6APN, W6RTM, W6BRY
K8UDH: AA1GD, KB5TLU
KE7VE: K2L, KD7BCC, AB0BM, KA5JTS, W7JAS, VE2GDI, AI6QZ, JO1DGE, VE2CSI, VE3EEI, KC9UR, N7XV
KH6LC: W1SAV, VE7BDM, W6SC, K5TF
KW4WA: K1ARR, WB4DFK, KO4KFS, CL3OR, W4CNA, K2TL
N2GSL: NP3K, N9ZI, WB2KKI, N4ACF, W8YA, WK4T, W2IFB, N0TTI
N4TMM: KD5ZLB, W5UX
N6HCN: K2B, KQ6UP, AH6EZ, NZ0T, KF6VB, W8BHS, W7AIT, W0C
SV2BBK: 4X4FW, SV9DKW, YO9IUP, DL1NKS, E74ZH
W2ITT: EA2AR, KU4BB, N0TTI, W2CW, VE2PID/W8, N2WBJ, N8XMX, KN4CQB, W0ITT, KB9UWR, K8EHE, NN3E, KE8RIB, N4SNI, KA2KGP
W2LCQ: N8ZL, NRSNI, WA4ZLK, K2XR, AF4PD, KP3U, W2YRL, K1EL, KM4ZZ, K1LKP, WR4T, AI8AI(3), WA3SCM, VE2GHI, N0JRK, KG4SFB, WB8CCR, VE3CMI, W1DLC, N4AHO, K5KDG, K4LJB, KI4DEF, N2TQT, VE1GVY, AC3LZ, KD2UAF, N0TTI, W8USN, KB4EE, KC8LSD
W5DT: W3OY, NR8M, KC8MD, AE4DT
W6JIM: KI7MJR, N7HRK, W7JMM, KF0RST, N0CW, AA7TQ, K7JPF, W1SAV(2), W6VD, NW7R, N6EAL, N6IE, KK7XV, W7JAS, W7IHN, KD2FSH, W0UFC, KH2BR
WB1LLY: AA8CL, W2CW(2), WA9TGT, NZ0T, K8MPH, W2ITT, WA2BXY, KK4PBJ, KG4IMI, CL3OR, KB2IDY, W3KWH, K9QEW
WB2LQF: K1CHM, KU4BB, VE3LFN, W1IB, K1HTN, WA2SON
WB7S: N0TK, W0SUZ, KA2BKG, W0NV, K6RB, AF2TT, KN6EY, KK7XV
WE5P: KM4ZZ, W3SI, N8CT
WK4WC: KD8ZM, K4LL, W2ITT, AC4BN, KN4YQH, W4DPK
Those interested in working these folks and practicing should look for them at around 7 PM in each time zone. They will usually send a "CWA" just before signing after a CQ.
73,
Rob K6RB, Giving Back Manager

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CW Academy
Kate Hutton, K6HTN Joe Fischer, AA8TA Bob Carter, WR7Q Roland Smith, K7OJL
The CW Academy will be starting its Autumn semester in a few weeks. For at least a few of us, if not more, it seems like no time has passed since the end of the previous semester. Following are some statistics for the upcoming semester.
Before overwhelming you with numbers, I would like to acknowledge the rest of our CW Academy management team consisting of Kate, K6HTN; Bob, WR7Q and Roland, K7OJL. These three do quite a bit of work that is obvious to me and the rest of the team but is seldom noticed outside of our little group. Much appreciation to them is deserved.
These numbers are preliminary (as of July 31) and will be different after assignments go out on August 10 and by the time classes start. This should be viewed as a high-level look at our student situation.
At this time, we have 603 students preliminarily assigned to a class, 72 advisors and 93 classes. There are 73 students who are not assigned at this time and we hope to get most of them placed. Again, this situation will change quickly over the next few weeks.
We are ever grateful to our many advisors who make the CW Academy the success it is. We hope that all students and advisors have a positive experience this semester.
73,
Kate K6HTN, Joe AA8TA, Bob WR7Q, Roland K7OJL CW Academy Managers

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QTX Report Enjoying the Art of Conversational CW
Bruce Murdock K8UDH.
Many of us, including me, have had little time this summer to get on-the-air for some CW ragchewing. I’ve heard lots of comments about how different this summer is, and that’s good. It should be different. The summer of 2020 was anything but normal. Now we’re going on vacations, camping, hiking up mountains for SOTA, sightseeing, spending time with family, and attending sporting events, to name a few.
Before we know it, our activities will change and we’ll find ourselves with more time to get back in the shack. When we do, CW will be there. So have some fun and do what you enjoy with CW. I particularly like operating my vintage CW rigs. I recently refurbished my Drake 2-C receiver and the companion crystal controlled 2-NT CW transmitter with a little help from a good friend. These two rigs go back to 1966 and 1967 when I worked at the R.L. Drake Company. It’s very nostalgic to see the tubes glow in the 2-C/2-NT while ragchewing with my dad’s old J-38 straight key. That style of CW operating is not for everyone, but I like it. Like I always say, if it’s CW it’s all good. So, get on-the-air and have a good time.
Comments from QTX Submissions
N2DA: Summer vacations have cut into the ragchew sked times. Had a great time at FD with the N3IC team, but no QTXs that weekend!
GW0ETF: A good day in the last week with 4 MQTX starting with a 'long time no see' catch up with Rune SM5COP followed by 3 more in my Giving Back session...
G3WZD: July was a fairly quiet month but still some nice QSOs.
W9EBE: Despite iffy 30m band conditions, I nonetheless enjoyed some very fine ragchews in July. I'm looking forward to better propagation in the coming months!
N6HCN: Lots of QTX over an hour this month. Great chat with Larry W8BHS in Quartzite AZ, longest QSO was 2 hours with Phil W0OJ in CO.
M0MUI: No QTXs/MQTXs in June, and only 1 QTX in July, which was more spontaneous and ended up being very enjoyable. Will aim to do more like that in August.
AJIDM: Thanks to all my rag-chewing friends! 73 de John AJ1DM
WA2USA: Lots of good QTX Qs this month. I'm off on a six week SOTA/Hiking trip to Colorado from mid August to the end of September so I will miss making QTX Qs. However, it is still a rush working QRP from a mountaintop even though the exchanges are quick signal reports with an occasional mini QTX with a buddy.
VA3DKL: After some time QRT in June, it was great to get back into ragchewing in July. Had a nice chat with W0HY, a regular sked. Hope to up my game in August!
W0OJ: I am learning if I do put in a comment I have to remember what I wrote as my ex CWA students send me notes about my comments which don't make sense when I have forgotten them
AA5AD: My time and the propagation finally lined up for a decent month of rag chews. Enjoyed two bug-to-bug rag chew QSOs with Greg W1GF in Maine and Gary WN9U in WI, Enjoyed reconnecting with Gan, KY8D also. Did you know he holds a commercial telegraph ticket too? Lots of fun this month, hopefully August holds the same.
W3WHK: I had a couple especially interesting ragchews this month. I found out that both K6ZB and I were stationed at Indiantown Gap Military Reservation as ROTC cadets decades ago. Was also glad to get to know fellow CWops member Mike, VE3GFN. We discussed Toronto, where I have spent a lot of time, and he had some good advice on my newly-acquired rig.
AA0YY: not much ham radio this month
N8AI: N5OLA, Will on S. Padre Island recently built HW101 from original Heathkit package, replaced many bad parts and sent it to retired Heathkit engineer to finally get it working for use in this long 15 wpm QSO
N2DA: Enjoyed a number of FB ragchews with Steve WA3JJT, John AJ1DM, Frank W4TG, and Mike WA3PYU. Vegetable gardens all doing well!
N5LB: SKCC members often want to chat and are frequently very interesting. I hang out on their calling frequencies. Just not enough time to operate in July. Ditto June.
KG5IEE: Had a lot of mini-QTX just under 20 minutes. Guess I need to send slower, hi hi.
K8UDH: We're doing lots of things this summer that we haven't done in a while, leaving me little time for ragchewing. I hope the situation changes next month.
Awards and Medals for 2021
Medals for 2021 are awarded for three different levels in QTX.
Gold – 400 QTX QSOs
Silver Medal – 300 QTX QSOs
Bronze – 200 QTX QSOs
John K1ESE has already earned a gold medal with 426 QTX QSOs, followed by Chuck WS1L with 369 and Chris N8AI with 323 QTX QSOs. Chuck and Chris have qualified for a silver medal. Joe KC0VKN with 297, Bill N5IR with 291, Bruce K9OZ with 242, Phil F5IYJ with 217, and Dennis WA2USA with 210 QTX QSOs have qualified for a bronze medal. Nice work.
QTX for July 2021
MQTX for July 2021
2021 Totals for QTX
2021 Totals for MQTX
We have many ways to enjoy CW. For many of us ragchewing is our favorite. If it’s CW it’s all good.
73,
Bruce K8UDH, QTX Manager

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My Story: New Member Biographies
Tim Eklin, W8JJ
First, let me say thank you for the nomination by K3WJV and the sponsorships from AE4Y, KB4DE, and W6SX. I am humbled by this opportunity and honored to be a CWops member. The goals that I have set are to improve my operating skills, build personal relationships with members, give back to the amateur community, and have fun!
I’ve been active since 1992 and have always been drawn to CW contesting. However, my desire to participate is often stronger than my skill set. I consider myself as an intermediate level CW operator. I tend to prefer the North American contests as opposed to the worldwide events mainly due to my modest antenna installation.
Now, I want to build accuracy, speed, and endurance. I’m hooked on the CWT and SST events and find them fun, challenging, and frustrating at times. However, some discomfort provides motivation as I believe learning takes place right on the edge of frustration.
Fun fact: I have worked and confirmed all 3,077 U.S. counties and hold USA-CA Award #1203 sponsored by CQ Magazine. This challenge took 9.5 years to accomplish. I’ve also activated 485 U.S. counties while operating mobile and enjoy being on that side of a CW pile up! While I do enjoy working DX, I’m not actively chasing awards. Perhaps when I retire (again) this will be my next challenge.
Jennifer, my wife of 26 years is not a ham and really thinks what we do is crazy. However, she is very supportive of my radio pursuits. She is an elementary school teacher. This is handy when I need to know things like: What is the turning radius of a Yagi with a 24’ boom and a 37.5’ element? She’s always a good sport and plays along with my crazy antenna dreams. I’m a social scientist and she’s a math wizard. So, I defer to her for important antenna design details.
I spent over twenty years working in corrections at the state level and did some local law enforcement work as well. After retiring from the State of Michigan in 2007, I returned to college and earned a Ph.D. in the social sciences. Currently, I’m a tenured associate professor of criminal justice at a state university in Michigan.
My other hobbies and interests are precision rifle shooting and I’m a fan of Bluegrass music. Mostly, I enjoy spending time at our cottage in northern Michigan reading, watching logs burn, and playing radio during the cold winters.
Visit my page on QRZ.com for station details and more information. Best 73 and I look forward to getting involved and building many enduring friendships.
Juergen “Jo” Kantowski, DJ3CQ
I am honored and thankful to be part of this community now and feel indebted to the old chap who surprisingly nominated me and the quick sponsorships. Thank you guys!
CB-radio had a fast growing community in the late sixties/ early seventies, of course I was part of it. I learned a lot about solar activity, short skip, DX and even about these adorable hams who are communicating with the whole world all day long (of course mostly with their fingertips) and know everything about HF and all these wireless miracles.
I was hooked, instantly searched for an opportunity to get the necessary HAM license and soon found myself in the middle of an evening class among other CBers. The teacher taught us all we needed to know to master the exam and 6 months later I was a proud part of this adorable community holding the callsign DB2CS.
I was limited to VHF/UHF now, not exactly what I wanted in my desire to collect all countries in the world. Time to begin the bigger part of ham education, the main challenge, which was not that easy to master as I heard from others who already failed.
It seems I was not that talented and so it took me nearly a year to get this new language in my head. There were a lot of ups and downs, I even smashed a cassette-recorder in deep frustration but finally my little Junker and I went into a large grey building to prove our CW knowledge and the most thrilling exam in my life ended with a full success. That was in 1977, CW was kind of old fashioned then but I was so impressed that I finally got the code in my head that I decided to store away all my microphones forever.
This commitment is effective up to now: except when on VHF, you wouldn’t find any mic in my shack. I found other things to spend money on: Beside my Junker and my 1st Bencher love, I found lots of keyers, especially these breathtaking beauties from North Italy which gradually found a way into my shack. Every month is time to change the keyer and now at the age of 66 I have plenty to play with. Sometimes I wonder what will happen with all this stuff but that is a different story ;)
I was a member of a few DXpeditions (6V7Z, 7P8D, TY7D) and helped out in numerous contesting teams. At home I’m a DX hunter although my antenna footprint is small due to space limitations. I climbed the DXCC ladder in very little steps, at rung 289 things are not easy for a little pistol but I strongly believe in the next solar cycle.
CW has caught me at the age of 20 and deeply affected my whole life. Due to career, marriage, divorce, etc. I had to quit the hobby several times. I always came back and the simple reason was that I missed the sound of the code so much. CW is a unique language and as native speakers we have to take care of it, to develop it and to find ambassadors taking it carefully to next generations.
Looking forward meeting you on the bands, CW forever!
Charles Skoning, KE9SA
Thank you to Hank Garretson, W6SX, for nomination and to my sponsors in becoming a member of CWops.
My introduction to amateur radio began when my single father Tim, KB9PA, earned his novice class license. I was nine years old at the time. My father would take me to ARRL Field Day activities in addition to radio club meetings. My father also encouraged me to learn about electronics through a series of Radio Shack electronics project kits and took me to many hamfests.
Social interaction with other operators was great exposure. The operators were engineers, technicians and scientists for very large technology companies like Hewlett Packard, Motorola, IBM and others. They were tremendous mentors and were very welcoming and I eventually earned my novice class license, KA9SEL, in 1984.
I operated my father’s Kenwood TS-520S as my first novice rig and the only mode available to me was CW. I quickly earned a technician and general class license, N9FFM, as my code proficiency increased to 13 WPM. I soon became great friends with a group of contesters and participated in many VHF/UHF/Microwave contests as a second operator on a rover. This group of mentors were first class serious CW operators and I was appreciative of them allowing me to participate on their team.
Soon I was off to college where I earned an electronics engineering degree at Northern Illinois University. I continued contesting and earned my advanced class license, KE9SA in 1990. At that time, I trained my girlfriend, now wife Stacey (N9JXV), in Morse Code. When we went to the VE session, I could see she was having trouble copying 5 WPM. I realized she was not getting it because I trained her for 20 WPM characters with long spacing. So I requested that the VE up the speed and then it was a solid copy. During that session I knew she could also pass the technician class and encouraged her to try. The VE’s got a kick out the incentive that we would get married if she passed the technician. So I made good on my promise.
Once Stacey and I graduated, life really began to pick up speed and ham radio fell by the wayside. I worked as a field service engineer for a medical diagnostic imaging OEM on MRI and CT scanners. I spent a lot of time chasing mobile units around the country repairing imaging equipment at all hours of the day and night. After a few years I started my own company networking computers and doing special design projects and there was no time for ham radio. I later worked as a salesman of intellectual property for a mixed signal ASICs design firm. I worked with other hams and operated Field Day occasionally.
Other hobbies and children took more of my time. I became a private pilot with an instrument rating. I then delved into aerobatics and then took a couple of years to go back to school and earn a diploma in aviation mechanics to earn an airframe and powerplant rating. I worked for a brief time as a mechanic remanufacturing C-47 aircraft into BT-67s.
As my family grew up, we started to enjoy outdoor activities like mountain biking. My son, Benjamin, and I participate in many endurance mountain biking competitions. As a side to the competitions, I am now developing a cycling/biking application to measure power or energy expenditure using only the sensors in your smartphone.
Now that the family has grown up, I set up my father’s old rig and antenna and started to operate mostly CW. I learned that I could regain my speed and have now participated in many contests. One of my first observations after turning on the rig after many years of inactivity were the CWT sessions. I was amazed at the amount of CW activity and started to participate as a nonmember. I also enjoy helping other operators learn code by completing QSOs at much slower speeds. I often get a thank you QSL card from them, many saying it was their first CW contact.
My current station consists of an Icom IC-7300 running barefoot (100W) to a four band trapped vertical (40m-10m) at ground level with thirty-two radials. Imagine my surprise, that the nice wet marshy ground around my house is like magic dirt for this antenna and I seem to work everyone I hear, often successful on pileups. I intend to upgrade the antenna to get on the WARC bands and add 80/75 meters.
After learning about CWOps, I had the intention to apply at some point, but the nomination by Hank, W6SX was the encouragement I needed.
Thank you and I look to pay it forward, like my mentors did for me.
Dick Wendell, K7ULM
In June of 2013 I bought a handitalkie to use while fighting range fires as a volunteer firefighter and earned my Technician license. I could program in 2 meter repeaters and the fire band to use the HT for firefighting and personal use. After using HT for volunteer fire dept for years, I decided to learn CW as a brain exercise.
In November of 2019 I earned my General License and kept studying and passed the Extra in December.
To be able to use CW I decided to put up a G5RV to utilize a loaner transceiver, Kenwood TS-440 S, from AB7CE. As an avid QRP DX op, Leroy gave me a TenTec 40-20 QRP rig and a new world opened. I listened a lot and occasionally worked SSB. The CW sounded very intimidating.
For Christmas I told my daughter I wanted a Pixie kit as a present and that started my building adventures. The next was a QCX 40m. Frustrated with learning CW on my own I jumped in on a Montana Traffic Net and asked if anyone knew of a good way to learn CW. K7YD, Doug, Net Control told me about CWops CW Academy. I missed the signup date for the winter and put in for spring 2020. N7ID, Mike and K4EES, Kenneth were my first instructors and they helped me to get a solid base in their Basic Class. Much better than working on your own for sure.
I set a goal of running QRP portable out of elk hunting camp in the fall as an incentive. I started building antennas of all sorts and QRP models based on the designs of K6ARK. With loads of confidence, I would go to the top of the buffalo jump near me and chase POTA/SOTA sitting on the cliff edge using the little TenTec. Calling CQ I would get replies but my head copy lacked seriously beyond the basic exchange. I tried to activate the First Peoples Buffalo Jump on POTA and was very humbled when the first four Ops were running bugs and I had to have so many repeats the pileup got tired and left me with only 4 contacts and more determination. I took two summer practice classes one with AC6AC, Buzz and NM5M, Eric and signed up for fall classes with WA9CW, Tom and WC4CFN, Steve. By this time I had picked up a number of QRP riggs including a MTR3B.
Elk bowhunting season started on the same day of Tom’s first class so I missed that. We set up camp and I threw a 40m EFHW into a tree. Laying in my cot at night I picked up a signal of someone calling CQ CWT on a Tuesday night. I answered it and it was Lloyd, KH6LC working Giving Back. Meeting my first ham goal really pushed me to progress. I signed up for Advanced class with KK5NA, Joe and with him and a great class of top ops I made the best progress in a single class. Thanks to Joe and the class I was offered the honor of joining CWops. I worked both field days and a few other contests but am driven to more ragchew capability and QRP.
I must admit my progress is mostly due to the friendships and encouragement of all the instructors and classmates that encouraged me and pushed me forward. Thanks to CWops and everyone in my classes to date. What a great start to a CW hobby. Some of the very best gentlemen I have ever met have been CWops. Thanks to you all and the great friends that I now have.
Gray Cowan, VE5GC
I am honored to become a member of CWops and thanks to Todd VE5MX for nominating me and to W1VE, VE4EA, and N3JT for their support.
A bit about myself. First licensed in 1978 as an amateur with the call VE5ABV. Upgraded to advanced in 1980. Got a chance to change my call to VE5GC a few years later and was happy to get it as it not only is my initials but is much easier for contesting with the two letter call. CW has always been my favorite mode. Haven’t gotten into the digital modes as of yet.
Rig at the present is a FT 1200 and never owned a amp and most likely never will. Antennas are wire for the lower bands and a tri band Yagi for 10, 15, and 20. Use to use a quad but it bit the dust in an ice storm and then went to the Yagi. I’ve been a Saskatchewan grain and cattle farmer all my life, still live on the farm with XYL and our border collie Tao. Still actively engaged in the farming operation with our oldest son Tim. We have two other boys who went a different direction in life other than the farm. Youngest Jeff is an audio video tec and the middle a police officer and now deputy chief in a small city in SK.
I was always interested In radio and for a long time thought about working for my ticket for long time. We needed ten words a minute for the amateur and 15 wpm for the advanced when I was licensed. I’ve been trying to get my fingers and brain on the same wave length for contesting with the computer but it’s been a struggle, I sometimes think the old pen and paper method for me is the best, hi hi. I always believed CW should be a requirement and likely always will but I guess that could be up for debate. Hope to see you all on the bands.
Paul Newland, AD7I
Greetings to all CWops members. I’m based near the central coast of NJ, and am honored to have been invited to join CWops.
I’ve had a long fascination with telegraphy since early childhood, both landline (American Morse) and radio (International Morse). I became a ham at age 15, some 50 years ago, and learned international code at 5 WPM from LP records (sadly, no Farnsworth) during Novice classes conducted by the Cascade Radio Club (W7EK) in the basement of the Snohomish County courthouse, in the state of Washington. I wish the training methods of CWA were available back then!
I’m very grateful to CWops for their CW Academy program, my CWA Advanced Class advisor Phil Schechter, W0OJ, and my CWA classmates. CWA has been instrumental in getting me back on CW and to get my speed up. It’s wonderful to hear the band jump to life at the start of a CWT.
I’m trained as a small signal electrical engineer, having spent most of my career as a circuit designer at Bell Laboratories. I had the good fortune to work on a wide range of gear over the years - computers, radio systems, telephone systems. I was also able to function for several years as one of the Bell Labs engineers assigned to AT&T’s three maritime HF shore stations, which was primarily an “HF SSB phone patches for hire” service, as well as sending CW and SITOR-B broadcasts. It’s “interesting” to deal with intermod created by many co-located HF 10 KW PEP transmitters!
After I left the AT&T world I spent about 10 years photographing fashion shows and other things in New York City for several photo agencies. The pandemic made it a logical time to wrap that effort. You can see a few of my photos from those activities on my Instagram page: @SolvaraMedia.
Most of my hobby time is now spent designing circuit boards and writing programs for small microcontrollers: the little computer chips that control things like an electric toothbrush or a coffee maker. I still get on the air when I can, usually for CWT and SSN, and enjoy CW ragchews when I find them.
I look forward to working you on the air!
Tony Jex, G0OOR
I am very honoured to be accepted into CWops and would personally like to thank my nominees/sponsors Roger G3LDI, Chris G4CCX, Jim G3YLA, Phil G4LPP and Mike G4DYC.
My earliest recollection of radio was when visiting my Grandparents who lived in Great Yarmouth on the Norfolk coast who had a PYE type P76F commercial radio in their back room with the usual bands of MW, LW and two SW bands one of which was the TB (Trawler Band). My Grandad would tune through and we would sit and listen to the trawler crews chatting to each other and so my journey began.
Fast forward to my teenage years, the impact of the film Convoy and the following UK CB craze led me to obtain an old Yaesu FR50B receiver in a deal, so I was now aware of the ham bands. I spent many hours listening to these via a random long wire out of my bedroom window. I decided to go for my amateur licence and in 1985 after six months of night school under the tuition of Pat Gowen G3IOR I was lucky to pass and was licensed as G7BZX. At this time B licences were limited to VHF and above only, which at the time did not interest me too much. The only way onto the HF bands was to pass the CW test at 12 wpm, so it took me five years to get around to going back to night school to learn Morse. Assisted by my tutor, Roger G3LDI, six months later I sat and passed the CW test and was licensed with my present call G0OOR.
I am married (30+ years) to Lorna who has followed me into the hobby. She holds a UK intermediate call sign 2E0YAO and we both share the shack together. Her interests are contesting, with RTTY being her favourite. We support Norfolk Amateur Radio Club in the RSGB 80 Meter club championships contests, AFS and Autumn series and can be found taking part in most major worldwide contests with Lorna concentrating on RTTY and myself with CW.
Lorna and I live in Brundall, a small village six miles east of the City of Norwich. It is the gateway to the Norfolk Broads National Park. Our home is small with only a small garden plot so we are very limited to what antennas we can have. Our current station consists of a Kenwood TS590SG running 85W (50W licence limit for Lorna) into a Hustler HB5TV vertical which is ground mounted with a few buried radials.
My current favourite key is a Begali Mono basic but I have a small collection of keys both straight and paddle. We both love holidaying in Wales and always take a HF radio and CW key with us. The antenna used is a wire dipole supported on a 6 m fibreglass pole.
In our spare time we both support The Fisher Theatre which is located in Bungay Suffolk and we enjoy all types of shows, especially tribute bands. Both Lorna and I do enjoy listening to music with Pink Floyd amongst our favourites; other pastimes we enjoy are gardening and reading.
Hope to see you in the CWTs or on the bands for a ragchew.
John Carlson, K0HD
A big thanks to all those who recently mentored me in CW: KK5NA (Joe), AC9EZ (Jim), K9LA (Carl), W0HY (Jeff), AJ6ET (Ed), and K7ULM (Dick). I was the last one from my CWA class to become a member of CWops, but everyone from the class stuck with me and cheered me on until they all agreed to nominate and sponsor me.
My interest in ham radio began shortly after my family moved to Pennsylvania in 1960 when I was 12 years old. A new acquaintance of mine from church received a crystal radio kit as a Christmas gift that could also be configured as a low power broadcast band transmitter. I pestered my parents until they finally bought one for me. One thing led to another, and I was finally licensed as KN3YXE in 1963, and K3YXE in 1964. By the time I was 25, I had moved several times and held several calls, including W9JXO and W0PNM.
Although I was trained in college in chemistry and held jobs related to chemistry for a few years after college, my interest quickly transitioned to computers and software engineering. When I turned 40, I was able to start a subsidiary of a Minneapolis based software company in China. We hit the market in China right, and the subsidiary grew quickly to close to 150 employees throughout East Asia. Eventually, I turned the subsidiary over to others (including my brother), and started a residential youth camp in Inner Mongolia close to China’s border with Russia in the far north east of China. Although my wife and I moved back to the United States after nearly 25 years in China, I am still involved as an advisor to camp leaders in China. When we got back to the United States, I took the test for the Extra class license and received the vanity call K0HD.
I always felt that if I were to hold an Extra class license, I should be able to send and receive code at least at 20wpm, but I just couldn’t seem to break the 18 wpm barrier. Then I discovered the CWops web page, and used the tools there to increase my speed to around 20 wpm. But it wasn’t until I took the CWA class with Joe Spencer, KK5NA, that I was finally improve my sending and receiving speed above 25 wpm. I’m still working hard, trying to increase my sending and receiving skills above 30 wpm, practicing nearly every day for over an hour.
I enjoy rag-chews, contests, and chasing DX. Making CW QSO’s is a bigger challenge and gives me more of a sense of accomplishment than making SSB and FT8 QSO’s (though I still enjoy all modes and aspects of ham radio). So, I spend most of my time on CW – which is a lot of time, now that I’m semi-retired. I hope to meet many of you on the air in the coming years. The rest of my story with photos is on my QRZ web page.

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