Anyone know what it is?

FFOZ4ABH/P

It is being answered by regular callsigns, but what is this callsign?!

Here some very valid comments by Gil F4WBY 30CW23 at the opening of this very interesting video about End Fed antennae. Gil thank you very much, I actually learned a lot from your video about things I should have known long ago, but after so much reading, you're the first one who could explain it in simple terms and very clearly, thank you!

The very simple point made here years ago by Gil and echoed by me and many others, and still ignored by CON-Test Organizers is they should publish frequency ranges that are allowed, which exclude the bottom 10kHz and the top 10kHz from the QRP frequencies up on CW bands, and similar arrangements on SSB e.g. keeping top 50kHz free on 20m which includes the 14.300MHz Maritime Mobile and Emergency Frequency.

See yet again and example of this in another video by Gil while he was /MM and the blasted Con-Testers again made it impossible for him to operate:

Interestingly his only successful contacts on the journey were in CW on 10.123MHz. See the proposal for CW Calling Frequency 10123.0-10123.5kHz in the Forum.

Historically, suffixes might be added to report other attributes of the signal too. I might have sent 596C to indicate a slightly musical, vy strong signal but with chirp.

Suffix codes
A signal distorted by auroral propagation
C "chirp"
K key clicks
M distorted by multipath propagation
S distorted by scatter propagation
X stable frequency (crystal control)

Tempted to start sending RSN reports for the 98% of T9 stations I work and then RSTN for the ones with "character" - or should that be RSNT so I can add the suffix if needed with the appropriate report element :-)

73 de Simon G0FOZ

You must have at times,
Thought into the past,
Where some things go out
While others last
What comes to my mind is
The old Morse code,
That has weathered the storms
From any abode.

To talk with ones fingers
Is surely an art,
Of any info you
Care to impart,
In most conditions
The signals get through,
While the same about phone
Is simply not true.

Those dits and dahs
Cut through the trash,
Of near by noise or
Lightning's crash.
To the sensitive ears
Of the hams receiver,
Who records this data
With ardent fever.

He knows he's doing
Something unique,
(in such poor conditions,
That's quite a feat)
To roger the message
That came off the air,
These brass pounders
Sure do have that flair

They say Morse ops
Are a dying breed,
But don't despair,
There's always that need,
That when conditions get rough
for the new automation,
Be rest assured,
There'll be need for your station.

CW is dying?
Believe it never,
This mode will be 'round
Forever and ever.
But one thing is sure,
What we really need,
Is to relay our knowledge
To the younger breed.

To carry the torch,
Long after we're gone,
To send Morse code
Through the air like a song.
When at last,
Silent keys pull that lever,
We can rest in peace,
It's CW forever.

Written by:

Jim Hatherley, WA1TBY (SK)

Let's bring back a Real DXCC and real human achievements and heed the advice of 5T0JL.

More humour on the QRZ page of DJ4GX: https://www.qrz.com/db/DJ4GX

The main benefit is that you can with a high degree of accuracy determine your operating frequency. This is very helpful if you want to avoid going outside the legal amateur radio frequency band limits, provided it is accurately calibrated, which most modern rigs will be. If not, you can do so against a Frequency Time Signal on 10MHz, for example, but this is outside the scope of this article. You can research how to do that with great accuracy.

It can also greatly help when you have a sked or net that you are looking to join, or more importantly to start calling or act as a net control. However, even in such cases, you cannot own a frequency and you will want to vary it according to occupancy, noise, interference etc. And anyone can still find you by tuning around a little plus or minus above or below the agreed frequency.

I really cannot think of any other benefits, other than if you wanted to keep a listening watch on a certain frequency with a very narrow filter, but let us now address the many draw backs of the common place use of the digital frequency meter and the psychological and practical factors that cause problems and losses in CW communications in particular.

Psychological Factor

First let's look at the psychological factor: it just feels so much better to be on a nice looking frequency such as 10.125.000 rather than some random free frequency such as, for example, 10125.475 or 10117.328, right? The human mind likes order. I speak for myself here, but I think it applies to most people, and is the actual prime reason, a psychological one, why most CW operators are to be found on 10110.0, 10111.0, 10112.0 etc or even at best 10121.5, 10122.5 etc. If you look at the band occupancy on a SDR spectrum waterfall or even just tune around, you will see that this is the case. Very few stations are to be found "in between" these 1kHz, or at best, 0.5kHz "channels".

There can also be a practical reason for this with a few rigs, such as the QCX, where the tuning steps are in 1kHz or 0.5kHz usually although one could also set them to tune in 0.1 kHz steps or even 10Hz (0.01kHz) steps etc. This makes such rigs easier to tune across the band faster and even if you set them to 1kHz or 0.5kHz steps, even with the narrow 200Hz (0.2kHz) filter, you are not likely to miss much, due to the above mentioned facts of generaly frequency occupancy.

So, why does this, mostly psychological factor, cause problems for CW operation in general? After all, it makes us feel better, seeing a nice round 000 or 500 on the display, right? Well, I'll give a few reasons why this is a bad approach that we should aim to fight against, at a personal level, this is not a demand for everyone to follow this advice, this is a request for us to reconsider how we do things, and what the down sides of this wide spread practice are, and, how we as self-reflective CW Operators can profit from this situation, to our benefit, as well as others.

QRM

One problem with this approach, is that of QRM. While some might put forward the argument that having 0.5kHz spacing is a very good thing as it minimized interference keeping CW stations apart, this is absolute nonsense in practice and easily demonstrated. The keeping of 90% or more of CW stations to round 1kHz frequencies, and 95% to round 0.5kHz frequencies, is not LESS QRM, but in fact much more, and far worse QRM!

By the way, an example of commercial professional operations not choosing RTTY or CW frequencies to be exact 1 or 0.5 kHz is DDK9 both its centre frequency 10100.8KHz and its actual two tone frequencies 10100.575 and 10101.025 kHz aren't anywhere near an exact 0.5 kHz, are they? And with good reasoning: they wanted their frequency to be free of interference as much as possible over several decades, with receivers glued to this frequency around European waters, and they have achieved this.

QRM is usually not deliberate, and it is usually caused by the nature of HF communications "dead zones" or "skip zones" between hops off the ionosphere and back to earth, as well as paths being open in one or more directions but not others. Therefore, even the best intentioned and most considerate radio amateur, who spends a minute or two quietly listening to the frequency intently, volume up high, narrow filter switched in and out, notch filters off, and moving the BFO up and down a little, before finally timidly sending a short ? and if still nothing heard, a longer QRL? and even a second and third QRL? cannot prevent the situation where his signal is actually heard by one station in an existing QSO, but, he cannot hear that station, or even both.

Not to mention the fact that very few of us are as considerate and meticulous as the above described exemplary CW operator full of patience and virtue! In fact, there exist many at the other end of the extreme, prone to a quick QRL? with the narrow filter on or off, and the antenna wherever it is, and perhaps even the RF gain turned down to avoid noise, or even a squelch turned up so that only nice strong signals delight his ears.

The result of QRM to CW, no matter how it manifested itself via the careful or careless operator, is only severe when the QRM is sitting on the exact same frequency or let's say within 50 Hz or so of the frequency, depending on its signal strength. 50Hz is plenty to separate two CW QSO in the brain if they are of similar signal strength, though it could be annoying at high volume, but 100Hz is absolutely plenty, and 200Hz is complete overkill for separating CW signals. For those who suffer from an inability to separate in the brain or ear there is always the notch filter and narrow filter that can come to the rescue, the latter in far too much widespread overuse, perhaps the subject for another post, on the downsides of over use of narrow CW filters (200, 500Hz are narrow).

You can see where I am going with this. The fact that everyone is using a round kHz or at best a round half kHz means that QRM is actually on average far worse and far more destructive to QSOs when it appears. I'm old enough to remember the delight of QRH (drifting) and QRI (chirp or buzzing) as well as dozens of stations all calling within a few kHz, what a delight! It also meant that because no one had a T9X (pure tone so common and boring these days, please, someone invent a QCX with a button to turn on chirp, if not drift, or a little modulation of the CW signal) it also meant that you could pick out each signal with its unique sound even right on the same frequency. But these days, you cannot…

This has led to stupid and inconsiderate, nay, reckless and psychopathic behaviours of incapable DXpedition operators, never mind that they're also the president of RSGB, IARU Region 2 or IOTA, the title means nothing, as 5T0JL pointed out, these are incapable LID operators, whereby instead of using some skill they solve the problem by sending "UP" and letting the fools spread out 30kHz wide, again mostly using round 1kHz frequencies, thus not solving the problem, and not listening on their frequency, and causing yet more QRM to everyone. Instead of using the wide/narrow/flexible filter of their brain, they try to use narrow filters of modern rigs that compound the problem with pure CW right on frequency!

So, what can the smart CW operator do? And what can be a good compromise to still satisfy the psychological factor without putting on a blind fold, or a masking tape across the digital display?

Either you can move the dial without looking and use your ears only, and don't correct the random frequency when you do look again, or, you can opt to use a nice ending 0 on a 10Hz readout, or at most 01, or .105 on a 100Hz readout, thus compromising with some still "need for order and control" in the mind, but mitigating the problem. So, here a few examples of such operation and its benefits:

1. Calling CQ. Tune until you find a nice clear space, without looking at the dial. If you look and it bothers you, move it to the nearest 10Hz or 50Hz or 25Hz. Have fun calling CQ. When you listen for replies, be ready to use your BFO (RIT) to listen up and down, but do not move your VFO. Chances are someone will reply off frequency, if they do, they are listening to your frequency, do not move it. There is even a benefit when both stations are not exactly on the same frequency: in the event of QRM it will likely affect one station but not both, thus making it more possible to find a solution such as QSY. In the old days, this was done easily: just put the key down or VVV while also turning the VFO so the other station followed you, when QRM came up, this was common.

2. Looking for club members, say, FISTS on 10118. Tune up to 10118.234 or 10117.987 or whatever, if it makes you feel better, 10118.1. Call there. These aren't fixed frequencies anyway, they are "Centers of Activity" — same for QRP on 10126, 10116 or 10106, unless it is a Xtal.

3. Answering stations. Well, it is good to answer right on the frequency of course. But lets say you answer a typical CQ on a round kHz. Go 50 Hz off frequency at least, give the other OP a little practice to remember where his RIT (BFO) knob is, or, call 150Hz off frequency, to aid operators to remember not to keep the 200 Hz or 40Hz filter on all the time. Of course, you may not be heard, or they may follow you, be ready for both. But calling a little off frequency will set you up better in the likely event of ZERO-BEAT QRM appearing later. Or, feign some drift, call back on frequency and drift your VFO off 87 or 99 Hz as you go, or as you please. OK I'm mostly joking here, but you get my DRIFT !

Another solution might be to simply cover the digits below the kHz or below the first hundred Hz on the display, but this is an extreme measure, it might make the rig look a bit ugly.

Anyway, know that a pure CW tone can benefit the use of narrow filters and rock solid RX these days, but, a chirp, a drift, and a non-adherence to the nonsense of CW operating on full or half kHz "channels", are all important ingredients for a more enjoyable QRM-free CW life, and, also a safeguard against future regulations appearing that mandate CW operations only on fixed channels spaced 0.5kHz apart, and only decodable 100% by automated means, and with certain speed limits and keying methods restricted. And about this, I am not joking.

77 DE AL, G4OJW

In the old days there was an Advanced license class, like most other places, only accessible by also passing a decent Morse Code test. This was very resented by the Second Class amateurs in VK who has "Zoo" call suffixes, 3 letters starting with Z.

The "Z calls" were restricted to VHF, without any CW they could not go anywhere on HF at all.

There was also a novice class able to use, for example, 15m CW. They had nice segments and actively practiced CW and only had a minimal CW test to pass.

For the Z calls, even basic CW was too much of an effort, and they flatly refused. This caused a great deal of resentment among them: the ONLY difference between the Advanced Classes who could use all of HF and themselves, was a little Morse test.

A long story short, as shared by old timers who were present at the meeting, the Zoo calls made a coup, like in Animal Farm, and invited the authorities along. During this coup they seized control of WIA via a conspiracy forming a majority of votes, and thus the license classes changed.

The lowly "Zoo calls" now granted themselves Advances Class licenses, joining the ranks of the existing A Class operators, and giving themselves also the right to seize past 2 letter call signs of historic life-long CW operators. They created a new second class, upgrading the existing Novices to it, to keep them happy, but since they knew some CW they only gave them some amateur bands but not, for example 30m and other WARC bands. Such call signs begin with the letter H, P or M or something like this, no very clear system. And they created a new THIRD and lowly class onto which they could project their hatred of having suffered all those years as "Zoo calls": they created the "F*** calls" — 4 letters beginning with F and allowed anyone to get one without any real test.

Another aside, before coming to the topic of 30m and the "Zoo exceptionalism" for VK: a quick mention, the WIA started using musical jingles in its HF broadcasts after the coup, including on DX bands such as 20m and 30m in SSB, and also with a segment where people far away suddenly hear the words "HELP" from "HELPLINE" emerging out of the noise floor, in CW… showing that when the animals take over the farm you can expect Orwellian results! An illegal call for HELP on HF!

Now to 30m: of course, the Zoo calls, who now became "A Class" after the coup, and not all of these chaps are bad fellows by far, but there is a strong group among them who are, of course, could not use the prime real estate on HF, the 30m band. Why? Because SSB as a wide band mode cannot be used on 30m aside from during daylight hours in Sub-Saharan Africa. But that would not stop the Z-calls: they assigned themselves the right to use SSB on 30m and got their pals in the "Australian Clowns and Media Authority" to agree.

Then, VK5EEE arose like a phoenix out of the ashes and organized CW operators on a level never before seen, and even joined WIA to write a CW Column "CW Today" and many CW activities were organized across the cuntry. A campaign of logic was waged to persuade the WIA to stop the SSB QRM on 30m at least to neighbouring countries on which they compromised and reduced their exceptionalism to "daytime only" and above 10125 kHz. However, after hounding VK5EEE off the air, in more ways than one, and thus breaking the resolve of dozens of active CW operators who fell back under the control and prohibitions of the XYLs, a group that split off from WIA and formed "RASA" worked to yet another level of farce: now that Digital modes are more popular in VK, the SSB can again move down into the narrow band CW segment.

And nary a word of opposition.

Of course, the actual solution is to follow the international recommendations and licensing conditions of civilized advanced cultures and civilizations, where SSB as a wide mode is simply not allowed on 30m. But no, the lack of CW activity in VK on 30m, is enough reason to have SSB again at and also allowed below 10120 kHz.

Let this be a warning to those CW operators who love 30m around the world: this is what will happen if you let up on your activities! Yes, QO100 is nice, and Vband, CWcom and other things that help those who are stuck without a QRP and a short wire, or even for training and QSO, why not, it's all good for CW and our health, but, please don't forget to use 30m whenever you can!

If the option is there to set up a sked on 30, or a training session, or to call CQ or tune around, give it a try, it is a special band among CW operators and no matter your proficiency or preferred sending key or style, you'll be more than welcome!

All the stations calling them are violating the regulations by not listening on their TX frequencies, and the DX is incapable of using any filter in their brain. Time to again hear the advice of experienced DXer 5T0JL (30CW0) for whom these DXPedos are no match!

Let's not make fun at the expense of many others, see the advice how to operate a pileup without the unnecessary non-defined "UP" and resulting pollution and disruption of others enjoyment of CW.

Such speeds, and I mean without the use of a keyboard and fast typing, which can also be used, are achieved using electronic keyers with the fast reflex manipulation of a "paddle" key: however, a single lever is best used, or, at least keying without "iambic". This is something it took me decades to realize, as I did not socialize in real life with other QRQ operators: using an iambic key requires a greater reflex due to more critical shorter timing on iambic characters such as "C" and "Q" and sets the realistic maximum speed achievable around 50WPM, whereas one could more easily reach 60WPM and beyond with a single lever key.

Let's hear it from QRQ operators! What type of key do you use? What techniques or methods or applications did you use to build up your receiving and sending speed? Do you still use abbreviations such as "U", "URS", "ES" in QRQ or you tend to spell out "you, yours, and" etc?

For me, at the age of 60, and with only some years here and there in my life, say 1975-1999, and then a long break of over 15 years, I did not use any special keys or techniques, only on air QSO, and reached receive speeds for English or German plain text of maybe 65 WPM and sending of 45 WPM maybe 50 WPM. I'd now like to see if I can improve on that, any advice?

I know that there are several QRQ even "QRQQ" operators who are members of 30CW and who also are very happy to slow down to QRS and even use a variety of keys: single leaver, paddle, cootie side swiper and bugs, as do I so it would be great to hear your advice to those wanting to improve speed beyond 25 WPM, or even improve upon their existing QRQ speeds.

Here a great video of QRQ CW with great keys made by Alberto Frattini I1QOD - by ear I'm guessing final speeds around 60 WPM? https://www.i1qod.it/video

So, I'd thought I'd have a quick listen as I read on this informative article here by G8PQH that he did not hear much CW activity - the bottom 40 kHz is reserved for CW, in fact 35kHz, because the first 5 kHz is to be kept clear as this is where the CW beacon transmits non-stop: "HI DE QO100 QRA DK0SB" with a long dahhh of several seconds in between repeats. The "HI" is probably a recognition of the first Sputnik which transmitted "HI" in CW constantly on 20MHz and 40MHz, so I read.

Well, what was the CW I heard on 10489520.27 kHz? It was a long CQ call from HA8WM. There were no replies, but it would be nice if he knew someone was listening to him. Although to listen directly you need a satellite dish and some equipment, which apparently can be modified from easily available WIFI and satellite TV equipment .

Well it is good to see CW alive and well even in the latest satellite communications technology.

Interesting to see here that 77 which now means "Long Live CW" and/or "CW Forever" and/or "Long live CW and wishing you many happy CW QSO", way back in 1912 for a while meant "Message for you" — and 99 which later came to mean "Get lost" might have originated from the "Keep out" meaning toward "keep away" :-)

I suspect some possible error in the table of cut numbers, the 7 was likely mean to be -… but the T for 5 seems plausible given that 0 abbreviation was a longer dah, and that was certainly the case even until much later.

TOP 9 is an encouragement to have QSO in the top 9 kHz of the CW-exclusive sub band, on 30m that means between 10121 and 10130 kHz.

We may suggest that for those interested in the 30m QSO Party if you find the suggested frequency for that day or band area already QRL, just go into the top 9 and CQ there!

Here are the relevant links:

• Top 9 Activity, Rules and Frequencies: https://internationalcwcouncil.org/top9-activity/
• Submitting your totals at month's end: https://internationalcwcouncil.org/top9-submission/
• Top 9 Results for previous months: https://internationalcwcouncil.org/top9-results/

Being currently DX, I could only listen in via Twente Web SDR and heard two DL stations taking part having a good rag chew as it happens, what a great idea, let's have fun with it!

My best wishes to you and yours.

Let us make 30m band much more excited.

CU soon on the air!

73,
// HIRO, JJ1FXF

Here are graphs which show that interest in learning and improving CW skills is on the rise over the years and now accelerating: https://lcwo.net/stats

With big thanks to 30CW31 Fabian DJ1YFK who created and maintains LCWO.net.