Gilmore Radio Club – CW Corner News No 6, by David M0WDD
Welcome to CW Corner News No 6 from the friendly Gilmore Radio Club. Want to know more about Morse code and what’s been happening at North West Morse? Read on to find out. North West Morse (NWM) is the CW division of Gilmore Radio club, and CW Corner brings you the latest news from NWM. Have you any ideas for future articles? Please let us know, contact David M0WDD.
In this CW Corner News No 6:
- The story of North West Morse so far ….
- Can Morse code make you laugh? Try this selection of seven CW jokes
- A look at Long Island CW Club and what they offer in learning CW
- The Gilmore Radio Club CW quiz – which of these stories is true?
- Follow-up activities for all NWM nets callers – what do you think?
- And Finally ….
1. The Story of North West Morse so far…
How it all started
It was Chris M0KJC who had the idea. The idea was for a dedicated division within GRC for Morse code. This became known as North West Morse (NWM). Keith M0JYP initially set the ball rolling with Chris to establish NWM in the club, and later David M0WDD joined Chris in NWM. All three had met on the Stockport Radio Society (SRS) afternoon CW net and shared a common interest in Morse code.
The aim of NWM is to encourage use of Morse code throughout the North West by offering regular CW nets to club members and non-members on a range of HF frequencies, and this led to the varied NWM net schedule you see today. Regular NWM CW nets now take place every week, on Sunday afternoons and evenings. You can see on the club website which frequency we use each week – this includes 80m, 40m, 10m, 6m and now 2m. The very first GRC CW net QSO was with Keith M0JYP back in Dec 2021 and NWM nets have continued every week since then.
Chris and David have developed a range of weekly NWM nets with a dual focus – regular cw nets and training cw nets. Chris runs tradition style nets offering a range of QSO exchanges and net experience, and David runs training style nets offering QSO and Morse training quizzes. The nets alternate each week so check the schedule to see which net is next. Both nets are friendly and supportive, to encourage use of Morse code by club members and non-members.
Behind the scenes Chris and David regularly check band conditions with signal tests, and review each net afterwards to consider overall progress.
The Callers
The NWM nets now attract 4-5 regular callers each week, members and non-members, who all contribute to relaxed enjoyable nets. Interestingly our regular callers find ways to call in to each net every week, even though each week is on a different frequency. Sometimes a caller may have difficulty hearing and joining the net on a particular frequency one week, then they solve the access issues(s) through antenna or power changes, and go on to have successfully net access the next time the net is on that frequency. We are also pleased to say that NWM activities are contributing to new members joining GRC, and we look forward to this continuing.
The new NWM weekly activity hour – NWM WAKE UP CW ON 2M – Sunday 4pm-5pm
The NWM team are currently offering a new Morse Code Activity Hour on 2m – WAKE UP CW ON 2M – every Sunday, 4pm-5pm on 144.064 Mhz. The aim is to encourage use of Morse Code on 2m, by offering any op a short QSO of up to about 10 mins any time during the hour. There are no check-ins, only short QSOs with the controller. To avoid a pileup at 4pm, ops are asked to listen and answer the controller CQ calls during the hour rather than just at the start.
The format is: controller calls CQ and has a first QSO, then wraps it up, and calls CQ again – then on to the next QSO, and so on. The activity hour is for any local ops, whether a member of any club or not, as the aim is to promote and encourage use of Morse code on 2m locally.
We asked Chris and David for comments about North West Morse.
Chris said, “North West Morse is fast becoming the place to go if you wish to improve your Morse skills, or just join in on the many nets NWM has to offer” and added “You can contact either of us for further information”.
David said, “North West Morse is a friendly supportive team, offering on-air Morse code practice and experience for anyone wanting to improve their cw skills”. He added, “Getting on air is a key step and NWM can help you with this”.
2. Can Morse code make you laugh? Try this selection of seven CW jokes
Please tell us which joke you like best. Replies to Heather please. We’ll tell you the most liked joke next time.
- What secret code did Vikings use? Norse Code
- Not all hams are created equal, some know Morse Code
- What is the favourite car of young hams? The Toyota
- Why was Samuel Morse bad at canoeing? No dual paddle
- What do you get by crossing a centipede and a parrot? A walkie talkie
- What do hams wish each other at New Year? Happy New Gear
- Why is it hard to operate /MM? Because of the Continuous Waves
3. A look at Long Island CW Club and what they offer in learning CW
The Long Island CW Club (LICW Club), based in New York, offers anyone anywhere the opportunity to learn Morse code online. The club offers online training classes using Zoom for a variety of CW levels and interests, including Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced and many CW areas, such as sending tips, question and answer forums and much more. The ethos is head copy and the club aim is to encourage participants to get onto the air for live QSOs as soon as possible. Full details are on the club website https://longislandcwclub.org/ and the club updates this with new courses regularly.
LICW classes run on a carousel basis. Students do not have to follow a fixed schedule but each carousel covers a set range of topics. The carousels go through cycles, designed to allow a student to join in at any stage and to leave at any stage, usually when they complete a full cycle of topics. Some students may move to the next level after one cycle and others may stay for another one or more cycles to reach their desired CW skill level.
Each class has a friendly guide and who, as well as encouraging class students through various practical exercises, often tell tales of their CW experiences and adventures. The classes have a strong supportive spirit where everyone helps one another.
There is no homework as such, as LICW recognise that people often have busy lives, and progress does depend on individual practice and commitment. The club aims to encourage all students on to the air within about 3 months of starting a Beginners class.
LICW Club currently offers over 75 different CW online classes every week. LICW club do ask for a small donation, currently around $30 for a one-year membership, and allows access to all courses. There is also a sliding scale up to life membership.
The downside is that class times tend to favour US East Coast times. So many classes are around 5 hours later than UK time. So some can run around 2am or 3am UK time. There are some exceptions with some classes running at late evening UK time.
Due to the popularity of LICW classes, a new LICW class called “London Calling” has recently started aimed specifically at UK students, running in the early evening UK time. So if you are interested in learning CW online via live classes in Zoom, LICW is certainly worth considering.
4. The Gilmore Radio Club CW Quiz 6
Which one of these stories is true about the invention of Morse code?
1. Marconi needed a method to communicate with his assistant whilst developing his spark transmitter and receiver. After many failed attempts, he tried interrupting the signal carrier sent to his transmitter, and this lead to his invention of Morse code to modulate his transmitters.
2. Research scientists at EMI developed Morse code over many years leading to a patented paper ticker tape system, which initially used levers to mark a paper tape when receiving. A system of audio tones later replaced the paper system.
3. A painter away on an assignment got a letter telling him his wife was very ill and said he should come home immediately. By the time he reached home, his wife had died and was already buried. He invented Morse code to improve messages over wires.
4. A naval engineer during First World War was using semaphore to signal between ships. During one foggy night, the semaphore operators could not see each other to warn about rocks, and a ship was lost. He invented Morse code to save lives by improve shipping messages using lights rather than semaphore. This was later developed using audio tones.
5. Follow-up activities for all NWM nets callers – what do you think?
North West Morse nets and activities continue to attract a good core group of ops with a passion for Morse code. As interest in NWM increases, we would like to consider bringing together all the ops who have called in to NWM nets and activities, or those who may be interested in doing so.
As the GRC club premises may be available for short booking such as for a half day, full day, or evening, we could look at a a couple of special NWM activities.
A first activity might be a social gathering, so ops can meet over tea/coffee and biscuits, and chat about Morse code.
A second activity might be something like a Morse code practice session, using electronic keyers connected to paddles and headphones. This might be a good way to involve every participant, rather than trying on-air practice in a group with ops waiting around.
We could ask interested ops to bring their own headphones and paddles, and organise ops in one or two groups on separate tables. Each table group would have one master CW electronic keyer, connected to two rings of 3.5mm sockets. One ring connects all headphones in the group, and the other connects all paddles. So each group only hears, and can reply to, Morse sent or received in their group. A group controller could run Morse practice exercises and short practice QSO in each table.
What do you think about this? Would you be interested in helping organise this? Please let us know.
6. And Finally
If you would like any help from NWM getting on air with Morse code, or have any suggestions for future nets, activities or articles, please contact Chris M0KCJ or David M0WDD or any of the club team through the GRC Gmail system.
Until next time, best wishes from David M0WDD, North West Morse, Gilmore Radio Club, March 2023