K3TS CW Training Class
Greetings All GCARC Morse Code Students!
Update : September 10, 2020
We are on track to begin our first session on Thursday, September 24, 2020! I am planning to keep that first session as a testing session, to iron out the bugs and make sure everything works. We will be using Zoom for our meetings. I would suggest installing the free Zoom app on whatever device you plan on using, some time in advance. You will not need a camera, but two-way audio is a must. You will also need to sign in to the Morse Code World tutorial website at the same time we are on Zoom. I have no idea how well this will work as I have never done it before, but I guess we will find out. Here is the link to the website :
https://morsecode.world/international/trainer/trainer.html
Save it, bookmark it, or write it down. All of your lessons will be done on this website. Try it out prior to the 24th and make sure you can hear the audio. Use headphones! Morse code through a speaker is DAMN HARD to copy due to echoes in the room. Now is the time to get everything set up and working at your end, because there are bound to be issues when we all sign on together as a group.
I will be out of town from Monday, Sept. 14th, thru Monday, Sept. 21st. I will be checking my e-mails infrequently, so if you need to reach me, please be patient in waiting for my reply. I wish you all the best of luck with this endeavor, and I promise that if you succeed, you will not regret the effort. CW operation is a ton of fun, and it just gets better as your skills progress. 73!
Update : September 10, 2020
We are on track to begin our first session on Thursday, September 24, 2020! I am planning to keep that first session as a testing session, to iron out the bugs and make sure everything works. We will be using Zoom for our meetings. I would suggest installing the free Zoom app on whatever device you plan on using, some time in advance. You will not need a camera, but two-way audio is a must. You will also need to sign in to the Morse Code World tutorial website at the same time we are on Zoom. I have no idea how well this will work as I have never done it before, but I guess we will find out. Here is the link to the website :
https://morsecode.world/international/trainer/trainer.html
Save it, bookmark it, or write it down. All of your lessons will be done on this website. Try it out prior to the 24th and make sure you can hear the audio. Use headphones! Morse code through a speaker is DAMN HARD to copy due to echoes in the room. Now is the time to get everything set up and working at your end, because there are bound to be issues when we all sign on together as a group.
I will be out of town from Monday, Sept. 14th, thru Monday, Sept. 21st. I will be checking my e-mails infrequently, so if you need to reach me, please be patient in waiting for my reply. I wish you all the best of luck with this endeavor, and I promise that if you succeed, you will not regret the effort. CW operation is a ton of fun, and it just gets better as your skills progress. 73!
Learning "The Code"
By Tony Starr, K3TS
I was recently perusing the Club's archives, when I discovered that one of the first motions made by the brand new GCARC, way back in 1959, was to establish a Morse Code Training class. This of course was a requirement for licensing in those days, and while it has not been a requirement in a number of years, a recent incident made me think that this very old idea for the Club, might be a good one now. Recently on Field Day, we had a severe shortage of CW operators. Perhaps a code training class might help to mitigate the risk of such an occurrence in the future.
Since I am a member of the CW Operators Club, a worldwide ham radio fraternity, I have available to me some of the best code training tools and resources available. I contacted Kate Hutton, K6HTN; and Joe Fischer, AA8TA, who run the world famous and popular CW Academy, which is arguably the greatest thing that the CW Ops club does, and was introduced to a wide range of modern and efficient code learning tools and software, including programs for individual learning, group instruction, and practice sessions, and I came away convinced that learning "the code" has never been easier. They even offered to make me a "CW Advisor", something which I am probably not qualified to be, but it would mean that I could run my own class.
I am very excited now about sharing this new-found opportunity with my friends in GCARC. If you have always wanted to learn the code, and operate CW, this is a great opportunity. I will be able to set up individual online instruction, group sessions via Zoom or Skype, or a combination of both. I am hoping to get a group together from our Club to take on this challenge. With the modern learning tools, it will likely be a lot easier to learn than you ever thought it would be. And since it has been proven that those students who actually get on the air and operate CW tend to do better than those who do not, we will probably set up some kind of code practice net on the air. And once you get the basics nailed down, CW Academy offers several intermediate and advanced levels of training, so that you can become a genuine CW ace, whom I can recruit for Field Day CW duty!
For years I wished that I could be a good CW operator, but only in the past three or four years have I felt that I was finally on the right track. Now with my friends at the CW Academy, I would like to extend the invitation you, to my fellow GCARC members, to join me on that path. If you have wanted to learn the code in the past, or just want to do it now, this is your chance.
Please contact me via e-mail (tstarr1450 <at> gmail <dot> com) or submit your name, call sign, and e-mail address on the form below and I will get you on the list for this upcoming session.
Operating CW is a lot of fun, and the better you get, the more fun it is.
Don't delay, sign up today! 73.
By Tony Starr, K3TS
I was recently perusing the Club's archives, when I discovered that one of the first motions made by the brand new GCARC, way back in 1959, was to establish a Morse Code Training class. This of course was a requirement for licensing in those days, and while it has not been a requirement in a number of years, a recent incident made me think that this very old idea for the Club, might be a good one now. Recently on Field Day, we had a severe shortage of CW operators. Perhaps a code training class might help to mitigate the risk of such an occurrence in the future.
Since I am a member of the CW Operators Club, a worldwide ham radio fraternity, I have available to me some of the best code training tools and resources available. I contacted Kate Hutton, K6HTN; and Joe Fischer, AA8TA, who run the world famous and popular CW Academy, which is arguably the greatest thing that the CW Ops club does, and was introduced to a wide range of modern and efficient code learning tools and software, including programs for individual learning, group instruction, and practice sessions, and I came away convinced that learning "the code" has never been easier. They even offered to make me a "CW Advisor", something which I am probably not qualified to be, but it would mean that I could run my own class.
I am very excited now about sharing this new-found opportunity with my friends in GCARC. If you have always wanted to learn the code, and operate CW, this is a great opportunity. I will be able to set up individual online instruction, group sessions via Zoom or Skype, or a combination of both. I am hoping to get a group together from our Club to take on this challenge. With the modern learning tools, it will likely be a lot easier to learn than you ever thought it would be. And since it has been proven that those students who actually get on the air and operate CW tend to do better than those who do not, we will probably set up some kind of code practice net on the air. And once you get the basics nailed down, CW Academy offers several intermediate and advanced levels of training, so that you can become a genuine CW ace, whom I can recruit for Field Day CW duty!
For years I wished that I could be a good CW operator, but only in the past three or four years have I felt that I was finally on the right track. Now with my friends at the CW Academy, I would like to extend the invitation you, to my fellow GCARC members, to join me on that path. If you have wanted to learn the code in the past, or just want to do it now, this is your chance.
Please contact me via e-mail (tstarr1450 <at> gmail <dot> com) or submit your name, call sign, and e-mail address on the form below and I will get you on the list for this upcoming session.
Operating CW is a lot of fun, and the better you get, the more fun it is.
Don't delay, sign up today! 73.