DitDit.fm

Cabin fever making you crazy... had enough of winter!? Spring is almost here, it's time to check your gear and head out into the fresh air. Find a comfy spot, throw a wire up in a tree and get on the air.

Chris Bravo, W4ALF, talks about the joy of going portable. He'll discuss basic considerations, recommended antennas, when you should sign with a /P or /QRP and a few other things that will be handy to know when you're out in the field operating QRP CW.

It takes two hands to clap... to wings to fly... two to tangle... and two amateur radio ops to make a QSO!

It's fun to read about field operations and look at images of hams doing amazing things in amazing places (like driving your Jeep down the side of a mountain). It's also fun to daydream about hauling your gear to some never-before activated mountain peak and bringing back the image of you holding your SOTA flag high above your head and a log full of QSOs. We all enjoy reading those reports and listening to those stories. For every successful SOTA activation, it takes a SOTA Activator who's willing to face the elements and haul gear to the top of a mountain and a radio op someplace else to complete the exchange. More often than not, the other radio op is a SOTA Chaser who completes the QSO and participates in a successful activation. And it turns out that being a SOTA Chaser is a super easy way for new and seasoned CW ops to have a lot of fun, participate in an exciting and interesting activity and develop their CW skills.

Kent Olsen, NC6B, was first licensed in 1998 and currently holds an Amateur Extra license. Kent has been a very active SOTA chaser and recently achieved the coveted SOTA Sloth award. He explains what SOTA Chasing is all about and just how easy it is to get involved in this fun and challenging activity.

There probably is no other piece of HAM equipment more ubiquitous than the Vibroplex key. For more than a 100 years, hundreds of thousands of Vibroplex keys have been produced and used on ships at sea, by railroads across continents, militaries and countless amateur radio operators. The most well known Vibroplex key being an odd-looking contraption called a 'bug'!

Scott Robbins bought Vibroplex in 2009 and spent the past eight years breathing new life into the company while continuing to manufacture the time-tested and much-loved keys that have been produced since 1945.

If you're a CW op looking for something new to do, contesting maybe just what you are looking for. There are literally hundreds of contests each year. Some are big and some are small. Either way, contests are a great way ops can take their CW skills to the next level and have a ton of fun at the same time.

Anthony Luscre, K8ZT, holds an Amateur Extra license and is one of the best QRP contest ops on the air today. He was first licensed in 1983 as KA8NRC and has been a QRP operator from his very first QSO. Anthony has consistently finished in the top ten of a variety of major contests. He has finished first in the US multiple times in both the CQ Worldwide Phone and CW QRP categories. He has made more than 60,000+ QRP contacts and his QRP DXCC total recently topped the 320 mark.

Anthony lives with his wife Linda, KA8ODP near Akron, Ohio. His station is definitely not a super contest station. His small suburban lot is cramped with a modest array of antennas, proving that you can be competitive in contests without acres of aluminum.

Cody Codianni, KC2LSD, holds an Amateur Extra license, is a FISTS North America Board Member and manager of the FISTS North America club call, KN0WCW. He has achieved DXCC on numerous bands, including the very challenging 160M DXCC in 2017. Not only has Cody chased DX and accumulated a large collection of awards, he has also been the DX operator, operating occasionally from South America.

Cody is a very experienced CW operator with a unique perspective about operating in the continuous wave mode. And he's a super nice guy too!

All of us have most certainly began our CW adventure with the basic QSO. But after you have mastered the QSO, you're ready for another challenge.

If you're a little competitive, like developing your operating skills, and just want to see if you've 'got game', a QRP Fox Hunt is just the event you are looking for! Oh... and it's also a total blast!!

Many amateur radio operators share a common experience. They become interested in the hobby, get licensed then, for any number of good reasons, take a break from their radio activities. Sometime later (sometimes years later), amateur radio catches their interest again and they jump back in. More often than not, when people come back to amateur radio they do amazing things... and Richard Carpenter, AA4OO, is a great example of someone doing amazing things!

Richard was first licensed in 2000 and currently holds an Amateur Extra license. After taking a break for several years, his interest in Amateur Radio was rekindled and in August 2015 he jumped back in with both feet into Morse code, QRP and CW.

During the next nine months he went from 0 WPM to 20 WPM, made hundreds of QSOs and collected a pile of awards.

Richard writes about his Morse code and QRP experiences on his excellent blog, hamradioqrp.com, which he updates regularly.

Anyone who has ever tried learning Morse code would leap at the opportunity to have a 1-on-1 session with an experienced, highly regarded instructor who has taught scores of successful CW operators. The problem is, they're not that easy to find. And even if you do come across one, your odds of winning the Power Ball or busting a 1000 QRO operator pile up are better than your chances of getting some quality alone time with a highly sought after code instructor.

Well, you just won the lottery my friend... !!!

Joe Galicic, N3HEE, is a highly regarded and sought after CW Ops Academy advisor and instructor who has helped students succeed far beyond their goals and become highly proficient with the code. He has been a licensed amateur radio operator for over forty years, builds a telegraph key from time-to-time and is just an overall nice guy.

Emily Saldana, KB3VVE, was first licensed in 2011 and currently holds an Amateur Extra license. She is both a SOTA activator and chaser, actively participates in National Parks On The Air where she has achieved 53 national parks so far, was a member of the second team ever allowed to activate the Statute of Liberty and has soloed and operated from the Appalachian Trail numerous times.

Emily is a member of a Search and Rescue Team (Cumberland County SAR Team 400, Carlisle PA) where she holds the position of Radio Communications and Assist Chief. She is also a paramedic supervisor at a rural fire company run ambulance company.

Emily began learning Morse code in 2016.

Stan Levandowski, WB2LQF, was first licensed in the early 1960s and currently holds both an Amateur Extra license and Commercial Second Class Radiotelegraph Certificate. He has been doing more with less for over 50 years. He is a dedicated low power enthusiast who operates 100% CW using only simple wire antennas.

Besides publishing articles in QST, QRP Quarterly and a number of club and amateur radio organization publications, Stan has a popular Youtube Channel where he provides many helpful and instructive videos on Amateur Radio topics. Hosted by Bruce Pea N9WKE.