Join the CW Club on Wednesday Nights

Ladies and gentlemen, I intend to start Morse code practice sessions at Station 50, on two Wednesday evenings a month.

I can offer two levels – Level 1 – for those who are still just getting to know the letters and numbers. We will build our letters together and then use those letters to make words with the goal of understanding single simple words. My intention here is to groom volunteers for the Radio Room at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic where proficiency levels are more modest but the feel-good feelings far exceed most expectations.

Level 2 – The second level would be me sending three to five sentences from a QST magazine then reviewing as a group, much the same way that our man Dick, VE1AI did two years ago when I was an absolute rookie full of questions. The outcome of this group will be more toward building proficiency levels leading to structured QSOs. It’s members will form the new CW club within HARC. At this moment it’s just a concept however, my vision is to build a team of CW operators who can represent the club at events like field day.

This group would use the club repeaters to exchange rare dx information over VHF then formulate a hunting party. Of course, I would expect this group to also participate at the museum once or twice a month, depending upon the demand/supply of keen operators. Prerequisites – own a pencil, a notebook and a good attitude. While stating the obvious, you also have to have the desire to learn code and be willing to work on it between classes. I think we may have many new operators and several experienced operators who would enjoy the challenge and the satisfaction that comes from striving towards a personal goal. I hope to get a summary of this approach added to the monthly reflector leading to a show of hands at the next club meeting to ensure sufficient interest. From there, I will request building access for the first available Wednesday.

You can wait for the next meeting to express your interest or send me a PM or email at gngyoung@gmail.com. Cheers – Gord, VE1GVY