Category Archives: CW and QRP

Articles related to CW and QRP (low-power) operating and equipment. Articles related to learning and using Morse Code are also included here.

Activities, CW and QRP, Education and Training, General, Newsletter

Ham Radio Home Schooling – Learn Morse Code

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Do you have youngsters stuck at home looking for fun and safe activities? How about learning Morse code?

The Long Island CW Club Offering Free Online Code Instruction for Homebound Youngsters

The Long Island CW Club in New York is offering free online Morse code instruction for the “many youngsters at loose ends as a result of school closings due to COVID-19 concerns.” The club’s co-founder,Learn Morse Code Howard Bernstein, WB2UZE, pointed out that learning Morse code is “a fun and educational activity for children of all ages that can fill part of the gap left by the current unfortunate situation that has closed so many schools across the country.”

Ongoing classes will take place Monday through Friday, specifically for school-agers anywhere across the country or overseas, via Zoom online video conferencing.

A computer equipped with a microphone and camera is required. Classes for elementary schoolers run 30 minutes starting at 1600 UTC, followed by 45-minute classes for middle- and high school-aged students, starting at 1645 UTC. Parental permission is required through advance registration.

Contact class instructor Rob Zarges, K2MZ, by e-mail or call 508-831-8248. — Thanks to Mel Granick, KS2G, ARRL New York City-Long Island Section Public Information Coordinator

The Long Island CW Club (W2LCW) offers over 25 on-line classes each week for learning Morse code.  Classes are held at various levels from rank beginner to the seasoned expert. Check out the schedule page at https://longislandcwclub.org/events/

TU es 73!
Jerry,  K1OKD

This article was re-print from the March 26th ARRL News Letter available at http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter?issue=2020-03-26

CW and QRP, Featured, General, Newsletter, On The Air

October Contest Notes

It Begins!

October marks the unofficial beginning of the radio contesting season. In the next few months, we’ll have CQ WW SSB, CQ WW CW, ARRL Sweepstakes CW, ARRL Sweepstakes SSB, ARRL 160m, ARRL 10m, and a whole bunch of little but fun contests like ARRL School Club Roundup. There are still QSO parties to chase on a random weekend, too, including CA, NV, AZ, PA, SD, NY and, IL.  If you’ve been having trouble making time to get on the air (as I have!) then there are a lot of excuses to put yourself in the saddle and make some Qs!

October Contest Highlights

CQ Worldwide SSB [0000Z, Oct 26 to 2359Z, Oct 27]

Exchange: RS + CQ Zone (5905 for New England)

This was the first contest I ever entered. It was 2002 and the bands were hopping. I had just hung a stealth antenna and was curious about what I could hear. It was amazing. The bands were full, all the other guy wanted was “5905”, and he was off to work the next one. No microphone jitters here—there wasn’t time! If you’re new to contesting give this a try. Do search-and-pounce (S&P), listen, listen, listen, then work them. By the end of the weekend, you might have DXCC!

California QSO Party [1600Z, Oct 5 to 2200Z, Oct 6]

Exchange: CA: Serial No. + County; non-CA: Serial No. + (state/VE area/DX)

Nevada QSO Party [0300Z, Oct 12 to 2100Z, Oct 13]

Exchange: NV: RS(T) + “NV” + county; non-NV: RS(T) + (state/province/”DX”)

Arizona QSO Party [1600Z, Oct 12 to 0600Z, Oct 13 and 1400Z to 2400Z, Oct 13]

Exchange: AZ: RS(T) + county; non-AZ: RS(T) + (state/province/country)

Pennsylvania QSO Party [1600Z, Oct 12 to 0500Z, Oct 13 and 1300Z-2200Z, Oct 13]

Exchange: PA: Serial No. + County; non-PA: Serial No. + ARRL/RAC Section

South Dakota QSO Party [1800Z, Oct 12 to 1800Z, Oct 13

Exchange: SD: RS(T) + county; non-SD: RS(T) + (state/province/country)

New York QSO Party [1400Z, Oct 19 to 0200Z, Oct 20]

Exchange: NY: RS(T) + county; non-NY: RS(T) + (state/province/”DX”)

Tip: Sometimes those close-in states like VT, NY, ME, and MA are hard to get on the higher bands. They tend to be in the skip-zones a lot of the time. Take advantage of these QSO parties to fill in the close-in states on the high bands.

Illinois QSO Party [1700Z, Oct 20 to 0100Z, Oct 21]

Exchange: IL: RS(T) + County; non-IL: RS(T) + (state/province/country)

Wrapping up

These contests give you your last big change to test and repair station equipment and antennas before the weather gets uncomfortable. (My poor SteppIR has died of neglect, for example!) So, don’t be like me! Get on and tune up your station for the long winter ahead.

Pumpkins image courtesy of
Aaron Burden

Scott, NE1RD

Antennas, CW and QRP, Education and Training, Featured, General, Homebrewing, Newsletter, On The Air, Space, Youth Activities

Plans for HamXposition @ Boxboro 2019 – We Need Your Help

The Nashua Area Society will be part of the fun at HamXposition @ Boxboro again this year. We will be adding some new things this year as well as providing the Ham Radio Expo display that we did last year. Our contributions will include:

  • An expanded Ham Expo Display
  • Ham Bootcamp – a new activity for prospective and recently licensed Technician and General Class Hams
  • An Expanded Kit Building Activity
  • Several Forum Presentations featuring some of our recent projects and NARS Activities leading to our recognition as Club Of The Year

We will need a lot of help from NARS members to make our contribution to HamXposition successful. More on this later in this article.

Ham Radio Expo Display

HamXposition @ Boxboro
Ham Expo Display

Our Ham Expo display will cover many activities that you can do with Amateur Radio. Our display will also include three GOTA stations:

  • A Computer Controlled Satellite GOTA
  • A Remotely Controlled High-Power HF GOTA
  • A Repeater GOTA

We will also be adding a radio programming clinic where you can get your HT programmed at the show.

Ham Expo Layout

The diagram above shows the planned layout for our Ham Expo display. It will cover the entire back wall of the main exhibit hall in the vendor area and will include the Satellite GOTA station in the bar area as we did last year.

Ham Bootcamp

HamXposition @ Boxboro
Ham Bootcamp Activity

Ham Bootcamp is a new activity this year. Ham Bootcamp is a hands-on activity for folks interested in getting a Ham Radio License and folks who have gotten their Technician or General Class License and would like so help to get on the air or to upgrade their station to take advantage of their new General Class privileges. Our planned activities are outlined in the chart above. Most will be hands-on in small groups of 10 or less so we can answer questions and demonstrate how to have fun with Ham Radio. Ham Bootcamp will take place from 9 am to noon on Saturday and will accommodate up to 100 HamXposition attendees on a first-come-first-served basis.  We will also provide a $5 discount coupon to all Ham Bootcampers to use toward one of the kits that are included in our kit building activity at HamXposition.

Kit Building Plans

HamXposition @ Boxboro
Morse Tutor Kit

The popular Morse Tutor kit will be back again this year and we’ll have folks on hand as well equipment so that folks can build their kit and get it working at the show. You can find more about our Morse Tutor kit here.

We will be adding a second kit at our kit build – a 70 cm ground plane antenna. This is an antenna that you can build and use to help your HT or base rig get out better on the 70 cm band. We’ll have an analyzer and folks who can help you to tune your antenna for the best operation after you complete your kit.

Forum Presentations

NARS Forum Presentations

The Nashua Area Radio Society has had a pretty amazing year and we will have the opportunity to share some of our experiences at HamXposition via forum presentations. You can see the topics for our planned presentations above.

We Need Your Help

NARS HamXposition Teams

HamXposition is an important undertaking for us and for the northeastern Amateur Radio Community as a whole. We need your help to plan and execute our plans. Please reach out to Dave, Jerry, Scott or myself and join our HamXposition Team. It will be a lot of fun and a rewarding change to give back to the northeastern Amateur Radio Community.

Fred, AB1OC

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide