WEBVTT 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:13.439 Thanks for tuning in. HamTalk Live will be on 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:31.370 the air shortly. Please stand by. Thanks for 00:00:31.370 --> 00:00:33.890 tuning in. This episode of HamTalk Live is brought 00:00:33.890 --> 00:00:37.009 to you by Tower Electronics. For connectors, 00:00:37.369 --> 00:00:42.890 cables, and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit 00:00:42.890 --> 00:00:48.689 pl -259 .com. And by ICOM, heard it, worked it, 00:00:48.969 --> 00:00:53.969 logged it. Visit www .icomamerica .com slash 00:00:53.969 --> 00:00:57.890 amateur for more information about ICOM radios. 00:01:30.219 --> 00:01:33.180 Good evening, everyone. It's time for AMTALK 00:01:33.180 --> 00:01:37.640 LIVE. It's episode number 180. The Long Island 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:41.180 CW Club recorded live on Thursday, September 00:01:41.180 --> 00:01:46.540 5th, 2019. I'm your host, Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. 00:01:46.920 --> 00:01:50.159 Thanks for tuning in to this episode of AMTALK 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:53.560 LIVE. Tonight we're joined by Howard Bernstein, 00:01:53.719 --> 00:01:59.650 WB2UZE, and Rich Collins. K2 UPS, and we'll take 00:01:59.650 --> 00:02:03.189 your calls live in just a few minutes. Last week 00:02:03.189 --> 00:02:06.489 here on the show, Dr. Ralph Fedor K0IR and Dr. 00:02:06.590 --> 00:02:10.370 Glenn Johnson W0GJ were here to talk about the 00:02:10.370 --> 00:02:13.770 Pitcairn Island De -Expedition. And if you missed 00:02:13.770 --> 00:02:15.889 that show, you can listen anytime. Just go over 00:02:15.889 --> 00:02:19.150 to HamTalkLive .com or your favorite podcast 00:02:19.150 --> 00:02:22.569 app or YouTube, or you can catch the rebroadcast. 00:02:22.969 --> 00:02:29.990 over on WTWW that's 5085 a .m. Saturday evenings 00:02:29.990 --> 00:02:34.030 at about 630 p .m. Eastern Time. So get your 00:02:34.030 --> 00:02:37.069 CW questions ready to go if you're listening 00:02:37.069 --> 00:02:40.870 to us live. On Thursday night you can give us 00:02:40.870 --> 00:02:45.930 a call after the interview by calling 812 -638. 00:02:46.599 --> 00:02:49.599 four two six one. I'll give you that number again 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:51.900 here in a moment so you can write that down and 00:02:51.900 --> 00:02:55.460 have it ready to go. We'll talk to Howard and 00:02:55.460 --> 00:02:58.199 to Rich for a little bit. We'll take a break 00:02:58.199 --> 00:03:00.520 and then we'll come back and we'll take your 00:03:00.520 --> 00:03:03.699 calls. And that phone number is eight one two 00:03:03.699 --> 00:03:09.139 net ham one eight one two six three eight four 00:03:09.139 --> 00:03:12.990 two six one. You can also tweet us. Get over 00:03:12.990 --> 00:03:16.189 on Twitter. We're at HamTalk Live on Twitter. 00:03:16.650 --> 00:03:18.389 And if you're listening on Spreaker, you can 00:03:18.389 --> 00:03:20.930 type in to the comments and that'll pop up here 00:03:20.930 --> 00:03:23.189 as well. So I'll be back with Howard and Rich 00:03:23.189 --> 00:03:26.389 right after this word from ICOM America right 00:03:26.389 --> 00:03:30.849 here on HamTalk Live. Heard it, worked it, logged 00:03:30.849 --> 00:03:33.759 it. It's time to get the transceiver that's best 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:37.280 suited for your lifestyle. ICOM offers a variety 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:39.699 of high performance and innovative products. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:43.159 Make the most out of contest season. with one 00:03:43.159 --> 00:03:48.300 of these ICOMs today. The IC7610 is the SDR every 00:03:48.300 --> 00:03:51.699 ham wants. This high performance SDR has the 00:03:51.699 --> 00:03:54.039 ability to pick out the faintest of signals, 00:03:54.300 --> 00:03:56.840 even in the presence of stronger adjacent ones. 00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:01.900 The IC7610 by ICOM is a direct sampling, software 00:04:01.900 --> 00:04:04.780 defined radio that will change the world's definition 00:04:04.780 --> 00:04:09.180 of an SDR transceiver. It has RF direct sampling, 00:04:09.479 --> 00:04:13.699 110 RMDR, independent dual receiver, and dual 00:04:13.699 --> 00:04:17.680 digit cell. The IC7300 is changing the way entry 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:20.300 -level HF is designed. This high -performance, 00:04:20.300 --> 00:04:23.399 innovative HF transceiver with a compact design 00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:27.199 will far exceed your expectations. With RF direct 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:30.819 sampling, 15 discrete bandpass filters, a large 00:04:30.819 --> 00:04:33.660 4 .3 -inch color touchscreen, real -time spectrum 00:04:33.660 --> 00:04:36.319 scope, and SD memory card slot. And, of course, 00:04:36.339 --> 00:04:40.629 the IC7851 keeps your competitive contesting 00:04:40.629 --> 00:04:44.050 edge with faster processors, higher input gain, 00:04:44.350 --> 00:04:46.750 higher display resolution, and a cleaner signal. 00:04:47.069 --> 00:04:51.290 ICOM's IC7851 is the pinnacle of HF perfection. 00:04:51.509 --> 00:04:54.649 It has dual receivers, digital IF filters, memory 00:04:54.649 --> 00:04:57.329 keyer, digital voice recorder, high resolution 00:04:57.329 --> 00:05:00.470 spectrum waterfall display, enhanced PC connectivity, 00:05:00.769 --> 00:05:03.750 and an SD memory card slot. For more information 00:05:03.750 --> 00:05:07.170 on ICOM radios, be sure to visit Visit icomamerica 00:05:07.170 --> 00:05:12.009 .com slash amateur. At HamTalk Live we have a 00:05:12.009 --> 00:05:14.990 million dollar request guarantee. You give us 00:05:14.990 --> 00:05:17.790 a million dollars and we'll do a show about whatever 00:05:17.790 --> 00:05:46.269 ham topic you request. Guaranteed. A little rhythm 00:05:46.269 --> 00:05:48.670 of the code for you tonight since we're talking 00:05:48.670 --> 00:05:53.310 CW. Welcome back to HamTalk Live and thanks to 00:05:53.310 --> 00:05:56.310 Icom America for sponsoring the show once again 00:05:56.310 --> 00:06:00.250 tonight to help bring you all kinds of things 00:06:00.250 --> 00:06:03.550 about amateur radio and give you a chance to 00:06:03.550 --> 00:06:06.680 call in and talk with the experts. Well tonight 00:06:06.680 --> 00:06:12.139 we have Howard Bernstein WB2UZE. He's been a 00:06:12.139 --> 00:06:16.720 ham since 1965 at the age of 13 and Rich Collins 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:21.480 K2UPS has been licensed for 37 years and is an 00:06:21.480 --> 00:06:25.220 over -the -road driver for, you guessed it, UPS. 00:06:25.799 --> 00:06:30.139 They both hold extra class licenses and together 00:06:30.139 --> 00:06:33.980 they founded the Long Island CW club. So we're 00:06:33.980 --> 00:06:36.240 going to talk about that tonight. But the cool 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:38.819 thing about the Long Island CW club is you don't 00:06:38.819 --> 00:06:41.100 have to be in Long Island to join it. So we'll 00:06:41.100 --> 00:06:44.560 talk about that in just a little bit. So Howard 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:48.019 and Rich, welcome to the show. Well, thank you 00:06:48.019 --> 00:06:50.100 very much for having us tonight. Our pleasure, 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:54.290 Neil. Thank you, Neil. Well, we want to talk 00:06:54.290 --> 00:06:57.149 a little bit about the club and and some of the 00:06:57.149 --> 00:07:00.870 training that you offer so first Let's talk about 00:07:00.870 --> 00:07:04.529 the club itself a little bit and what your goal 00:07:04.529 --> 00:07:10.350 was by forming the club Okay, well it happened 00:07:10.350 --> 00:07:17.290 back in 2017 Neil right after field day Rich 00:07:17.290 --> 00:07:21.600 and I realized that there was a big demand for 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:24.920 CW operators in field day, especially because 00:07:24.920 --> 00:07:28.339 you get double the points for CW than you do 00:07:28.339 --> 00:07:32.839 sideband and There weren't enough operators around 00:07:32.839 --> 00:07:38.459 so I Came to rich in that particular summer of 00:07:38.459 --> 00:07:42.620 2017 I said How about we start what we start 00:07:42.620 --> 00:07:46.439 a CW club on Long Island so that we can kind 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:50.970 of home grow some operators that can be of value 00:07:50.970 --> 00:07:56.170 to other clubs and Rich immediately said yes 00:07:56.170 --> 00:08:00.149 and by the time we got done building the website 00:08:00.149 --> 00:08:02.310 and getting all our ducks in the rose we started 00:08:02.310 --> 00:08:07.110 up the club in January of 2018 thinking that 00:08:07.110 --> 00:08:10.870 we would just be local but we decided instead 00:08:10.870 --> 00:08:14.529 of being confined to a brick and mortar situation 00:08:14.529 --> 00:08:20.290 we would use internet video conference to expand 00:08:20.290 --> 00:08:23.689 our reach and make it easier for people to take 00:08:23.689 --> 00:08:26.230 our classes rather than have to go to a particular 00:08:26.230 --> 00:08:31.329 venue. And with the video conference platform, 00:08:31.910 --> 00:08:34.950 we were able to reach out all over the country. 00:08:35.549 --> 00:08:38.289 And within a very short period of time, in a 00:08:38.289 --> 00:08:41.629 year and a half, we have built the club up to 00:08:41.629 --> 00:08:47.230 205 members in 33 states and five countries. 00:08:47.250 --> 00:08:52.500 And we give Fourteen classes per week all by 00:08:52.500 --> 00:08:56.960 video conference, Neil. All right. Well, you 00:08:56.960 --> 00:08:59.179 know, let's, let's talk a little bit about that. 00:08:59.240 --> 00:09:02.740 Now you're, you're unique in this, you know, 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:05.799 you, you have both the local and the online. 00:09:06.819 --> 00:09:09.500 options. So let's talk a little bit about this 00:09:09.500 --> 00:09:12.799 unique hybrid of ways that you connect with members 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:15.440 and we can talk a little bit about some of the 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:18.299 local stuff that you do and then how you bring 00:09:18.299 --> 00:09:23.299 everybody in that's not in Long Island. Well 00:09:23.299 --> 00:09:28.340 yes, it was a kind of a contemporary thing to 00:09:28.340 --> 00:09:31.820 do. You know we've heard unfortunately with a 00:09:31.820 --> 00:09:35.289 lot of ham radio clubs that sometimes They're 00:09:35.289 --> 00:09:38.009 struggling to keep their members coming to meetings. 00:09:38.490 --> 00:09:41.649 But with the video conference aspect, people 00:09:41.649 --> 00:09:43.490 don't have to leave the comfort of their home. 00:09:43.889 --> 00:09:47.549 And they can come to our meetings and our presentations 00:09:47.549 --> 00:09:52.389 whenever they want. So besides giving CW classes, 00:09:52.990 --> 00:09:58.570 we have lectures that we do online with video 00:09:58.570 --> 00:10:00.789 conference. We give presentations on everything 00:10:00.789 --> 00:10:06.669 from vintage gear. like boat anchors, to soda 00:10:06.669 --> 00:10:12.009 and poda operations, to satellites, to mag loop 00:10:12.009 --> 00:10:15.769 antennas, whatever is of interest to the people. 00:10:15.809 --> 00:10:18.789 But at the same time, we have your traditional 00:10:18.789 --> 00:10:22.269 brick and mortar activities. For example, we 00:10:22.269 --> 00:10:26.450 did with another major club on Long Island as 00:10:26.450 --> 00:10:30.269 a joint venture, we had a build -a -thon before 00:10:30.269 --> 00:10:33.710 the summer. where we got together about 30 guys 00:10:33.710 --> 00:10:38.190 in an actual facility, and we built a keyer kit, 00:10:38.250 --> 00:10:43.250 a QRP keyer kit. At the same time, we had 12 00:10:43.250 --> 00:10:46.830 of our members from out of state watching this 00:10:46.830 --> 00:10:49.129 on video conference with an instructor right 00:10:49.129 --> 00:10:51.750 there, and they were building at the same time 00:10:51.750 --> 00:10:54.970 we were. So I don't think, Neil, anybody else 00:10:54.970 --> 00:10:57.549 is doing this type of stuff in the country, so 00:10:57.549 --> 00:11:00.090 it kind of all fell together like that, and it's 00:11:00.090 --> 00:11:03.659 working out. very well. So we have hybrid events 00:11:03.659 --> 00:11:05.639 and then we have our traditional events. The 00:11:05.639 --> 00:11:08.639 club is very into a QRP. We happen to be the 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:12.759 Long Island chapter of the NAQCC QRP organization. 00:11:13.159 --> 00:11:16.039 Every month we go out on the field and do QRP 00:11:16.039 --> 00:11:19.399 down at the beach because we get off very well 00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:23.720 antenna -wise down there. We go to museums together. 00:11:23.720 --> 00:11:28.019 We go to auctions. We have lunches in a beautiful 00:11:30.189 --> 00:11:32.710 restaurant about every three or four months we've 00:11:32.710 --> 00:11:36.429 been up to W1AW together so we do all the traditional 00:11:36.429 --> 00:11:39.049 radio clubs but we have that aspect of being 00:11:39.049 --> 00:11:46.769 a hybrid also. I like the idea and a lot of presentations 00:11:46.769 --> 00:11:49.990 are brought in on Skype at club meetings but 00:11:49.990 --> 00:11:54.370 you know like you said there's not a whole lot 00:11:54.370 --> 00:11:59.409 of people doing activities over Skype and over 00:11:59.409 --> 00:12:03.169 these video conferencing things or zoom or whichever 00:12:03.169 --> 00:12:07.350 one you use and You know, I think that's that 00:12:07.350 --> 00:12:09.590 you're on to something. I think you've got something 00:12:09.590 --> 00:12:16.830 that can really expand so That sounds like a 00:12:16.830 --> 00:12:21.419 great idea and I welcome it for sure. So Tell 00:12:21.419 --> 00:12:25.980 us a little bit about teaching CW over video 00:12:25.980 --> 00:12:31.000 conferencing. How can people learn CW from your 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:33.620 instructors and how can people go about signing 00:12:33.620 --> 00:12:37.500 up for that? Well, signing up, we have the website 00:12:37.500 --> 00:12:41.419 that's longislandcwclub .org is our website. 00:12:41.899 --> 00:12:45.960 And as a membership tab, you can click on that. 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:48.320 and you'll be send us a message and you'd be 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:50.179 interested in joining up with send you some more 00:12:50.179 --> 00:12:53.320 information uh... but what once you're uh... 00:12:53.320 --> 00:12:56.059 what you've joined up we have classes at all 00:12:56.059 --> 00:12:58.559 different levels from beginners people who have 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:01.600 uh... don't know any letters any words or anything 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:03.700 in in morse code ever even tried it before but 00:13:03.700 --> 00:13:06.580 wanna learn it to people who maybe know some 00:13:06.580 --> 00:13:09.360 of it but never really progressed too far or 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:12.080 uh... they're they're only able to get on the 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:14.919 air maybe five or six words a minute uh... and 00:13:14.919 --> 00:13:17.299 a very very self -conscious about that other 00:13:17.299 --> 00:13:19.639 maybe somebody knows it and they can help hold 00:13:19.639 --> 00:13:21.639 their own it ten to fifteen words a minute but 00:13:21.639 --> 00:13:24.120 they they're struggling to get up to twenty or 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:26.500 twenty four words a minute and be able to just 00:13:26.500 --> 00:13:29.360 head copy and and have uh... conversational c 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:31.940 w without worrying about writing everything down 00:13:31.940 --> 00:13:35.399 uh... and with the uh... with the zoom video 00:13:35.399 --> 00:13:38.120 conferencing that we use we're able to see the 00:13:38.120 --> 00:13:40.059 students not just hear them but we can see them 00:13:40.059 --> 00:13:43.500 how they're reacting to it uh... And I think 00:13:43.500 --> 00:13:46.360 they actually help each other through the camaraderie 00:13:46.360 --> 00:13:48.639 of the other students in the class is helpful. 00:13:49.100 --> 00:13:52.019 I mean, sure. Can you look at some of these apps 00:13:52.019 --> 00:13:55.100 on cell phones or programs and teach yourself 00:13:55.100 --> 00:13:58.159 CW? Sure, some people can do that. But a lot 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:01.480 of people don't have the motivation on their 00:14:01.480 --> 00:14:05.179 own to stay with it and stick with it. And if 00:14:05.179 --> 00:14:06.960 they're in a group situation and they see other 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:09.629 people uh... trying to learn the same thing that 00:14:09.629 --> 00:14:11.389 they've tried to learning i think they really 00:14:11.389 --> 00:14:14.649 uh... can help each other through that uh... 00:14:14.649 --> 00:14:17.570 and it's been really beneficial i mean i i i 00:14:17.570 --> 00:14:20.289 what howard had said when we started the club 00:14:20.289 --> 00:14:22.269 uh... i thought it would just be a local thing 00:14:22.269 --> 00:14:24.470 maybe a few dozen guys on long island here would 00:14:24.470 --> 00:14:27.269 be talking about cw maybe try to teach some other 00:14:27.269 --> 00:14:30.610 local people uh... never really originally planned 00:14:30.610 --> 00:14:34.610 on this online teaching but it's just it's really 00:14:34.610 --> 00:14:36.870 taken off far faster than we ever thought it 00:14:36.870 --> 00:14:40.000 would Uh, and it's, it's a lot of fun to see 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:43.440 people when it starts clicking for them and CW, 00:14:43.559 --> 00:14:44.980 everybody seems to pick it up at a different 00:14:44.980 --> 00:14:47.240 rate and that's fine. But when they finally get 00:14:47.240 --> 00:14:49.919 it and you can see them smiling and nodding, 00:14:50.019 --> 00:14:51.799 cause they're understanding what's being sent. 00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:56.220 That's what makes it all worthwhile. Well, that 00:14:56.220 --> 00:15:00.200 sounds like a great plan. And I know. uh... you 00:15:00.200 --> 00:15:03.299 guys are also uh... or at least howard i know 00:15:03.299 --> 00:15:06.779 uh... we talked about this is ncw ops which also 00:15:06.779 --> 00:15:10.490 has an academy and they do some some things over 00:15:10.490 --> 00:15:13.970 over Skype. But you all have your own version 00:15:13.970 --> 00:15:16.850 of this and some of the activities that go with 00:15:16.850 --> 00:15:20.250 it. And, you know, so this is another option, 00:15:20.289 --> 00:15:24.769 another way to to get in and learn CW if you're 00:15:24.769 --> 00:15:28.009 trying to do that. And I'll share the little 00:15:28.009 --> 00:15:32.830 story here since since we have some time. When 00:15:32.830 --> 00:15:36.929 I got into ham radio at five years old, my dad 00:15:36.929 --> 00:15:40.470 and I did it together. But mom would have absolutely 00:15:40.470 --> 00:15:43.789 nothing to do with it. She, she didn't have any 00:15:43.789 --> 00:15:46.990 interest at all. But when we started learning 00:15:46.990 --> 00:15:52.789 Morris code and we were talking to people and 00:15:52.789 --> 00:15:57.889 she had no idea what we were saying, that was 00:15:57.889 --> 00:16:02.539 the trigger. Excuse me. Uh, that was the trigger. 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:06.179 And so the next year after we went to a code 00:16:06.179 --> 00:16:08.720 class, the next year, she went to the code class, 00:16:09.100 --> 00:16:13.820 not to become a ham, but so she could find out 00:16:13.820 --> 00:16:19.200 what we were saying and, uh, and it got her hooked. 00:16:19.240 --> 00:16:22.330 And then she ended up. Getting a license and 00:16:22.330 --> 00:16:25.289 she ended up getting on and using it and talking 00:16:25.289 --> 00:16:31.610 to people on code and on on FM as well and So, 00:16:31.789 --> 00:16:35.730 you know it kind of got her interested into ham 00:16:35.730 --> 00:16:38.730 radio because she just had to know what we were 00:16:38.730 --> 00:17:11.019 saying that that CW Ops is an excellent organization. 00:17:11.259 --> 00:17:14.099 I'm a lifetime member with that, and when their 00:17:14.099 --> 00:17:15.799 sprint gets on the air on Wednesday night, it 00:17:15.799 --> 00:17:18.359 lights up the band with hundreds of operators. 00:17:18.599 --> 00:17:21.839 It's something to behold. They're doing a fantastic 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:28.619 job. What our angle is, as far as what our guideline 00:17:28.619 --> 00:17:31.720 is, is that the most important class that we 00:17:31.720 --> 00:17:33.599 have, we have all different types of beginners 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:36.359 classes, intermediates classes, we have sending 00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:41.380 classes. We have, I think, something very unique 00:17:41.380 --> 00:17:44.799 in a QSO class. Now, how does that work? We're 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:47.559 all on Zoom, you know, internet video conference 00:17:47.559 --> 00:17:50.279 at the same time like we always are. But at the 00:17:50.279 --> 00:17:53.859 same time, people have their rigs on. We all 00:17:53.859 --> 00:17:56.299 get on the same frequency and we try and hear 00:17:56.299 --> 00:17:58.640 the same station, no matter what state we're 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:01.519 in. Sometimes even East Coast and West Coast 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:04.920 can hear the same station. And then all the students 00:18:04.920 --> 00:18:09.369 take turns working that station. I do the decoding 00:18:09.369 --> 00:18:13.609 to take the pressure off them to handle the entire 00:18:13.609 --> 00:18:15.849 QSO because it's a little bit nerve -racking 00:18:15.849 --> 00:18:18.130 for beginners, and therefore they don't have 00:18:18.130 --> 00:18:21.089 to worry about the speed that's being sent or 00:18:21.089 --> 00:18:24.589 the QSB or the conditions, and they concentrate 00:18:24.589 --> 00:18:29.009 on their sending and what we call the QSO protocol. 00:18:29.450 --> 00:18:33.490 You know, how to do the QSO, RST comes first, 00:18:33.569 --> 00:18:37.200 then QTH, then name, how do you sign off. Do 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:38.900 you say the weather? Do you talk about your rig? 00:18:39.160 --> 00:18:41.440 All of that. They concentrate on that. And I 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:44.859 help them with the decoding. So all our classes 00:18:44.859 --> 00:18:48.539 are dedicated to that. And we try and get people 00:18:48.539 --> 00:18:52.200 on the air within three months of starting with 00:18:52.200 --> 00:18:56.480 us no matter what. As long as they can send 599 00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:59.160 and their call sign, we get them on the air in 00:18:59.160 --> 00:19:02.019 the QSO class. And that's the binder that keeps 00:19:02.019 --> 00:19:05.779 them interested and motivated to keep learning. 00:19:07.309 --> 00:19:10.690 Yeah, I like that because you get some practical 00:19:10.690 --> 00:19:14.349 experience and, um, you know, there there's, 00:19:14.369 --> 00:19:16.869 there's people out there like, uh, like Gordo 00:19:16.869 --> 00:19:20.509 who, you know, does, uh, vacuum cleaning while 00:19:20.509 --> 00:19:23.190 the code's going on because that's a reality. 00:19:24.650 --> 00:19:27.450 And so I like that you're, you're getting on 00:19:27.450 --> 00:19:30.470 and getting some of the QSB and some of the, 00:19:30.470 --> 00:19:34.450 you know, some of the interruptions and the noise 00:19:34.450 --> 00:19:37.569 and everything to adjust to that, because that's 00:19:37.569 --> 00:19:40.829 something that you have to work through. Well, 00:19:40.970 --> 00:19:44.170 you know, when they first get on, they're very 00:19:44.170 --> 00:19:46.789 nervous, and when they make their first QSOs, 00:19:46.829 --> 00:19:48.809 it's very rewarding, and we all give them a round 00:19:48.809 --> 00:19:51.170 of applause. And then most of them need to take 00:19:51.170 --> 00:19:53.250 a cold shower after that, because they're all 00:19:53.250 --> 00:19:56.130 broken up in a hot sweat. But every time they 00:19:56.130 --> 00:19:59.009 come back to the QSO class, it gets better and 00:19:59.009 --> 00:20:01.500 better and better. Uh, so that's what we do. 00:20:02.019 --> 00:20:04.640 Um, rich is very involved in the beginners classes. 00:20:04.740 --> 00:20:07.859 He runs four beginners classes, uh, uh, and gives 00:20:07.859 --> 00:20:10.579 them, um, a really good foundation. We have quite 00:20:10.579 --> 00:20:13.700 a few teachers. Uh, uh, we have classes every 00:20:13.700 --> 00:20:16.099 single night and we have different teachers. 00:20:17.019 --> 00:20:19.119 All right. Very good. Well, we're going to take 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:21.720 a break here and then, uh, we're going to come 00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:24.460 back with Howard and rich and we'll take your 00:20:24.460 --> 00:20:28.730 phone calls and questions. online and talk a 00:20:28.730 --> 00:20:32.349 little bit more about the Long Island CW club 00:20:32.349 --> 00:20:34.789 after this word from Tower Electronics right 00:20:34.789 --> 00:20:40.390 here on HamTalk Live. I'm sorry to bother you 00:20:40.390 --> 00:20:42.630 but I'm having an antenna party and I ran out 00:20:42.630 --> 00:20:46.750 of PL259s. Oh, come in. Thank you. Would silver 00:20:46.750 --> 00:20:50.789 -plated PL259s from Tower Electronics be too 00:20:50.789 --> 00:20:53.369 good for your guests? Those will be fine. Thank 00:20:53.369 --> 00:20:57.519 you. You saved my life the other night. Oh, the 00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:01.180 PL -259s from Tower Electronics? Yes, they were 00:21:01.180 --> 00:21:04.059 very successful at the antenna party. My antenna 00:21:04.059 --> 00:21:07.240 works like a charm. Then how can you ever thank 00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:09.980 me? I'll try to think of something. Don't be 00:21:09.980 --> 00:21:13.400 caught without PL 259s. Visit Tower Electronics 00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:16.539 at a ham fest near you or visit them online anytime 00:21:16.539 --> 00:21:22.759 at PL -259 .com or call 920 -435 -2973. They 00:21:22.759 --> 00:21:26.019 have adapters, cables, antennas, soldering supplies, 00:21:26.339 --> 00:21:30.150 and meters too. Join the conversation. Give us 00:21:30.150 --> 00:21:36.869 a call at 812 -NET -HAM -1. That's 812 -638 -4261. 00:21:37.130 --> 00:22:07.880 Now, here's more HamTalk Live! Thanks as always 00:22:07.880 --> 00:22:10.980 to Tower Electronics for bringing HamTalk Live 00:22:10.980 --> 00:22:14.940 your way each and every week. On their HamFest 00:22:14.940 --> 00:22:17.420 schedule this weekend, September 8th they'll 00:22:17.420 --> 00:22:21.319 be in Findley, Ohio. And then September 14th 00:22:21.319 --> 00:22:25.460 and 15th they'll be in Peoria, Illinois. And 00:22:25.460 --> 00:22:28.819 if you're not at one of those, you can find them 00:22:28.819 --> 00:22:35.519 online at PL -259. HamTalkLive is on the air 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:38.380 every Thursday night at 9 p .m. Eastern Time 00:22:38.380 --> 00:22:41.200 right here at HamTalkLive .com and be sure to 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:44.160 check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 00:22:44.740 --> 00:22:47.579 And it's time for your questions now. So if you're 00:22:47.579 --> 00:22:50.420 listening live on Thursday night and you have 00:22:50.420 --> 00:22:53.279 a question for Howard and Rich, give us a call. 00:22:53.519 --> 00:23:00.539 The phone number, it's 812 -638 -4261. 812 -NET. 00:23:00.619 --> 00:23:04.500 Ham one, or you can tweet us. It's at ham talk 00:23:04.500 --> 00:23:07.140 live on Twitter. And if you're listening to us 00:23:07.140 --> 00:23:11.839 on the podcast edition or over on wtww, sorry, 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:15.329 it's a replay. We're not here. So We'll, uh, 00:23:15.369 --> 00:23:17.410 we'll get to some questions here and we do have 00:23:17.410 --> 00:23:21.089 one that, uh, is in on Twitter and, uh, rich, 00:23:21.289 --> 00:23:23.470 I think you're going to take this. Uh, this is 00:23:23.470 --> 00:23:28.750 from Jacob KG seven EQ in, and, uh, Jacob wants 00:23:28.750 --> 00:23:31.890 to know what advice do you have for someone learning 00:23:31.890 --> 00:23:36.539 CW on their own? due to time constraints. I don't 00:23:36.539 --> 00:23:39.240 have time to sign up for a class. I would love 00:23:39.240 --> 00:23:42.559 to, but with young children, it's not an option 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:47.599 right now. So any suggestions for Jacob? Sure. 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:49.960 And thank you for listening to us, Jacob. We 00:23:49.960 --> 00:23:53.400 appreciate that. Basically, I could tell you, 00:23:53.440 --> 00:23:56.099 I know what it's like to have kids at home or 00:23:56.099 --> 00:23:57.779 distractions at home that take away from your 00:23:57.779 --> 00:24:00.720 time. I've had three kids, although they're grown 00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:03.619 up now. One is still home, and I got three dogs 00:24:03.619 --> 00:24:06.319 that act like kids sometimes. So it's tough to 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:09.119 get a quiet moment to get in there and work on 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:12.400 it. But the biggest thing is just daily practice. 00:24:12.900 --> 00:24:14.559 That would be the most important thing I could 00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:18.500 suggest to you. You're going to get out of this, 00:24:18.599 --> 00:24:20.180 whether you're doing it on your own or through 00:24:20.180 --> 00:24:23.519 a group like ours with the Long Island CW club. 00:24:24.500 --> 00:24:28.619 Daily practice is key. it's uh... it and you 00:24:28.619 --> 00:24:31.359 have to really want to do this we have some people 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:33.420 that start out and and you can tell maybe they 00:24:33.420 --> 00:24:35.720 just they don't have the real drive in it but 00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:37.819 most of the people really do and uh... they will 00:24:37.819 --> 00:24:42.740 be successful uh... it's it's not as easy i think 00:24:42.740 --> 00:24:45.039 doing it on your own i think it helps to be in 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:47.509 a class atmosphere And that's one thing with 00:24:47.509 --> 00:24:49.930 our group, because we have classes at all different 00:24:49.930 --> 00:24:52.369 days of the week and at different times, you're 00:24:52.369 --> 00:24:55.410 not locked into a specific time slot. And we 00:24:55.410 --> 00:24:59.069 don't have a very rigid schedule or format as 00:24:59.069 --> 00:25:00.970 far as the classes, where they're going to say 00:25:00.970 --> 00:25:02.849 the beginners class is going to run for two months, 00:25:02.869 --> 00:25:05.089 and then that's it. And if you didn't finish 00:25:05.089 --> 00:25:06.569 by then, well, you have to take it over again. 00:25:06.710 --> 00:25:09.210 That's not the case. We work with people even 00:25:09.210 --> 00:25:11.609 individually. If it takes you a little bit longer, 00:25:11.990 --> 00:25:14.289 we'll work with you as long as it takes to get 00:25:14.289 --> 00:25:18.829 you on the air. comfortable with the code. But 00:25:18.829 --> 00:25:20.710 you know, it's like I said, even doing it on 00:25:20.710 --> 00:25:23.549 your own, or with us, it's I think daily practice 00:25:23.549 --> 00:25:27.890 is going to be the key. And listening to live 00:25:27.890 --> 00:25:30.049 code on the air as much as you can, even when 00:25:30.049 --> 00:25:31.369 you're learning, you're not going to understand 00:25:31.369 --> 00:25:34.049 a lot of what's going on. But listen to it as 00:25:34.049 --> 00:25:37.250 much as you can under real on the air conditions. 00:25:37.910 --> 00:25:42.769 That would be my suggestion. Alright, well if 00:25:42.769 --> 00:25:46.470 you have a question, give us a call at 812 -638 00:25:46.470 --> 00:25:51.170 -4261. If you spell that out, that's 812 -NET 00:25:51.170 --> 00:25:57.170 -HAM -1. 812 -638 -4261. Or you can do like Jacob 00:25:57.170 --> 00:26:00.650 did and tweet us, it's at HamTalkLive on Twitter. 00:26:01.269 --> 00:26:03.569 And if you're on Spreaker, you can type into 00:26:03.569 --> 00:26:07.180 the comments. we'll check those in fact let me 00:26:07.180 --> 00:26:10.420 check over there right now and don't see anything 00:26:10.420 --> 00:26:14.160 on the comments okay so so we're caught up here 00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:16.839 but give us a call eight one two six three eight 00:26:16.839 --> 00:26:21.470 four two six one and We'll try to get your questions 00:26:21.470 --> 00:26:25.170 answered. So we mentioned CW Ops Academy and 00:26:25.170 --> 00:26:28.390 you mentioned a little bit of the differences 00:26:28.390 --> 00:26:31.450 here. Let's kind of compare and contrast because 00:26:31.450 --> 00:26:35.670 CW Ops Academy obviously does a great job and 00:26:35.670 --> 00:26:39.829 you guys obviously do a great job. So let's try 00:26:39.829 --> 00:26:43.890 to find what might be the better fit for certain 00:26:43.890 --> 00:26:48.869 people. Well, the difference I would say between 00:26:48.869 --> 00:26:55.089 the two organizations is CW ops prepares and 00:26:55.089 --> 00:26:58.849 teaches their students for their sprint The sprint 00:26:58.849 --> 00:27:03.589 is a contest that they run three times a day 00:27:03.589 --> 00:27:08.970 every Wednesday and it's just like any Contest 00:27:08.970 --> 00:27:14.750 rapid fire and high -speed Contacts and in their 00:27:14.750 --> 00:27:20.339 case It's the member number of the organization 00:27:20.339 --> 00:27:23.839 that's always assigned to one individual and 00:27:23.839 --> 00:27:26.839 the name. And you exchange that and you move 00:27:26.839 --> 00:27:29.880 on to the next one. We're not exactly teaching 00:27:29.880 --> 00:27:34.160 for the sprint or for the contest. We're teaching 00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:38.839 for the QSO. Most of the people in our club really 00:27:38.839 --> 00:27:41.839 want to rank you and know how to do it. And they 00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:46.200 also want to head copy, not so much for a 35 00:27:46.200 --> 00:27:49.980 or a 40 word a minute contest exchange, but they 00:27:49.980 --> 00:27:52.460 want to put the pencil down and be able to sit 00:27:52.460 --> 00:27:55.859 back in their chair and head copy a rag chew. 00:27:56.380 --> 00:28:01.420 So that's where we dedicate our focus to. And 00:28:01.420 --> 00:28:05.119 I would say that's the difference. Both have 00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:10.519 very valuable spots in the world of CW. Anybody 00:28:10.519 --> 00:28:14.539 these days who's promoting CW or ham radio to 00:28:14.539 --> 00:28:18.839 keep it going. Um, deserves, um, some credit, 00:28:19.559 --> 00:28:21.779 but to compare and contrast, that's where I would 00:28:21.779 --> 00:28:26.400 say would be Neil. Very good. Eight, one, two, 00:28:26.460 --> 00:28:29.119 six, three, eight, four, two, six, one is the 00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:31.480 phone number. Give us a call or give us a tweet 00:28:31.480 --> 00:28:34.680 and we'll get your questions in on here. Um, 00:28:35.079 --> 00:28:37.859 so let's say, you know, there's, there's somebody 00:28:37.859 --> 00:28:41.700 out there like, like Jacob that, uh, Is trying 00:28:41.700 --> 00:28:45.480 to do this on their own. What tips do you have? 00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:48.859 If, if that's just the only option and they're 00:28:48.859 --> 00:28:52.859 not able to get into the CW ops Academy or they're 00:28:52.859 --> 00:28:57.180 not able to make any of the, you know, uh, scheduled 00:28:57.180 --> 00:29:00.220 classes that you have, even though they're, they're, 00:29:00.220 --> 00:29:04.099 you know, widely varied on dates and times. If 00:29:04.099 --> 00:29:06.779 somebody is trying to do this on their own, what 00:29:06.779 --> 00:29:11.390 do you suggest they do? Well, uh, Just just to 00:29:11.390 --> 00:29:15.789 say I mean for for Jacob Jacob if you take a 00:29:15.789 --> 00:29:19.230 look at our website Long Island CW club org and 00:29:19.230 --> 00:29:21.710 go over to the calendar page Right now we're 00:29:21.710 --> 00:29:23.690 on summer break. We only have three classes a 00:29:23.690 --> 00:29:27.150 week But if you page back from let's say June 00:29:27.150 --> 00:29:29.769 backwards, you'll see what our time schedules 00:29:29.769 --> 00:29:32.990 are It's all in Eastern Standard Time. I don't 00:29:32.990 --> 00:29:34.470 know where you are You sounded like you had I 00:29:34.470 --> 00:29:37.710 think a w7 call. So he's probably out West. We 00:29:37.710 --> 00:29:41.549 have classes going up till seven or eight o 'clock 00:29:41.549 --> 00:29:46.009 your time and sometimes every day. You'd be hard 00:29:46.009 --> 00:29:48.910 -pressed not to be able to find one of our classes. 00:29:49.630 --> 00:29:53.490 Anyhow, as I always offer to any student, since 00:29:53.490 --> 00:29:57.950 I'm retired, I'm available anytime somebody wants 00:29:57.950 --> 00:30:00.529 to have a private lesson and there's no extra 00:30:00.529 --> 00:30:03.589 cost or anything for this. We have some people 00:30:03.589 --> 00:30:05.750 that have some very sophisticated careers. We 00:30:05.750 --> 00:30:10.740 have one guy who's a a orchestra leader and he 00:30:10.740 --> 00:30:14.980 travels all over the world and he's taken lessons 00:30:14.980 --> 00:30:17.940 from me he's called in from China just to have 00:30:17.940 --> 00:30:20.500 a private lesson we have time differences between 00:30:20.500 --> 00:30:23.359 the USA and Australia where we have some members 00:30:23.359 --> 00:30:26.119 and also Europe and I've given private members 00:30:26.119 --> 00:30:30.500 private lessons to those members too so if there's 00:30:30.500 --> 00:30:33.980 a will we are flexible it doesn't matter if you 00:30:33.980 --> 00:30:36.500 miss a class So what I'm trying to say is it's 00:30:36.500 --> 00:30:39.940 very important to be tied in to a community like 00:30:39.940 --> 00:30:43.119 Rich was saying. Because when you're doing something 00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:46.200 abstract like CW, it's like learning a language. 00:30:46.599 --> 00:30:49.779 If you don't have anybody to commiserate with 00:30:49.779 --> 00:30:52.259 and share your experiences and your trials and 00:30:52.259 --> 00:30:55.960 tribulations and encourage you along, you're 00:30:55.960 --> 00:30:59.380 probably not going to make it through. It's very 00:30:59.380 --> 00:31:02.160 hard to learn CW and you got to be there in a 00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:05.589 community. Can you do it? Sure. But we really 00:31:05.589 --> 00:31:08.210 encourage people to get involved in some sort 00:31:08.210 --> 00:31:10.630 of group. Having said all of that, Neil, if it 00:31:10.630 --> 00:31:14.410 was all impossible, practice 15 or 20 minutes 00:31:14.410 --> 00:31:17.890 a day, do it every day, and listen, like Rich 00:31:17.890 --> 00:31:22.829 said, on the air, even if it's W1AW, so you get 00:31:22.829 --> 00:31:26.150 to understand what band conditions are and what 00:31:26.150 --> 00:31:28.869 they do to CW, because that's eventually what 00:31:28.869 --> 00:31:30.190 you're going to copy. You're not going to be 00:31:30.190 --> 00:31:36.259 copying a computer. All right, well there you 00:31:36.259 --> 00:31:39.660 have it and and there's all kinds of you know 00:31:39.660 --> 00:31:44.319 software out there too But you know, obviously 00:31:44.319 --> 00:31:47.259 the the class thing is the way to go when you've 00:31:47.259 --> 00:31:50.900 got somebody there to to work with you But there's 00:31:50.900 --> 00:31:54.940 software out there too. That'll help So those 00:31:54.940 --> 00:31:57.119 are some options. So if there's some other people 00:31:57.119 --> 00:32:01.259 out there like Jacob that are Under some severe 00:32:01.259 --> 00:32:04.220 time constraints, you know, those are some options. 00:32:04.960 --> 00:32:07.380 All right. Well, let's take one more standby 00:32:07.380 --> 00:32:13.119 here for some calls at 812 -638 -4261 or give 00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:15.680 us a tweet at HamTalk Live and we'll try to get 00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:18.589 your... questions answered here tonight. We're 00:32:18.589 --> 00:32:23.829 talking with Howard Bernstein WB2UZE and Rich 00:32:23.829 --> 00:32:28.130 Collins K2UPS, the founders of the Long Island 00:32:28.130 --> 00:32:32.750 CW club. So we'll take some more questions here 00:32:32.750 --> 00:32:35.970 as those come in and then we'll finish things 00:32:35.970 --> 00:32:42.569 up tonight. So 812 -638 -4261. Now I gotta talk 00:32:42.569 --> 00:32:45.529 to Rich a little bit about this because You've 00:32:45.529 --> 00:32:50.210 gone through several call signs, but this UPS 00:32:50.210 --> 00:32:54.730 thing, we were figuring out that you drive over 00:32:54.730 --> 00:32:57.009 the road for UPS. So we were doing some quick 00:32:57.009 --> 00:33:00.569 math there. I think Howard was calculating before 00:33:00.569 --> 00:33:03.930 the show how many miles you've logged and how 00:33:03.930 --> 00:33:07.589 many times you've been around the globe. So why 00:33:07.589 --> 00:33:11.299 don't we talk a little bit about that? Well, 00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:17.420 K2UPS is a vanity call. I got that. I think shortly 00:33:17.420 --> 00:33:19.799 before I got my extra class license, probably 00:33:19.799 --> 00:33:23.559 about 12 years ago now, I guess. And I was trying 00:33:23.559 --> 00:33:25.539 to think, well, if I get a vanity call, what 00:33:25.539 --> 00:33:28.279 should I get? Should I get my initials? And for 00:33:28.279 --> 00:33:30.319 some reason, UPS popped in my head. I said, well, 00:33:30.319 --> 00:33:32.019 that might be fun. And I checked, and it was 00:33:32.019 --> 00:33:34.319 available. So I put in for it, and I got it. 00:33:34.319 --> 00:33:36.519 And I got to tell you, I've had a lot of fun 00:33:36.519 --> 00:33:39.960 using that call on the air. I get a lot of comments. 00:33:40.220 --> 00:33:42.000 People ask, do you actually work for them? Yes. 00:33:42.769 --> 00:33:44.730 Did they give you permission for it? No, they 00:33:44.730 --> 00:33:48.769 didn't have to. But I've been with UPS now, I'm 00:33:48.769 --> 00:33:52.529 in my 32nd year. Started out in the little brown 00:33:52.529 --> 00:33:54.190 package cars, as they call them, even though 00:33:54.190 --> 00:33:55.710 they're small trucks, they call them package 00:33:55.710 --> 00:33:58.869 cars. And after about 10 years, moved into the 00:33:58.869 --> 00:34:01.609 tractor trailer or the feeder department. And 00:34:01.609 --> 00:34:05.509 I was working mostly nights, but home every day. 00:34:05.690 --> 00:34:07.990 And then I got a chance to try the long haul. 00:34:08.219 --> 00:34:10.320 And I did that and fell in love with that and 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:12.920 been doing that probably for, I guess, the last 00:34:12.920 --> 00:34:19.480 15 to 18 years. Um, and about the last six years 00:34:19.480 --> 00:34:21.579 now, I've been going to Chicago twice during 00:34:21.579 --> 00:34:24.139 the week and to Louisville, Kentucky on Sunday, 00:34:24.579 --> 00:34:28.320 which is about 5 ,000 miles a week. Um, but it's, 00:34:28.340 --> 00:34:32.739 it's, uh, it's a lot of fun. Okay. So Howard, 00:34:32.880 --> 00:34:36.730 what was the math? Well, Rich said he drove over 00:34:36.730 --> 00:34:39.849 a million miles a year in his lifetime so far 00:34:39.849 --> 00:34:42.429 so we figured that the earth is 25 ,000 miles 00:34:42.429 --> 00:34:45.349 in circumference that he's done 40 trips around 00:34:45.349 --> 00:34:49.789 the earth So can you imagine like you think about 00:34:49.789 --> 00:34:52.150 it like we worry about let's say the traffic 00:34:52.150 --> 00:34:54.449 on the Long Island Expressway Can you imagine 00:34:54.449 --> 00:34:56.829 if you drove to Australia 40 times in your life 00:34:56.829 --> 00:35:04.139 back and forth? It's a lot That is it is a lot. 00:35:04.159 --> 00:35:07.099 So now I got to ask the other question with that 00:35:07.099 --> 00:35:11.719 is How do you do CW while you're doing that? 00:35:12.699 --> 00:35:15.079 Well, I don't because this what I do is a team 00:35:15.079 --> 00:35:17.139 operation I go out with another driver who is 00:35:17.139 --> 00:35:19.500 sleeping while I'm driving and after ten hours 00:35:19.500 --> 00:35:21.559 I wake him up and he drives and I go in the back 00:35:21.559 --> 00:35:24.760 and I go to sleep So because of that, I don't 00:35:24.760 --> 00:35:28.860 do any ham radio Plus being a commercial vehicle, 00:35:29.280 --> 00:35:31.500 it's distracted driving. I just don't want to 00:35:31.500 --> 00:35:34.480 get into that. Although I have brought my KX3 00:35:34.480 --> 00:35:38.059 QRP rig with me to Chicago when we have about 00:35:38.059 --> 00:35:41.000 a six to eight hour layover waiting for a train 00:35:41.000 --> 00:35:44.880 to come in with our return loads and tossed a 00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:48.260 wire up on top of the building and sat in a passenger 00:35:48.260 --> 00:35:51.139 seat with headphones on and operated CW a few 00:35:51.139 --> 00:35:53.260 times. But I don't do that when I'm driving. 00:35:54.019 --> 00:35:57.619 I can have Zoom on and listen. to the classes 00:35:57.619 --> 00:36:00.440 while I'm driving. I listen to a lot of CW. I 00:36:00.440 --> 00:36:03.840 have a SDR app in my phone so I can listen to 00:36:03.840 --> 00:36:07.179 the HF bands but I do any operating from the 00:36:07.179 --> 00:36:09.960 big truck. I do do it from my private Jeep. I 00:36:09.960 --> 00:36:12.659 do a lot of CW mobile and it gets interesting 00:36:12.659 --> 00:36:15.039 because I have a manual transmission and I use 00:36:15.039 --> 00:36:19.320 a straight key. So that's not for the faint of 00:36:19.320 --> 00:36:22.519 heart but it's a lot of fun. You know it's interesting 00:36:22.519 --> 00:36:24.780 when Rich comes in on Zoom during one of the 00:36:24.780 --> 00:36:27.739 classes when he's driving he's got this very 00:36:27.739 --> 00:36:29.440 big steering wheel in front of him he's wearing 00:36:29.440 --> 00:36:31.860 this brown uniform it's dark out at night and 00:36:31.860 --> 00:36:34.320 he turns his phone around so we see the road 00:36:34.320 --> 00:36:37.820 and all the street signs and uh it's it's just 00:36:37.820 --> 00:36:40.760 amazing with this internet these days and and 00:36:40.760 --> 00:36:44.139 with um a video conference platform like zoom 00:36:44.139 --> 00:36:46.960 we could have guys in long island that are the 00:36:46.960 --> 00:36:50.099 same strength and clarity as rich on the road 00:36:50.099 --> 00:36:53.119 as a guy in australia were all equalized by the 00:36:53.119 --> 00:36:56.920 internet And therefore, the classes are seamless 00:36:56.920 --> 00:37:00.219 no matter where people are. It's really neat. 00:37:01.500 --> 00:37:04.300 Actually, Neil, I called in from a cruise ship 00:37:04.300 --> 00:37:07.260 two weeks ago to see how one of the classes were 00:37:07.260 --> 00:37:13.639 doing. So am I going to have to ask Rich QLF? 00:37:16.070 --> 00:37:21.610 No. I send pretty good. We are going to set up 00:37:21.610 --> 00:37:24.389 a big key similar to what the straight key sentry 00:37:24.389 --> 00:37:26.769 club has done at Dayton. They usually have a 00:37:26.769 --> 00:37:28.369 large key they put on the ground and get people 00:37:28.369 --> 00:37:33.809 to send with their left foot. I like any type 00:37:33.809 --> 00:37:38.230 of, between the five different types of keying 00:37:38.230 --> 00:37:41.050 apparatus between a straight key, a side swiper, 00:37:41.530 --> 00:37:44.659 single paddle, dual paddle. With an iambic here 00:37:44.659 --> 00:37:48.019 and a bug I have examples of all of them I have 00:37:48.019 --> 00:37:51.099 probably close to 40 different keys right now 00:37:51.099 --> 00:37:53.340 And I use all of them I rotate them in and out 00:37:53.340 --> 00:37:55.460 at home and at any one point There's usually 00:37:55.460 --> 00:37:59.179 at least five of them hooked up In you know in 00:37:59.179 --> 00:38:01.199 series to the radio, so if I want to change keys, 00:38:01.239 --> 00:38:03.639 I just move my hand I don't have to unplug and 00:38:03.639 --> 00:38:06.739 plug something else in I like using them all 00:38:08.039 --> 00:38:12.059 Well for those that don't know QLF is this this 00:38:12.059 --> 00:38:15.219 imaginary Q signal that's are you sending with 00:38:15.219 --> 00:38:19.440 your left foot because It sounds like you're 00:38:19.440 --> 00:38:23.139 using your left foot to send so Anyway, I had 00:38:23.139 --> 00:38:25.039 to throw that in there. Well, we do have one 00:38:25.039 --> 00:38:27.239 more question. So we're going to end with this 00:38:27.239 --> 00:38:32.449 question here from Ryan trilling or and I Ryan, 00:38:32.590 --> 00:38:34.309 I'm sorry, I don't have your call in front of 00:38:34.309 --> 00:38:37.170 me and I forgot it, but it says, I have been 00:38:37.170 --> 00:38:40.550 interested in ham radio for over 50 years, but 00:38:40.550 --> 00:38:44.730 listening to the CW records on a photograph didn't 00:38:44.730 --> 00:38:48.610 work. Then I tried cassettes in my car while 00:38:48.610 --> 00:38:51.630 commuting in the seventies. That didn't work. 00:38:51.829 --> 00:38:58.349 Now that I have time, what next? Well, the method 00:38:58.349 --> 00:39:01.489 that we use and it's used by a lot of the online 00:39:01.489 --> 00:39:06.349 and apps is a combination of Koch and Farnsworth. 00:39:07.429 --> 00:39:11.010 Koch is a fixed random order of letters. So if 00:39:11.010 --> 00:39:14.730 you have any other app or program that you find 00:39:14.730 --> 00:39:16.650 that says it uses the Koch method, they're going 00:39:16.650 --> 00:39:19.320 to teach the exact same order of letters. that 00:39:19.320 --> 00:39:23.059 we use. I know, I believe the military had taught 00:39:23.059 --> 00:39:26.539 it like, say, E -I -S -H -5. They taught all 00:39:26.539 --> 00:39:28.260 the letters that were similar, like, you know, 00:39:28.320 --> 00:39:30.460 one dit, two dits, three dits, then the same 00:39:30.460 --> 00:39:34.000 with the dashes. But that, in my mind, leads 00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:38.719 to a student to counting. And once you start 00:39:38.719 --> 00:39:42.559 counting, that's really bad. Morse code is an 00:39:42.559 --> 00:39:44.860 audible language. It's not a visual language, 00:39:45.360 --> 00:39:47.820 with the exception of semifore or flashing light. 00:39:48.280 --> 00:39:51.980 But you don't ever want to use any kind of method 00:39:51.980 --> 00:39:54.920 that will lead you to counting the individual 00:39:54.920 --> 00:39:58.969 dits and dows in the letters. that will really 00:39:58.969 --> 00:40:01.670 severely hinder your ability to to increase your 00:40:01.670 --> 00:40:04.690 speed. Stay away from any sort of visual aids. 00:40:04.809 --> 00:40:06.289 I know there's charts out there. You can put 00:40:06.289 --> 00:40:08.170 your finger on it. And every time you hear a 00:40:08.170 --> 00:40:09.949 did or a die, you follow it down this little 00:40:09.949 --> 00:40:11.710 ladder. And at the end, it'll tell you what letter 00:40:11.710 --> 00:40:14.090 was sent. They're gimmicky, but they're not going 00:40:14.090 --> 00:40:16.849 to do anything to help you learn it. Same thing 00:40:16.849 --> 00:40:20.570 with these phrases like say the letter Q, da 00:40:20.570 --> 00:40:23.489 da da da. God save the Queen. People hear that. 00:40:23.710 --> 00:40:27.659 So they hear And if they learn those phrases, 00:40:27.940 --> 00:40:29.860 they have to think what phrase that is. Okay, 00:40:29.860 --> 00:40:31.519 God save the Queen, and that's the letter Q. 00:40:31.699 --> 00:40:35.760 You just decoded that letter twice, okay? And 00:40:35.760 --> 00:40:38.900 it's pointless to do that. If you're trying to 00:40:38.900 --> 00:40:42.019 get up to good speed, you wanna learn the code 00:40:42.019 --> 00:40:44.199 at the speed that you like to operate it at, 00:40:44.440 --> 00:40:46.480 which is what the Koch method does. It sends 00:40:46.480 --> 00:40:49.500 the characters at least 20 words a minute. But 00:40:49.500 --> 00:40:52.219 Farnsworth gives extra spacing between those 00:40:52.219 --> 00:40:56.250 letters so that overall, character overall word 00:40:56.250 --> 00:40:58.710 speed might be as slow as five words a minute 00:40:58.710 --> 00:41:01.510 but the individual letters are still being sent 00:41:01.510 --> 00:41:04.389 at 20 words a minute or higher so that your brain 00:41:04.389 --> 00:41:07.789 hears the sound that each letter makes not the 00:41:07.789 --> 00:41:11.010 individual elements within that letter and as 00:41:11.010 --> 00:41:13.050 you get your training your brain and you're learning 00:41:13.050 --> 00:41:15.769 a language that's exactly what you're doing then 00:41:15.769 --> 00:41:18.829 you reduce that gap so instead of being five 00:41:18.829 --> 00:41:20.989 words a minute you get it up to 10 and then 15 00:41:20.989 --> 00:41:23.949 until ultimately You don't need that extra spacing 00:41:23.949 --> 00:41:26.309 because you have trained your brain, you've learned 00:41:26.309 --> 00:41:28.869 the language and now you're operating Morse code 00:41:28.869 --> 00:41:34.570 with everybody else. Yeah, I can testify to that 00:41:34.570 --> 00:41:39.010 because when I learned the numbers, I counted. 00:41:39.750 --> 00:41:42.469 The rest of the time I didn't, but numbers still 00:41:42.469 --> 00:41:45.489 get me because I'm sitting there counting them 00:41:45.489 --> 00:41:51.860 and that will do it. So totally agree. Well guys 00:41:51.860 --> 00:41:55.960 I think that's that's all we've got for tonight, 00:41:56.159 --> 00:41:59.099 but I appreciate you coming on appreciate you 00:41:59.099 --> 00:42:02.679 sharing the information and Let's remind everybody 00:42:02.679 --> 00:42:05.840 of the website again, and then we'll take some 00:42:05.840 --> 00:42:09.320 final comments here before we go Well, thank 00:42:09.320 --> 00:42:12.639 you very much for having us Neil. It's our pleasure. 00:42:12.760 --> 00:42:16.980 There's a lot of fun to be a part of this and 00:42:17.190 --> 00:42:23.150 Our club website is longislandcwclub .org. We 00:42:23.150 --> 00:42:25.570 put a lot of things up on that website of interest 00:42:25.570 --> 00:42:31.170 for CW. There's CW in the movies. There's historical 00:42:31.170 --> 00:42:35.550 photos of CW back from World War II all the way 00:42:35.550 --> 00:42:40.710 till today. It's just chock full of all type 00:42:40.710 --> 00:42:44.210 of things that would be interesting to any... 00:42:45.099 --> 00:42:47.260 CW Affixionato and you could probably spend a 00:42:47.260 --> 00:42:49.619 couple of hours paging through all of that. So 00:42:49.619 --> 00:42:51.780 you can find us there and you can have a lot 00:42:51.780 --> 00:42:56.440 of fun on the website. Alright, so there you 00:42:56.440 --> 00:43:05.539 have it. LongIslandCWClub .org .org .org. And 00:43:05.539 --> 00:43:08.579 you can find them there and find all kinds of 00:43:08.579 --> 00:43:12.500 good stuff there. So guys, final comments here. 00:43:13.460 --> 00:43:17.559 Rich go ahead. I Just thank thank you for having 00:43:17.559 --> 00:43:21.360 us on Neil. I appreciate it. And Again, if anybody's 00:43:21.360 --> 00:43:24.980 interested in learning, please check us out We 00:43:24.980 --> 00:43:27.780 want to help everybody to have as much fun as 00:43:27.780 --> 00:43:30.820 Howard and I have Operating CW. Yeah, that's 00:43:30.820 --> 00:43:32.519 right that should have mentioned that a long 00:43:32.519 --> 00:43:37.500 time ago. Our motto is Having fun with CW if 00:43:37.500 --> 00:43:39.780 you're not having fun. You're not going to learn 00:43:39.780 --> 00:43:43.739 it. So For Ryan who was saying, you know, what 00:43:43.739 --> 00:43:46.300 next? You really got to be involved with the 00:43:46.300 --> 00:43:49.360 community to get the most out of learning. Learning 00:43:49.360 --> 00:43:53.059 by yourself or doing anything by yourself is 00:43:53.059 --> 00:43:56.900 not a motivating thing. It's better to be connected 00:43:56.900 --> 00:44:02.320 to like -minded individuals. Now I remember those 00:44:02.320 --> 00:44:06.119 records and I remember how fast I memorized the 00:44:06.119 --> 00:44:10.239 records And I found the other day. I found the 00:44:10.239 --> 00:44:14.639 original set of Farnsworth records that That's 00:44:14.639 --> 00:44:17.699 one of my college professors gave me he was cleaning 00:44:17.699 --> 00:44:19.780 out some stuff and he had those and gave them 00:44:19.780 --> 00:44:23.380 to me and I still have them around but but yeah, 00:44:23.380 --> 00:44:27.000 it you'd memorize everything pretty quickly on 00:44:27.000 --> 00:44:30.329 those so that's That's one of the downfalls. 00:44:30.869 --> 00:44:33.469 But it was cool that you could adjust the speed 00:44:33.469 --> 00:44:36.369 by adjusting the speed of the record. That was 00:44:36.369 --> 00:44:39.130 kind of cool. Well, put it this way, Neil. I 00:44:39.130 --> 00:44:43.590 still have my 1965 Amico code practice record 00:44:43.590 --> 00:44:47.789 that I used. I still have my Garar turntable 00:44:47.789 --> 00:44:50.449 where I could increase the speed. So I have all 00:44:50.449 --> 00:44:55.510 of that stuff still in the house. Yeah, so technology 00:44:55.510 --> 00:44:59.869 has changed, but But the code has not, so it's 00:44:59.869 --> 00:45:03.869 still there and we hope that people can take 00:45:03.869 --> 00:45:09.550 advantage of these opportunities to have a community 00:45:09.550 --> 00:45:13.349 that teaches CW and if they want to learn it 00:45:13.349 --> 00:45:16.570 and get on and make some contact. So guys, thanks 00:45:16.570 --> 00:45:20.570 so much for being on and I'm sure we'll be talking 00:45:20.570 --> 00:45:23.340 again in the future. Well, thank you very much 00:45:23.340 --> 00:45:25.840 for having us Neil really appreciate it. It's 00:45:25.840 --> 00:45:29.139 our pleasure. Thank you, Neil All right. Well, 00:45:29.260 --> 00:45:32.460 that is a wrap for this week's edition of ham 00:45:32.460 --> 00:45:35.400 talk live Thanks to my guests Howard Bernstein 00:45:35.400 --> 00:45:40.360 WB to use EE and rich Collins K to UPS and everybody 00:45:40.360 --> 00:45:42.619 out there in cyberspace for listening and calling 00:45:42.619 --> 00:45:46.179 in and typing in and invite you back next Thursday 00:45:46.179 --> 00:45:49.280 night at 9 p .m. Eastern Time. Dave Swartz, W 00:45:49.280 --> 00:45:52.820 -0 -D -A -S, is going to be back to talk about 00:45:52.820 --> 00:45:57.460 the WWV 100th anniversary special event station. 00:45:57.559 --> 00:46:00.199 They just did some testing, so we're going to 00:46:00.199 --> 00:46:03.019 talk about that and remind everybody of that 00:46:03.019 --> 00:46:07.039 special event coming up here. very soon and for 00:46:07.039 --> 00:46:09.960 a list of all of our upcoming guests you can 00:46:09.960 --> 00:46:12.739 find that at HamTalkLive .com and if you like 00:46:12.739 --> 00:46:14.880 the show please leave us a review that helps 00:46:14.880 --> 00:46:18.000 others find us faster so that for now this is 00:46:18.000 --> 00:46:24.179 Neil Rapp WB9VPG saying 7375 and may the good 00:46:24.179 --> 00:46:37.699 DX be yours! Well you came right back to my secure 00:46:37.699 --> 00:46:41.460 call Your readability five and strength nine 00:46:41.460 --> 00:46:46.079 You never once mentioned your weather at all 00:46:46.079 --> 00:46:51.320 And I didn't mention mine We talked and talked 00:46:51.320 --> 00:46:55.500 for hours and hours I completely forgot you're 00:46:55.500 --> 00:47:00.119 a ham I don't know your power or the height of 00:47:00.119 --> 00:47:05.690 your tower And frankly I don't give a damn 73 00:47:05.690 --> 00:47:10.010 to you and your family I'll be seeing you further 00:47:10.010 --> 00:47:16.690 down the law 73 to you and your family I'll be 00:47:16.690 --> 00:47:17.929 seeing you further down the law