Morse, Digital Modes and Field Day Readiness Course Schedule#

Note: This information is preliminary. To discuss, get in touch with Greg.

Date	Topic	Slides
April 8, 2010	Learning Morse with G4FON	FD-2010-Prep-Session-1.pdf
April 15, 2010	No presentation - keep practicing Morse
April 22, 2010	No presentation - keep practicing Morse
April 29, 2010	Sending Morse	FD-2010-Prep-Session-2.pdf
May 6, 2010	No class - general meeting
May 13, 2010	Station Setup For Morse	FD-2010-Prep-Session-3.pdf
May 20, 2010	Digital Operation. Morse Exams
May 27, 2010	Basic Morse Operations	FD-2010-Prep-Session-4.pdf
June 3, 2010	No class - Annual General Meeting
June 10, 2010	Contests and Sprints (Morse and Digital)/NAQCC Sprint	FD-2010-Prep-Session-5.pdf
June 17, 2010	Field Day Preparations
June 24, 2010	Final Field Day Preparations

Classes will be approximately 1/2-hour. Held during techie nights starting at 7:30.

Training Outline#

We want to shine in digital and CW contacts this year! To make this happen we need operators, and we'll need to train them. Topics are as follows.

Operating CW with Morse Code#

• Overview of CW and Morse Code (including "Why Morse?")
• Copying Morse Code
  • General introduction
  • Learning Morse by the Koch method using G4FON
• Sending Morse Code
  • The Straight Key
    • Setting up the Straight Key
    • American-style sending
    • European-style sending
    • Buying a key - what to look for
  • The Semi-Automatic Key (Bug)
  • Automatic Keying (Paddles)
    • Basic Paddles
    • Iambic Keying
    • Paddle Technique
• Basic Station Setup for Morse Code
  • Straight Key
  • Paddles with external keyer
  • Paddles with the radio's keyer
  • The Radio
    • Filters
    • Full Break-In vs. Semi Break-In
    • Miscellaneous Radio Features for CW
• Basic CW Operations
  • Listening for CW
  • Zero-beating a signal
  • Answering a CQ
  • Traditional rag-chew interchange
  • Prosigns, Q Signals and Abbreviations
  • Chatting
  • Signing off
  • Calling CQ
• Contests and Sprints
  • The contest exchange
  • Logging software
  • Computerized Rig Control
  • Automatic Sending
  • Station setup for Automatic Rig Control and Sending
  • Answering a contest CQ (Search-and-Pounce operation)
  • Calling CQ in contest.
• Field Day preparations

Operating with Digital Modes#

• Digital Modes Overview
• Interfacing your Computer to the Radio
• Software for Digital Modes
• Basic Digital Station Setup
• Basic Digital Operations
  • Listening for Digital Transmissions
  • Tuning a digital signal
  • Adjusting Output Levels
  • Answering a CQ
  • Traditional rag-chew interchange
  • Chatting
  • Signing off
  • Calling CQ
• Contests and Sprints
  • The contest exchange
  • Logging software
  • Computerized Rig Control
  • Station setup for Automatic Rig Control
  • Answering a contest CQ (Search-and-Pounce operation)
  • Calling CQ in contest.
• Field Day preparations

Resources#

Here are some web links you might find useful:

http://g4fon.net	Probably the most well-known Koch method trainer for Windows.
http://justlearnmorsecode.com	Another popular Koch method trainer for Windows.
http://lcwo.net	Online, browser-based Koch trainer. Works on both Windows and Mac. Also works on iPad Touch, but you have to use the MP3 links, since there's no Flash player.
The Art & Skill of Radio-Telegraphy	An excellent book by William G. Pierpont on all aspects of sending and receiving code.
WineBottler	A program that lets you run Windows programs on Intel-based Apple Macintosh computers. You can use this to run G4FON on your Macintosh.
The Wine Project	Lets you run Windows programs on Intel-based Linux distributions. You can use this to run G4FON under Linux. Note that it is usually easier to use your distribution's package manager rather to install Wine, rather than downloading from winehq.
How To Operate a Straight Key	An excellent video on how to operate a straight key, presented by GHD Corporation. In Japanes with English subtitles, but well worth watching.
CWDecoderXP	A CW Decoder for your PC. Very useful for practicing Morse.
AC6V's Morse page	Some interesting links and learning suggestions