PA3CLQ's Leuke Linken Nr. 457
Independent Telegraph club CQCW invites you to join the club members.
Our organization is still very young (2013), but already unites 510 members / radio Amateurs from 60 countries of the world (07-03-17) (dd-mm-yy).
About the policy and the rules of the club can be found at our website:
Download and unpack memberlist at:
cqcw.ru/cqcw.zip
Sumptuous Award Programma CQCW
http://www.cqcw.ru/avards.html
Diplomas PROGRAMM "The Great Inventors" is back again & open now..........
as simple diploma program.
http://www.cqcw.ru/award20a.html
E-mail to: cq73@ya.ru Alexander (ALI) R6CN former RV6ANQ
73, Editor CQCW #239
The March Rag Chew is on the web.
53 pages of great stories, projects and member activities will keep you busy reading for awhile!
Read
about the members who have built the "Resonant Speakers" ,
building banpass filters, operations in special events, art contests and many
more topics.
Thanks to all who submitted articles, please remember you too can contribute to
the next issue.
It's
easy and help is available.
http://www.skccgroup.com/member_services/newsletter/issues/201703_Rag_Chew.pdf
73 es happy reading,Ted K8AQM
Never heard of the Clara's?
Canadian Ladies Amateur Radio Association
http://www.clarayl.ca/index.php/claracontestrules
QSP from Nick NA3M
In case this is necessary? / Source for Register Paper tape 1/2"
Long time lurker - -
For 1/2 inch tape for registers go here:
http://www.sempcoinc.com/tita10ro.html
Be sure to use the USPS shipping option.
Thomas
How looks like The Netherlands & Belgium possible 100 year later?
https://www.youtube.com/embed/BHsOVH061yE
Frans PA3NL
Hello
friends,
Very interesting soft contact ideas, well made and sounds great!
* Button magnets/soft contacts on Martin's - G4ZXN KDM:
http://www.sideswipernet.org/keys/g4zxn-keys.php#kdm
About scratching contacts of a Morse key
For a Straight Key, SideSwiper Key or an Bug DIY Descratcher pse take a look at Jackson Harbor Press:
12USD.
73, Editor
Nice SSK video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS8w0_IDTPE
73, Peter PA0RLM
The MLA gang / "Magnificent" MLA Army ?
QRP Mag loop activity
Jos Warnier ON6WJ
Hello,
all things can be devided in big and small.
Big uns and little uns.
Well this is my smallest cootie, so i named it LITTLE UN ( or Lil Un ).
PS : built by the HAH ( half an hour ) methode
" MIN KEPPE "
If you want to build a regular cootie and use brackets ( predrilled with holes ) that you can find in a DIY-shop, then you need at least 2 different sizes.
The requirement, that the lever must be horizontally level, makes things awkward and restricted.
A first attempt to use identical brackets ( 6 off them ) is the HAH method, which is working well.
The latest attempt is to make a regular cootie with 4 identical brackets, the smallest i could find.
In order to keep the lines nice and straight, i chopped off some bits of the contact-posts.
Now, this leaves the lever.
Raising the clamping-posts with washers is an option, but i thought, why not make one big washer.
And this i did.
One half of the base has just one layer of 5 mm thick plexi, the other half has two off those layers.
The clamping-posts and contact-posts are at different but correct heights now.
This makes things nice and tidy.
But, because there are no possibilities, afterwards, to adjust the posts, only the contact-gap can be adjusted, you must pay attention to the dimensions, whilst building the cootie.
And the name ?
I have chosen " MIN KEPPE ".
A phrase or word in west-flemish dialect, meaning :
- in French " mon petit chouchou "
- in Dutch " mijn kleine lieveling "
- in English " my pet "
- in Dutch " mijn petje "
It is something or someone you like or love.
So, if you have the choice between several keys, it is the one you use most of the time.
Well, this little cootie is " min keppe "
Soft contacts see picture above.
If you have access to a HEATH code oscillator HD-1416, you can hear how good or bad contacts are, in case you are using a hack saw blade, nail file, etc...
I can tell you, they are all bad, none are up to scratch !
Wonderfull and weird squeeks come out of the thing, but not the tones and notes you want.
And ... you can easely rectify this.
Photo 1 :
You need 1 piece of thick stiff wire, 2 silver plated old school soldertags and some TESA tape ( tape out of woven fabric ).
Photo 2 :
Wind 2 turns of the wire, close together, around the nail file and, at the top, give it a good twist.
Photo 3 :
If you are not interrested in soft contacts, insert now the tags under the wires, one tag on each side.
Solder the tags to the wires.
This, in anycase, should give you much better and cleaner contacts.
Photo 4,
Photo 5
If you also want soft contacts, then before inserting the tags, tape 2 layers of the TESA tape next to the wires.
Then insert the tags.
They can not remain close against the nail file and one end of the tag sticks out somewhat.
The more layers you use the more the tag ends will stick out.
Now, solder the tags to the wires.
The elasticity of the wires give some torque and the tape, whilst creating a pivot, is a cushion and acts as a shock absorber.
That will cure all the problems with scratchy contacts and will give you softer contacts.
73 de ON4ADI, Paul.
Hello friends,
*
Soft contacts on Durk's - PA3BYW Flex cootie:
http://www.sideswipernet.org/keys/pa3byw-keys.php#flex_cootie
73,
Yann, F5LAW.
As I reported before: I'm using new soft contacts on my Flex
cootie.
I've made a few versions: from vy soft, soft, a little soft.
The contacts are gold plated and came from an old printconnector.
Works very fine.
Contact space adjusting is done with the adjusting nut on the inside of the frame.
A spring on the outside is keeping the contact adjusting nut in the right position.
Sliding the contacts can determine a Sweet spot on the bending lever.
73 Durk PA3BYW
Wisdom
Dear Side Sweepers whether single or double liver...
A subject that has often riled me in the past, and still raises it's head, is the anti-bug anti-cootie, or rather, I should say anti-non-standard-CW arguments made by operators that I myself often find inferior in their abilities in CW -- but not always! There are those who are very skilled operators of CW but who dislike certain styles, or any wide deviation from standard CW.
I posted in a forum today on this subject, and thought it may be of interest to other side swipers, so I think it worth sharing here. I am not preaching to the already converted, but I think this subject should be written about, and even some videos produced on it, that could do a lot to furthering the cause of bug and swing CW... Rhythm & Blues, Reggae, Soul and even Jazz...
I also include a link at the end to a post I made on the Flavours of CW. I also have to confess, and I hope I'm not disliked for it, that I love "french CW" -- I find French cootie operators have a very lovely CW, partly assisted by the extra characters perhaps, and that when I was in England I noted some did not like that French CW :-)
But I also like Russian QRQ CW in Russian Language, I even liked Arabic CW which was last used in Sudan and its overseas embassies right up until the 80s and sent on straight keys. In fact, I like all types of CW -- well -- almost all: *personally* I draw the line at joining letters on an electronic keyer like C = TR or KE, but when sent on other keys some letters can be quasi-joined!
An example is my callsign: on an electronic keyer I would send my callsign in perfect Gerke Code with 1:1:3 ratio: VK5EEE. But on a bug/cootie I could make the dah in the V shorter, and the dah in the K (one or the other or both) longer, and I could join the K to the 5 which could be sent at double the dit-speed, followed by EEE, and that would not detract from it's intelligibility.
What lead me today to write on this subject (again) was a criticism levelled against AA4OO saying that his bug ration on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-DGvvrCLIE
was 20WPM dah and 25 WPM dits. WOW, seriously...!? It's lovely bug sending, nothing wrong with it, but because it varied from Official Gerke Code (International Morse Code actually), it attracted a criticism!?
So I thought I'd not let the machine-CW-only have the final say, just as I would not let the Oxford-English-only have a final say over the Jamaican "Jomehkun", Thai English "Tinglish", Trinidadian "Trinni" and other variations, let alone other superior languages (French, Hungarian, Thai etc ;-) -- hehe I hope my fellow British friends can take a jab in the ribs now and then haha
Please have a listen to my video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjqT8PSqG_w
There
as we all know we can demonstrate that it is possible, at certain speeds, to
send on a straight key, on a electronic keyer and on a bug, "perfect"
CW that would be indistinguishable from "PC sent CW" and make all
keys sound the exact same.
After showing that with a CQ call on each of the keys, I
then try to show off hot-swapping keys, with mixed success :-)
Now I come, once again, on this particular issue, to counter KE6EE with both
tripple E's having differing views. It is a horse that has been beaten before,
but in the case of those who have not heard the argument before, I as one of
those who has long "mastered CW" have a view that is held my many CW
operators, but far from ALL CW operators:
Official "perfect" CW has a ratio of 1:1:3:7
dit-inter-dah-space. Yet, American CW has a very different ratio, again
officially, and I don't know them all, but the dit:dah is 1:2 not 1:3. This
results in a very different sounding Morse, but it is still Morse, in fact, it
IS MORSE. The one we all use today is not Morse Code but Gerke Code: See
click
on the 3rd issue of CW Today for the story.
I'm only out to state some facts and my own opinion and that
of many bug users and cootie users regarding dit:dah ratios. First, look at the
font of this email: it's a font and it works, right? But it is not the only
font, there are many fonts with different ratios, and they all work, though for
some people a particular font is favoured and easier to read while others find
that same font obnoxious at worst, or less than ideal at best.
And so it is with music, and so it is with CW. I am one of
those who believe that Morse is music and rhythm and what matters is -- between
the operators on a particular circuit -- intelligibility and easy of sending
and reception. Radio amateurs are generally not qualified to pass judgement on
such matters as those that operate for 8 hours non stop these days in contest
only push buttons, they are button pushers.
Those who ARE qualified to talk on this topic are those of
us who have in various services had to receive and/or send CW non-stop for 8
hours. And there are many different services: military, police, maritime, etc
etc and each of these services had their own versions of "Morse" or
rather "Gerke" code. The military, of which there are several ex
members probably among us here too, by necessity generally had to use the
OFFICIAL EXACT ratio in order for their to be zero sigint or little sigint to
enemy that could be used.
That does not mean that it is only military types who favour
official Gerke code in its perfect form, no matter which key it is sent on, and
advocate for the type of sending I have demonstrated in the above video- which,
by the way, I ALSO ENJOY. I like the sound of keyboard CW but I also like the
sound of various extreme fists, and even this Ludwig Van Beethoven -- great
practice to try to emulate it in sync on your cootie:
http://www.zerobeat.net/morse505.html
But I can tell you that if you have to listen to endless CW for 8 hours
non-stop and take it all down accurately, official Gerke code actually sends
you to sleep!!! Unless you drink endless cups of coffee or chew a cola nut. On
the other hand, a different type of Morse that evolves within a particular
closed network of operators using cooties and/or bugs, at 25-30WPM even, but
which has a variation of ratios depending upon the letter, is less stressful
over long durations.
This is why police networks, to take one example of a closed
network of operators, developed their own styles. In fact, I'd say some of
those styles notably that by INTERPOL LYON on cootie keys was the best CW ever,
to MY ears.
So yes, I could add the cootie to that video and also do a
perfect CW Gerke Code transmission same as the other keys... but when I use
cootie I used a different style, shorter inter-character gaps, some rhythm and swing,
and when I use a bug the same, I vary that style, and I dare say some of my
dit:dah ratios will be 1:7 not 1:3 -- and would NOT be understandable by many
of the CW operators who were raised on Perfect Gerke Code and/or electronic
keyers.
Yet those of us who find that handwriting very easy, and
pleasurable, find it VERY easy to copy such, and often much more relaxing and
therapeutic (as with styles of music) than official Gerke Code. I should
produce a video of this to PROVE that we send such code DELIBERATELY and I can
easily do this: as I showed in the above video that I can send perfect Gerke
Code, I can also send perfectly-repeatable bug-EEE-code: I can send each word
twice in EXACTLY the same manner with a completely different and variable inter-character
spacing and dah-durations.
I think I should produce such a video at some point as I
believe that a great many who hear bug CW (even cootie CW) simply assume we
don't know how to send code, and we are SLOPPY and that our sending the way we do
is because we can not do it perfectly, whereas for most OPs the very opposite
is true: EVER dit, space, and dah, is deliberately CRAFTED. Don't some of you
also get the feeling or impression or feedback or criticism from some who hear
our sending and think we can improve it, even though we are sending (not
necessarily always, but most of the time!) EXACTLY as intended? And crafting
very detail deliberately?
Yes, it means very often that our audience who can copy our
(often non-standard CW) is severely reduced as only those who have truly
mastered CW in all its forms can follow us when we use more severe variations,
and even those that can often find our styles to their disliking. To be honest
I am quite sure if there was a competition to decode a huge variety of CW
styles including foreign CW, many of us here would be one of the winners, it's
not something most CW operators have had to do, copy non-standard CW: those who
operated in closed networks (military vs police) often find difficulty with
other types of CW. However I do believe that ship sparks (R/O) are generally
more skillful (unless they only worked on British ships and ONLY worked GKA:)
at decoding a variety of fists, and also QSD from rolling ships, drunk sailors,
etc.
So in conclusion I am of the firm opinion, nay knowledge,
that there IS NO ONE CW -- yes there is the Gerke Code that most of us use and
it has an official version, and even that official version changed in most of
our lifetimes from a 4 dit-duration interword spacing to a 7 dit-duration
interword spacing, and most amateurs don't use that official
"International Morse (Gerke) Code" as their interword spacing is
often too short and their inter character spacing is often too long -- yet it
MATTERS NOT. There are many legitimate CWs, languages, even different codes
(American vs International), and styles, and they are valid.
What matters is: can you read this?
And: are you having fun?`
Here are some more posts on Flavours of Morse and also a video of a cat sending Meourse (CatW):
http://www.vkcw.net/forum/t-1366733/flavours-of-morse
BTW:
Appeal: maintaining the VKCW.NET site and furthering the interests of CW in
Australia has been an expensive exercise for me in terms of time and loss of
earnings, but worth it.
There is now an Appeals Tab at VKCW.net. Donations however small will help me
to help you
enjoy your hobby more.
Please visit the URL below and consider a donation.
73 es 77 de VK5EEE Lou.
Dear
Side Sweepers!
Cootie
home brew hack saw blade and Ebony finger from VK3CAB... 40m: 100W to Doublet
sloping from 9m to 1.5m terminated in shrivelled up very hard small tiny
potato, burnt in the 42C heat recently... see
for photos of antennas... 20m: 1-ele dipole up 9m beaming to HS-EU in both LP and SP directions ;-)
73, VK5EEE
Please have a look at Martin's - G4ZXN Meccanoflex.............
a very
nice vintage Meccano look:
http://www.sideswipernet.org/keys/g4zxn-keys.php#meccanoflex
Well
done Martin, keep up the good work mate, Twang twang!
Have a nice week gents, BCNU
73, Yann, F5LAW. SideSwiperNetGroup
73, from the town at the rivers "De Bergsche Maas" and "De Dongen" Geertruidenberg (800+ years city rights) at: 51.702211N 4.853854E
Your Editor Jan Pieter Oelp PA3CLQ
-30-
My simple website about Gigantic DF-Antennas
Part 1 "DF-Antenna Wullenweber Array"
Part 2 "DF-Antenna USSR Variants"
Part 3 "DF-Antenna USA Variant"
Next Part 4 "USSR OTHRA DUGA 1,2 & 3" at: