There's only 24 letters to learn, which isn't sooo much. And the internet and youtube have so much guidance on the easiest methods to learn Morse and get good at it. So many people had walkie talkies when they were kids, and the walkie talkies had the Morse code printed on the side. That provided no method, and the kids all concluded they could never learn Morse code after dealing with that. If the kid was ambitious, they might have written out a larger chart with all the letters, numbers, etc. But a "Chart" is absolutely Step #1 "The Wrong Way" to learn the code. Today, there are painless methods. Better with a partner, but today there is excellent software. Did you write a chart? Throw it out! ⛔ Step #2 "The Wrong Way" is to learn the code at 1 word per minute (wpm). If you want to operate at 20 wpm, but start learning at 1 wpm, then you have to keep relearning the sounds every time you want to increase your speed. Better to learn what the letters sound like at 20 wpm. You can still have a lot of space between the letters, and then close up the space with practice. That's the Farnsworth method, correct me if I'm wrong. The latest method is to just hear the code at 20 wpm. No extra spacing; lol. At first, you might pick out a letter here and there. But with practice, you allegedly can pick out more and more letters, or more likely recognize whole syllables and words. (Recognizing syllables and words is what really gets your speed up, beyond individual letters.) This method sounds totally sadistic. It's called the Koch method, correct me if I'm describing it wrong. But it's worth looking up. For instance did any newbie EVER have success learning code that way? Transmitting is different. It's like spot-practicing on the piano. You have to build "muscle memory" by starting as slow as necessary so you can send perfectly at that slow speed. Only then do you slowly increase speed with practice. If you make a mistake, you sped up too quickly. Slow down as much as necessary until you can do it perfectly again, and then increase speed again; one step backwards will get you two steps forward. Sounds tedious, but progress is quick; days, weeks, who's in a rush. Better than sending messy when you get on the air. I recommend an electronical iambic keyer and paddles. After years of the only paddles available being $200 and up (Bencher can eat my shorts), finally there are 3-D printed paddles on the market for about $50. They've been making electronic keyers for years, I recommend getting one "used." With "dahs" supposing to be three times longer than "dits," an electronic keyer assures your ratio won't stray; then all you have to watch out for is putting a little space between letters, and even more space between words. Then, everyone will understand you. When I was a kid, I KNEW I was going to get on the air, and a receiver would be extra code practice, not to mention fun and educational (getting experience with propagation vs. frequency, for instance). So I didn't wait until I was licensed before getting a shortwave receiver. (Thanks Mom and Dad.) I went for a National NC-303 (used, from Harrison Radio in downtown Manhattan in 1974), although it did give me a hernia. If you go full out and get a modern transceiver (maybe a TR-45L), it may have an internal electronic keyer that you can use for sending-practice. If the radio insists on transmitting while you're practicing your sending, turn the output power all the way down, and run the antenna output into a dummy load.
Thanks for chatting kindly wITH the visitors that came by. I’ve heard you tubers that acted short with inquisitive passers by. I think when you set up in a public place you shouldn’t get upset when the “public” shows up.
Ok that was cool watching our contact from your end. I watched your videos for months to learn to copy CW and now activate POTA with CW every weekend. Thanks for sharing all you share Tom! W4ARB
Thomas, thank you for showing people the pleasure of CW, but also the pleasure of QRP. And with CW and QRP combined, the pleasure is more than doubled. 72, Steve, N7SR
Good morning Thomas and thanks for sharing this video. What a great activation; beautiful location and great band conditions. I've had my TR-45L for almost a month now and am absolutely in love with it! In fact, I took advantage of some nice weather recenty and did a portable activation at the beach with the very same length radiator and counterpoise. Had great luck.......... 30 meters was on fire that day too. I'm reminded why I put my microphone down 15 yrs ago, learned CW, built my first CW transceiver and got out of the shack and experienced the best aspect of amateur radio....... CW QRP portable radio. 72 de Brent VA3YG
Thomas, thank you thank and thank you again and again for producing these full length unedited videos. I can't tell you how much these videos have improved my listening skills more than any other internet source out there. Granted on air activities are the ultimate resource but FOR ME, these videos are the next best thing. Now I listen to them in the background and low and behold now without much concentration, I'm recognizing callsigns some of which I work in my activations, as I do other things. Like Jay/W4ZXT, Gary/W5GDW, Steve/K9IS, Matt/KN4YTN, Jim/KE4ZUN, and Paul/W4KLY. YOU, MY FRIEND are an amazing mentor for all of us Thanks again.
You are so kind, Jim! You are very much an inspiration yourself! You seem to be out there most days and having a BLAST! You're a proper amateur radio ambassador! Thank you again for the kind comments, my friend!
I think if that rig had a VFD instead of an LCD for it's display it'd look a lot more retro. I understand that LCDs are more common for a reason but that's m 2 cente
Nice to see the TR-45L again. It's really a full (CW) radio. Just a reminder -- When this radio is switched to the balanced antenna output, the black banana jack has equal transmitting-signal-power as the red banana jack. The wire attached to the Red banana jack and going up into a tree is good. The wire attached to the Black banana jack and laying on the ground is taking approximately half your transmitter power and radiating it into the ground, where it will be mostly absorbed by the ground. And you'll also miss approximately half the received signal strengths. I hypothesize that laying half a balanced antenna on the ground will reduce the incoming and outgoing signals 3 dB, half an S-unit, but only your antenna modeling software will know for sure. Better if both wires go up into the trees, preferably with more than a 90 degree angle between them. Then you'll have a dipole / doublet antenna coming out of the back of your radio with the two wires of the antenna system reinforcing each other. It's theoretically possible that if the "black wire" is laying on the ground willy-nilly, it might partially cancel out signals from the "red wire," in which case you could lose even more than 3 db, i think. On a tangent, K4SWL's videos keep demonstrating that running the same power output as a CB will consistently get you hundreds of miles and more using Ham radio frequencies. So, even if all the hams you run into are snooty, the DX is waiting for you to partake of the ionosphere. As a reviewer on eHam wrote about the earlier-version TR-35: "Not having SSB transmit capability isn't much of a downside in my view, as QRP SSB with a portable antenna is a recipe for frustration. [But], QRP and CW just go hand-in-glove." In the same breath, we should also mention that all Morse code testing was removed from all Ham radio licensing requirements in Feb 2007, so you can go from Technician to General to Amateur Extra without doing a stitch of Morse code if the idea makes you nauseous. So today, the reason people continue to use Morse code anymore is because they love it. To a large extent, the fascination with CW is spreading because the internet and youtube have so much guidance on the easiest methods to learn Morse and get good at it. I'm waiting for Tom to run a quarter-wave vertical on 20 meters. That would entail switching the TR-45L to the "Unbalanced" position, so all the transmitted power goes to the center contact of the BNC connector, which is then attached to the vertical radiating element. A vertical concentrates the radiation towards the horizon, which will net you abundant signals from off-continent. The biggest problem with that is when people reply to your CQ, their callsigns will begin with letters other than W, K, N, or A. You never know what you're going to get, so you have to be on your toes. Today, the solar flux is down to 107. I would wait until it gets back above 130, to assure the field operation will achieve a lot of DX.
Thomas, Thanks for another one! I am trying to catch up on your videos. I just watched one last night where you took Brooks out for his first activation. Inspiration. So, taking your lead, I am going to see if I can take one person at a time to our local park to activate it, and let them all take a turn. (its going to be voice , and maybe even 2 meters) But what a way to get people into POTA and getting out and playing radio.
Hi Thomas! This little radio is so cool! You should use it more and give me your KX2 heheheh I've been having issues with my setup in the cold. It looks like my paddle is freezing and fails to send some dot/dashes. I bought a cheap straight key to see if it helps, probably not but staight key should be fun =] All the best!
Wow--I never thought about cold having such an effect on a key. Then again, the contacts aren't spaced far apart and the cold with have an impact on the material, too. Let us know how well it works with a straight key!
Great Video. I'm envious of your CW ability. I would like to learn CW. I'm using phone apps for now to listen to code and try to recognize the characters. I listen to your videos to see if I can pull the information from the qso.
Thomas, i love your paper logging simplicity. Question when you log your entries into HAMRS do you just ignore the preset 599 RST entries or do you zero them out or backspace iver them? A ten QSO POTA session can be enteted very quickly, but doing a 100 Marathon POTA session adds a lot of extra work. I have never been solicited for a QSL card yet, so otherwise the signal reports are really inly useful during the Activation when assessing band conditions in general or comparing signsls, etc. The waterproof logbook on your Amazon link supports this ad you really only need their Callsign, State, & UTC Time. The state is important as a percentage of the stations are away from their Home QTH and the default in HAMRS doesnt aways catch the discrepancy, even if you have entered the P2P #. Cheers, Davey - KU9L
Early on in my POTA career, I decided that I wouldn't real-time log signal reports. Since the POTA system completely ignores RST and I log in two places typically (on paper and electronically), I don't worry too much. When I receive a QSL and know the other op wants a proper report, I go back and watch the video clip with their exchange. :) That might be cheating. :) That said, I think it's a good idea to log the report when you can.
Yes, I have thought about reviewing that radio and have been in touch with the manufacturer. In truth, though, I need to get some other things off of my desk first. :)
Is there a way I can get my hands on a Mtr4b V2.3 Mountain Topper to purchase? I’m stationed at ft bragg and would love to get one for my deployment to Poland.
another great activation. I love that little rig, looks like a lot of older big rigs I've run abt 40 yrs ago real radios! (to the neophyte boat anchors! ha ha) thanks for sharing Tom hp to get you in the log again only this time on cw. 72.de Ellis WA1RKS
This is so cool!!!!!! You inspire so many people to learn CW!!!
There's only 24 letters to learn, which isn't sooo much. And the internet and youtube have so much guidance on the easiest methods to learn Morse and get good at it.
So many people had walkie talkies when they were kids, and the walkie talkies had the Morse code printed on the side. That provided no method, and the kids all concluded they could never learn Morse code after dealing with that. If the kid was ambitious, they might have written out a larger chart with all the letters, numbers, etc. But a "Chart" is absolutely Step #1 "The Wrong Way" to learn the code. Today, there are painless methods. Better with a partner, but today there is excellent software.
Did you write a chart? Throw it out! ⛔
Step #2 "The Wrong Way" is to learn the code at 1 word per minute (wpm). If you want to operate at 20 wpm, but start learning at 1 wpm, then you have to keep relearning the sounds every time you want to increase your speed. Better to learn what the letters sound like at 20 wpm. You can still have a lot of space between the letters, and then close up the space with practice. That's the Farnsworth method, correct me if I'm wrong.
The latest method is to just hear the code at 20 wpm. No extra spacing; lol. At first, you might pick out a letter here and there. But with practice, you allegedly can pick out more and more letters, or more likely recognize whole syllables and words. (Recognizing syllables and words is what really gets your speed up, beyond individual letters.) This method sounds totally sadistic. It's called the Koch method, correct me if I'm describing it wrong. But it's worth looking up. For instance did any newbie EVER have success learning code that way?
Transmitting is different. It's like spot-practicing on the piano. You have to build "muscle memory" by starting as slow as necessary so you can send perfectly at that slow speed. Only then do you slowly increase speed with practice. If you make a mistake, you sped up too quickly. Slow down as much as necessary until you can do it perfectly again, and then increase speed again; one step backwards will get you two steps forward. Sounds tedious, but progress is quick; days, weeks, who's in a rush. Better than sending messy when you get on the air. I recommend an electronical iambic keyer and paddles. After years of the only paddles available being $200 and up (Bencher can eat my shorts), finally there are 3-D printed paddles on the market for about $50. They've been making electronic keyers for years, I recommend getting one "used." With "dahs" supposing to be three times longer than "dits," an electronic keyer assures your ratio won't stray; then all you have to watch out for is putting a little space between letters, and even more space between words. Then, everyone will understand you.
When I was a kid, I KNEW I was going to get on the air, and a receiver would be extra code practice, not to mention fun and educational (getting experience with propagation vs. frequency, for instance). So I didn't wait until I was licensed before getting a shortwave receiver. (Thanks Mom and Dad.) I went for a National NC-303 (used, from Harrison Radio in downtown Manhattan in 1974), although it did give me a hernia. If you go full out and get a modern transceiver (maybe a TR-45L), it may have an internal electronic keyer that you can use for sending-practice. If the radio insists on transmitting while you're practicing your sending, turn the output power all the way down, and run the antenna output into a dummy load.
Thanks for chatting kindly wITH the visitors that came by. I’ve heard you tubers that acted short with inquisitive passers by. I think when you set up in a public place you shouldn’t get upset when the “public” shows up.
Ok that was cool watching our contact from your end. I watched your videos for months to learn to copy CW and now activate POTA with CW every weekend. Thanks for sharing all you share Tom! W4ARB
So happy to get you in the logs, OM. You're doing a great job with your CW!
Thomas, thank you for showing people the pleasure of CW, but also the pleasure of QRP. And with CW and QRP combined, the pleasure is more than doubled. 72, Steve, N7SR
Good morning Thomas and thanks for sharing this video. What a great activation; beautiful location and great band conditions. I've had my TR-45L for almost a month now and am absolutely in love with it! In fact, I took advantage of some nice weather recenty and did a portable activation at the beach with the very same length radiator and counterpoise. Had great luck.......... 30 meters was on fire that day too.
I'm reminded why I put my microphone down 15 yrs ago, learned CW, built my first CW transceiver and got out of the shack and experienced the best aspect of amateur radio....... CW QRP portable radio.
72 de Brent VA3YG
Amazing radio.
Really really awesome video! Thank you!
Thomas, thank you thank and thank you again and again for producing these full length unedited videos. I can't tell you how much these videos have improved my listening skills more than any other internet source out there. Granted on air activities are the ultimate resource but FOR ME, these videos are the next best thing. Now I listen to them in the background and low and behold now without much concentration, I'm recognizing callsigns some of which I work in my activations, as I do other things. Like Jay/W4ZXT, Gary/W5GDW, Steve/K9IS, Matt/KN4YTN, Jim/KE4ZUN, and Paul/W4KLY. YOU, MY FRIEND are an amazing mentor for all of us Thanks again.
You are so kind, Jim! You are very much an inspiration yourself! You seem to be out there most days and having a BLAST! You're a proper amateur radio ambassador! Thank you again for the kind comments, my friend!
Nice to hear my puny sig from your end. Thanks for doing these - great resource. - w1mt
I like the analog meter!!!
That radio seems to take a lot of fiddlin' around with to get it ready, but it sure is interesting! Great job.
I think if that rig had a VFD instead of an LCD for it's display it'd look a lot more retro. I understand that LCDs are more common for a reason but that's m 2 cente
Nice to see the TR-45L again. It's really a full (CW) radio.
Just a reminder -- When this radio is switched to the balanced antenna output, the black banana jack has equal transmitting-signal-power as the red banana jack. The wire attached to the Red banana jack and going up into a tree is good. The wire attached to the Black banana jack and laying on the ground is taking approximately half your transmitter power and radiating it into the ground, where it will be mostly absorbed by the ground. And you'll also miss approximately half the received signal strengths. I hypothesize that laying half a balanced antenna on the ground will reduce the incoming and outgoing signals 3 dB, half an S-unit, but only your antenna modeling software will know for sure.
Better if both wires go up into the trees, preferably with more than a 90 degree angle between them. Then you'll have a dipole / doublet antenna coming out of the back of your radio with the two wires of the antenna system reinforcing each other. It's theoretically possible that if the "black wire" is laying on the ground willy-nilly, it might partially cancel out signals from the "red wire," in which case you could lose even more than 3 db, i think.
On a tangent, K4SWL's videos keep demonstrating that running the same power output as a CB will consistently get you hundreds of miles and more using Ham radio frequencies. So, even if all the hams you run into are snooty, the DX is waiting for you to partake of the ionosphere.
As a reviewer on eHam wrote about the earlier-version TR-35: "Not having SSB transmit capability isn't much of a downside in my view, as QRP SSB with a portable antenna is a recipe for frustration. [But], QRP and CW just go hand-in-glove." In the same breath, we should also mention that all Morse code testing was removed from all Ham radio licensing requirements in Feb 2007, so you can go from Technician to General to Amateur Extra without doing a stitch of Morse code if the idea makes you nauseous. So today, the reason people continue to use Morse code anymore is because they love it. To a large extent, the fascination with CW is spreading because the internet and youtube have so much guidance on the easiest methods to learn Morse and get good at it.
I'm waiting for Tom to run a quarter-wave vertical on 20 meters. That would entail switching the TR-45L to the "Unbalanced" position, so all the transmitted power goes to the center contact of the BNC connector, which is then attached to the vertical radiating element. A vertical concentrates the radiation towards the horizon, which will net you abundant signals from off-continent. The biggest problem with that is when people reply to your CQ, their callsigns will begin with letters other than W, K, N, or A. You never know what you're going to get, so you have to be on your toes. Today, the solar flux is down to 107. I would wait until it gets back above 130, to assure the field operation will achieve a lot of DX.
Thomas, Thanks for another one! I am trying to catch up on your videos. I just watched one last night where you took Brooks out for his first activation. Inspiration. So, taking your lead, I am going to see if I can take one person at a time to our local park to activate it, and let them all take a turn. (its going to be voice , and maybe even 2 meters) But what a way to get people into POTA and getting out and playing radio.
Brooks has done so very well. He hopped on the air and never looked back. :) Very proud of him and thank you for the kind comment!
Hi Thomas! This little radio is so cool! You should use it more and give me your KX2 heheheh
I've been having issues with my setup in the cold. It looks like my paddle is freezing and fails to send some dot/dashes. I bought a cheap straight key to see if it helps, probably not but staight key should be fun =]
All the best!
Wow--I never thought about cold having such an effect on a key. Then again, the contacts aren't spaced far apart and the cold with have an impact on the material, too. Let us know how well it works with a straight key!
I wish me a Penntek TR45L, very nice TRX !! Tnx f all Videos Thomas, 72 de DL1DUR
I must be a nerd... I actually find this fun to watch! 🙂 It's cool what you can do with only 5 Watts !
Great Video. I'm envious of your CW ability. I would like to learn CW. I'm using phone apps for now to listen to code and try to recognize the characters. I listen to your videos to see if I can pull the information from the qso.
It sounds like you're on your way to doing CW activations! I would highly recommend the Long Island CW Club as well. You've got this!
Also, in your book you got my call correct, but I think in your field report, you transposed a couple letters.. (I am W4EMB)..
I will change this and re-submit my logs. That was my dyslexia kicking in! Thank you.
Thomas, i love your paper logging simplicity. Question when you log your entries into HAMRS do you just ignore the preset 599 RST entries or do you zero them out or backspace iver them? A ten QSO POTA session can be enteted very quickly, but doing a 100 Marathon POTA session adds a lot of extra work. I have never been solicited for a QSL card yet, so otherwise the signal reports are really inly useful during the Activation when assessing band conditions in general or comparing signsls, etc. The waterproof logbook on your Amazon link supports this ad you really only need their Callsign, State, & UTC Time. The state is important as a percentage of the stations are away from their Home QTH and the default in HAMRS doesnt aways catch the discrepancy, even if you have entered the P2P #. Cheers, Davey - KU9L
Early on in my POTA career, I decided that I wouldn't real-time log signal reports. Since the POTA system completely ignores RST and I log in two places typically (on paper and electronically), I don't worry too much. When I receive a QSL and know the other op wants a proper report, I go back and watch the video clip with their exchange. :) That might be cheating. :)
That said, I think it's a good idea to log the report when you can.
sorry if missed it how much rf power were you using about??
About 5 watts.
Any thoughts about demonstrating a Q900 transceiver. It does vhf, uhf, and HF. All popular modes.
Yes, I have thought about reviewing that radio and have been in touch with the manufacturer. In truth, though, I need to get some other things off of my desk first. :)
Is there a way I can get my hands on a Mtr4b V2.3 Mountain Topper to purchase? I’m stationed at ft bragg and would love to get one for my deployment to Poland.
You should reach out directly to LnR and tell them about your situation. They do have a larger production run scheduled later in December, I think.
But nu button to change CW pitch.
Gust ON6KE
Correct--you can't change the sidetone from the front panel.
another great activation. I love that little rig, looks like a lot of older big rigs I've run abt 40 yrs ago real radios! (to the neophyte boat anchors! ha ha) thanks for sharing Tom hp to get you in the log again only this time on cw. 72.de Ellis WA1RKS