My Favorite CW Morse Code Only Radios
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- Опубликовано: 21 янв 2022
- These tiny radios are a lot of fun and have a bit of quirks to them that make it very compelling to collect them all! Tonight I'll talk about my favorites and some others I don't own and why you might want to consider picking one up! Adam K6ARK joins me to share his expertise in the tiny radio game too! / k6arkportableradio
Links from the show:
K6ARK Amazing portable antenna transformer: k6ark.com/
Adam's wild Pixie mod • Smallest (ever?) HF tr...
Download and practice with G4FON Windows app www.g4fon.net/
Pixie kit and derivatives (~$7.00-25.00) - Simple and pretty limited BUT people have made it work: • Smallest (ever?) HF tr...
Rockmite (~$40) Also simple - www.qrpme.com/?p=product&id=RM4
4 State QRP Cricket (~$40) Easy kit, simple radio - www.4sqrp.com/cricket40.php
QRX Plus and Mini (~$49) somewhat complicated kit - qrp-labs.com/qcxmini.html
4 State QRP Hill Topper (~$115) somewhat complicated kit - www.4sqrp.com/Hilltopper20.php
Venus SW-3B (~$188) retail, similar to YouKits (Adam Recommended) - www.venus-itech.com/product/s...
W3RNC TR-35 (~$249) Four band kit (Joe Recommended - www.wa3rnc.com/store/tr-35-cw-...
LNR Mountain Topper “MTR” (~$349) retail, four bands - www.lnrprecision.com/store/Mt...
My favorite HT antenna is the Signal Stuff Signal Stick: signalstuff.com/?ref=622
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ICOM 7300: amzn.to/2PKBpmZ
SteppIR 3E Yagi: consumer.steppir.com/shop/hor...
ICOM 2730a: amzn.to/2JqrASg
MFJ-4230DMP: mfjenterprises.com/products/m...
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@1:25 Intro - Show topic
@6:10 KX1 Walk around
@9:20 CW Only Radios
@15:30 How Adam learned Morse Code
@21:50 Adam's customized Mountain Topper 3 band
@31:35 Why not just buy an Elecraft KX2?
@34:45 What is the most compromised antenna Adam has used?
@45:10 Thoughts on the pixie?
@46:45 Thoughts on crystal locked radios?
@48:45 Recommended radios
@55:24 the coolest KX1 feature
@56:10 Size comparison
@1:00:30 Adam's modified Pixie kits
@1:09:00 Adam's antenna kit
#HRCC #hamradio #amateurradio 
Наука
Thanks fo this video. I made my first CW contact yesterday. It was ugly, but I put it in the log. Thanks for the comments regarding beginners in CW land.
Love my Youkits HB1B, Elecraft T1 tuner, Palm Pico Paddles and QRP Endfed antenna.
My favorite CW only transmitter was a Johnson Viking Navigator which had a 6146 in the final and a power of 40 watts. It was easy to use and worked well with my Courier amplifier that I got a few years later. Sorry, I'm an old timer with almost 60 years in this game... :)
Globe Chief 90A here. Rockbound and bullet-proof. Miss that old anchor.
Thanks Josh and Adam I love all these radios.. Keep up the great work!
I learned CW starting about 4.5 years ago (when I was 57 years old) using the KMT Pro app, learning head copy only. I topped out at 27 wpm and morse is completely intuitive to me now. Don't be scared, all it takes is half an hour a day of practice and pushing yourself on speed. 73 de KD8ZM
Great to know. After several past attempts I’m at it again in earnest. How long did it take you to get to that speed?
Excellent session, many thanks! I've had great fun with minirigs like these...took my 20m QCX in the garden at work, it was still just a pcb with no case...made up an inverted V dipole, connected it up and tuned around, first QSO was with a station in MO, over 4000 miles away! I have several other rigs including a Pixie and a RockMite. Someone over here took a RockMite kit up a mountain, built it using a gas powered soldering iron, then used the rig to get his last few SOTA points for his Mountain Goat 🐐
73, G0CIQ
Thanks for the overview. Well done. Kinda surprised the QCX and QCX-mini didn’t get more ‘love’ seeing as they are very popular and are available built, also. Maybe you were focusing more on the multi band purchase options.
"You'll freak out a lot more than people will care" is the thing I have to tattoo on my hand I reckon! This is true for morse code and all the rest of life I reckon haha
I have been thinking about a small radio like one of these. Great vid! I have a kx2 but wanted to try smaller. I had been looking at the (tr)uSDX but wasnt sure since I am not usually an early adopter. I took Adam's good recommendation along with the fact that the preorder opened back up today as I was watching the video (2/10/22) as a sign from above that it must happen. Now.....I wait.
Yeah, I just ordered the QRPguys 10-15 meter qrp rig. Been thinking of pulling the trigger on it. Just ordered the basic, not the digital vfo option. K1QS .
Great interview! One important consideration for those comparing a rig like the SW-3B vs. the KX2 is that most of the QRP CW only radios will consume less than half the power of a KX2, which typically means a more than 50% weight reduction in battery needs for similar operating times... and if you consider the total weight of a ham station, your battery is going to be one of, if not the heaviest item.
I hate the KX2 simply because of the over rated and over price many other comparable radios. Marketing does wonders
Probably one of the best RUclips videos posted to date❗️👌 I am very impressed with this presentation and Adam is probably on of the most knowledgeable QRP CW HAMS. 👍❗️. 73 KV5P
Thank you!
Amateur Radio CW licensing requirements have really changed. For a novice it was 5 WPM and for the General license it was 13 WPM. The difficult part was we had to copy 5 letter code groups @ 13 WPM for three minutes. To pass one had to successfully copy one of the three minutes without any mistakes. Then one could take the written exam. To pass, one of the things we had to accomplish was to draw from memory an oscillator, amplifier and a power supply and then answer questions using the drawings for reference. Bad drawings = bad answers. The other questions were in regard to antennas, feed lines, HF propagation, authorized band frequencies and FCC regulations. There might have been more, but it was back in the 1950's... DE K8QlW
Studied CW for 3 days, remembered the alphabet and numbering… but can’t ****ing decode despite knowing the tones. I hate having a learning disability. I think I’ve also been working too hard…
I hope you can work through it, it's well worth the effort. A friend of mine back in the 80s was quite severely dyslexic and found it extremely difficult to get to the 12 words per minute test standard you had to pass to be able to get on HF back in the UK then, but eventually managed it. Having said that, I don't think he ever used CW again!
@@TheSpitfiregoggles Thanks. It’s frustrating because I can memorize information, but when expected to translate that information back , that’s where I struggle despite being able to prove that I know the information by memory. I need a RAM upgrade. haha I can’t imagine what it would be like to have dyslexia… but with everything, it just takes more and more practice. I’m thankful I didn’t need to know Morse when I passed my General or HF license in the USA. I want to use CW because I can see the value of it outside radio operations. Non-verbal communication is important. You can communicate with morse through your eyes, mouth, hand, foot, and with other means. You can’t do that with sign language.
It took me six weeks and I don't have a learning disability. I found that I could only manage seven or so characters at a time and would forget one for every new one I learned.
What I did was build up the ones I learned to a faster speed of fifteen to twenty words a minute. Then they were ingrained into my long term memory and I could move on to the next one. Short term memory will last only about two weeks before becoming extinct. This can fool you into believing you have learned something only to find the knowledge or skill to vanish after about two weeks.
By practicing over and over again do you transfer the skill into your long term memory. Take your time and tackle it in small groups. There's no rush. No final exam. No deadline to meet or else. It's just a hobby. Once it becomes part of long term memory, It becomes part of you for life!
The only learning disability you have is expecting to decode well after 3 days. Don't be a lazy young kid, stick with it and practice every day.
Everyone has a hard time copying at the start. Best way to get better is get a buddy to Code with, if you can't do it over radio do it on an app like morse chat.
Just play it over and over. Get the dots and dashes out of your mind.
I regret selling my Elecraft K2 three years ago and was recently hoping to find a nice used 4 band K1 for sale but they have fell off the face of the earth as everyone loves them. I have some health challenges but am setting up a station for POTA but the prices I have seen has been discouraging post Covid, LOL. I may purchase a Venus SW-3B instead. I do have an old KD1JV ATS3B.1 with 5 band modules from 80M - 17M, but it doesn't travel well as none of the tiny toroids are tied down & the wires tear off very easily. Also at least one SMD variable capacitor has torn off one of the band modules too. This rig is one of the earlier KD1JV predecessors to the Mtn Toppers, it has a single 7 segment display. I live and travel full-time in a 23' travel trailer so soldering SMD at my age is getting impossible as I did it in aerospace as much as 35 years ago, LOL. Love your channel, Dave - KU9L
Me and Morse code are not mates. I take to it like an ice cube to a blast furnace, having Aspergers Syndrome, I can't get my head wrapped around it. It was torture getting my Novice ticket back in '76 then I lost interest until I got my Tech , but a breeze passing the General written for my Tech and could use voice (after the looooong drive to Atlanta's hamfest, before there was a VE program). It wasn't till they dropped Code as a requirement that I got a Free Upgrade to General (having already passed its written test), then was inspired to get my Extra. So Code stunted my growth as a Ham.
Good Video Josh! I hope you and others have a blast with CW. ~ I just can't see its appeal.
mike - N4ONL
You might want to fix the QRX radio to make it QCX in the show notes. The new QMX is a really impressive upgrade to it as well.
A point about the Venus, It actually has AF and RF gain built in and a VFO knob where the MTRs do not. It also receives SSB. I own a few MTRs and the Venus is definitely a contender. It's more like a poor man's KX1 without a tuner rather than a poor man's MTR.
-N4ARY
I have one on the way to me. I’ll be doing a review in the future. I’m looking forward to it.
Agree. It's hard to argue that the MTR's are better than the SW-3B when you've got easier controls, greater voltage tolerance, and rotary/dial knobs on the SW-3B. Not to mention the huge price difference (nearly half the cost for the SW-3B). MTR's are "brand name," which is perhaps the best thing they have going for them. I just published the design for a 3D printable case for the Venus, freely available, that makes the rig ready to toss inside a backpack without a second thought.
Just passed my technician test thanks so much Josh!
Congrats!!
Oh god, it's Adam, the coolest man in ham radio :) Literally a wizard!
He is!
great video
So this video is over a year old. Are you now the Yoda of CW josh?
Just a padawan.
I’d like to watch y’all practice.
I should go through the kit radios Ive built that are no longer available. I like surface mount kits but they are hard to find.
Nice! Do it!
I got an "at sprint III" super tiny radio fits in an altoids tin. Says it 80 40 30 and 20. Its just some boards, a bag of components and a CD. Didn't find much about this. Figured this would be good spot to ask if anyone knows about this before I start assembly
Love my G 90. Go anywhere and antenna in tow
That my next class. Being brain dead. KQ4CD Paul ⚓️
If I have no interest in portability and want to work the world on CW from home, what's the best choice of rig?
Your favorite brand 100w new SDR Transceiver. The newest most expensive you can afford. If that’s a qcx mini than that's best if that's a sunsdrpro2 or a flex 6600 well then hurray for you! Seriously though CW only pick the one you like on 20 or 40 if you pick a monoband probably and maybe a little amp if it's one of these qrp rigs and you're not gonna carry up on to mointain.
Which ones have great MDS like -135 dBm?
I am looking for a way of getting on the 80 m band. Or maybe the 40 m as well. Is there a way that someone with a technician license can do this cheaply?
If you are a technician, you can only use CW. There are many inexpensive cw kits on the market.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse I really want to get involved with CW. I find it exciting because on these bandwidths, you could communicate over very long distances. I would love to be able to communicate with China or India.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse I was looking at that mountaintopper unit. Anyway, thank you very much for getting back to me.
TeamReplay for the win!
I used to read road signs to practice.
Letter by letter in code
Is there such a thing as no license CW over the internet or on unlicensed radio bands?
Sure is! VBand, works great!
Could address in a future focus video, DIGITAL CW, I know, blasphemy, but really hooking radio to HRD at 25WPM could be a great incentive to get more people in who have digital. Maybe a short video showing how all the HF modes except voice can be seamless integrated with xmit, receive, processing, and logging? Many thanks! de WO8USA
The SW-3B is a great radio, I worked 65 CW contacts to activate a park. It worked great for about 2 hours. THEN the screen crashed! Radio continued to work but no screen.
Tried again at home, no luck. After contacting Dale at Venus and he sent me a new screen. After about 3 weeks I attempted to desolder the screen, 7 pins. Again no luck. A pro electrician offered to replace the screen for $50, after discussing with Dale he offered to refund the $50 (note: it would have cost $65 to ship it back to China and there was some talk that radios are prohibited to ship to China). Back to the screen replacement, the new screen was a bust also.
I contacted Dale again and he offered to fix and return, again my cost to return to China.
So now I’m in a quandary: 1. Do I spend another $65 in addition to the $188 original cost minus $50 refund spent with electrician, 2. Forego the Venus, cut my losses, and switch to a Penntek TR-35, or similar, preferably made in USA and/or quality support, or 3. ? Does anyone have a recommendation?
@Steven H long story short I bought a PennTek TR-35 and love it. In the meantime Venus sent me a new replacement unit but when I tried to return the broken unit the USPS declined to accept the radio to send to China. Venus told me to keep it.
Can we talk to Howard about Josh teaching an LICW touch lamp class where we all just leave the mics turned off to communicate? I'd even skip work to see that! The wife has one sitting here in the living room. I bet we all have the required equipment already.
Lol
@@HamRadioCrashCourse upon reflection the touch lamps can only use cheap Chinese LED bulbs. Seriously though, love the renewed effort with cw and want to travel the road with you. Even though my LICW number is like 198 I only have 8 contacts. Time to get back into it again. I need to justify all the Tentecs I own before I buy another.
KH1 for the win!
Please explain why we should buy a 2000- pound radio for transmitting in CW.
Only reasons I can think of are because you want one and can afford it.
Because they would be a ton of fun! :D
Let me count the ways:
1 You love eighty meter AM and crave high fidelity.
2 You love testing and replacing burnt out or soft tubes.
3 You are a Luddite who considers transistors and circuit boards the work of the Devil.
4 You are built like Andrey the giant and only spacious point to point wiring will accommodate your over sized mitts.
5 You plan to die in your current residence and don't give a damn about your survivors. In fact, you have willed the one ton wonder to you most despised nephew .
@@steveallison7950 One year later and someone finally _saw what you did there._. *LOL*
😎👍
CW radios seem to leap from $15 toys straight up to $250 serious kit, with not much in between... 🤔
Generally when they start adding frequency agility they shoot up. Also, prebuilts will be more expensive.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse look into the QMX.
What about the qrp keychains?
Ah yes! I should have grabbed one.
I've been saying "I want to learn CW" for years, never getting down to ever actually doing it. i really need to get my thumbs out of my @ss and actually do it.. any year now...
Chinese uSDX works great, essentially same radio