VK3NX

Ever since I attained my Amateur Radio Licence in 1986 I was fascinated with working "weak signals". My main focus for many years was weak signal work in the VHF and above range. This was partly due to my initial callsign VK3XNG being a LIMITED license which only gave me access to 50 MHz and above.

In 1992 I completed my "morse code" exam and my new callsign as VK3KLO and then VK3FMD allowed me acces to the HF bands. Even still I continued to seek out weak signal operations on VHF, UHF and SHF.

In 2000 I completed my full MORSE ticket and gained the qualifications of an ADVANCED Amateur License.

Slowly I was beginning to become more fascinated with Dx on the HF bands.

Enter COVID in 2020! Not much needs to be said about the COVID pandemic but this forced many of us to spend long hours at home unable to work or work in very different ways to that we were used to!

With extra time at home, I decided to deep dive into the world of HF DX! I thought that after a long time as a HAM operator, I should probably finally look at achieving my DXCC! With suitable antennas and of course with appropriate Sun Spot activity, seasoned DXérs know that this can be achieved in a relatively short time.

As I progressed on this journey I found myself slowly but surely "ticking off" what I call my "going to list":

- DXCC

- DXCCC in Phone, Digital and CW modes

- 3 Band, 5 Band, 7 Band, 8 Band DXCC etc....

The ultimate HF challenge - 9 Band DXCC awaited and on 4/4/2024 I manged to achieve this. It took 4 years to get to 100 DXCC on 160m......... And of course now, trying to work ALL recognised DXCC entities

With the arrival of many different DIGITAL modes, the need for CW for "weak signal" QSOs is probably not required anymore as much as it used to be.

In the past my use of CW was a matter of necessity in order to work EME- Moon bounce. I have found myself nonetheless fascinated by the use of this mode of communication. As I journeyed more and more into the realms of HF DX I realised that my rudimentary skills in CW for EME were not going to be enough if I was to enjoy CW on HF.

For many, many years I struggled to learn to read "CODE" at anything over 10-12 words a minute......... Completely satisfactory for EME on the VHF- Microwave bands but not quite enough for HF. Whilst I still marvel at the skill of the operators who easily hold "conversational QSO's" with high speed CW, I have been able to get myself to a reasonably competent level at 22- 25 wpm and now, CW operations on HF is by far my most satisfying mode of communication.

The breakthrough for me in learning to get my code speed up was in 2020 (tnx COVID) when I decided to completely throw away what I had been doing in learning code at 5 wpm then 10 wpm..... The methodology I had been taught to this point was the "recall" method and it totally brick-walled me from progressing.

I decided to take the advice of more experienced mentors and decided to learn a "new language" from the start. This involved jumping straight to listening to CW at ~22wpm and no less!

If you are trying to learn CW I would highly recommend using this method. There are MANY on-LINE websites / apps available that will help you.

I am by no means a "proficient" CW operator... far from it! I have learnt enough to know that, for me, it was IMPOSSIBLE to progress by starting at 5wpm then 10, then 12 then 15 wpm...etc., by using the "Recall" method.