Posted: 1/23/2014 3:59:17 PM EDT
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When do I attempt to jump in?
Does the station send out --.- .-. --..? (QRZ) I ain't never done CW to a stranger before. 
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This is a pretty good writeup (the SKCC ops I've met on the air have been nice people):
http://www.skccgroup.com/member_services/beginners_corner |
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In normal (non DX pileup) operation QRZ(?) is often used or QRZ DE (callsign). Sometimes guys go straight in to CQ mode too.
For DX pile up QRZ is rarely used. Sometimes TU (to the previous caller) is the only indication they give or TU UP if the guy is running split. To make things more confusing, TU is often blurred together so instead of sounding like TU it just sounds like X It will start to become second nature after a while. I am not even sure I hear TU anymore. I just start sending when the time is right. |
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Quoted:
It will start to become second nature after a while. I am not even sure I hear TU anymore. I just start sending when the time is right. Yep. It's funny, I'm now totally comfortable going after the DXpedition pileups, even when they are operating at 35+ wpm. But the thought of rag chewing at 15 wpm makes me nervous as hell. To help me get over that, I signed up for the CW Academy over at the CW Operator's Club. Hopefully it will push me to become better at "conversational CW". 
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Quoted:
Yep. It's funny, I'm now totally comfortable going after the DXpedition pileups, even when they are operating at 35+ wpm. But the thought of rag chewing at 15 wpm makes me nervous as hell. To help me get over that, I signed up for the CW Academy over at the CW Operator's Club. Hopefully it will push me to become better at "conversational CW". Quoted:
Quoted:
It will start to become second nature after a while. I am not even sure I hear TU anymore. I just start sending when the time is right. Yep. It's funny, I'm now totally comfortable going after the DXpedition pileups, even when they are operating at 35+ wpm. But the thought of rag chewing at 15 wpm makes me nervous as hell. To help me get over that, I signed up for the CW Academy over at the CW Operator's Club. Hopefully it will push me to become better at "conversational CW". Conversational CW is fun, but some of the weird abbreviations are overused and unnecessary. BK for one. Good god, no one needs to send that after telling me what kind of rig they are using. |
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Quoted:
Conversational CW is fun, but some of the weird abbreviations are overused and unnecessary. BK for one. Good god, no one needs to send that after telling me what kind of rig they are using. Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
It will start to become second nature after a while. I am not even sure I hear TU anymore. I just start sending when the time is right. Yep. It's funny, I'm now totally comfortable going after the DXpedition pileups, even when they are operating at 35+ wpm. But the thought of rag chewing at 15 wpm makes me nervous as hell. To help me get over that, I signed up for the CW Academy over at the CW Operator's Club. Hopefully it will push me to become better at "conversational CW". Conversational CW is fun, but some of the weird abbreviations are overused and unnecessary. BK for one. Good god, no one needs to send that after telling me what kind of rig they are using. Only time I send BK is when I'm asking a question I need a quick answer to, or responding in kind. |
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Quoted:
Conversational CW is fun, but some of the weird abbreviations are overused and unnecessary. BK for one. Good god, no one needs to send that after telling me what kind of rig they are using. Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
It will start to become second nature after a while. I am not even sure I hear TU anymore. I just start sending when the time is right. Yep. It's funny, I'm now totally comfortable going after the DXpedition pileups, even when they are operating at 35+ wpm. But the thought of rag chewing at 15 wpm makes me nervous as hell. To help me get over that, I signed up for the CW Academy over at the CW Operator's Club. Hopefully it will push me to become better at "conversational CW". Conversational CW is fun, but some of the weird abbreviations are overused and unnecessary. BK for one. Good god, no one needs to send that after telling me what kind of rig they are using. The one that gets me, is the guy who send "BK" before he starts his conversation. Not sure what that's about. 
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Quoted:
Yep. It's funny, I'm now totally comfortable going after the DXpedition pileups, even when they are operating at 35+ wpm. But the thought of rag chewing at 15 wpm makes me nervous as hell. To help me get over that, I signed up for the CW Academy over at the CW Operator's Club. Hopefully it will push me to become better at "conversational CW". Quoted:
Quoted:
It will start to become second nature after a while. I am not even sure I hear TU anymore. I just start sending when the time is right. Yep. It's funny, I'm now totally comfortable going after the DXpedition pileups, even when they are operating at 35+ wpm. But the thought of rag chewing at 15 wpm makes me nervous as hell. To help me get over that, I signed up for the CW Academy over at the CW Operator's Club. Hopefully it will push me to become better at "conversational CW". I'm having the same problem. I can do a short QSO or work contests but rag chewing gets me lost. Some operators transmit correct pause between characters and words but some don't bother. I can receive 2-3 words in my head and then quickly get lost, even at slower speeds. I've been doing CW for 20+ years and still can't receive in my head. I often just write every character on paper to make sense of what they are transmitting. I learned CW in a military school. They taught us to receive by writing letters and numbers on paper in groups of 5. It was just a combination of letters and numbers with no legible words or sentences. I think this is part of my problem. 
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Quoted:
Some operators transmit correct pause between characters and words but some don't bother. Yeah, that drives me crazy. Sometimes it seems like they are sending one long, endless stream of dits and dahs. And then, throw in all of the abbreviations, and I can get lost real fast. I'm hoping the CW Academy class will help me get over some of that. I'm enrolled in the level 2 class, that starts in April. |