You may hear from some of your ham friends that Morse code (CW) is not used very much and is fading into extinction. I would like to prove to you how wrong they are. If you own a High Frequency (HF) transceiver, or know someone who does, please take the time to tune to the following frequency segments. Of course, if you plan on transmitting you will have limited access on certain band segments depending on your license class. These are just some of the commonly used CW frequencies:
20 meters…….14,000 to 14,150 mhz best days and nights
30 meters…….10,100 to 10,125 mhz best mornings
40 meters……. 7,000 to 7,060 mhz best days and evenings
80 meters……..3,500 to 3,700 mhz best evenings and nights
160 meters ……1,800 to 2,000 mhz this is a night owl band
Other bands, like 10 meters, 12 meters, and 17 meters are not very active now but should be soon. Each of the above bands is active at different times of the day, as indicated. Weekends are usually more active and if you happen to hit a contest weekend you will find Morse code everywhere and at all speeds and skill levels. If you have an international call sign book you can identify stations from all over the world. Sit back, listen, enjoy and soon you will feel a desire to join in on the fun, and it truly is fun.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
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About Me
- Jack Stahl
- One of the wonderful aspects of using Morse code as a communications mode is that it is very indifferent as to the operator’s age. A good fist (one who sends well) can be ten years old or one hundred. I say this is wonderful because I am happily enjoying my sixty ninth year. I am new to the hobby of amateur radio, however, since I passed my technician test in September of 2006 and was awarded the license and call sign of KD8EJY by the FCC. I then passed my General exam in November and was granted my vanity call sign request of K8ASA by the FCC Although I am new to the amateur radio hobby, I am not new to Morse code. The ASA in my call sign refers to the Army Security Agency who sent me to a special school in 1956 to become efficient in Morse code. I was sent to Ethiopia for two years to give the army the benefit of my new skill. While back in those days my knowledge of Morse code was beneficial to our national security, 51 years later it now brings me pure pleasure. There has been a hiatus of fifty years between my army discharge and my becoming a ham and I do truly regret the fact that I missed out on all those years of enjoyment with the amateur radio hobby.
