Sunday, March 16, 2014 — Have you worked any of the W1AW portable stations as part of the ARRL Centennial celebration?
I’ll admit that until this month, I hadn’t made contact with W1AW/x. Not out of disinterest, bue due to the fact I’m currently a intern at a media company my schedule to do much of anything — radio, eBay, fish, or watch “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” (don’t ask!).
The pile-ups I’ve heard have been impressive; there’s no shortage of interest in working the stations obviously, and I’ve decided to jump into the fray with the limited amount of time I can devote to the pursuit. Fortunately the states I missed will be back on the air later in the year.
I was going to work my own state’s W1AW 80 CW operation, and by the time I had my antenna tuner set and my key plugged up I was ready to go (I had been operating digital on 15 meters, so I had to stow the keyboard, etc.). My CW copying speed is getting a little rusty, and the op was running between 18-20 wpm by my estimate.
Fortunately, contest-like exchanges make it easy to understand the QSO. I zeroed in the right split when the op announced the station was going QRT. Figures! I had my Bunnell Gold Bug ready to go, too.
My phone QSO with W1AW/4 was on 15 with Buddy, operating about 25 miles distant with me on the back of the tribander. His groundwave signal was weak as pond water, but we completed the QSO just fine and actually chatted a minute before he returned to the pile-up.
I need to spend more time on CW, plain and simple. I’ve grown attached to the Gold Bug on my desk; the one I am using is the second one I acquired; it is missing the original Gold Bug label and the original weight and shorting bar.
But it is still the relatively rare (and obscure) Bunnell Gold Bug. I have it adjusted about as well as I can get it; the key operates ok, but it isn’t as smooth as the operating of the standard Vibroplex key. Why? My guess is the mechanical operation of the Vibroplex lends itself to smoother operation.
The Gold Bug operation works, just not quite a well. As is the case with any key, it really boils down to what one is used to using. I’m certain if I only used the Gold Bug, my fist using the key would improve over time (and my whining about it would decrease).
I have a busy Sunday scheduled today, with no shack appreciable shack timed … well maybe later. Life lately seems to get in the way of my hobby. Sigh.
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