Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015 — I have been rumbling around the ham shack the last few days, and mostly getting tired of the contests underway. All I really want to do is make a few casual contacts — NOT compete for sweepstakes, awards or trophies.
I attempted to work W1Q, the QST special event station on PSK31 over the weekend, but they had such a pileup that part of the band began to sound like a fax modem negotiating with a distant fax machine.
I’ve been playing around with several different bugs at the operating position — a Lionel J-36, a 1938B McElroy Mac-Key standard finish and a Les Logan Speed-X 501. My Rotoplex was nearby, but these three are typically my go-to regular operating keys. I had a 100th anniversary Vibroplex on the desk, and a couple other bugs as well, but I am trying to make a practice of getting more practice behind the key.
I spent time over the weekend doing some basic clean-up off the J-36, a key I picked up fairly cheap because it looked like it spent the biggest part of the last 70 years in a barn. I had originally cleaned it up when it arrived many moons ago, but the truth is it was looking pretty dirty again. I gave it a quick cleanup job and double checked the contacts and checked the adjustment.
Knowing the Kentucky CW Net operates every night at 9 p.m. on 3550 kHz, I decided to check in tonight using the J-36. Willis, AD4DX, was NCS. Only three of us checked in, but I did take part in the net.
But it was still fun, and proved one thing (at least): I need more practice copying and sending.
I have some repro J-36 labels I may add to this key later. The tricky part is getting the original pins out without damaging the finish of the key. I’ve had excellent luck getting them out without damage — so far. The labels I made I had laminated and trimmed, and they hold up very well.
Anyway, the J-36 performed flawlessly (more so than my fist, hi hi!).
So I think I’ll try to make it back more regularly to the KYN, and perhaps get some ragchewing in on 4o and 80.
73 es GD DX … de KY4Z SK SK … dit dit …
POSTSCRIPT 12/13/2015 – With egg on my face, I must correct my error, which I will file under the category of “That’s what you get for making assumptions.”
The net I checked into was the Georgia Training Net, not the Kentucky CW Net. The NCS was Willis, AD4DX, who is in Kentucky and also a participant in the KYN. I didn’t recognize the calls of the other stations participating in the net, so I should have realized something was up. It wasn’t until this evening, when I found the net as it was starting, that I copied the preamble and realized what net I was checking in to. It was the first time I found the net in time to copy “training” in the preamble.
For a moment I thought perhaps the Kentucky Novice Training Net (KNTN) had been revived, but I knew better. I found the KYN in operation down the band at 3535 kHz. In fact, AD4DX was the final check in. I had already moved my key off the desk. A “duh!” moment for this ham.