01/04/2016 | NY2G

 

STRAIGHT KEY NIGHT JANUARY 1, 2016 Licensed in 1984 and now holding an Extra Class License, I at least copied 20 WPM one time in my life. So after all these years of procrastinating I finally bit the bullet. Tonight I am going to do it no matter what! So I prepped my radio(s), I used my Kenwood TS-450S feeding a 72' end fed wire, up on my roof about 25'. I listened to some of my old ARRL cassette code tapes at 15 WPM. Now to pick the key... My "shack" is in my home office. My keys are in the basement tucked away for many years. We are not talking about a key or two. I'm talking about 25+ keys of all types. A Lionel J-38 new in the box. Lionel bug (I think Lionel because the name plate is all disheveled). Plastic keys, Japanese bugs, collector gold plated limited addition key, Iambic key, cardboard box toy keys, Russian key, my first practice key with a "D" flashlight cell and a buzzer, of course my novice key, and keys I even forgot about! But the key I picked and like the most was my original Kent Hand Key. (Please look at the picture of some of the keys I laid out on a workbench before I ran out of space.) Now you would think that an OM with all those keys would be a proficient CW operator. Not! I am good at 10 to 12 WPM and on a good day I can copy 15. I have this fascination with mechanical things that can send intelligence. So every time I went to a ham fest I looked at keys. Perhaps a illness, perhaps just a hobby? Anyway, back to the "shack." Ran a piece of white paper through the contacts on the Kent Hand Key to clean them off and plugged into the back of the Kenwood. Played for about an hour just listening to my side tone and sending myself some code. Not too bad! Then came the hour 00:00,  January 1, 2016 Greenwich, England. GMT! UTC! So I tuned around to see what's going on. Nothing! I reached around behind my radio and felt if the coax was plugged in. Yep it was! I went on line to look up the band conditions and every band was listed as "POOR." Not totally disappointed, I can always do it tomorrow, and besides, my wife was wondering where I was on New Year's Eve. Friday afternoon, 18:53 UTC, 40 meters, first Straight Key Night contact EVER with WG1L. It lasted almost 30 minutes. I did it! I broke the ice (and expression you have to look up). 19:42 UTC, 40 meters, WA2QQF almost 40 minutes. I was hot! 21:18 UTC 40 meters, N2FMS about 30 minutes. I had a brain fart, I couldn't remember how to send the letter "X." The bands were hopping, but my hand, wrist, and arm had it. My head hurt (maybe more to do with New Year's Eve then CW). But I did it! FIRST STRAIGHT KEY NIGHT IN 32 YEARS of being a ham! Thanks for the help WG1L, WA2QQF, N2FMS. CU AGN, 73 DE NY2G DIT DIT -- NY2G