I would really like to second and reinforce Fred's recommendation of 30 meters CW. This is an absolutely incredible band; propagation-wise, I think it's the best DX band we have. Last night, using a low wire sloper antenna, I copied 3B8CF (Mauritius Island, Indian Ocean, ~12,000 miles) for the better part of an hour before he faded into the noise. Never got through the pile-up with such a poor antenna, but just hearing Jacky was a thrill. I couldn't believe my ears when I first copied his call.
The CW DX lives almost entirely between 10,100 - 10,115 kHz. (15 kHz doesn't sound like much, but that much band space goes a long way on CW!) 10,115 - 10,125 kHz is mostly domestic QSOs -- more rag-chew type Qs to be had here. As Fred said, 10,125 up is mostly digital -- RTTY, PSK31, and a plethora of other modes. 30 meters is ham radio's best-kept HF secret. Get up some kind of an antenna that will load and radiate on this band, and try it! Bill W5WVO -------------------------------------------------- From: "Fred Jensen" <k6...@foothill.net> Sent: Friday, August 06, 2010 18:56 To: "Elecraft Reflector" <elecraft@mailman.qth.net> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] My First steps on CW > Hi Ed, > > QRP on 40 tends to run from about 7040-7060. There will be some > activity above 7100, but not a lot, I think that used to be the Novice > band. Lately, it seems some digital modes have moved into the 7030-7035 > range. Most DX operations are below 7030. 7047.5 is the W1AW scheduled > frequency. 7058 is the FISTS calling frequency. A number of CW ops > cluster "on the 8's" [7038, 7048, 7058]. Nearly all good CW ops will > QRS for you, those that won't just don't get your call in their logs :-) > > Sort of the same on 20, 14040-14065, W1AW at 14047.5. PSK31 starts at > 14070 and RTTY above it. You'll find a little CW above 14110 but not > much except during major contests. Lots of automated digital stuff > between 14100 and 14110. Again, you may find activity on the 8's, and I > think 14058 is a FISTS hangout. > > Consider the SPARTAN Sprint sponsored by the Adventure Radio Society, > first Monday [in North America] of every month, 0100Z-0300Z on Tue [UTC > day]. Two classes, Skinny and Tubby. For tubby, you count your Q's. > For skinny, you divide your number of Q's by the weight of your KX1, > battery, paddle, and headphones. I power my KX1 with a very light 750 > maH 11.7V Lithium Polymer battery [RC model shops], use the integral > paddle and very light ear buds, and come in at around 0.64 lbs. Google > [spartan sprint] for details. > > If you have the module for your KX1, 30m is a great place for QRP CW. > In the Colonies and westward, we're limited to 200W on the band, CW and > RTTY only, so the chances are higher that if you can hear them well, > they will probably hear you. CW congregates at the lower end > [10100-10125, RTTY above]. The band is sort of a hybrid between 40 and > 20, it opens during the day for shorter skip [CO is strong in CA midday > on 30m], and stays open at night. Code speeds are very flexible on 30m. > > Many years ago, I made up a card with subjects to talk about and posted > it by my rig. I haven't needed the card in decades, but it sure helped > in the "What to talk about after RST, NAME, QTH, RIG" when I was new. > > There are a number of free code programs that will read a text file and > either send it or write the Morse to an .mp3 or .wav file. I once > created a set of .mp3 files from an article I was interested in with > MorseGen [Google G4ILO], burned them onto some CD's and listened to them > while driving down to visit with my college roomie of 50 yrs ago. > Really good practice, and the CD player in my truck lets me back up if > driving interferes with copy :-) I wouldn't do this in traffic, > however, the Interstates work good. > > 73, > > Fred K6DGW > - Northern California Contest Club > - CU in the 2010 Cal QSO Party 2-3 Oct 2010 > - www.cqp.org > > EMD wrote: > >> I understand on 40m a good frequency to get a patient ear is 7114. Is >> there >> a similar frequency on 20m? > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
