Looking forward to getting into that! Plan to go for general in the next month or so. Have an HF antenna coming soon. My original intent was to go for both, but got technician started first since I’d been putting it off for so long. 😊 Am leaning towards trying out CW too — that seems so fun. 73!
For me right now it is carrying a portable station on my back to set up on peaks/mountains or state parks! Then people find me on the air, from all over the USA (or globe if I’m lucky).
I’m kind of enchanted with it along the same lines. I picked up a CW operator in Texas recently and was able to decode his message with my phone. Emailed to let him know. Direct radio-to-radio comms across such great distances without relying on the internet really appeals to me these days! 😊
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For me right now it is carrying a portable station on my back to set up on peaks/mountains or state parks! Then people find me on the air, from all over the USA (or globe if I’m lucky).
Chilling at a park or beach, exchanging greetings + best wishes from far away with just a wire in the air…there’s nothing like it.
Here’s my cheap portable antenna and mast + a map of my CW contacts from 30 mins.
CW is allowed on a few ez long-distance bands with your current license (40m, 15m, 10m). Time of day and solar cycle heavily influence this.
It took me a few months of daily practice to get on the air with CW.