CW POTA Activation with Yaesu FT-891 and Chelegance MC-750 

Hah! Be warned, a small taste of CW can result in a full blown addiction 😬 And you caught it right, holding makes a string of dit or dah. 73!

TU & 73!

Thomas is the man! Listening to his videos was a key part of starting learning CW for me. That’s a great combo, I bet you’ll be very happy with it. I just got to the beach with the family for the weekend and that’s the exact combo I brought with me. I plan to hunt POTA beachside for hours this weekend with it. 72!

@@w4arb Enjoy! I'm based in the UK but will be in Malaga next week at a conference so I've packed my FT-817 and a WonderWand :) so I'll hopefully be working close to the beach too, so will be working as EA7/M0SNR. I've had a number of false starts with CW over the years but but learning from standard tools isn't exactly riveting and got bored. I think watching Thomas and listening to his code is a lot more interesting and the fact that you have gone down the same path and successfully mastered CW clearly shows that it works. Interesting comments that you made regarding different radio's and keyer "feel". The POTA scene doesn't appear to be particularly big in the UK (SOTA is) - I've found a few parks with references that aren't too far away from home, so when I do become a little more proficient it could be quite good fun seeing if I can activate a few of them. Hopefully it might generate some interest in the US community to try and work me.....

Thank you for watching! Different keyers definitely have slightly different timing. The 891 is one of my favorite radios, but its timing is always a bit different to me. 73 and hope to catch you on the air sometime!

Very cool on working on getting your tech license! It’s a fun hobby with a lot of different things to try. You could totally do morse code, it just takes practice. 73!

Your Tech Ticket will open so many doors and positive frustrations. Find some Elmers and don't be shy, no one was born with this stuff. It's a mighty fine journey. We're pulling for you.

Thank you! I am with you on the ham radio content that is just showing gear. Don't get me wrong, I love gear and talking about gear but even more, I love using it! I've been doing POTA activations at least a couple times a week since last fall so I'm just recording what I'd be doing anyway! Hah. That's awesome about the DX! I don't have a lot of experience in DXing but I would like to get better at chasing DX. Good portable antennas in remote areas with no RFI is a great combination! As far as the MC-750, it's a solid antenna! 73 and hope to get you in the log soon!

@@w4arb oh DX is easy, with your antenna and cw you can reach anywhere on the planet during the good phase of the solar cycle. DX is mostly about where you look for it. DX lives in the start of the bands. In NA people use the higher parts of the bands but in most of the countries it’s not allowed (kinda). Example in Brazil, on 40 meters you can find people doing SSB starting at 7050. This pushes cw to the lower parts of the bands. Thus if you want to reach Brazil it has to be up to 7030, on 40. This happens in the majority of South America, Central America. Another thing that’s very important to DX is a flat swr. Math and tons of people say there’s basically no difference between 1.5 and 1.0 swr. That’s true when you’re in the US trying to reach station inside the US, or even the whole America. But these tiny miliwatts is the difference between you reaching Spain or reaching china, for example. You already have everything you need to DX =) 73!

Thanks David and very nice on the journey learning CW! Activating with CW is a blast. I activate 3 times a week or so, and am trying to record most of them. I enjoy sharing them and talking to other folks in the hobby. 73 and I hope to get you in the log soon!

Thanks for watching! 73

Thanks for the contact Michael! Catch you down the log. 73, W4ARB dit dit

thank you for the kind words, Brent! I just started with CW last year and since I started CW activations last fall, I haven’t made a contact in any other mode. hihi. it’s addicting. I can completely understand on the 817! I enjoy using mine a lot. It’s just such a raw radio and fun to operate. 73 and hope to get you in the log soon!

it’s crazy how different they are! they’re both fantastic radios but you’re right, you get really used to a specific one. secret, i just got a Lab599 Discovery TX-500 today! i hunted some POTA with it and it’s different too, but more similar to the keying of the KX2. i found it quite pleasant to use especially for a radio that uses T/R relays. i’m going to activate with it the first time tomorrow morning and record it. will probably upload it tomorrow night. will be interesting to see how different it is while activating. 73!

@@w4arb Awesome man! I love mine. I'll see if I can hear you tomorrow. If I can I'll work you TX-500 to TX-500 LOL

Sounds like a plan! I’ll be on the air around 7:00 AM central, 8:00 your time. I will probably start on 30m and then move up to 20m.

@@w4arb I'll be listening. Hopefully the bands cooperate

got to the park and got a call from my wife that we have a sick toddler. so the maiden voyage of the TX-500 will have to wait till tomorrow. it’s going to be raining tomorrow…so true test. lol

thank you for watching! aren’t they great? i got them from a guy that makes them and sells them on Etsy. here’s the link: www.etsy.com/listing/1093593565/yaesu-ft-891-rails-qrp?click_key=00c8301380983d2db795e77f4fa5077aaabaf4ad%3A1093593565&click_sum=c5295a01&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=891+rails&ref=sr_gallery-1-2&organic_search_click=1&cns=1&sts=1

@@w4arb right on. Thanks:)

Thanks for the suggestion and for watching! 73

true! memory keyers are handy but i personally don’t use them often because i enjoy keying morse code. i don’t mind calling CQ a bunch of times by hand.

I’ll look that up. I didn’t even think about A vs. B. I bet you’re right! TU es 73!

because I am weird. :) but really, it’s just what feels natural to me. i can key either way but prefer thumb dah, middle finger dit. 73!

they actually were both at 20 WPM but the KX2 does sound faster. i think the KX2 may have a buffer of some kind. for example, it i hit a “dit” before the last “dah” has completed sounding, the KX2 will send the dit after the dah no problem. the FT-891 wants me to wait until the last character is done before tapping another character. not scientific or necessarily right, but that’s what it feels like. could you hear a difference? 73!

Yea, there was some hesitation of response on the Yaesu.

Thanks Nic! 73 and hope to get you in the log soon!

i know that’s right! 72!

Thomas is amazing. So are you ! He is the reason I bought my elecraft(s). He’s a good man.

Thanks! Thomas has inspired me to spend lots of money haha. Most recently, the 705.

@@w4arb SAME! I hope he's getting commissions for that! ha! I really do love the 705, with the exception of it missing a tuner. Easily solved with the LDG z-100plus or Elecraft t-1, which Thomas also convinced me to buy. The mAT tuner purchase was averted also because of Thomas. I don't know if he knows how much influence he has. It pays to be nice, not pushy, honest, and not a crabby old Elmer (SO MANY OF THEM) to us newbies.