My cw may be poor but I have always found your videos to be inspiring. Happy to see you guys doing such a great job with POTA and the cool QRP rigs Thomas and Johnathan.
AWESOME! Papa Thomas and Brother Jonathan at the same table! Gosh what a treat! All the best to both of you and thanks for the inspiration! 72's AG7UW RC
I've watched allloooot of your videos and I still stumble a little bit at first when you (or Jonathan) call your first CQ and I don't hear de my call sign follow. Never fails to make me chuckle at myself. Thanks so much for these videos. I'm an evolving ditwit because of you. KA5TXN
I just purchased and built the KM4CFT QRP kit December. I haven't had the chance to bring it out to tune it yet but it's ready to go. Just need to trim the wire to length and get on the air.
I was using my bamatech TP-III. Mine is fully gray because I was able to do a custom color combination during a group buy on the POTA discord server. Thomas was using his begali traveler I think.
Thomas what was the output power were running for most of the CW contacts and does the have a higher power setting or is just 5 watts. I am just trying to work out distances worked. I am currently studying at 32 wpm doing decoding CW with Word exercises going OK. Looking forward to getting on the air with CW here in ZL. Thanks for posting content I must sit down with pen and paper and try and read what is being sent and received.
Hi, David, With both radios, we were running about 5-6 watts. The TX-500 will do 10W output--the TR-45L about 5-6 watts. If you're studying code at 32WPM then you're more than prepared for a POTA or SOTA activation! Actually, you're 100% ready just to hit the air and make contacts. Most POTA/SOTA ops run between 18-22 WPM max. Much faster than that and some hunters won't reply because you'll be exceeding their CW speed. :) If you're interested in distances, check out the QSO Maps in my firld report on QRPer.com: qrper.com/2024/02/pota-with-jonathan-km4cft-at-the-zebulon-vance-birthplace-k-6856/
Hi, Thomas the 32 wpm is what I am learning to receive at not yet tried the realm of transmitting. I am not sure what sort of key to use. I have seen a You Tube clip of someone making a simple morse paddle out of a medium sized nail file with a plastic handle anf a metal shaft. At the moment I don't want to outlay a large amount of money and find a paddle doesn't work for me. Will keep practicing receiving at 32wpm till I am happy my receiving is up to scratch. many thanks for the reply and the encouragement. 73's from ZL1BMA.
@@davidgrey943 Look at CW Morse Keys. Their 3D-printed Pocket paddle is great and one of the most affordable on the market. I know it'll be pricier to ship to NZ. Also, there are a number of paddles via eBay and AliExpress, though I've never used them, some are quite good I hear. Consider using a free program called "Morse Runner" to practice copying callsigns in a pileup environment.
