CW Contact - Field Day 2007

Every year at the end of June, amateur radio operators try and make as many contacts as possible, under emergency conditions using battery or generator power. In this video, you can see and hear Paul Magnusson (call sign W7MYA), a member of the Island County Amateur Radio Club on Whidbey Island near Seattle, as he makes a CW contact using morse code on the first day of the 2007 Field Day. Paul is using a Vibroplex "bug" to send morse code. This Vibroplex telegraph key was manufactured in 1927 and was used by a radio telgrapher for 20 years before Paul bought it in 1950. The key has a very distinctive sound "signature."

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• amateur
• radio
• ham
• morse
• code
• CW
• Field
• Day
• 2007

[WA5MUF]

_ _ . . .

. . . _ _

[dwalker2020]

When I talk to kids at school and tell them about ham radio, they say, "can't you do that with a cell phone?" They just don't seem to get it. Sigh. When I talk to people on CW, they usually can't get over how young I am! We always find something to talk about, though... -KB1OSI

[samljer]

The thing about that is though

about "letting anyone in" i mean

is that people arent even aware this world exists

and the ones that generally do, for the most part 80%+ ?? fit in

[eogg25]

how about ham radio,other hobbies, sports, currant affairs, we also were 15 years old, we have plentyof good advice.i also have a cell phone, can do facebook, and many things on a computer.i have electronics training. i can talk about almost anything plus.

[eogg25]

yes most cw operators are old. if you contact one he can talk ham radio just like a young person. if you dont have a reason to learn cw it is hard. i was taught cw in the army on the job, not school trained 5 days to learn the code and 2 weeks to get past 7 wpm. of course i had a good reason to learn it. got an easier job.i have talked to many young guys who were better at cw than me. they just like cw.

[gmcjetpilot]

Freaking fantastic you go dwalker 2020. As I said HAM is dominated by men in their +60's; it really would be great to get more young folks to learn about it, but with text message, cell phones, face book, myspace, iphone, ipod.....there's a lot more competition for their attention than 15-20 years ago. When I was a kid, there was NO internet/cell phone. Kids today have never known a time with out internet. What is a 15 yr old going to talk about with a 60 yr old about, politics?

[dwalker2020]

As far as I know, I am the youngest ham in New England at 15. I am probably also the youngest who knows code! - KB1OSI

[dwalker2020]

I am a 15 year old ham, and I know of one other young ham. That's it. I have yet to actually talk with another young ham in person! Most kids in my school have never even heard of ham radio... I just spent a couple of months and learned CW by myself! I think that some kids might get into it if ham radio was better known...

[gmcjetpilot]

Radio propagation, radio, turns me on from a technical standpoint, but content on MW, SW band is not very interesting to young folks, even me. AM radio is well, AM radio. Hams (again old Guys mostly) are talking about their buddies that passed recently. The rest is slim pickings, foreign language, religion and to receive. Ham competes with satellite radio, internet, iPods, iPhones & video games. worse with cable/sat TV popularity, many neighborhoods ban outdoor antennas. Than there's RFI!

[gmcjetpilot]

I detect this general attitude on ham forums, as I get back into this hobby, "now they'll let all the tolls in". NOT YOU but in general a feeling by Hams (older CW'ers) that it's not exclusive, elite. The "common folks" can join because it's too easy? I agree its a great skill; anything worth having is usually a challenge. I get pride of CW'ing. I love kids getting into science & learning. I have an engineering degree. Ham's should go out to schools, making it accessible and fun.