Little Time for Writing

It's been months since I wrote on this blog. Thankfully, I've always been a very adaptable person. Time is a precious commodity these days; there's never enough of it.

I've shifted my focus on this blog from writing about my contacts and working DX stations. These days, I spend my time doing the best I can to market ham radio to beginners, and especially promoting Morse code. This blog has become primarily about the NAQCC Club.

IMHO (yes I'm biased) the NAQCC is the finest group of volunteers I've been around in my 25 years as a ham radio operator. Let me tell you why.

The main reason I'm such an advocate for this club (I'm the VP) is that we're doing all this work for "free". We don't think membership in our group should entail any kind of "fee" for participating in our activities. It takes a group of around 30 people to volunteer their time and efforts to keep this show on the road. We do this work because we all feel that QRP,with Morse code, is the most challenging and rewarding aspect of the ham radio hobby.

The beginning of every month starts our with a great (free) newsletter  to our members which is published online by our club President Paul Huff. (N8XMS) Paul does a magnificent job with this newsletter; and also puts in countless hours steering our ship on the right course.

We have several activities every month to challenge our members to improve their Morse code skills. We have our own operating event (sprint) which is specifically geared towards slower speeds. We encourage the use of a "straight key".

We also have slow speed QRS nets, from many different parts of the country, and different times and days of the week. If you want "on the air" practice, we have just the thing for you. As a matter of fact; we have an entire department devoted to CW Assistance. 

Working QRP CW is always a challenge. It's requires skill, persistence, and sometimes just plain old "luck", but I still find the same excitement and satisfaction, after 25 years, as the day I made my first contact. For those "special contacts" and "accomplishments" we offer a variety of awards.  

I'm very proud of this club and encourage everyone to pursue the QRP CW mode of operation.

Although I find little time for writing on this blog now, you can follow me from the NAQCC website.

I write a summary of the West Virginia events on the monthly newsletter.

If you're not a member of the NAQCC club; I hope you will consider joining our group. Membership is absolutely FREE. (tell them you heard about the club from me)

I'll continue to write on this blog; but not on a regular basis. I simply have too many activities and family obligations which keep me from doing so.

Happy Trails!