My Morning DX Contact

This morning I was a bit late getting on the air since Friday is a weekly breakfast meeting with some friends at a local restaurant. It was almost 10:30 am before I returned home and tuned into the (what else) 17 Meter band.  The radio was already "pre-tuned" from last nights contact with ZP6CW in Paraguay and it took only a moment to hear the above station sending CQ DX SHSC. I listened for a moment and when he dropped the SHSC from the tail, I gave it a shot.

The SHSC was a new abbreviation I'd not heard before and stands for the "Super High Speed Club" 

"To become an active member of the SHSC three recommendations must be obtained from other active members. An active member may give a recommendation after a "sponsor QSO" under the following conditions:A recommendation can be made after having a 2-way CW contact with a SHSC member for at least 30 minutes using a telegrapy speed of 250 letters per minute or higher(Paris-base,50 WPM). Solid copy must be made by the applicant together with excellent keying. Computers, keyboards or decoders are NOT allowed during these contacts. Reception must be done by ear and only a basic electronic keyer may be used to assist with sending" 

Although Rudy (IK4VFD) was sending quickly, I can assure you it was nowhere near 50 wpm this morning.I had listened closely; and correctly identified the call before attempting the contact. He was not listed on the DX cluster and "out there by himself". He also had a VERY good signal from central Italy.

Here's a link to the SHSC site:  PA3BWK's Ultimate Morse Code Web site