The Path to CW

I became a licensed Amateur Radio (ham radio) operator back in 2011. At the time, I had just experienced a bit of a close call while out exploring the Navajo backroads of Arizona, and I wanted to increase the chances of rescue if I ever found myself in the same situation again.

After getting my call sign and license in the mail, I started fiddling with VHF/UHF radios, connecting with repeaters, and generally learning that I didn’t have much interest in chatting with strangers.

I was, however, drawn to the technical/engineering aspect of radio. There is plenty to learn in Amateur Radio, and I’m a bit of a serial learner.

Since then, I have built a number of UHF/VHF FM and SSB antennas, participated in the ARRL VHF/UHF contests, and in the past few years have started learning about HF. I was immediately drawn to portable QRP operation and the (now defunct) National Parks on the Air program presented by the ARRL. When the newer Parks on the Air (POTA) program came into being, I started participating in that program as well and have activated a handful of parks, and made successful contacts with many more. This led to my participation in the 2023 Winter Field Day as a portable operator while camping at the Mojave National Preserve.

In the past year I’ve started seeing the many benefits of smaller setups. Smaller radios, smaller antennas, smaller batteries, and smaller operating footprints. When looking to downsize the equipment while increasing the communication opportunity, the natural path is Morse Code (aka Continuous Wave or CW).

Far from being an outdated technology, CW is still one of the most efficient and reliable methods of radio communication. It is often said that 5 watts of output power on CW is equal to 80-100 watts of SSB (voice) signal. This means more operating range with less power.

The downside? Training your brain to translate the series of dots and dashes into usable text takes some time and a lot of dedication. I’m in the middle of that process and I’ll save that story for another post.

In the meantime, my ICOM 705 radio has been sold, and my ONLY HF radio is now a tiny Mountain Topper CW-only radio. I hope to make my first CW contacts in the near future!