ALTERNATE COMMS: CW, by DVM

Redundancy, flexibility, and creativity are some of the marks of a well-trained COMMUNICATOR. Over a year ago I made my way through the Radio classes that NCScout teaches, and I have written on this life-changing series (RTO Basic, Advanced, SIGINT) several times. Taking these classes should “get your wheels turning” into new and old areas of COMMS. Some of the information I have learned has stayed in my brain percolating like a campfire coffe-maker.

There was so much info, much of it new, and going into new areas is fun and useful! Sometimes, however, the “old” tech is still very useful. Even before I took the classes I had on my bucket list to learn CW or Morse Code. This was my year. Yesterday I just made my 10^th contact. Sure, I am slow at 5 wpm, but I’m communicating nonetheless!! I’m on the East Coast and said contact was with a guy in Kansas and I was running just 25 watts. That’s just about 3x the power of that Baofeng you have in your kit and probably less than the watts you have in the mobile unit in your truck. That is halfway across the FUSA and no problem at all to do!

You can find tons of info on the internet if you are interested. Here are some advantages I have found personally and some tips I’ve learned:

ADVANTAGES:

Signal gets through on very narrow band-width

Most people in the world don’t know what you are saying so it provides one level of security

You probably already have a radio that will do it

Key can be easily made. The photo is the key I made and the only one I have and use

You can “hear” news from all over, and in this fake-news culture I like hearing what’s going on from primary sources

TIPS:

Focus on de-coding and not sending. One of my mentors told me early on, “Sending is easy ‘cause you know what you’re gonna say!” Spend 90% of your time listening and learning to read it by ear, not using devices

Find and use a computer program that you like. I found I really liked a program called Just Learn Morse Code. Your mileage may vary. I learned the letters at a really fast speed (18 wpm) but I have LONG spaces in between. I am working now to decrease those spaces.

Work on it a little every day. All languages that I know of work this way: you have to spend the sheer time on what is called INPUT. That is listening so much that you finally start to pick up patterns, etc.

Anyway this article is for motivation and encouragement for your group. If you don’t have a group, that is a problem of a whole different level.

Dah dah dit dit dit dit dit dit dah dah (73)

DVM

By NC ScoutPublished On: December 21, 2020Categories: AP Staff, Comms9 Comments

About the Author: NC Scout

NC Scout is the nom de guerre of a former Infantry Scout and Sergeant in one of the Army’s best Reconnaissance Units. He has combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He teaches a series of courses focusing on small unit skills rarely if ever taught anywhere else in the prepping and survival field, including his RTO Course which focuses on small unit communications. In his free time he is an avid hunter, bushcrafter, writer, long range shooter, prepper, amateur radio operator and Libertarian activist. He can be contacted at [email protected] or via his blog at brushbeater.wordpress.com .

9 Comments

StormN December 21, 2020 at 10:50

Good stuff! You’re talking to me! I’ve been too slowly moving to morse code. Thanks for the inspiring, well-placed kick in the pants.
philip lewis December 21, 2020 at 11:27

I put the MORSE TOAD and the CW TRAINER apps on my phone. Between the two, they offer a lot of CW learning potential, and they are fun. For beginners, the MORSE TOAD teaches the basic numbers, letters and punctuation, the CW TRAINER allows you to configure the program to listen at any speed, listen to uploaded text, like from a book or something, as well as a call sign mode and a QSO mode. Fun to mess with on a long flight somewhere, or in a place where you need to kill.a few minutes. Why not try some higher speed head copy practice instead of reading facebook or more bad news on the web…
- StormN December 22, 2020 at 09:00
  
  Thank you!
Karl Dahl December 21, 2020 at 14:25

Real American Boy confirmed if you recognize said device at top and built one for scouting.
Johnny Paratrooper December 21, 2020 at 15:01

Interesting. That’s pretty far.
Garry F. Owen, Trooper December 21, 2020 at 22:32

Just received my Technician’s license today. I was fascinated by CW capabilities. Good idea.
71M December 21, 2020 at 22:33

I’m interested in so many aspects of “rapid portable” communication.

The photo in your article is a very well constructed single paddle keyer. Learning Morse proficiently enough to communicate is high on my list.

Thanks for the pros/cons and posting of the article.
FlyBy December 22, 2020 at 00:04

DVM
You should do a writeup on how you made your key and the resources you used. That would be a good follow up article.
- Badger December 23, 2020 at 21:40
  
  Concur; some words on the cool key (actually looks like the Neanderthal parent to my Vibroplex paddle).
  Much fun. Before the “band” started coming back a bit I was usually laughing anyway when someone complained. CW always got me where I needed to go.
  
  Congratulations on checking that off the list. And, fwiw, you’re probably faster than 5wpm; it’s slower than folks realize.
  . .