My brief history and a new Kent Twin Paddle

    I am a Ham Radio operator in Eugene, OR. My interest in radio started in the day as a licensed CB user(KBPN-1418) and I went by 'Little John' (Paul means little and my middle name means John).  I was discouraged by the language and lack of courtesy though and wished for an alternative.  Ham radio was the ticket, although it was several years till I got around to studying for a license.  I was first licensed as KB7VIQ on June 6, 1993.  My Brother Cecil (KB7ZXH) and a group of Friends had a repeater for years but due to inactivity we took it down.  On March 14th 2007 my wife became KD7PJW and I (became K7VIQ) as we both  took and passed the General exam together.

 

   In 2019 we purchased an Icom 7300, LMR-440 coax, and an isotron antenna but have not gotten them to work(as of Oct 2020).  A good friend of mine encouraged me to study to pass the Extra on March 4, 2019.

  I joined LICW Club as member #266 on Dec 14, 2019 and re-upped to lifetime membership on Nov. 12, 2020.

  I had a MFJ straight key from childhood a brass Western Electric/ATT straight key and a couple plastic paddles(2019), and then bought a Chrome Bencher 2(2020),  

   From late 2019 I wanted to buy the Kent Double Paddle TP1-B kit but did not want to pay this much for a key when I was still learning code and had others I could use.  But the Kent key has always been a goal key for me. When I recently looked at it again, I found out the kit itself is no longer available directly from Kent and was at the time only available at WinMo, but with very high shipping rates. However all the parts individually can still be ordered from Kent with very reasonable shipping. 

    I could take it no longer.  I bought only the parts I needed to assemble a custom key for me.  Most notably, I did not purchase the black plastic paddles, but I already had the BamaTech burgundy anodized paddles sitting and waiting from its purchase in 2019 to add some color to the brass with two bright cherries that I had been hoping to mount to my future little reward.  It took 28 days from 28 Mar 2023 to receive them but I received and assembled on April 22, but had to order a 1/8 phono plug as I found I did not have one to finish the key and finally received it on May 1, 2023.  

   I still struggle when I practice, but now I have even more motivation to continue learning code, and it feels nice.

  My other keys are a MFJ straight, 2 plastic paddles, a Western Union/ATT Straight and a Bencher BY-2.  The collection has begun.  

    73, Paul

Trying to Learn Morse Code

My CW History and Progress. 

    My interest in radio started as a licensed CB user(KBPN-1418) and I went by 'Little John'. I was rather discouraged by the language and lack of courtesy though, and wished for an alternative. Ham radio was the ticket, although it was several years until I got around to studying for a license I finally did it. I have long wished to know Morse code. As a young teen, I looked at the chart in our encyclopedia set trying to drill it in my head. I soon had a starter key along the line of an MFJ. My oscillator to go with it was a Heath Kit with a built-in amp and speaker. I also had a record set that I played, but I could never get into the swing of learning the code and only learned a few characters. Having a hard time learning more, I gave up. But from time to time when I thought of getting a ham license, so did the need of learning code, and that was something I thought I could never do. But the time came when code was no longer a requirement. I was finally licensed as KB7VIQ on June 6, 1993, as a No-code Tech. When talking to my fiancé before marrying in 1999 I found she had also been interested in becoming a ham.

   It wasn’t until March 14, 2007, that Kathy became KD7PJW and I took the call K7VIQ as we took and passed the General exam. A Kenwood FT-DX-450 and G5RV antenna we had never pulled in much, and we were never able to get out, so were solely on VHF/UHF. My Brother Cecil(KB7ZXH) and I had a backyard repeater for years but due to inactivity we took it down. After that, we did not get on the air anymore for years due to local friends moving on from Ham radio.

   To have another emergency radio option around, my Wife and I decided to get a couple GMRS radios(WQYS231) along with my new buddy Jay L. who decided to do the same. Jay also wanted to get a ham license, so in order to support him, I studied to take the Amateur Extra exam. Alas, although he has not given up, he has not been able to spend the time to get a license. Without my buddy Jay though, I would have never even tried for the Extra. Thank you, Jay! Having already put forth the effort to be ready, I decided to go ahead and take the exam. On March 30, 2019, I was able to become an Amateur Extra. Taking the Extra was definitely something I thought I would never do, but I did it.

   Never give up on a dream, fulfilling dreams leads to the confidence to fulfil more. Now that I am an Extra, and even though it is no longer needed, that next elusive childhood dream to learn Morse code still calls for me. I am now putting a lot more effort into actually doing it. I have apps on my phone, links to online training sites, I bought a Western Electric AT&T straight key, also 3d printed plastic dual paddle key and oscillators. A shiny new brass Kent Dual Paddle is already on my radar as a self reward. I joined some FB and other online groups including joining FISKS(19640) to help with motivation to make it happen. I am still learning the basics, but I am learning. Now I have more hope than ever that it will happen, no not just to get my license, but because I want to finish that childhood goal. To be a 'know code' ham. Paul — DE K7VIQ.

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Study Aids

  Using the aids below I have learned the characters, but can only send and receive at a very slow rate. I listen at 20 wpm but the spacing needed between characters is a lot. Sending code is rough and slow, thus the key and practice oscillators for practice. All part of learning to be a ‘Know Code Ham’. Study Aids and Oscillators I plan to update this post as I progress I am using a few study sources to learn morse code depending on where I am at and my mood.

• Online - LCWO.net - Learn CW Online 
• Android app - Morse code - learn and play - Premium Great when in bed, out and about and anywhere. 
• Android app - Morse Mania - Game that helps you master Morse code by advancing through 28 levels. 
• Nov 30, 2019 - Started and went to level 17 and decided to take a break after 50 mins and review the app. Good to rest brain and continue later. 
• Dec 2 - Finished level 21 with A-Z and 1-4. My thought delay getting some shorter but I do randomly brain glitch some chr's and confuse V with 4. 
• Dec 3 - Finished level 22 A-Z and 1-6 and almost ready for next. Made lots of boo boos differentiating some of the chrs with numbers like V/4, H/5 & J/6. I do not foresee problems with problems with numbers 7-0. It is the dit's that my brain is still counting and not recognizing as just a slightly different length sound. pc - Just Learn Morse Code When at my ham desk where it is but not using key and oscillator. 

• Long Island CW Club - I joined the Long Island CW Club on Dec. 14, 2019 as member #266 and the first from Oregon.  LICW club offers a low stress online CW course using Zoom.us video streaming. I was very impressed with there earnest appeal to teach in a low pressure environment and are understanding of their students limited time and individual learning abilities. See site for more info if you Want 2 Learn CW.
• Code Oscillators - I have 2 oscillators from electro-resales. One for a straight key and one for paddle key. 
• Ham Morse Code/Telegraph CW Practice Oscillator - with pitch control for straight keys. 
• Morse Code CW Ham Radio Trainer & Oscillator Learn Morse reception and sending for paddles. 

UPDATE:

   I was given a certificate of completion for finishing the Beginners-1 CW Class dated Jan, 2020. I am learning the characters ok, but hearing code is still hit and miss depending how tired and how much pain I am in.

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My Keys 

  Since Morse keys are a highlight to a hams station desk, I wanted brass on my code keys.

• My first key I currently have is a Bunnell Western Electric AT&T straight key. 
• My second is just a 3d printed plastic dual paddle key to test how I can do with one until I can get a real one. Paddle keys seem so efficient to me and I would like to learn to use one. 

 I am slowly learning to receive code, and once I can also send code, I will be able to plug it into my IC-7300 and join the oldest of the digital modes.

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Western Electric AT&T Double & Paddle CW Keys 

  Bunnell Western Electric AT&T Triumph "Legless" Style Telegraph Straight Key I am proud of this piece of brass and steel. While ebay was busy overcharging at museum piece prices, I found this at Nationwide Radio & Eq. Sales in better condition for a much more reasonable price of 34.99. I will enjoy practicing on such a beautiful brass key that I can love and be proud of. Sales Description: This Western Electric AT&T Triumph "Legless" Style Telegraph Straight Key, Was made from 1881 to the 1950s. It was likely made by Bunnell for Western Electric / AT&T as many keys made by different companies would stamp the name of the companies they were made for. This is a very well built, high quality Key, with the shorting lever, and will fit in nicely with any vintage Amateur Station. It is in Excellent condition with all original parts, and the patina looks fantastic. While this type of key is common, many are in poor condition unlike this one.

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 Double Paddle CW Key - 3d printed plastic

   I picked the Larger of three sizes offered. I painted it brass to help it fit in better. If after I learn code and get to liking this paddle but decide it has limitations, I may look into a nice looking metal paddle, brass if available. Description: Pure copper contacts for better contact. Large keys have strong magnetism at the bottom which can be used on a radio or iron block. The keys are made by 3D printing and can't work in high temperature environment! 5x9x3cm or 2"x3.5"x1" inches.

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Bencher Chrome BY-2 Iambic Paddle

   This will replace my 3D printed plastic key and hope it will give me many years of usage.  It will also make make me feel more like less of an amateur (or is it like MORE of an amateur;) while practicing twin paddles.

   July 27, 2020 Steven WF3T, LICW Club Member #78  wanted sell few items to club members offered some items on LICW's Club page on FB help members at some wonderful prices.   I was interested in his Bencher Chrome BY-2 for  $55 including postage so contacted and purchased it from him.  The BY-2 is well reviewed on eHam.net

   Product write up: The Bencher BY series are dual-lever iambic paddles featuring adjustable contact spacing and tension, self-adjusting needle bearings, gold-plated solid silver contacts, polished clear Lucite paddles, heavy-steel bases, and non-skid feet.  The main frame, contact post, and bearing ring are machined from solid brass.  A paddle with definitive, yet subtle tactile feedback, friction-free return, and perfect closure on every dot and dash. 

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 Kent Twin Paddle Kit 

  I also dream of a Kent Twin Paddle Kit. The reason I like the Kent are:

• I like the idea that they can help with accuracy so I can concentrate on timing. (perhaps a noob perspective) 
• The Kent line has many very good reviews on eHam and elsewhere. (I do not feel the need to spend hundreds one Vibroplex/Bencher on a hobby) (Update: Ended up with the above used Bencher BY-2)
• The cost is reasonable, especially for the kit form. (I also like the idea of assembling it myself, as that actually gives it more value to me)
• I like the class of brass, thus why I also have a classic american style brass straight key. (I like the European bar style as well....in brass) 
• I think the brass looks even better with the BaMatech Burgundy paddles, it's like putting a red cherry on top of a nice desert.

Note: Kent Twin Paddle above has the BaMatech Burgundy paddles installed

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FIST Frequencies & Schedules 

 The FISTS group.io answers CW questions and arranges practice schedules for CW that I want to listen in on to practice copy. FISTS are also help beginners as a couple other clubs require 25 wpm to join. I have enjoyed reading some FIST Newsletters with encouraging information and examples to help learn Morse code. Members get access to more recent newsletters. Member #19640 as of Nov. 19, 2019. A join free for 2 years offer expires Aug 15, 2020

Finally get to get on HF again.

  We now have an entry level HF radio.  The dipole I have is not bringing in much on it so we have an Isotron multiband antenna on the way light enough to put on a telescoping TV mast.  I have the radio on a radio desk in a new location and await the isotron antenna as the dipole I have running the length of our attic is not pulling in much.  I look forward to finally getting on the air with a half defect radio and not an old boat that was given away.

Experimenting with our Pi-2 and DMR Ham Radio

   To try somthing new and to use tech from our RC car we made we decided to add a MMDVM "hat" board to out PI 2.(Nicked as a 'hat' as it mounts on top of the Pi boards)  A MMDVM(Multi-Mode Digital Voice Modem) works with several ham digital modes to make a hot-spot.  A hot-spot is a link from a DMR radio to the internet that is linked to a worldwide ham radio DMR network.  It is thus possible with DMR to talk to other Ham operators around the world while both being on a mere handheld radio.  The mode we are interested in is DMR(Digital Mode Radio).   It is the least expensive mode to get into as its technology is well established for commercial radio communications.  Even so we will not be getting a DMR radio to use right away and will wait for a used or bargain model.

   Towards this effort we plan to add the MMDVM and a 2.4" Nextion resistive touch screen($16.40) to show freq, mode, power and tx/rx to our existing Pi 2.  We purchased a clear shell for our RC car and plan to try to mount the screen under its wind screen, thus using the RC car as a base for our hot-spot.

   Right now the plan is to make the hot-spot togather as a useful electronic project.  At a later point we will get a used DMR radio, yea we can get a new Baofeng for $49 but a used TYT MD-380(new $82) or similar model would be a better radio.  Patience gets the best deals, and we're still building the hotspot so are in no hurry.  Even more patience and saving an extra $30 would get us a new and better radio than the Baofeng.

   April 23, 2019 😕 I just saw a used TYT MD-380 for $69 on Ebay without the antenna or battery,  that could only sell to someone who already has an extra battery and antenna as the cost of buying battery and antenna would cost more than a new radio.  Personally we like most, would rather buy a new one for $13 more rather than a used one and missing parts. 😕

  The reason we need to use a hot spot is that in Eugene there is perhaps only one DMR repeater(kc7rjk) although I have not got a response from the owner.  DMR repeaters are usefully hooked up to regional or national networks(ie. PNW and Oregon DMR fb group) and thus limits communications of peer to peer or specific groups of people(called rooms) you may with to talk to (for 10 minute spans).  I have made Friends with a DMR group from Germany I would like to talk to without having to be at the mercy of the common networks.  So far we have only messaged members on Skype and talked via a phone PTT app and one phone call with a member.

   Update May 9, 2019  All done and seem to work and says Idle as expected, but  I would have thought the IP-Address would get past "Logging onto network and  "Initializing  wait" would change to the current IP address.  The real test is if we ever get a radio, but it was fum making somthing useful of the old car project anyway.

Here area few pics:

Old Pi-2 powered RC car with a new clear shell as a dust cover will
 house and show the 2.4 Nextion screen of the DMR MMDVR hotspot.
"Calling car K7VIQ...." 

DMR mode screen that I like and would like to see frequently.
Screen created by G0FEA

Idle mode. We will see a lot of this screen
 until we actually get a DMR radio.
Screen created and shared with other hams by G0FEA

Nextion screen with MMDVM hat board and
70cm antenna mounts to a Pi board.

Antenna MMDVM hat board and 70cm antenna

Kathy holding our previous car project,
the foundation for its new life.

The 1/18 scale shell we hope to use with our car for dust protection
and for the project to seem a bit more finished.

Not our car but the same shell painted to show detail.

So far with our Baofeng UV82-HP ham radios

    We have both of our new Boafeng UV82-HP radios programed and working.

    For much of a day I spent trying to get a tail back from repeater and was unable.  Although our simplex tests worked, my main hangup to getting a tail back from the repeaters I found was I needed to reduce the squelch so as not to block the weaker signals of our repeaters.  I had been setting a squelch of a level of 5 as I have always used on other radios I have had, but found for this radio a level of 1 is best as programmed.  The squelch range is programmable on this radio and I had changed it as suggested by Maklor.com to a different range.  If I find I do not like the range suggested by them as I become more experienced as I use the radio with varying signals I have the opportunity to change it.
 
    A local ham operator "Matt" from the Eugene 145.45- T123.0 repeater has welcomed us to use his repeater that sits on Blanton Heights 7 miles away.   The signal is a bit weak from our HT (handhelds) and so we need to use all 7 watts to give the repeater a decent signal.  The owner reports that as long as we speak up and directly to the mic it gives an adequate signal.  As far as receiving, I do wish his signal wasn't buried in the white as it is, but it is a lower power repeater.  I do hope to get access to a repeater that does not require full power to use and has less white noise, or better antennas. This repeater will do quite nice tho for practice with using a repeater before we add a higher power repeater to our goto list.

    I am finding that I am using two of the stock 2800mAh batteries for all day listening with very few short 7watt transmissions.  I am happy that when I bought the radios I purchased an extra battery pack for each of them.  I also purchased 1(one) Alkaline battery pack for when away from power and a car power pack adaptor.  So we hope we are all set for our emergency radio power needs.

    I am considering some sort of dual band J-antenna to use with our radios to help in emergency situations to get out.  I may just set one up here on our porch for better local communications. The disadvantage of a J antenna is it would need to be stationary to use.  I would need to find one with a Male Female-SMA connector (Why can't there just be one standard so it is not so confusing) 

   For mobile use Baofeng suggests these Nagoya antennas that I am looking at.  I am considering whether an 8.5 (more mobile) or a 16" (better range, but pretty long) antenna is wanted for better mobile operation. The radio came with an 6.5" antenna which in of itself is said to be an already a good stock antenna so I don't know that 8.5 inch is much better than the stock 6.5". Will 2"antenna difference really matter that much?

Also available is a 4" antenna that extends to 15.6" for transmitting. (Can not transmit when collapsed). I have used a 2m extendable antenna before with good success (It is mobile + some length for more distant reach). So many options to consider, I'll let you know if I ever pick one. For now the initial radio purchase is enough.

A couple hams that we am once again.

We had a couple of these Baofeng UV-82HP HAM HT radios that shipped in blue from Baofeng USA yesterday.

  We have been away from ham radio for many years and are getting back into it using the Baofeng UV-82HP radio's and plan to use them enough so that we are comfortable with them and review general HAM radio practice so we are ready as possible to use them just in case for emergency usage.  Their strength is in being able to reach out further, and use repeater systems in an emergency over our GMRS radios to use with our non ham friends and family. 

We also picked up a couple of inexpensive open box MSC-20C straps for them from ebay. I do not pick up a lot of open box stuff other than when it is non electronics. Update:10/25 My reason for not usually getting open box stuff was emphasized as Both pouches need some sewing repair on the stitching of the fabric holing the plastic clip to the flap cording, very repairable as it is not an electronic device but a distraction from being able to putting them to use non the less as we will need to get some heavier duty black thread to repair.

This is another part of our continued effort to update our emergency Go-Packs we have been trying to do over time.

73's K7VIQ and KD7PJW (GMRS family call - WQYS231)

GMRS Radio

  We have not been active with our ham radio hobby for years as we ran out of all but a couple locals to talk to and we could not afford all the equipment it takes to be on the HF bands that the Brothers use.  I did however just renew my HAM license that comes due soon.

GMRS - WQYS231

Whisky Quebec Yankee Sierra Two Three One

     Meanwhile, while I was renewing my HAM license that is coming due at the FCC site so I don't loose my HAM call,  I signed up for a General Mobile Radio Service license for the family.  I know it is not HAM radio, but the whole family can operate under one GMRS call with no skill learning required from non-HAM family members.  For 5 family members it comes to $14 for each of us.  While not HAM radio, GMRS is still useful in emergencies and perhaps for us, more so, as well as useful for our family's general mobile radio usage.  For Kathy and I, we are looking at getting a TALKABOUT T465 at a very excellent deal.  Paul, Kathy and Cecil and Earl already have FRS radios but there range is very limited.  These can be can be loaners to others I guess.  There have also been others in the congregation that have talked about using GMRS in emergency situations.  We look forward to having others to talk on radios again.

   I also updated our Ham Radio Page at our Family Web Site to include our new family GMRS call.