I signed up for ham radio license school today. Classes start on September 18th and run for 8 weeks. The course price is reasonable at CA $ 50, but then there is the study guide, which is another $45, etc. Anyway, this is the basic entry into the hobby, so I’m ready to go.
I want to learn Morse Code too, but as they say, one step at a time. I’ve been shell-shocked by the cost of the gear needed for everything, starting with Morse keys. There are various types, starting with cheap and shitty at $15, up to Wow! That’s gorgeous! at > $300. If I buy a transceiver, then I can likely use it as a Morse Trainer. There are trainer keys that have a sounder built into the base, and then there are kits that can be built that even include a decoder so you can see just how bad your keying actually is.
I found a reasonably priced key on Amazon, built by Putikeeg.
Then I need a trainer before I get a transceiver. Here’s the one I’m thinking about.
Anyway, I’m gonna wait on the CW1 (Morse) kit for now, as I want to get my Basic license in order first. Then my Advanced licence, and then my CW licence.
Maybe I can buy a Silent Key’s2 station assets outright, for a single price. Yeah, that could work…
Footnotes
- “CW” stands for “Continuous Wave” in ham-speak. It means that a continuous tone (700 Hz or so) is used to modulate the transmitter’s carrier wave when the key is pressed. Each key press creates the characteristic dots (dits) and dashes (dahs) of Morse Code. ↩︎
- A Silent Key is a ham radio operator who has died, and thus gone silent. ↩︎
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