Yes sure remember Rick.  He was a very avid cw op for sure. Quite a story
phil.  


 
-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Phil Scovell
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2008 3:34 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Most Memorable Experiences

Speaking of high speed CW, when I was about 3 months into my novice days, I
used to tune outside the novice bands to hear higher speed guys and gals in
order to practice for taking my general test.  I never dreamed of going for
the extra in those days.  Anyhow, I had a 3703 crystal for my Viking Ranger
1 which I got a couple of months after using the DX20 because a friend of
mine was selling it.  I still ran the BC348 receiver though. 
Anyhow, I tuned down to that crystal frequency of 3703 and kept going.  I
almost immediately ran across two guys rolling along at least 40 words per
minute.  I started sending BK over and over again as I heard them working
each other like they were using vox on sideband.  I never dreamed they would
hear me because I surely was outside their pass bands.  After several
minutes, they slowed down and one of the guys said, slow enough for me to
copy, "Hey, "Are you hearing someone way off frequency sending break?"  The
other guy said no but they began tuning and found me.  They moved up to 3703
and started talking to me at about 20 to 25 WPM.  One of the guys, whom I
worked off and on for many years until he passed away, was WA8JQV, who was
also blind, and we became close friends.  Rick was a whale of a QRQ CW
operator.  I used to also work people like Reeva, K8DMU, and Flo, W7QYA, and
WB2TEN and W2KFA, whose names I have forgotten but Reeva knows them all.  Of
course, Lisa, who passed away and used to run the blindad list, was one of
the 5 high speed qualified and tested CW operators in the country.  She
passed the 80 WPM test years ago that was given, as I recall, at a ham fest.
My top speed hit 70 back in the early eighties when I was working, nearly
ever day, the guys and gals in the CFO CW club.  I was number 168 back when
W9TO was the keeper the list.  I told W9TO once, I think his name was Jim,
that I owned, as a novice, and after passing my general and waiting a month
for my general license to come in the mail, the HA1TO keyer. 
He broke in, we were full QSK of course, and said, "Say, Phil? 
Did you know I designed that TO keyer and sold the design to Hallicrafters?"
I about fell off my chair.  I used to work, almost daily, W6Wu, W1OBJ,
VE7NH, and a whole bunch of over CFO members and some of those old boys
copied well over 80 WPM.  I had my wife come to my shack one afternoon, she
can type 120 WPM and has been a medical secretary since 1968, and she typed
to some of these guys I have mentioned because I couldn't type that fast
without making 500 mistakes.  I had her ask them questions and they replied
down at 50 WPM so I could see if they could answer the questions my wife was
asking correctly.  All three of those guys that day, W1OBJ Jim, W6Wu Ken,
and VE7NH Doug, answered all the questions.  They each had me squeeze up to
95 and 100 WPM just for fun on my Curtis keyboard and they didn't do as well
but they got some questions correct even at those higher speeds.  I worked
W6PY once on 20 meters and they told me he did copy 100 so I tested him and
my hand on the Bible, that old guy could copy code even that fast.  It blew
me away.

Phil.
www.K0NX.COM under construction.