CW QRP

I decided to write a blog as a sort of diary of my successes and failures with Morse Code and QRP. Why learn Morse Code, you might ask, in the age of the Internet, high speed communications, mobile telephones, GPS localisation and satellites? Good question!

I suppose it goes back to my childhood and my interest in radio. I remember that my uncle had a shed in his garden where we would go and listen to his short wave radio. Though he was not a radioamateur himself he clearly enjoyed listening and I was fascinated by the sounds that came out of the radio. I always wondered where did they come from and who was sending all those messages in Morse code. Plus there were all the broadcast stations from all over the world and some pretty weird sounds that I had absolutely no idea what they could be. I remember asking one day if I could build a radio like that and he just said it was a bit too complicated for me. I must have been around 10 or twelve at the time, I really can’t remember. All I know is it left it’s mark. Of course this was way before computers and the Internet.

My interest in radio never really faded. I remember having a CB like a lot of people at the time and the father of one of my friends was a radio amateur. I remember going to Sutton Coldfield Radio Club and following the radio license course but I was probably a bit too young to pass the exam at that point. It wasn’t till after I had finished college, got married and moved to Belgium that I decided to get back into radio. I joined a club near Brussels with a couple of friends and finally took the exam.

Last year I decided to learn Morse code properly. I learnt it to 5wpm for my licence but that’s not fast enough and I quickly forgot it.  So last year in November I decided that once and for all I would take the plunge. It’s quite and adventure of discovery. Discovery of how I learn and understand things, a journey into myself.