My First CW Ragchew Ever - QSO with K2EJT - 8/31/23

Yep, you read that right. I have over 3,200 CW contacts logged. 3,247 before this video. My 3,248th contact was my first “ragchew” style QSO ever. As you most likely know, I am an active Parks on the Air (POTA) CW activator. I also chase POTA and DX from home, but I’ve never had a non-POTA/non-DX QSO until today.
Evan (K2EJT) and myself decided to do a scheduled (sked) contact and record both of our perspectives to upload for you to watch! Great practice for me and a fun start of the adventure of ragchewing for me.
Be sure to check out Evan’s video on his channel: ‪@EvanK2EJT‬
And specifically, his side of this QSO: • NOT a field activation...

[@EvanK2EJT]

You copied that WAY better than you thought you were going to! Just shows that your actual CW skills surpass what your perceived skills are. Good job man, and thanks for the contact!

[@w4arb]

Thanks for doing this! Now I gotta do it a few thousand more times to get good haha

[@mrx7956]

Nice to see also a Regchew CW QSO on KZbin, you are right, not very much of these online. But it still showed me how much i have to practice myself ;-) 73 and thanks for the video

[@w4arb]

Thanks for watching! I have a lot to work on myself. CW is a journey! 73

[@uslines]

I agree. I prefer viewing cw rag chews from home stations. Preferably with modest equipment, not a desk sagging with gear...and QRP. Your's does nicely.

[@macmex9763]

Great video! For 11 months of being on the air, that was very good!

[@w4arb]

Thank you & 73!!

[@JEFFERYPASCOE-bq2nn]

Well done Aaron. I commend your humble approach. Keep up the good work. Missed you today when you were on 17m. Erhh!!. Take care and POTA on. 73 and hope to QSO again soon. Jeff G4ELZ.

[@w4arb]

Hi Thanks Jeff! Always great to hear from you on the air, and off the air. 17M has been a lot of fun in the early morning here. I’ll be back out this week and I’m going to keep going up the bands. Love working my Europe friends! 73 & good DX

[@KU9L]

My two favorite POTA channels, lol. The band was in good shape, add QSB & QRM & you have normal conditions, lol. In 1978 it was 16 weeks to get my ticket in the mail so I didn't actually receive it until 2,/1979. Ten Meters was HOT then so I spent hours and weeks and months listening to rag chews at 5 wpm so by the time my license ((KA9EDP) arrived in the mail I was pretty good at 5 wom rag chews. I did not contest until the Novice Roundup a year later and did not do Field Day until 2 years later, by then I had my General Ticket. You did great today, I was very happy that I could head copy 90% of what Even sent which would only have been 10% a year ago before I started listening to Thomas every day. Thanks for the code practice, I did send in my Lifetime Dues to the Long Island Club, I want to raise my 14 wpm plateau to 22 wpm in the next year, lol. Cheers, Davey - KU9L

[@w4arb]

I failed my “tech plus” 5 WPM test back 22 years ago. Hihi! Learned CW as a labor of love now. And man it’s fun. Very cool on LICW and the goals! Totally attainable.

[@SM2YUW]

Thank you for the awesome video! It was fun to see something other than a POTA exchange (nothing wrong with pota, I really like it) and would love to see it again someday. I think you are brave doing this in front of all of us, viewers. It was a great qso! You are a true inspiration. Best 73 de SM2YUW. 😊🙏🏻

[@w4arb]

Thank you for the kind words and for watching! I plan to do some more videos like this in the future. It’s fun to expand CW skillsets and try new things. 73!

[@JayN4GO]

Great change in videos. I was wondering if you pota guys had a home shack. 😂 Evan seems funny. You guys are a great duo

[@w4arb]

Thanks man! Haha I keep a couple radios on my desk. I work from home, so my desk is mainly used for work, but I do operate from home some too! Portable is SO much more fun though! :)

[@W4EMB]

More more more!

[@w4arb]

Yesss! This was fun and I have a lot of work to do to get good at ragchewing. I will be doing more soon. The last couple of weeks have just been wild and haven’t gotten much time for radio but it’s coming.

[@Swamp-Fox]

Thanks Aaron! You did great! I am in LICW Intermediate 1 classes & this fits the bill perfectly! Now I don't have to feel guilty about watching KZbin instead of practicing! I have a pretty good case of key fright and have yet to put my fist on the air. I'm gonna have to take the plunge soon! 73, Patrick KF4LMZ

[@w4arb]

Thank you Patrick! I’d encourage you to just jump on the air and give it a go! You’re going to mess up no matter how long you wait. The sooner, the more time you’ll have to enjoy it. Hunting Parks on the Air CW activators is a great way to get over key fright too, that’s what I did last year and it got me addicted and unafraid rather quickly. hihi. 73 and hope to get you in the log soon!

[@AaronHuber]

Great job and kudos for going out of your comfort zone. 73 and Shalom from 4X6FB 🇮🇱

[@w4arb]

Thank you for watching. I love expanding my CW skill set. Shalom & 73 to you my friend!

[@Matt61702]

Haha! Messing up your own call sign at the very end of the QSO? You’re stealing my moves!😂

[@w4arb]

of course! 🫠

[@cw.only.channel]

CW my first love 😊 73

[@w4arb]

CW is the best! 💯

[@de.w3otz]

I've listened in on some two way and one way qsos just to listen and learn words. Great content cause it helps us all. 73

[@w4arb]

TU & 73!

[@arthurjurkowitsch9785]

Great video keep up the great work. You have given me some inspiration to start Morse code. Thank you. 73 !

[@w4arb]

That’s great to hear! I certainly encourage it. It’s the most fun I’ve had with ham radio. It’s quite captivating. 73!

[@MultiProfessorn]

Good job. You are great CW culture bearers.

[@w4arb]

TU & 73!

[@thork0tjt515]

Nice video! Thanks for sharing. I’m just starting my cw journey. I was able to catch a letter here and there, so I’ve got a long way to go! Thanks for sharing and 74! ..

[@w4arb]

That’s awesome! If you’re picking up some letters, you’re well on your way! I find that listening to a lot of CW is a great way to learn and practice. It’s like the more you surround yourself with hearing it, the more you pick up without even meaning to. 73 and look forward to getting you in the log!

[@spencerhochstetler]

Fantastic! Love the idea and at a pace that wasn't blistering. I've been considering doing some sked buddy sessions with LICW, but haven't had/made the time to get that started yet. I'd really like to get better at random things thrown at me. Thank you for doing this guys...

[@w4arb]

I understand, I’ve toyed with the idea of joining some of the groups like LICW, SKCC, etc. for a while but haven’t. But I can always find a few minutes here and there to get on the radio. Let me know if you ever want to do a sked! Seems like our signal path has been rather strong recently. Hah.

[@spencerhochstetler]

@@w4arb A sked sometime sounds great - need to try to work something out!

[@n7tb]

Well done, Aaron! keep at it, you will continue to get better and gain confidence! Terry, N7TB

[@w4arb]

Thank you!! I look forward to getting a rag chew with you in the log. 73!

[@ve2zdx]

This is very good, it offers other types of content to listen to! The youtube ham radio content needs it, thanks! If you’re accepting ideas, try doing this same exercise on 27 or 30 wpm. Since you already can head copy the most common words, by doing this exercise at this speed it might be easier. Also, in my qrz page there’s a link to an app I made that has a mode to play these common words. You can leave it playing on the background while coding, it helps the words get into your mind. Hope you like the tool. 73!

[@w4arb]

Thank you Andre! I’m definitely open to ideas on how to grow my CW vocabulary. I’ll check out that app tomorrow, that sounds very helpful! I’ve been tuning into rag chews on the air and letting them play while I work recently too. Another good way to let my ears get exposed to more words. 73!

[@patrickhall5739]

Very cool vid! congrats on the first ragchew. 73!

[@w4arb]

Thank you! It was a lot of fun and now I’m excited to do more, and some random ones where I’ll REALLY struggle hihi.

[@ehayes5217]

I always enjoy chewing the rag & I'd say u did a FB job chatting with him, a nice QSO; for me personally, at first, the only thing I ever write down are "essentials," like name, call, QTH, etc; however, if chatting goes beyond that, I'll begin to jot down a quick note or two here & there to remind MYSELF of what the other op was talking abt (& to rembr any comments I wanna make in my reply); & if I'm feeling like sitting a bit longer at the rig, I may also jot down a word or two of something that'll remind me of a topic I might wanna mention; but everyone will develop their own way, their own methods, as ur already doing👍 My longest ever ragchew? around one hr, 45 mins, but that'll never be repeated, becuz I can't sit that long anymore, hi hi! & these days, it feels like a ragchew if u just get beyond the routine exchanges! Hpe to maybe c u on the air sumtime...73 de WA4ELW in TN 🇺🇸 dit dit 😀

[@w4arb]

I like your technique on jotting down the important things. I feel like that will be my natural tendency for rag chewing too. Just a notepad for the conversation, not to copy the text down. I look forward to keeping on practicing it! It’s a whole new way to expand my CW skills. Feel like I just found an entire new area of the hobby hihi. 73!

[@k9eihamradio]

Too fast for me but I picked up some stuff during the exchanges. When I do rag-chew, I gratuitously use BT a lot. Also, love the Begali.

[@w4arb]

I agree BT is helpful! Kind of resets the mental buffer. I still have a long way to go to be a fluent rag chewer. The Begali Expedition is my main key at home. It’s a really nice simple key. 73!

[@surgingcircuits6955]

This made me feel better. :D

[@w4arb]

It’s a journey! 73 my friend

[@N4AAJ]

Great idea and Fantastic video!.Takes guts to show your mistakes. Thanks for posting this. Really enjoyed.copying along. I too need to have more rag chew qsos. Great practice and a lot of fun. 73 es cul de N4AAJ

[@w4arb]

TU! It’s funny how different exchanges like POTA or quick DX contacts are from a long-form QSO. It’s the same thing, but a bit of a different skill at the same time. I look forward to working on it more! I have a long way to go to get as good as I’d like to be! 73 dit dit

[@N4AAJ]

@w4arb agreed. Random unexpected text is the most challenging. If you miss a callsign it's really easy to ask for a repeat. I freeze in qsos and mias a bunch. Im gonna also work in some ragchews to sharpen skills. Thanks for the inspiration. Hope to catch you on the air sometime! 73

[@harveypiper3268]

Great job! You have a great fist and with a small amount of more contacts you will be golden Harvey K5NR

[@w4arb]

Thank you Harvey! 73!

[@williambickham2042]

Wow w4arb, do you have your keyer reversed on purpose? Most people I know that send right handed send dits with their thumb (like a vibroplex bug would). Did you learn on a lefty's keyer?

[@w4arb]

Yep, I do send with my paddles reversed! When I started learning, I tried both ways and this way felt much more natural to me. So it’s what I’ve stuck with.

[@hcy0]

For a beginner you are pretty fast, I'm trying to learn CW since long time but still need much more spacing between the letters.

[@w4arb]

Thank you! I’ve been doing 3-4 Parks on the Air activations a week since last fall, so that’s been great practice. Just now starting to learn how to do longer form QSOs.

[@brianve7jyd943]

lol im to chicken for that yet -- since i messaged u the other day as to my first on air CW contact - ive done 17 to date -- im running a 1 in 5 non messed up POTA hunters responce but everyone ive been hunting have been most helpful -- ill try this maybe ------- LATER --- lol 73 \sir VE7JYD

[@w4arb]

That’s awesome! That’s the best way to get better quickly in my opinion. Jump in and do it! Long-form QSOs are all new to me. Like I found a whole new area of CW to explore. haha

[@surgingcircuits6955]

One thing I'm curious about, is that during an activation, you are able to copy call-signs well ... and that made me assume that you would be able to copy quickly without problems doing a ragchew. Why do you think this might be?

[@w4arb]

I think I do well at listening for a string of characters formatted like a call sign. I’m only head copying/remembering a buffer of 6 characters or less while my brain decodes it. The other components of the POTA exchange are all words that I’ve come to recognize so I recognize them instantly most of the time. In a rag chew, it can be strings of tens or hundreds of characters, so copying at a character by character level just wouldn’t be feasible, but learning more words like I’ve learned the words I use in the POTA exchange seems to be the way to get my vocabulary big enough to do most QSOs. And if I can copy 80%, I can fill in the rest with context clues. At least that’s my thought process!

[@surgingcircuits6955]

@@w4arb , very sensible I would say. Thanks!

[@terry.stafford]

I noticed your paddles are reversed. Any particular reason?

[@w4arb]

Good catch! It’s just the way that feels natural for me.

[@arthurjurkowitsch9785]

Quick question what two key do you have in the video ?

[@w4arb]

The one I used in the QSO is a Begali Expedition. It’s my favorite non-portable key to use at home. The straight key is a Jones Key. I found it on ebay and don’t know too much about the history of it other than that I really like it. I haven’t seen another like it!

[@arthurjurkowitsch9785]

@@w4arb Nice. Begali HST mark lll and Begali spark are on my wishlist.

[@manwe_sulimo]

Dude, please tell me, is that a Midori traveler’s notebook or other? Can you please post it here?

[@w4arb]

It’s a leather A5 folio off of Etsy. Here’s the link: www.etsy.com/listing/1609089698/custom-leather-portfolio-personalized

[@carlosroig5315]

Why your paddle is wired for a left-handed?

[@w4arb]

I find thumb-dah, finger-dit to feel more natural. :) it’s a setting in most radios too.

[@carlosroig5315]

Thanks for your reply. I have been a ham since 1979, 95% CW, K2EJT videos and yours have been recommended by YT. It's positive to see new hams getting into CW. You have a new subscriber.

[@w4arb]

@carlosroig5315 Thank you! CW has been the most fun I’ve ever had in a hobby.

[@markanderson8066]

I see we've got a couple cw qsos on POTA. Happy to chat if you catch me! WB2SMK

[@w4arb]

Hi Mark! Thank you, sounds great. I’ll keep an ear out for ya. 73!

[@ncphotos]

Great video! de W2CSI

[@w4arb]

TU & 73!