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. NY2V is a FCC-issued ham radio call. I was first licensed in 1948 as W2ZOJ.

To learn more, insert the callsign in the search box at
http://www.QRZ.comor http://www.eHam.net.

Note to non-hams: The above sites are very useful.

QRZ is the premier place to look up callsigns. It has grown way beyond that in recent years.

eHam is another excellent place to keep track of what is going on and to learn all about the hobby. Here is more direct link that will take you right to the most helpful info:

http://www.eham.net/newham/

This site was created to introduce me, sure, but also to help non-hams get some idea of what this avocation is all about, as well as provide links to various websites I find useful. It may grow but I have no desire to duplicate other sites, and trust me, the links provided here will get you to all of those, if you are curious.

Currently I am not on the air due to restrictions on antennas where we live. Moving is not on the immediate (late 2010)  agenda, but I really want to get out of a park setting and into a country location having space for some kind of HF and VHF antennas.

Above is a photo of the now-closed NY2V ham radio station in Port Byron, NY. It consisted of a 100-watt Kenwood TS-2000 transceiver and three types of Morse Code keys, Heil headset with microphone, an antenna tuner, and a heavy duty power supply. Two keys sit on the roll-out desk, and one with red paddles is at the upper right, on the top desk.

The simplest key is a hand key similar to what original telegraphers used to tap out the code. It is the key closest to the viewer.

Next in line is a "bug" (the chrome key with red finger pieces, at upper right in the photo), which uses a vibrating spring contact to make the dots. The term "bug" comes from the Vibroplex company emblem on all the keys they make.

The third device is a paddle, which operates a fully automatic keyer circuit in the radio. The keyer electronically generates automatic dots and dashes. This greatly reduces the effort required to send code. Basically, the paddle resembles a bug, but when pressed to the left, dashes are made as long as one holds the paddle there, and when pressed to the right, dots are created. Speed is adjusted by a control on the transceiver or in/on an outboard code oscillator if one is used. The latter almost always have wider capabilities than those built into a transceiver. The TS-2000 is, however, a very versatile and capable rig.. probably the most for the money of any radio on the market.

I have other keys but these three give me all the options for "working CW". Some of the other keying devices I have are on the Pictures page.

The antennas were outdoors, giving capability on 80, 40, 30, 20,10, 6 and 2-Meter ham bands. It was fun while it lasted, but I moved.

As I guess you can tell, I am particularly interested in using CW* (International Morse Code), but I also enjoy SSB and FM voice modes of communication. Modern communications via the web cannot match the thrill of talking with others, even in outer space, over the airwaves, or with e-mail. I no longer have any digital mode capability, having decided in my old age to stick with what I find to be the most fun.

To learn more about ham radio, including how to qualify for a license, go to
http://www.arrl.net. The American Radio Relay League is, and has been for decades, THE source of ham radio information.

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* CW means Continuous Wave - and Morse Code results in a very non-continuous wave, to say the least. It's a long story. Over the years, "working CW" became the ham lingo for using Morse Code to send and receive information. The term "ham" in place of the word "amateur" has a similar lineage. Much is written about all this, so your assignment should you accept it is to get curious and dig for info about ham radio. Oh, one more thing for the newcomer. Modern CW uses audio tones. In the old days, telegraphers used a somewhat different character set involving sounders that clicked. That is another whole era and still has adherents - mostly former railroad telegraphers, Western Union operators, and merchant ship or shore station operators. Many of these belong to the Morse Telegraph Club, (
http://www.morsetelegraphclub.org/mtc_about_us.asp ) and/or the Society of Wireless Pioneers ( http://www.sowp.org/ ) .