In case you missed it, Google did a great April Fool’s joke around Morse Code. They called it Gmail Tap and showed mobile devices with two button keyboards —- a dot key and a dash key! You can see their very well done video at Gmail Tap.

Morse Code is doing well, even with the April Fool’s spoofs. There are a number of artisan key makers from Begali, to Scheunemann, to Frattini. Vibroplex is under new ownership and even introducing new models of keys. I’m particularly partial to Begali keys, using their Graciella model in my ham shack and hoping to put in place their HST key at some point in the future. You can find one of my posts on my small telegraph key collection here.

While I’ve looked at getting on some of the digital modes (setting up Cocoa Modem and listening in to some QSO’s), right now my only mode of transmission is CW or Morse Code. I enter the major CW contests, which is where I do most of my operating, and I watch the DX Clusters for CW contacts with new countries and new bands. Right now I’m at just over 170 countries confirmed on CW. This was done at 5 watts for the first 100 countries and now at 100 watts, all into verticals or on contest weekends into my 15 meter two-element Moxon beam.

This afternoon I’m working the QRP ARCI Spring QSO Party at 5 watts into my verticals. Not many stations on but it is fun to get onto QRP again and work a few folks.

Thanks for stopping by. Get your key out and make some CW QSO’s. Heck, try QRP as well! See you on the bands. 73..