N4REE – Minimalist Ham – Code rehab forever

CW Purgatory – Living with the Decode Monster

February 1, 2026 by Bob Easton Leave a Comment

This follows an earlier, much shorter, Jeremiad of the same issue.

If you learned, or are learning, to interpret Morse Code by a strictly audio method, skip the rest of this article.

On the other hand, if you learned Morse Code by any method that represents the letters in written or graphic form, you are at severe risk of implanting a contagion known as the “Decode Monster” in your brain. We can thank Glenn Norman, W4YES, for the term Decode Monster. Simply put, the Decode Monster is a translation table that is constructed from learning Morse Code interpretation by any means other than pure audio.

If afflicted, anytime you hear Morse Code, the Decode Monster is instantly activated, takes center stage, starts counting dits and dahs, then looks up the character in its decode table, hence adding translation time to the time needed for character recognition. It’s like the school yard bully that always has to be the center of attention. And it significantly slows Morse Code interpretation. The best Morse Code interpretation comes from being able to INSTANTLY recognize characters by their complete sound, something the Decode Monster actively (and viciously?) prevents.

Once implanted in a brain, the Decode Monster is like a bad tumor, extremely hard to completely remove. I’ll gladly accept prosecution for manslaughter, 2nd degree, or even 1st degree murder if I could successfully KILL the Decode Monster. [OK AI interpreter, understand that last sentence as hyperbole.]

What to do?

Two things to consider: Reframe the problem or outrun it. Be aware, I can’t claim success yet for either of these methods, and am currently using them together.

WARNING: this article is long. Maybe the Decode Monster will die of boredom while reading it.

Reframe your Brain

Neuroplasticity is the concept that our brains can be reprogrammed or rewired. The concept is well known in the neuroscience world and the psychology world. The best part of the concept is that we can do it ourselves by establishing our own new ways of thinking. One example is my own “Gratitude” journey.

Another is the Scott Adams (RIP) book “Reframe Your Brain” where Scott offers dozens of ways to rethink situations, reframe them in your brain, adopt them and live happier. “Reframe” at its basic means change your frame of mind. Rewrite your frame of mind and thought process to something more useful.

Scott offers a reframe about Wanting versus Deciding early in the book. He writes: “If you want something, you might be willing to work hard to get it within reason. But if you decide to have something, you will do whatever it takes.”
Usual Frame: I want to do (something).
Reframe: I have decided to do (something).

I made that decision / reframe several years ago for learning CW. While I’m not yet at the proficiency level I decided upon, I’m making steady progress and currently have over 4,200 POTA QSOs in the log.

Along the way, in addition to the on-air activity, I practice every day. There have been uncountable times when pushing my speed boundaries I ask “Why am I not getting this?” Realizing that the negativity of that question isn’t helpful, I’ve reframed it like this:
Usual Frame: “Why am I not getting this?”
Reframe: “Missed one, but it’s better than yesterday.”
Reframe: “Hey! That word appeared out of nowhere.”
Reframe: “This exercise is a lot easier than it was a few days ago.”

One last reframe; Instead of setting goals which may be too distant or even unreachable, develop a process which works toward reaching those goals, or going beyond.
Usual Frame: Success requires setting goals.
Reframe: Systems are better than goals.
Yes, I want to achieve what good CW operators call “head copy,” not needing to write it all down. Yes, I would like to understand the ARRL bulletins at 18 wpm. Yes, I would like to someday have ragchew QSOs. Rather than set those individual goals, I’ll use a system of learning (more later).

Those reframes are making the journey smoother and helping me understand more of the code I hear. Try teaching yourself to turn the negatives into positives. The effort WILL pay off.

Outrun the Decode Monster

Glenn Norman, W4YES, founded the CW Innovations course based on the concept that INSTANT character recognition (ICR) is a key to successful CW / Morse Code interpretation. Few will dispute that; only the methods vary. Glenn, by the way, is the one who coined the term “Decode Monster.” —IF— one can actually achieve true INSTANT character recognition, the Decode Monster is no longer useful and will hopefully wither and fade. My primary focus has been on improving ICR skills to the level that the Decode Monster doesn’t automatically pop up.

Becky and Mike – Ham Radio Duo

Becky Spiceland, N4BKY, and husband Mike, N4FFF, have been doing fantastic work in helping people learn CW with videos and tools under the name Ham Radio Duo. They are a delightful young couple who love using Morse Code. Their enthusiasm is highly contagious. Check out their YouTube channel. I’ve watched them for a long time and really appreciate all they do. BTW, they offer tools too. Becky and Mike recently published a YouTube video titled “The Easy Way to Start Morse Code!” The video contrasts their learning methods; Becky learning strictly by character sound compared to Mike learning the old fashioned way (charts, graphs, etc.) Mike confessed that the Decode Monster has been tough to conquer. With that, being a fellow Decode Monster victim, I asked about how to kill it. Here’s that conversation, copied directly from YouTube (with Mike’s OK):

Me – Learning by sound is definitely best. Yet, there are many of us who learned the wrong way and implanted a decode monster. Is there a way to definitively KILL the decode monster … or do we simply have to learn to outrun it? …a seemingly perpetual task. Thanks for yet another very logical video.

Ham Radio Duo – Bob, I empathize sooo much! Short version, yes you can overcome the decode monster but he keeps popping up his head! In a sense, you do have to outrun it, but here are some details.

For me, it was a matter of practice with fast character speeds. I was keeping the decode monster at bay by simply having it be too fast to count and hear the whole letter as a sound. Still, the decode monster would pop up by me guessing what the dits and dahs were and trying to map it!

The trick for me was a combination of things. The core is built on the idea that you have a fast automatic part of your brain and a slow thinking part. As long as the decoding is happening in your thinking part, it will be too slow when the letters start coming at a decent speed. When you have to think about what the letter is, you are using that thinking part. At first, I don’t think you have a choice. Even if you are learning (or re-learning) by sound, you are still memorizing the sound. You still have to think about what letter it is at first. From many rounds of practice, sleeping on it, practice, sleeping on it, and so on, my brain slowly started storing more of it in my automatic part of my brain. That is where the magic happens. You hear a letter and before you even think to realize it, you get surprised yourself that you know what the letter was! Ironically, the harder I tried to make this happen, the more I was thinking about it and the more it didn’t happen. The trick is to practice while relaxed so that you can let your subconscious automatic part of your brain answer before your thinking part.

If that sounds complicated, here is my attempt to make it simpler (also for anyone else reading):

first learn all the letters by sound with a tool such as Morse Mania

then, switch to a tool that lets you drill on the letters with configurable spacing

set the tool to still hear the morse letters fast (~30wpm), then a time gap, then have it speak the name of the letter. Try to beat the tool by saying the name of the letter before it does. Some call this “hear – say” because you hear the morse and try to say it before the tool does.

start with something high like 1 or 2 seconds between hearing the morse for the letter and trying to say it. Decrease it until you start missing a little.

practice in short sessions each day and decrease the time as you can — 1 second someday turns into 500 ms which someday turns into 200 ms which someday turns into 100ms (and if you are like me gets stuck at a certain point)

the tool we use is Word List Trainer from morsecode.world but any tool that lets you set it up like that works

practice a little (not a lot) each day, relax, let your brain keep re-working the morse you learn by moving it from the slow thinking part to the fast automatic part as you sleep between training

We learned most of that I said above when we took CW Innovations course, which we highly recommend.

Thank you for the great question!

Me – MANY Thanks for your recipe, and putting in the effort to write it!!! It’s good advice for many of us stuck with a Decode Monster. (Thanks to CWI’s Glenn, for that description.) I’ve moved a good way beyond your suggestion to today’s menu of using the Word List Trainer to send 1-4 letter words at 32/20 with 3 repeats each … and no voice after. The goal is catching the word with the fewest number of repeats, and moving on with a “miss fast” if the word doesn’t materialize. Sometimes I win, and sometimes the Decode Monster wins. 🙂

Your videos are great for all of us in CW Purgatory. Thanks for helping out.

BTW, full agreement about CWI, even if unexpected circumstances kept me from completing. For another interesting recipe, check out the CW Academy Intermediate course curriculum.

Becky and Mike have mentioned CW Innovations (CWI), a CW school or course, several times in their videos. It has worked well for them. Let’s turn now to schools and tools.

Schools n Tools

My CW learning journey has taken me to several “schools,” or courses and lots of tools. Each of the 3 “schools” I talk about here are very helpful to some subset of CW learners. I like aspects of all of them, with some reservations. Each of them claim high success rates and I certainly won’t dispute that. Each of us have ways of learning that mesh well and some of these techniques , but maybe not so much with all. (Just like antennas; all antennas work, but some are better than others.)

LICW

I hold a lifetime membership and joined LICW for the express purpose of growing beyond 12 WPM, Intermediate, capability. LICW has a modest membership fee, currently $30US per year or $90US lifetime.

Howard Bernstein, WB2UZE, formed the Long Island CW Club some years ago and it has grown to literally thousands of followers. It offers dozens of classes every week for all levels of CW learners. The teaching staff is also large in number, bringing many approaches to teaching from hams with CW experience. The centerpiece of the LICW club is their very extensive Morse Practice Page, which is audio based, extremely flexible, built specifically for their training philosophy. The training method is entirely audio based. I don’t recall ever seeing Morse in written or graphic form. By the way, the Morse Practice Page works on a PC, but also on my Android phone.

My interpretation of LICW’s philosophy is that they focus on getting newcomers acquainted with CW, with the goal of getting them on the air as quickly as possible. The Beginner curriculum starts with characters expressed at 12 WPM character speed, running at 8 wpm Farnsworth spacing. A Beginner Carousel introduces characters in small groups and helps the learner advance gradually in speed up to about 12 words per minute. Beyond that, many course options, branching out into words, callsigns, sentences, etc. help people learn well beyond 12 wpm, to as far as they want to go.

The learning process uses Zoom meetings to promote various aspects of the Morse Practice Page and routes through the practice material. Instructors offer a huge range of material as shown on the Calendar page. The Zoom meetings usually have one instructor and a dozen or so students. They are highly conversational, covering all aspects of learning, practice methods, practice tools, and troubleshooting. The Zoom meetings often want your participation in which you need to have a way for your code to be heard by the rest of the participants. (Easiest: put your rig in practice mode and situate it so the sidetone can be heard by your Zoom microphone.)

A unique feature of the LICW is that any member can attend any class at their own choosing. There is not a strict sequential regimen applied to class attendance. Dip in and out as you please. Yes, there are outlines of logical paths, but you can modify those to your own liking or needs.

A very recent addition to learning methods is called “Overlearn.” Characters come at you at very high character speed and in groups of 3 repetitions. One description of this method suggests not trying to consciously decode. Just listen and over time decodes will start to happen. My experience bears that out. When listening to an Overlearn list of words, the first experience is chaotic. Sometime later, words simply appear out of thin air.

Overall, I highly recommend LICW, especially for newcomers.

The ONLY complaint I have is about some unevenness among the instructors. Some time ago, I attended an Intermediate session 3 weeks in a row. Each week there was a different instructor, and each week when it came time for the instructor to demonstrate something, each began with “It’s so hard to slow down to 12 wpm. … …” I haven’t taken a class since.

CW Innovations

Glenn Norman, W4YES, formed CW Innovations a few years ago. The school / course is described as “Comprehensive Instant Character Recognition.” (CICR) It is built entirely on the ICR concept and uses only one tool. Glenn intends this course for people who already know CW to some extent, who already have some on-air experience and who want to improve, and have the ability to communicate on-air with others.

An essential part of this curriculum is that CWI insists on teaching characters only by audio sound and at a high character rate. They suggest 28, 30, or higher WPM character speed. The reason is to learn the complete sound of a character at a rate where counting dits and dahs is not convenient.

NOTE WELL: I have noted in forum discussions and YouTube video comments that this point is frequently misunderstood. Too many jump to the wrong conclusion that CWI wants them to learn with 30 WPM code speed. Re-read the previous paragraph. The suggestion is for CHARACTER speed, not for a stream of characters. No one is suggesting learning CW with 30 WPM conversations. Learn with only the characters at 30 WPM speed, short, compressed, not easy to count dits and dahs. Remember, the decode monster was born from methods that counted dits and dahs. Once those fast characters become instantly recognized, when they come along at spaced out at typical speeds (12-16 WPM) recognition improves dramatically. Slow down the character speed to “normal” and recognition remains easy.

The course consists of 10 modules and has a very structured progression, as can be gleaned from this chart. It used to be taught as a series of weekly Zoom classes, but appears to have changed recently. Be sure to read the “What is the NEW WAY of Delivering the Course?” section of the course description page. What used to be a series of Zoom sessions appears to have morphed into a more time-flexible series of online video lessons. I’m not sure exactly how it works now, but it sounds very promising. Grok offers slightly more information.

A key component of this course is partnering with Code Buddies, and collaboration with classmates both on-air and through a closed discussion group which used to be Discord, and might still be. The code buddy idea was a key attraction for me. My wife, a polyglot, has online meetings every week with half a dozen people in other countries using various languages … language buddies. Those frequent language buddy collaborations are key to all of those people advancing their skills, something that I looked forward to. As an aside, LICW does not have an explicit code buddy program. They play around the edges, but have nothing formal.

Another key component of the course was the use of ONLY one tool, the excellent Morse Code World “Word List Trainer.” More on that later….

I was completely sold on the Comprehensive ICR (CICR) method two years ago and was accepted into a class with about 10 others. The two points that sold me was (1) the idea that participants would learn how to constantly learn with no need to go through a series of tiers as with other schools and (2) reinforcement with code buddies. I was looking forward to the 10 week journey.

Acceptance into that course was one of my best ham radio experiences … until … during the 3rd or 4th class discussion I nonchalantly mentioned previous use of another learning tool. That triggered an instantaneous yelling outburst from one of the coaches. I had unintentionally crossed the “only one tool” red line. The coach thought it serious enough to yell while wagging fingers in the no-no gesture, clamoring about allowing only one tool in these classes. Any idiot could instantly understand the warning. I remained calm through the remainder of the class. The last time I heard a teacher yell, it was Sister Regina Marie in 4th grade.

Two days later an email from that coach arrived with the supposition that I needed further explanation of the original objection. My blunt response was that it was perfectly obvious the first time and needed no further explanation resulted in me being ejected from the course. (Hint: don’t remind people when they are digging a hole that you can help them by sending a shovel with a longer handle.)

Despite this setback, I still strongly believe Glenn’s concept / philosophy is one of the best among the schools. I encourage anyone to join the CICR course.

While I would like another run at the course, I no longer qualify. Rumor has it that a new requirement is having equipment powerful enough for reliable continental coverage. While one of my 5W rigs reached Alaska from Florida once, it’s not repeatable enough for distant code buddies.

CW Academy

Another course of study and mentoring that appeals to me is the CW Academy course offered by CWOPS. I am not a CWOPS member and have not been part of a CW Academy course. Yet, I have come across some of their course material and find it very useful.

CW Academy operates with several course repetitions each year. A course is comprised of twice weekly Zoom sessions for 8 weeks. Pay careful attention to this CW Academy Options page for a better description of their courses. Note that this school offers 4 levels of progression.

Note well that this school is based on preparation for those interested in joining CWOPS. One of the CWOPS entry requirements is code proficiency at 25 wpm. Consequently, one of the CW Academy requirements is use of paddles. Straight keys, bugs or cooties are not allowed.

Granted, my code speed capability is nowhere near their entry requirements. Nor am I inclined to give up straight keys and cooties. Also, like Grouch Marx, “I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member.”

On the other hand, I discovered the CW Academy Intermediate Level CW Curriculum and the associated practice files (all are MP3 recordings). The Curriculum progresses from 10 wpm to 25 wpm in 16 sessions of 3 days each. Each day, certain files are prescribed offering various Practice Files containing combinations of words, prefixes, suffixes, QSOs and POTA exchanges. Each of the practice files is available in 10, 13, 15, 18, 20, 25 wpm versions. Working through them is proving useful whether or not I ever want to join one of the Academy courses.

BTW, resources for all 4 levels of CW Academy courses are published here.

The ultimate CW practice tool: MorseCode World Word List Trainer

Created by Stephen Phillips (not a ham!) this tool is one of a much larger suite of CW tools. It is also that “ONLY one tool” cited by Glenn Norman at CW Innovations. Based on lists of characters or words from all the serious CW schools, this trainer is incredibly flexible. It far exceeds the capabilities of LICW’s Morse Practice Page, and is more intuitive to use. It does this by allowing alteration of every single variable in practice routines: the list of characters or words (sourced from at least 4 schools), control over the sound of the code, the visibility / non-visibility during practice, character speed and spacing, repeat capabilities, recognition time, and on and on. It also works on either PCs or my Android phone. One nice aspect of using it on the phone is that it computes the audio stream locally and has less bandwidth use than other CW practice apps.

Step back to that conversation I had with Mike N4FFF and you’ll see that he describes exactly how to set up certain practice routines that CW Innovations uses. Extreme flexibility is the reason I like this tool above all others.

Today, I have my Word List Trainer setup to mimic LICW’s Overlearn technique. The settings are:

the list is CW Academy Fundamental: 1-4 letter words
practice time 5:00 minutes
Character / Farnsworth: 32/20
Play options: Repeat, Random
Show & Say Before: none
Recognition Time: 200 (0.2 second between groups of 3 – arbitrary, shorten to lesson the pause)
Morse: count 3 (repeats each item in the list 3 times)
Show & Say After: none

That routine sounds fast at first for someone at “intermediate” level (12-16 wpm), but after a few practice sessions words start popping up out of thin air.

Deliberate Practice and Habit Forming Systems

At the risk of making this article too much longer, I squeeze in “Deliberate Practice,” the polar opposite of random practice. It is purposeful and systematic. It requires sustained effort and concentration. James Clear is the world’s guru of Deliberate Practice. His “Beginners Guide to Deliberate Practice” is a very good introduction. Take a few minutes to read it and consider adopting the ideas.

Like Scott Adam’s reframe about goals, James Clear is another that prefers turning goals into good-habit forming systems. The system I’m using now starts early in the day, when learning energy seems best for me, and proceeds like this:

Random practice using the Word List Trainer in 5 minute increments that can be repeated while doing other things that don’t require serious attention. Currently, that’s 1-4 letter words, played at 32 wpm character speed and 20 wpm spacing, 3 repeats per word, no voice after, and 0.2 seconds recognition time (like the LICW Overlearn technique). It’s fun recognizing the words on an early repeat.
Deliberate practice taken from the schedule of CWA Academy Intermediate curriculum. These are usually short, 1-5 minutes, and easily repeated 2 or 3 times … more if the Decode Monster is getting in the way.
Later in the day, “Scales” (sending practice with my favorite keys) and / or on-air time, usually POTA hunting.
These are tracked in a log book because a key element of deliberate practice is to have a way of measuring progress. This routine typically adds up to an hour or more per day. The practice combination along with the “Why am I not getting this?” reframes, is definitely leading to progress.
Progress is accomplished by gradually bumping up the code speed parameters and selecting different word lists.

The Decode Monster is on the run, but not quite fast enough yet. Does anyone have a kill shot?

Lastly

The legendary cellist Pablo Casals was asked why he continued to practice at age 90. “Because I think I’m making progress,” he replied.

______________
BTW: The cartoon images were created by Grok Imagine.

EFOCF better than EFHW? – part 2

December 28, 2025 by Bob Easton Leave a Comment

Some very kind communication from “RF Guru,” Joeri, leads to more experimentation. Joeri offered an interesting analysis of my previous post and had a few good suggestions. Among those, I focused on one important aspect of this antenna and how that aspect is achieved. OCF. Off Center Fed, places the feed point at a certain point along the antenna’s wire. In this case, the short side of the antenna consists of using the braid of part of the feed coax … but only part. This antenna should have 16.8 meters of wire on one side of the feed point and 3.7 meters of coax sleeve on the other side.

So, how to use only 3.7 meters of coax sleeve? The suggested answer is to use a clamp-on ferrite bead at that point on the coax. That is exactly what I did with the first tests.

After Joeri’s response about my previous post, and thoughts about what mattered, I responded to him that my suspicion rests with those clamp-on ferrites. Are they effective enough to do the blocking we expect?

Now, let’s try again with variations. This time I’ll use two masts with the transformer and coax raised off the ground as follows. The old, broken, fiberglass mast raises the transformer and dangling feed line to 5.1 meters. A “Pota20” carbon fiber mast raises the other end of the 16.8 meter wire to 6 meters above ground. The remaining portion of the dangling coax (ABR 400) enters the shack (actually my lanai) through a bulkhead connector and is immediately met with a homebuilt* common mode choke (CMC).

The first nanoVNA scan is with this setup and only one of the clamp-on ferrite beads. These scans are from 3.0 Mhz to 30 Mhz and show varying numbers of SWR low points. The dogleg for dip #3 ~might~ be where the coax wasn’t taped as closely to the mast as at other points.

Next, add a second bead and scan again. Note point #2 is shrinking.

Add a third bead and scan again. Point #2 recedes further and a new #3 emerges.

Add a fourth bead and scan again. Note that #2 is almost completely gone and #3 growing.

Add a fifth, and my last, bead. Hey, we have something almost useful for 20m.

Adding more beads might continue the changes, but I have no more. So, just “for kicks” I added yet another homebuilt CMC just outside the lanai bulkhead. Yes, that’s 2 of them back to back.

It’s very clear now that choking this part of the coax sleeve is critical, and I’m uncertain of what is “good enough.” Perhaps stopping at 5 beads is enough. OK. Let’s stop at 5 and then see what individual bands look like. Each of these shows my preferred CW part of the band near the markers. The QMX rigs will be OK with 20m, 15m, 10m.

BTW… Where’s the 40m resonance point? It doesn’t show up at all on the nanoVNA. The QMX+ reports 3.6 for 40m, beyond its internal tolerance. Instead, we have a contender for 80m, a band I rarely try. At some point, I’ll try both 80m and 40m with the TR-45L’s internal tuner.

footnote: My homebuilt CMCs follow a common pattern: 10 turns of RG-174 coax through an FT-140-43 core.

EFOCF better than EFHW?

December 25, 2025 by Bob Easton Leave a Comment

Mark, the Ham Florida Man has been running a series of YouTube videos scorning the ever popular EFHW antenna. See his latest here. The basis of his concern is that the 49:1 transformer is inefficient, robbing power before it gets to the antenna. Probably true, no matter how much research Colin, MM0OPX, has put into making them more efficient.

Mark’s answer is a collaboration with an RF engineer in Belgium, Joeri Van Dooren, ON6URE, who writes about all sort of antennas that he sells through his own store. In particular, Mark suggests replacing EFHW antennas with End Fed Off Center Fed, EFOCF, antennas which use a 4:1 voltage balun, one with much lower losses than the 49:1. Mark is a very good spokesperson for Joeri, making all the right points. Interesting ideas that sound reasonable. Maybe I should try one?

My deployment options here in the HOA controlled Casa Easton Antenna Test Range are few. There are no tall trees on this property, and no tall vertical structures. The best I can, unobtrusively do is a telescopic mast about 20 ft (6 meters) tall. That’s one of the reasons I use an EFHW much of the time, in an inverted vee deployment. Using a 3 ft plastic fence post at each end and the mast in the middle and about 66 ft of wire, I can easily reach anything East of the Rocky mountains from Central Florida, and sometimes well beyond, with the 5w TR-45L, QMX or QMX+ (actually 3.8w out).

I like this antenna because I can effortlessly switch between 40m, 20m 15m and 10m with NO need for a tuner.

Can I get the same convenience and improved efficiency with an EFOCF?

Of the EFOCF antennas at Joeri’s store, the EFOC17 appears the best fit for my property. “Why the EFOC17 is the Better Choice for 40M to 10M Operation” makes all the sales points. Length of 17 meters fits. Band coverage 40m – 10m fits. Sounds great. Let’s build one. Yes, as you know, I prefer to build when I can. The sales page for the EFOC17 has enough details for construction. I already had a good 4:1 voltage balun and plenty of wire. A group of clamp-on ferrite bead chokes arrived after a few days. It didn’t take long to assemble and deploy.

I deployed just as I do my EFHW, this time with the 3.7m coax counterpoise laying on the ground.

A VNA sweep from 3Mhz to 30Mhz shows 4 resonance dips, NONE of them on the CW parts of ham bands I prefer (40m, 20m, 15m, 10m) let alone the ones mentioned in Joeri’s articles. Further, checking the individual bands I use, I found SWR measures, impedances and reactance well beyond the tolerance of my rigs and most well beyond being tunable with my Four State QRP tuner.

I captured VNA charts for individual bands, but will save the bandwidth of posting them here. A summary of the 4 bands I really want show the following SWR levels and only 2 will work with my radios without needing a tuner. Definitely not a useable antenna for my needs.
40m, 7.040 Mhz, 6.715:1
20m, 14.060 Mhz, 3.504:1
15m, 21.060 Mhz, 1.937:1
10m, 28.060 Mhz, 1.585:1

Noting that Joeri says “Antennas mounted higher or lower than 10 meters may exhibit different SWR values.” I tried a different deployment. An older (broken 4 times) mast was good for 4 about meters height. I hoisted the balun and coax on that mast, getting all 3.7m of choked coax off the ground, and ran the wire as a sloper to the 6m mast 17m away. While less than half way to 10m, it was much higher than the inverted vee.

The results were not much different. Note well the lack of anything near 20m, my most used band.

Unresolved question:

I can’t really expect Joeri to answer this question since I’m not using an antenna I purchased from him, only one that I think is similar to his.

Does this antenna really need to be 10m high (impossible here), or did I make some other blunder building it?

All Antennas Work

November 10, 2025 by Bob Easton Leave a Comment

My antenna junk bin is full … of antennas that work (somewhat). Since my ham radio rebirth two and a half years ago (CW only, QRP only), I’ve focused on antennas. Almost all have been home built and used on the Casa Easton Antenna Test Range, my backyard on the edge of a Florida marshland (sometimes called a swamp).

POTA hunting is my favorite activity, using CW on the HF Bands. My log just passed 4000 entries. Like “Salty Walt,” K4OGO, my favorite off-the-air pastime is building antennas. I say “build” explicitly since I’ve had about 70 years tinkering with building things, and a bit over two years learning lots of antenna theory. I believe antennas are the success factor for QRP HF communications. [Trivia fact: The ARRL Antenna Handbook weighs five pounds, with 1120 pages.]

I very rarely buy commercially made antennas. Why spend $129 on a simple coil and 66 feet of wire? My commercially built antennas include, several Hamsticks, a Wolf River Coils 17′, an AX1, the TW2010 from DX Engineering, and Yaesu’s ATAS-120A. Home built antennas include over a dozen variations of wire dipoles, wire EFRWs and wire EFHWs

For 20m and higher, the TW2010 is the better of the expensive ones. It has reached Alaska from Florida. The ATAS-120A works well, reaching WY on 20m. The Hamsticks and home-built antennas are my every day, easy to deploy antennas, and consistently get within a half S-unit of their more expensive brethren. The AX1 is surprising for its size, but not quite a continent spanning antenna. My favorite of all is an EFHW deployed as an inverted vee using a carbon fiber 20′ telescoping mast. It’s naturally resonant on 4 bands and my rigs are happy using it without a tuner. Oh yeah, one last constraint: I’m a daytime antenna user. The HOA keeps me using easy to deploy stealth antennas, and night time creatures from the swamp (erm, marsh) cause me to bring antennas in at dusk. Another “one last constraint” is the absence of any tall trees on our property.

A few days ago I had my 21st QSO with Paul Caldara, K7SHR, who often operates near that big park in NW Wyoming. I blatantly stole the Wyoming Windsock photo from Paul’s QRZ page. That QSO sparked a question: what antennas easily reach Florida to Wyoming (abt 1750 miles) with 5 watts. I sorted the log on the antenna column and found that our QSOs used a broad range of antennas, from the simple 20m Hamstick to an $800 commercial vertical dipole, the TW2010. RST results range from 229 to 559. Paul is careful with RST reports, so I trust these. All of those QSOs used either a 5w TR-45L or one of the 4w QMX rigs. The biggest variable was propagation, not the antennas.

So, this has been a long way of saying “All antennas work, some just a bit better than others.” Remember this when seeing the latest new shiny thing from the fanboys on YouTube.

A Century with Jim Vaughan WB0RLJ

August 14, 2025 by Bob Easton Leave a Comment

Jim and I had our 100th POTA QSO yesterday. Jim probably doesn’t know it, but he’s my CW mentor. My first QSO with Jim was in May of 2023, not long after I discovered Parks On The Air. It only took a few QSOs with him to recognize his CW operator expertise, and to decide to hunt him as often as I could. Of the many things one can learn from Jim are consistency and courtesy.

Listen for a short while and the consistency is very obvious. He always conducts QSOs the same way, making it very easy to know when to try catching him.

More important, Jim’s courtesy is obvious by listening to how patient he is with all callers, particularly weak signal callers, such as my QRP whispers. His honest RST reports are also good tools. As my sloppy CW improved, so did the R (readability) part of his reports.

Good advice for ALL CW ops

Jim’s Advice for CW POTA Hunters can be very useful for all CW operators. While written as first person “opinions,” I believe they are excellent etiquette points for all CW operators. If all CW operators followed many of these suggestions, we would all have more fun, and avoid annoyances. If you want to be an outstanding CW operator (I’m not there yet), PLEASE take a few minutes to read Jim’s advice.

Personally, as a POTA hunter, I’ll hone in on my pet peeve: the IDIOTS (YES, I mean IDIOTS) that feel the need to tune-up directly over an activator. Your stupidity not only annoys the activators, but blocks others who are patiently waiting. Step aside a kHz, or to a nearby clear frequency, to tune your rig. That kHz is well within the bandwidth of any antenna, and if you don’t know that, you’re too stupid to have passed a license exam. Be considerate enough to stop tuning up over the top of any other signal you can hear. As Jim says, JUST DON’T DO IT.

Returning to being friendly, consider adding a personal bit to your QSOs. Saying “GA Jim” takes only a couple of seconds and signals a kind of friendship. Who doesn’t like a personal greeting? I try, but don’t do it often enough (a resolution in progress.)

Bonus material

Jim maintains a collection of activation recordings at his YouTube channel. These are good for you to:

Hear what your own signal sounds like on his end.
Hear what a pile up sounds like to an activator … and understand why being a bit off zero beat is a GOOD thing.
and maybe hear what an idiot sounds like tuning up on the same frequency.

Lastly…

The POTA site automatically generates awards related to activity frequency. These two were triggered by that 100th QSO with Jim, one for Jim the operator, the other for the park that he always uses. I’m delighted in knowing Jim WB0RLJ and having the awards.

My ATAS-120A Adventure

July 19, 2025 by Bob Easton Leave a Comment

Why this idea?

Several years at this HOA QTH has found me working “backyard portable” every time I want to get on the air. That means setting up and tearing down every day. (Various night time critters are why I don’t leave antennas outside after dark.) The limitation of daytime antennas is how I became primarily a POTA Hunter (not a bad thing), but did no operating after dark. For a long time I’ve been wanting a quasi-permanent multi-band antenna that’s useful any time of day.

A few months ago I simulated a flagpole vertical (acceptable within the HOA) at several locations on the property but ended up finding the best location, appearance wise, really sucked for good performance. Hence, no flagpole; find something else.

One ham here in The Villages FL (world’s largest HOA?), now a SK, successfully used a couple of Tarheel screwdrivers for some years. So, I decided to give a screwdriver a try. At the time I started this adventure, the Yaesu ATAS-120A was an easily available choice. (NO affiliate links in any of my HAM articles)

Hey, aren’t those for vehicles?

Typically, we find the ATAS-120A antennas on RVs, trucks and other vehicles. They are successful for those uses, and my friend Nancy, KD7S, has one on her RV loves it. BTW, Nancy also likes her 650W amp. 🙂 Wander around YouTube and you can find a couple of hams who have used the ATAS-120A like a portable ground mounted vertical, on some low mount with a handful of radials.

I wondered if it would work well mounted on my home, up in the air a bit. … AND, will it work QRP?

Hey, aren’t those for Yaesu radios?

Yes, the ATAS-120A is a Yaesu product and is designed to work with Yaesu radios. Most late model Yaesus include the Up / Down control circuitry, usually with SWR sensing that makes the Up / Down movements automatic. Hit the “tune” button and watch the antenna adjust itself.

Building my own simple(?) manual controller

I own absolutely ZERO Yaesu radios, and my QRP Lab QMX radios certainly don’t include the Up / Down control circuitry. So, … I built my own manual controller. It derives from several articles found online and is basically a voltage divider that accepts 12v in and produces either >10v out (for Up) or <8v out for down.

My implementation adapted a circuit I found online, and is built on a simple breadboard in a plastic project box. Use my schematic if you please, but do your own parts finding and debugging. You’ll learn from it. ;}

Mounting on the house

This offset antenna mast was found on Amazon when I was considering putting the lawn robot’s local antenna in an elevated position. I later ended up using a simple 6′ ground mast for that and had this mast left over for a couple of years. It is perfect for positioning the ATAS-120A at rain gutter height without being (HOA) obtrusive. A “Skyhook” mounting plate and various bits of PVC ingenuity complete the mast.

Rain gutter counterpoises

My looming uncertainty was whether elevated counterpoises could be discovered that make the ATAS-120A an actual antenna. My plan was to run counterpoises inside the rain gutters, out of sight. Yes, before you ask, I did try simply using the rain gutter system as one big counterpoise. Didn’t work; likely because of uncertain continuity between different sections.

My experience with raised counterpoises for the KJ6ER PERformer Vertical Antenna paid off in guessing at good lengths. There’s still part of a spool of insulated stranded copper 14 AWG left from previous experiments at the Casa Easton Antenna Test Range. I started with two 16’9″ counterpoises for 20M and found SWR on 20M was WAY out of bounds. Adding two 33’5″ counterpoises, typically for 40M, brought a lot of SWR harmony. Each of the wires is strung through the gutters, sometimes around corners, and zip-tied semi-taut to the gutter cross braces.

SWR readings near or below 2:1 magically appeared for every band I care about. Maybe this thing will work after all? Maybe it still wants more counterpoises?

First measurements

I make SWR measurements 3 ways:

Through the controller. With the antenna connected to the controller, and a NanoVNA connected to the “Radio” port, I maneuver the antenna up or down for the best reading at my desired frequency, usually the QRP CW watering holes for each band.
Once a sweet spot is found, I disconnect the antenna from the controller and measure directly with the NanoVNA. There is a DC blocking network in the controller, L1 and C3, C4, C5, that isn’t completely linear and affects readings.
Leaving the controller out of the circuit, and the antenna connected directly to a QMX, the Hardware > Tune function provides yet another SWR reading. This one is often very close to that of the NanoVNA. These are the SWR readings that suggested this antenna might act as an antenna. The first SWR reading is with the controller inline, the second without. I didn’t include the 3rd way of measuring in this chart, but use it when on the air later.
- 7.040 – 2.062 / 1.784 – 31 Ω
- 10.110 – 1.765 / 2.060 – 78Ω
- 14.060 – 1.760 / 1.295 – 39 Ω
- 18.060 – 1.153 / 1.840 – 57 Ω
- 21.060 – 1.649 / 1.214 – 43 Ω
- 28.070 – 1.675 / 1.149 – 43 Ω

Does it “antenna?”

When I’m completely rigorous, I do a big pile of WSPR runs. So far, only a couple of runs on this antenna, I ran the first with my ZachTek WSPR transmitter, 0.2 w, for 10 minutes at 16:00z on 7/17/25, while we were in a G1 geomagnetic storm with a K-index of 5. The results were 45 spots scattered through mid-USA with the western-most in LA California and the north-eastern-most near NY City. Not the best I’ve seen, but a good start for a very poor propagation day.

How bad was the propagation? So bad that I gave up trying to reach Oregon and mopped the floors in the house. 🙂

Two casual POTA QSOs today proved it does indeed antenna. POTA got me a 539 response from WQ0A Brian Foltz in Kansas City KS. Later in the afternoon, I made one of my very frequent QSOs with WB0RLJ Jim Vaughn in his favorite Chalco Hills Nebraska park. He’s one who gives accurate RST reports and I was surprised with a 559. Both my sidewinder key and my new antenna were working well.

Early AM 40M – still dark. Tuned for 40M, found the band quiet, so sent some CQs into the wild and watched the RBN to see where they landed. Better reach than I expected. Pre-dawn 40M WSPR shows hits all over the USA and on up to Edmonton. Significantly fewer after dawn, as expected.

Too early to tell summary.

A few WSPR runs, 2 QSOs, and some RBN hits aren’t a lot to go on. I’ve watched the YouTube “influencers” gush over new gear with less on the air experience. Yet, so far this performance is very promising for a casual, admittedly compromised, antenna. Will it fetch DX? Nope, but it will be far more available than those that need daily setup and tear down.

Epilog

It’s been up and on the air for a few weeks. I’ve tweaked the counterpoise a few times resulting in only minor SWR improvements. It has given me 2 QSOs on 40m 22 on 20m and 1 on 15m. Overall, it hears well but is soft spoken. Yes, much of that is do to my QRP practices. Most of the ATAS fan boys run much higher power with this antenna. One influencer who really likes it demos it with a 100w transceiver, and of course makes lots of contacts.

It hasn’t met my permanent install, base antenna, expectations, so I took it down. Maybe someone else can make something of it, using it on a vehicle as it was designed, or with higher power? Besides, the XYL thinks it’s time for this 80 year old OM to stop climbing ladders.

Update – Oct 30, 2025

The ATAS has been in semi-retirement for a few months, and the holes in the house have been patched. Today, I tried it in a different configuration, on a ground stake in the middle of the Casa Easton antenna test range. I used 4 16.5′ radials and 4 33′ radials, making the radio very happy with SWR.

As before, the antenna hears well but still speaks softly, reaching OK and TX on 20M CW today. It really needs more than my 5 watts, and I expect it will do very well with the typical 100w rigs. Perhaps someone in the local club K4VRC will put it to better use.

Nov 14, 2025 – Indeed, a fellow club member, who already has one ATAS-120 on a vehicle wants another for a second vehicle. The antenna found a good home.