Yesterday, I was working a guy with a really bad fist. He was slurring his characters together so badly that sometimes I couldn’t copy the code. I tweeted:
kb6nu @kb6nu
How can someone be a ham for more than 40 years and still send such lousy code?
I quickly got the following response:
Jason Milldrum @NT7S
@kb6nu could be a disability
Of course, Jason is right, and I shouldn’t have been so quick to pull the trigger on my Tweet.
Even if the other operator was disabled in some way, though, there are ways to enable him or her to send good code. Handi-Hams, for example, has many resources to help disabled amateur radio operators.
There was no way for me to know if the fellow I worked last night had a disability. He didn’t mention it, and I didn’t ask. I shouldn’t have Tweeted what I did, but operators with poor fists should work on improving themselves. How we get from here to there is the problem.
Bert PA1B says
Hello, when I started as a ham, with a homebrew 7 MHz QRP transceiver, I was pleasantly surprised by the friendly atmosphere among CW operators. I like it to answer a chirpy signal or a poor fist, because I enjoy that “something extra” and I know that my answer is appreciated. 73, Bert
Dan KB6NU says
Well, I agree about the chirpy or drifting signal. Many times there’s a story behind it. I’m not as tolerant with poor fists, though.
Paul KW1L says
Please give some suggestions on how to improve your fist. 73
Dan KB6NU says
Of course, you know that I’m going to say to get on the air and practice, don’t you. :)
Over and above that, you can use a CW decoding program, such as fldigi, to copy what you send. Assuming that you’re not sending too fast, the program should be able to decode your fist.
Another thing that you can do is to record your QSOs and replay them. You should be able to tell how good your fist is by just listening to yourself.
Alan Larson says
One doesn’t need much experience reading tales of ham radio experiences to find notes of people who are working someone with difficult to copy code – – then they find that the person has been recovering from a stroke (or similar).
Yes, he could have had a disability. As for your snarky comments the result you heard might have been the result of him “sending better code”. Perhaps next he will learn to move his other fingers, or to speak again. You don’t know. It is not his duty to tell you of his private medical conditions, so don’t complain that he didn’t tell you.