On a chilly autumn evening in early October 2024 I gingerly tapped out my callsign on a second hand Kent single-lever paddle and completed my first CW QSO with an exceptionally patient Mike M0MDS. I'd been dipping in and out of Morse Code for a few months, and in a moment of sheer madness decided to get on the air for the first time.

This week while tinkering with Wavelog I realized that I was close to hitting my 1000th CW QSO, which ended up being with PA3JD (thanks Joop!). Looking back over the last couple of years I am proud of how far my fist has come and thought it would be the right moment to reflect on the journey so far.

I picked up the callsign G4IYT after passing my Full license exam in late 2023. The G4 series was first issued in the 1970s, and G4IYT originally belonged to my grandfather, Dave. Back in his day, earning the G4 prefix meant that he had to prove his ability to send and receive Morse at 12wpm.

Times change, and the Morse requirement was dropped in 2003. Even so, one of the guys at the club (an original G4 and fantastic CW op) joked that I'd never be a "proper" G4 without doing the Morse test. Challenge accepted.

Early days

Early on I used Morse Mania and LCWO.net to develop instant character recognition, progressing on to Morse Walker to simulate contest and POTA contacts. Once I could copy a callsign after hearing it a few times I started working special event stations ("599 TU"!) and POTA/SOTA activators. Short, predictable contacts helped me build confidence on the key. I carried on like this for the best part of a year, with activity ramping up towards the end of 2025 when as we prepared to move house and I had to temporarily swap my IC7300 and outside antennas for an IC705 and a magnetic loop.

It wasn't really until this year that I was copying well enough to start to have longer QSOs, mostly brag tape style RST/Name/QTH followed by Rig/Power/Antenna. I used MorseMaven to listen to simulated QSOs and practiced copying with pencil and paper until I was confident enough to get into them on ainir myself. This was bolstered by an effort to have at least one logged QSO per day during 2026, with CW slowly becoming the dominant mode since the beginning of the year.

Improving on the air

Off air practice can really only get you so far. As Keith "The Shaky Key" VE3SVQ says: Get on the air to get good. My copy came along leaps and bounds once I started having more QSOs, and the best way to get them at a speed you are comfortable at is to call CQ at that speed. I did go through phases of key fright but found that often the thought of having a bad QSO - and losing my way in the dits and dahs - was much worse than experiencing it. And, if that does happen (it will), the escape hatch is a SRI QSB 73. Sometimes there is still a flash of fear as I'm about to start tapping, but the best way forward is to push through it.

Contesting has proven very fruitful, both pitching in with local clubs as well as entering myself. Morse Walker's contest mode is a great way to push your speed limit and has modes for CWT and SST as well as regular serial exchanges. I've enjoyed competing against myself and trying to score more points than the last entry, rather than trying for the top spot in the ladder.

CW has added another dimension to portable operating and POTA, too. Nothing beats getting a transcontinental contact running 5W from the side of a hill. Since the beginning of this year my POTA activations have been almost exclusively CW QRP, either with the 705 or a mid band QMX. I've also been able to reduce the amount of gear required for a successful POTA activation down to quite literally 2 pockets worth of gear, plus a fibreglass pole.

Consistency

The thing that made the most difference is daily practice. I try and vary what I do from day to day and it can be anything from some simulated contest or POTA QSOs with Morse Walker, listening to QSOs with Morse Maven, or casually listening to some on-air QSOs in the shack. I aim to do a minimum of 10-15 minutes a day, every day. The important thing is to make it something that you will do every day. When I first started I would have an intense few days practicing and then get frustrated that I wasn't seeing instant progress. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and you notice improvement over periods of weeks rather than days. It is worth the investment of time.

Looking forward

Today I am comfortable at 14-16wpm, either activating a park or having a brag tape QSO. Longer, unpredictable rag chews still throw me sometimes but I can usually manage even if I miss a few bits. My next goal is to build up to 20-22wpm as well as build up the confidence to run a frequency in contests, rather than limiting myself to only hunting.

Give it a go!

When I first got into amateur radio I never thought I'd become interested in HF, let alone QRP operating, or POTA. I probably wouldn't have tried my hand at CW if it wasn't for the guys at the club poking fun at me. There are many resources available for self study, and fantastic programs such as CWOps Academy and LICW if you want to practice with others. If I can do it, you certainly can, so have a go.

And that G4 who joked that I wasn't a proper G4? I've got his QSL card on my shack wall confirming our QSO at 12wpm. That'll do!

Bonus Stats

I'm a bit of a data geek, so I pulled these stats out of Wavelog to see where my time was spent. It was a useful exercise to see which bands and contest formats worked for me.

Bands

Contest QSOs (443)

POTA Activation QSOs (151)