• Overview

    RAC diamond logoThis primary goal of this site is teaching and promoting the use of good quality CW. For help on any Ham Radio related topic please visit VE2KM.ca and Tony will do what he can to help you. The courses on this site are available to anyone anywhere in the world but special emphasis will be given to members of RAC (Radio Amateurs of Canada) to augment the other courses available from RAC.

    Tony, VE2KM (G3YAQ) was originally licensed in 1968. He has been involved in teaching ham radio topics and CW since 1970. He is a member of SKCC,  FIST,  and CWOPS. As a CWOPS CWA advisor he is actively facilitating CW courses with students from several continents (USA, Can, UK, NZ, Ned, FRG, Australia). He has experience facilitating courses from the Beginner level and higher. The Beginner level CW course is specifically designed to enable Canadian Amateur Radio operators to pass the Canadian government ISED CW Exam and to be capable of typical POTA, SOTA and other similar short form QSOs.   The follow on levels will enable you to become comfortable with all forms of CW use on the Amateur Radio bands.
    If you are interested in learning CW or improving your current CW skills please use the email address from QRZ.com to contact Tony and he will do what he can to help you achieve your goals.

    Tony hosts regular Ham Radio and CW Coaching sessions via zoom on Mondays at 1700Z.
    If you would like to participate you can find his email address on QRZ.com

    • Background Information File PDF

      Please click on the link above to open and read the Background Info document before doing anything else!!!

    • AT NO TIME IN THIS COURSE SHOULD YOU USE ANY VISUAL AIDS OR LOOK UP TABLES. THE COURSE MATERIAL IS 99% SOUND BASED AND FOCUSES ON HEAD COPY. IN SOME OF THE LATER SESSIONS YOU WILL NEED A PENCIL AND PAPER BUT ONLY TO CAPTURE CALLSIGNS AND THE OCCASSIONAL NOTE.

      REPEAT EACH CHARACTER SESSION RECORDING AS MANY TIMES AS NECESSARY UNTIL YOU ARE CONFIDENT THAT YOU CAN RECOGNISE THE SOUND OF THE LETTER, NUMBER, PUNCTUATION, OR PROSIGN.

Available courses

CW Beginner

Pre-requisites: None.
As the name implies this course is for the absolute beginner. No previous knowledge is required.

Course Duration ~ 6 Weeks
If you are adequately motivated to commit to 3 twenty minute or 4 fifteen minute training sessions spaced at least 1 hour apart every day for the duration of the course you could achieve an adequate level of CW operation to participate in typical SOTA, POTA, and similar short form QSOs in about 6 to 8 weeks.

If you are unable to make this time commitment at the moment then please delay signing up until you can make the commitment. Experience has shown that this regular, daily, short period time commitment is essential in becoming proficient at copying and sending good quality CW.

 To sign up or request more information please use the email address from QRZ.com

CW Intermediate

After sucessfully completing the Beginner level course you will be invited to join the no fee VE2KM Ham Radio & CW Coaching Club. The goal will be to prepare you to participate in conversational CW QSOs at a moderate speed.

The group meets via zoom regularly at 1700Z on Mondays but if this time is not conveninet alternate sessions can be arranged.

Contester

This course will provide all the informartion required to participate in CW contests and QSO parties.

CW Beginner Session 1

Having successfully completed this session you will be able to recognise the letters A E N and T znd their use in short words.

CW Beginner Session 2

At the successful completion of this session you will easily recognise the letters S I O and the numbers 1 and 4 as well as some callsigns and short words.

CW Beginner Session 3

At the successful completion of this stage you will easily recognise the letters D H L R and the numbers 2 and 5 in addition to those covered in the previous session.

CW Beginner Session 4

At the successful completion of this stage you will easily recognise the letters C U M W, the numbers 3 and 6, and the ? in addition to those characters covered in the previous session.

CW Beginner Session 5

At the successful conclusion of this section you will be able to recognise the letters F Y G P and the comma in addition to those characters covered in previous sections.

CW Beginner Session 6

At the successful conclusion of this section you will be able to recognise the letters Q, B, V, and the FORWARD SLASH (/) in addition to those characters covered in previous sections.

CW Beginner Session 7

At the successful completion of this stage you will easily recognise the letters J K, the numbers 0 and 8, and the <AR> in addition to those characters covered in the previous session.

CW Beginner Session 8

At the successful completion of this stage you will easily recognise the letters X Z, the number 9, and the <BT> in addition to those characters covered in the previous session.

CW Beginner Session 9

At the successful completion of this stage you will easily recognise the letters C U M W, the numbers 3 and 6, and the ? in addition to those characters covered in the previous session.

CW Beginner Session 10

At the successful completion of this stage you will easily recognise the letters C U M W, the numbers 3 and 6, and the ? in addition to those characters covered in the previous session.

CW Beginner Session 11

At the successful completion of this stage you will easily recognise the letters C U M W, the numbers 3 and 6, and the ? in addition to those characters covered in the previous session.

CW Beginner Session 12

At the successful completion of this stage you will easily recognise the letters C U M W, the numbers 3 and 6, and the ? in addition to those characters covered in the previous session.