Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics.

Some talk over on one of the Facebook groups about whether anyone is "100% CW."  I honestly thought I was pretty close to 100%, especially these past few months. But statistics don't lie -- ClubLog tells me I'm only 70.52% CW year to date. 

(I only operated June-Dec in 2008, Jan-Mar in 2009, and Jun-Dec in 2013; I was QRT the entire period between late March 2009 and early June 2013.)

I'd say practically all of these Phone contacts were contest QSOs made during NAQP and ARRL DX back in January; I honestly don't remember working more than a couple or three phone contacts outside of a contest, and if you subtracted them from the total I'll bet the CW bar would look a whole lot longer. 

Most interesting (to me, anyway) is how quickly I went from mostly data and little or no CW to the exact opposite while barely even realizing it was happening. I've always loved digital modes, going back to my early years operating RTTY and AMTOR with a Kantronics KAM and a dumb terminal. These days, I can barely stand the sound of it. As for phone... I just get frustrated and give up on pileups I would have toughed out just a short while ago. It's just that I have been so drawn into CW -- finally, after struggling with it for so many years -- that once I overcame by key fright and realized I could work DX without really being a code monster I've all but given up on the rest. For now, anyway. I suppose it's possible that I'll burn out on CW eventually. I hope not.

All those years of people telling me to try CW, to forget about making mistakes and just get on the air, to just keep at it and it will start to come easily after a while, blah, blah, blah... well, they were right! Yes, I started my CW adventure by pushing memory keyer buttons on the K3 -- M1 is "WW2PT", M2 is "TU 599"; pretty much 99.6% or DX QSOs can be completed with nothing else than those two macros. After a while, though, I found myself becoming increasingly conversational,going to the paddles or straight key more and more without breaking out in a cold sweat. I now call stations who are not simply working DX-style "599-73" exchanges, but who are exchanging names, QTHs, and pleasantries, and I'm really enjoying it. A lot. I wouldn't call myself a CW ragchewer, but then I've never been one on phone, either. I still don't call CQ; maybe that will change soon, too. For now, though, I'm just basking in the satisfaction of having met one of my long-term goals of becoming comfortable, and increasingly proficient, with the CW mode.