A LITTLE CFO NOSTALGIA FROM CFO # 70

[CARMEN DROGO]

HI FOLKS,

I CAME ACROSS THIS ARTICLE WHILE

DOING SOME CFO RESEARCH.

A BIG THANK YOU GOES OUT TO 

CFO # 70  W8CVE - MIKE.

WHEN THIS ARTICLE WAS POSTED

MIKE HAD THE CALL SIGN OF W8MW.

THIS ARTICLE IS FROM 2008

I've checked back several times since you posed the question about the CFO. Figured you might get several replies. Since that hasn't happened, I'll do my best to offer something worth reading..

I've been a ham since 1962 and most of my operating has been on 40 CW. It became clear to this teenager that former military and commercial CW operators were making some mighty fast and clean code. A lot of these fellows along with other gifted operators were really pushing the envelope on speeds that could be achieved with electronic keyers and to a lesser extent, bugs. While some had a magic touch and could leave the pack in the dust, most would hit a brick wall, often around 45 wpm, where near perfect sending would quickly turn to slop. Being able to read code much faster than one could send was a common condition and I was a victim of that too.

Reading K5TO's comments about the state of CW sending in the early 70's brought back a lot of memories. Wally mentioned the one character buffer K4KN keyboard. Over the course of two or three years I tried to buy one of those boards but K4KN always had more orders than he could handle. Although the design was rudimentary there were plenty of QRQ-hungry guys anxious to buy. As the decade moved forward, numerous manufacturers offered increasingly sophisticated CW keyboards to enthusiastic buyers. Overnight, we were all sending better code and having more fun than we'd had in years. I remember being astonished at some of the fellows who never learned to touch type and despite that would hunt and peck their way to high speeds. When we entered the 1970's, 60 wpm was considered lightning fast. By the end of the decade, the bar had been raised and QSOs over 100 wpm were not unusual.

The phenomenon of exceeding the keying circuit capacity of transmitters began to appear. Many a rig was removed from shacks because it couldn't keep up with the new speeds we were running. Ten Tec gained rapid acceptance because most if not all of their models (back then) were designed with CW wave shaping ideal for QRQ. That and the smooth QSK made their rigs very desirable for this new way of operating CW. I ran an Omni C and Info Tech M300C board. I think of those days as something of a CW epiphany with frequent outbursts of glee and joy on the low end of the band. Such were the prevailing conditions that helped hatch the Chicken Fat Operators.

I first became aware of these excellent Morse Code conversationalists in 1980 and was a daily participant for about 5 years until work duties took me off the air. You could join the club by being sponsored by a member. The entry requirement was not set in stone or dependent on what keying method you used. Generally members would be someone interested in fast speeds and CW rag chewing. Darnit, over the years I managed to lose my membership certificate which was truly a work of art crafted by Stan W9WBL and his wife Doris. Also ashamed to confess I forgot my membership number. I think it was 70 or 71. I don't think it was initially anticipated that the member count would go as high as it did. I had the impression that W9WBL was frequently overloaded with the work part of maintaining the club and that he did not always receive adequate funds to cover his out of pocket costs. Never heard him complain.

Chicken Fat Operators were first to harness the mystical properties of said fat. Smeared on keys and/or keyboards it made your code speed increase in quantum steps while eliminating all human errors. Rubbed on antennas it made small signals big, and big signals bigger-er. Members were obsessively experimenting with CF and broadening the scope of its applications. Our shared interest in such pursuits remained high and was frequently the lead topic in lengthy conversations.

The roooooster was the member list. The coop was the gathering spot. Cluck-ins were social events. The "official" CFO sign-off following each QSO was a clucking sound made by a labor-intensive combination of dits and dahs at strange spacings, variable character lengths and abrupt shifts in speed. The official theme song, In The Mood, was sung by clucking chicken impersonator Ray Stevens.

====

That there were all these goofy metaphors and the sense nothing here was all that serious was wholly intentional. Human nature what it is, any group of high speed code operators could easily become snobs. As I understand it, some other fast code groups were off putting and turned away many a good operator. I remember occasions when some CFO members felt there was need for a more formal organization, for more recognition of accomplishment and/or status, for stronger filters to keep less gifted operators out of the club. Elitist attitudes were nipped in the bud and a light heated, friendly feeling prevailed. However, those wishing to strut their stuff had many opportunities to move into the really high speed lane with others equally up to the task.

I was never among the fastest of the fast, but all those contacts with CFO members did much to help me send and receive code faster and cleaner. The old theory about hanging with people better at a given pursuit than you proved true in my case. I'd say most of the on-air activity was in the form of traditional two station rag chews. There were group chews also, sometimes containing many stations. Saturday mornings on the low end of 40 we might have a dozen participants in a QSO that would keep going for several hours. They'd be at a pretty good clip of maybe 60 wpm, all running QSK and each of us able to discern who was talking at any given moment. Bursts of laughter were common. Imagine someone saying something funny followed by a dozen stations sending "hi hi" simultaneously. What a happy sound. Eventually somebody would say three little words that stick with me even to this day: Let's get going!

Next thing you know, this might be an 80 wpm QSO. Sometimes, the really fast guys would excuse themselves and go one-on-one for a while at 100 and better. I don't recall anyone ever being arrogant about having extraordinary code capability. Dozens of us would listen in awe as the fast boys let it rip.

I would feel just awful overlooking any of the great folks who formulated this thing. But I think all would agree that the Big Bird, Jim W9TO, CFO #1, was inspirational to us all. Jim, as most will recall, designed the HA-1 TO Keyer first manufactured by Hallicrafters circa 1960. As was the case with many CFO members, Jim had an array of CW sending devices within easy reach and he used them all. Keyers and paddles, keyboards, bugs, straight keys. I was not quite as well rounded and tended to stick with the keyboard at home and paddles when running mobile.

That just about everything I can recall. Oh, one other thing. Some of the guys thought it would be a novel change of pace to hold a CFO net on 40 meter SSB. So we'd go up into that rowdy phone portion of the band and attempt to talk to each other. It was novel to finally hear the voice behind the fists we'd been hearing for years. But we usually didn't fare well up there with our 100 watt pea shooters and the crowded, noisy conditions. When this experiment concluded, many a microphone was put back in the desk drawer.

A good portion of CFO membership were already retired when the group formed so I'm sure a review of the rooster would yield mostly silent keys among the early members. By the time I became active again in the mid-90's I was shocked at the lack of QRQ on the bands. I found no evidence of CFO group activities but did run into the occasional QSO with a CFO member.

I hope some or all of this was interesting.

73, Mike W8MW ( NOW - W8CVE )

http://qrqcwnet.ning.com/forum/topics/1993813:Topic:881

[Joseph L. Pontek Sr.]

I am loving this remembrances. I remember when I & my XYL had to move
to Indiana for a position I accepted.  We moved with our motor home as we were
waiting for a house deal to go through. In the camp ground, it was near impossible
to operate due to antenna & social life.

I set up a good mobile rig and started doing mobile CW again, but with more
seriousness. I spent a lot of windscreen time, sometime up to 10 hours driving
a day.

I would run into old friends and a couple were QRQ operators. I remember one,
Rick who was blind. I knew him and his parents who were hams. He really helped
me pass the miles away. I was probably at 45 WPM at the start of these travels.
Rick loved to press my limits receiving speeds. He was a keyboarder and when
I was getting brushed off, he would back down a bit and he told me, it was at 62
or so WPM. My fastest speed sending with paddles was 45 WPM which I figured
out was probably due to my arthritis in my fingers (medically confirmed). I wanted
to try keyboarding at home, but my typing sucked and still sucks. B^)

As I am now trying to set up another mobile CW rig, I will miss that old gang, guys
like W9TO is just one. I know Rick was one that could copy at 100 WPM. Yes,
it required IWC and what I called buildings one's CW vocabulary. I remember when
a new word stumped us, it was just not in our CW vocabulary yet.

I have read where CW is not a language, but with IWC, it is. Thanks for the memories
and more reading & rereading to do, again. 8^) Maybe I need to try Dr. Carson's
memory pills.

73, K8JoePalooka/K5

On 3/23/2022 7:01 PM, CARMEN DROGO wrote:

HI FOLKS,

I CAME ACROSS THIS ARTICLE WHILE

DOING SOME CFO RESEARCH.

A BIG THANK YOU GOES OUT TO 

CFO # 70  W8CVE - MIKE.

WHEN THIS ARTICLE WAS POSTED

-- 
Regards, Joe, K8JP/V31JP, Ronnie, Martin & Sidney Pontek
175 Diamond Loch Rd., Apt. 5
Gilmer, TX 75644-9374
U.S.A.
903-204-2318 (My TX cellular)

Member FOC-1743 Feb 2001, QCWA-LM21894, OOTC-4607, A1OP, CFO 1055, SKCC-3171T, NAQCC-5798, Flying Pig-2819, FISTS-7625CC951, A1C-2299, SOC 1075, 10-10 22977, PG1915841, CW Rag chewers #21,
Facebook: Joe Pontek

[k8...@aol.com]

Many of you will remember Jim Quinn, K9JQ.

He was a southpaw and he told me back in the day, he ran /m CW with a bug. He kept the key on the driver's door arm rest. It sounds uncomfortable to me because I'd think he would have to scrunch up his left arm. But maybe he had found a place for the bug that allowed him to stretch his arm out a bit 

The last 5 or 6 years I was working, I was driving about 30K miles per year, just for work. Having a CW rig in the car was a must. I used a little FT-100 and a Hustler and mainly operated 40 CW.

I used Bencher paddles on the passenger seat and mounted them on one of those mouse pads that had the gel wrist rest. I rested my elbow on the center console and my wrist on the gel pad. It was super comfy.

I called that mouse/paddle combo "The Morse Pad".

Later,

Joe, K8MP

--
--
Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, CLUCK! - CFO Lives!
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[CARMEN DROGO]

HI JOE - K8MP

I RECALL WORKING YOU MANY TIMES BACK IN 2009 - 2015

ON 40 CW WHILE U WERE OPERATING MOBILE.

W4SON - JACK WAS ANOTHER  CFOer WHO I WORKED MANY TIMES

WHILE HE WAS GOING FROM ONE CLIENT TO ANOTHER. 

I JOKED WID YOU AND JACK ABOUT NO TEXTING WHILE U WERE

DOING CW. 

73 - K1LKP

[k8...@aol.com]

I remember those days Carmen. CW QSOs sure made the miles zip by.

Regarding texting while driving, one time I had just started a QSO with a guy and when he realized I was driving and sending CW, he immediately shut down.

When folks used to ask me how in the world I could drive and send at the same time, I offered these explanations:

1) When you have been driving and doing CW for over 50 years, (Almost 60 years now), they're both second nature.

2) Remember when you were a teenager and drove with your left hand on the wheel and fiddled with your girlfriend with your right?

I rest my case.

Seeeeeeya, Joe

https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/Chicken-Fat-Operators-Club/b674dddd-0b66-4e5e-8c87-23980af7c52fn%40googlegroups.com

.

[Joseph L. Pontek Sr.]

Amen, Joe, from da other Joe.

If anything, I drive a little more carefully when operating
mobile CW, maybe a bit slower? I never got a ticket while
operating /M CW, either. Now that I am retired, I just do not
drive that much anymore but for my 4 hour drive to & from
the VA in Shreveport, LA. Maybe I wanted more time to
yack on the radio.

73, cluck, cluck, Joe, K8JP/K5

On 3/24/2022 3:24 AM, 'k8...@aol.com' via Chicken Fat Operators Club - CFO wrote:

I remember those days Carmen. CW QSOs sure made the miles zip by.

Regarding texting while driving, one time I had just started a QSO with a guy and when he realized I was driving and sending CW, he immediately shut down.

When folks used to ask me how in the world I could drive and send at the same time, I offered these explanations:

1) When you have been driving and doing CW for over 50 years, (Almost 60 years now), they're both second nature.

2) Remember when you were a teenager and drove with your left hand on the wheel and fiddled with your girlfriend with your right?

I rest my case.

Seeeeeeya, Joe

[k8...@aol.com]

I thought I was The Other Joe...

Seeeeeeya!

--

--
Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, CLUCK! - CFO Lives!
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[Joe, aa4nn]

This Joe here, while driving up I77 working 10m cw,

the fella asked if I was driving, and yes, I am and eating

peanuts and drinking a coke not a lot of traffic at  the time.

de Joe, aa4nn

Lake Wylie, SC

===================

[CARMEN DROGO]

Remember when you were a teenager and drove with your left

hand on the wheel and fiddled with your girlfriend with your right?

73 -K1LKP

[k8...@aol.com]

Hi Hi...

But not that kind of fiddling...

--

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