Post date: Nov 01, 2010 12:3:36 PM
Roger Cooke (G3LDI) started me on the Morse Proficiency Certificate route. It took a while to organise but Mark Harper (MW1MDH - Region 6 Manager) was relentless and we managed to arrange the test at the North Wales Rally last weekend.
I'm very happy to report I passed at 15 wpm so I'm now the proud recepient of a nice certificate showing all that hard work paid-off! It's also a big confidence boost, having QSOs is the goal but knowing that I'm actually doing the right thing is the icing on the cake, especially with being self taught. The assessor (Tony MW0BXJ) is the first person to sit with me when I've sent CW so it was nerve racking to say the least!
I would encourage anyone who is learning morse to aim for the certificate at whatever speed they want - it's free and a nice reward for the effort put in, I will certainly enjoy my CW a lot more now. 20 wpm next year? As an aside, I used a paddle - my straight key skills are improving though!