N4LCD

Paul Quillen, N4LCD Amateur Extra Cartersville, Georgia Good on QRZ QSL via QRZ es LoTW Grid Square EM74 ITU Zone 8 CQ Zone 5 SKCC # 4420 FP-QRP # 1849 LICW Club # 6408 FISTS # 13793 QRPARCI # 12979 NAQCC # 2442 OMISS # 8279M Latitude 34.1700463 N Longitude 84.8176454 W

U.S. Army Vietnam Veteran 1969-1971
Army Signal Corps - Communications Security
Vietnam i Corps, Chu Lai, Duc Pho

Rigs I've had...

My First Rig - TenTec Omni D - No manual necessary. Wish I still had it.

Icom IC-735

Icom IC-718

Icom IC-756 Pro II

Elecraft K2

Elecraft K3

Kenwood TS-590s

TenTec 555 Scout

Tentec Omni VI Plus

Elecraft KX3

Icom IC-7300

My Current Antique QRP Rig: Tentec Century 21

My Current Rig: Elecraft K3

Keys I have had...

Bencher BY-2 My First Set of Paddles

Current Straight Key: Cast Iron Base Begali Camelback now with Navy Knob

Solid Steel Base Kent KT1

Current backup Straight Key: Hi-Mound HK-708 now with a Navy knob

American Morse Equipment KK1

J-38

Lionel J-38

Czech Army Morse Key

Schurr Profi II

New Schurr Profi II aluminum finger pieces from BaMaTech in Germany

Backup Paddles: CW Morse 3D Printed Paddles

Backup Paddles: CW Morse CNC Aluminum Paddles

Current Paddles: N3ZN ZN-SL Single Lever

One more key I am looking at...

VibroKeyer Deluxe

AEA MM-3 Keyer

SGC 230 Antenna Coupler

Beautiful glow of Eimac 3-4000 tubes
Eimac 3-400Z

The Phonetic Alphabet from a picture I took inside a Minuteman II Intercontinental
Ballistic Missile Launch Control Center 30 feet underground, just east of Wall, South Dakota

LAMENT

You must have, at times, thought into the past,

Where some things go out, while others last,

What comes to my mind is the old Morse code,

That has weathered the storms from many abode.

To talk with one's fingers is surely an art,

Of any info you care to impart.

In most conditions the signals get through,

While he same about the phone is simply not true.

Those Dits and Dahs cut through the trash,

Of nearby noise or lightning's crash,

To the sensitive ears of the shortwave receiver,

Who records this data with ardent fever.

He knows he's doing something unique,

In such poor conditions, that's quite a feat.

To Roger the message that came off the air,

These brass pounders sure do have that flair.

They say Morse ops are a dying breed,

But don't despair, there's always that need.

That when conditions get rough for the new automation,

Rest assured, there'll be need need for for your station.

CW is dying? Believe it never

This mode will be around forever and ever,

But one thing is is sure, what we really need

Is to relay our knowlege to the younger breed.

To carry the torch, long after we're gone,

To send Morse code thru the air like a song,

When at last, silent keys pull that final lever,

We can rest in peace, It's CW forever!!!!