You feel like you are getting a solid handle on learning CW; maybe you have been taking some classes. Now it’s time to put your learning into action. In order to complete this, you will need to have a working HF station.

First: You must determine what key you will use. I recommend a straight key to get started, but an iambic paddle is fine as well. You can’t operate on the air without a key. Don’t rely on a keyboard and morse generator to be on the air.

There may be CW activity on 2 and 6 meters, but your success may be limited because of the propagation of these bands. The best bands would be 10, 15, 20, and 40 meters. Especially 20 and 40.

There are a few different types of CW QSOs. You should know what they are, so you know which you want to reply to.

CQ SKCC – Slow but not easy
You typically find these higher in the CW portions of the band (14.050+, 7.050+). These kinds of QSOs can be challenging, because you may hear clean code, and you may hear sloppy code. Usually it is pretty slow, especially if a straight key is used. Before you try one of these,

CQ POTA – Consistent with an easy exchange
These are my favorites to hunt on the bands. You can find these between .020-.050. Usually the code is very clean, and the exchange is also very easy and predictable. I personally recommend these for every newcomer – easy and predictable QSOs are great for getting your first few contacts. These operators typically run at 20 WPM.

The QSO goes like this:
(ME) CQ POTA de WC7L
(YOU) N7CTB
(ME) N7CTB GA TNX UR 599 OR BK – Good afternoon, ur signal report is 599 in Oregon, back to you
(YOU) BK TX, UR 599 ID ID BK – Back, your signal report is 599 in Idaho, back to you
(ME) BK RR 73 dit dit
(YOU) Dit dit

CQ TEST – FAST, but predictable
These contacts can be very easy, and very tough. It depends on what contest is going on. You should find the contest exchange before attempting to make contact with a station in a contest. These contacts may be easy because you already know part of the exchange – 599. You can also listen to an operator for an extended time to make sure his callsign is right. Typically, serial numbers are the number of contacts that have been made in this contest. So if you hear the number 120 given to someone before you, expect the number you get to be 121. Just be warned, these operators are trying to make as many contacts as possible. They may be going faster than normally heard on the bands 25+ WPM.

The QSO may go like this:
CQ TEST de WC7L
N7CTB
N7CTB 599/NN 3245 (signal report and serial number)
RR 599/5NN 425
TU / QRZ

CW Ragchew
You can never be sure when you are getting a CW ragchew. What is a ragchew? Just 2 operators talking to each other, having an extended conversation. These conversations tend to be slower <20 WPM. If you feel comfortable with an unpredictable QSO, these are great. Some things typically in these types of QSOs:
Name
Profession
Age
How long you have been licensed
City and State
Radio
Antenna
Power