Hi All,

Here are a few more fun things to keep you occupied over the holidays!

CW Teacher 1.0 is Now Available!

Whether you want to learn Morse code from scratch, never having heard a dit in your life, or you just want to speed up your copy for CW contesting, CW Teacher will help!

I like CW, but I've never been particularly fast, so for most of my Amateur Radio life, I've gravitated towards SSB for contesting. More recently, I've come to realize that copying the short contest exchanges at 25 words per minute (WPM) and higher can actually be easier than a longer rag chew at 18 WPM. I've been spending more time with CW contests and I've really come to enjoy them!

I had been thinking about creating a tool to help folks learn CW or increase their speed. Then, my son Brad, KB3MNE, mentioned an interest in learning CW. That was all the catalyst I needed to create this CW Teacher software!

This program will teach you Morse Code at your own pace. Set the sending rate at 18 WPM or higher so that you learn the characters at a functional speed, but don't worry, the software will send you each character, one at a time and wait for you to respond. There is zero rush. The entire emphasis of the software is teaching you to associate a sound with a letter. With just a bit of practice, that's really easy to do! Whether young or seasoned, this program should easily help most anyone learn CW!

Since copying CW with a keyboard is exactly what you will be doing when you are CW contesting, this software helps you become comfortable transferring what you hear to your keyboard directly as well.

The emphasis of this software is teaching Morse code from the absolute beginning, but I've also included options for more advanced practice, such as copying random call signs and Field Day style exchanges.

This program is completely free! Please enjoy it and share it with anyone you may know who would like to learn CW! You'll find it here:

http://www.n3fjp.com/cwteacher.html

Band Map Tutorial

The band map has really become a popular new feature in all my software. I've been receiving lots of questions on how to zoom in on spots in just portions of the band, how to set the band map to track your rig, how to set up your screen to display both the band map and contesting software (or AC Log), what the colors of the spots mean, what is auto scale, etc. You'll find all these and many more band map related questions answered here:

http://www.n3fjp.com/help/bandmaphelp.html

Test Your Network for Winter Field Day!

SPAR Winter Field Day is barely a month away and I'm starting to receive the usual networking questions! If you are planning to set up a network with your group, it's time to get the PCs together, set up the network you plan to use and get everything configured. Even if your group is planning to operate from indoors, you still want to set up your network and PCs in advance and get everything configured. As always, problems easily solved in a relaxed atmosphere can seem insurmountable when the clock is ticking.

The SPAR Winter Field Day software networks identically to the ARRL Field Day software and you'll find all the configuration details here:

http://www.n3fjp.com/help/networkinghelp.html

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Kimberly and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the very best in this holiday season. We are very grateful for all your kind words, support and encouragement along the way and very thankful for the many friendships we've developed. We wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and wonderful blessings in the year ahead!

And in response to the questions we always receive when we neglect to include the following in our e-mail announcements...

Package Upgrade Information...

If you have registered one or more individual programs and would like to upgrade to N3FJP's Software Package or N3FJP's Software Package and CD for full use of all our Amateur Radio software, we would be glad to apply the amount that you have registered so far as a credit towards that purchase. Please send us an e-mail directly and we'll let you know your balance.

N3FJP's Software Package includes approximately 50 programs for contesting, net management, general logging and other Amateur Radio related applications. In addition to full use of all these programs, registered package customers are also entitled to receive free passwords for any new software that is added to the package and free upgrades to existing programs. You'll find all the details on the Register Now page at www.n3fjp.com.

Donations are Gratefully Accepted!

And in response to the often asked question for which Kimberly and I are very grateful...

"I know your upgrades are free, but I also realize how much time and effort coding these enhancements and new programs take and that your pricing policy doesn't fully reflect that. Can I send you something to show my appreciation for your continued efforts?"

Yes, thanks so much, your continued support in any amount is very welcome and deeply appreciated! You can use this page:

http://www.n3fjp.com/donations.html

or send your contribution by mail, payable to Affirmatech Inc., to:

G. Scott Davis
118 Glenwood Road
Bel Air, MD 21014-5533

Thank you so much for your continued support!

Thanks!

As always, thanks for your kind words, support, linking to our web site and spreading the word about our software. Kimberly and I really appreciate it!

73, Scott
N3FJP
http://www.n3fjp.com

Serving the Amateur Radio community with contesting and general logging software since 1997.