Geoffrey S. Mendelson  wrote:   
   > > Does anyone do anything besides CW while DX'ing?  I still have to   
   > > learn/practice CW but would like to try my hand at DX.   
   >   
   > get on the air and start making contacts. The best way to   
   > improve you speed is to use it.   
      
   Geoff's advice is VERY good, IMO.  Concentrate on sending clean code--use   
   a keyer if you can--and most hams will happily slow down as much as you   
   need.  And if you use CW, you'll find your abilities increasing   
   dramatically.   I got my Tech+ license in 1991 and started working DX on   
   the CW part of the 15-meter band.  Six months later i was testing for   
   General and 'accidentally' passed the 20wpm code test, which I took just   
   as a warm-up for 13wpm.  No practice at all, just a few hundred QSOs.   
      
   And you're right (original poster) that there's MUCH more DX on the CW   
   portions, more of the time.  Even if you wind up using phone or digital a   
   lot, you'll still want to be able to use CW if you want to be a DXer!   
      
   Good luck, original poster (and Geoff too)!  73 de AC4RD   
      
      
      
      _______________________________________________   
      Ken Kuzenski AC4RD atsign mindspring dotsign com   
      _______________________________________________   
     All disclaimers apply, see?  www.duke.edu/~kuzen001   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)