FISTS CW Club

FISTS supports the use, preservation and education of Morse code. The club is devoted exclusively to CW operators, CW operating and people who are passionate about Morse code.

NYE 320-001 Straight Key from Dennis K6DF's collection. Click to go to a larger picture

We have three straightforward goals:

Further the use of CW (Morse Code)
Engender friendships among members
Encourage newcomers to use CW (Morse Code)

FISTS UK is the Headquarters of the FISTS Club (International Morse Preservation Society).

Bencher BY-1 Paddle from Dennis K6DF's collection. Click to go to a larger picture

Interested in becoming a member?

Find out more about our history.

Latest News:

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09 Mar 14: Brian G3KJX, FISTS #8924, writes:

I will be driving down to Portugal this week.
I will be there until well into April. Taking my trusty FT-817 and on most of the QRP and FISTS frequencies as conditions allow and various times through the day.
I have a doublet and vertical aerials available.

08 Mar 14: A very warm welcome to our latest members:

Paula	K7PAX	#16474	Tom	K1TA	#16475	Chris	WB9G	#16476
Ronald	K8CLV	#16477	Ray	G3SCZ	#16627	Geoff	G4FXM	#16628
Stevie	B	#G4PSS	Brian	G3MDD	#16630	David	G0KQY	#16631
Rolf	DK6IT	#16632	Bob	G3UBZ	#16633

07 Mar 14: Ladder Sunday: The next FISTS Eu Ladder sessions are on Sunday 9th March, 14:00-16:00 & 18:00-20:00 UTC.

The Ladder involves relaxed, conversational QSOs and is a good opportunity to meet up with other members. Call CQ or call other people at a speed of your own choosing. Activity is typically around 14.058, 7.028 and 3.558 MHz, and QSOs must include at a minimum exchange of name, RST received, QTH and (if applicable) FISTS member number. Members from all FISTS 'Chapters' are encouraged to join in.
06 Mar 14: To all,

Received this from Tim, Nancy WZ8C's husband for dissemination to FISTS. Please distribute as widely as possible . . .

73, Dennis K6DF
===============

My wife Nancy passed away Sunday March 2, 2014. She endured many years of medical challenges and is now resting peacefully. She is leaving a empty spot in my heart as I'm sure it is the same for all of you. Thank you for the outpouring of sympathy that I have already received. She has touched so many people around the world.

I am enclosing a link to her brief obit. There are no services planned at this time. She is being cremated at this time per her wishes.

Please forward this message to anyone that might like to know.

http://tinyurl.com/nancywz8c

Tim Lange
03 Mar 14: To All FISTS Members:

Early this afternoon I received a phone call from Tim, Nancy's husband. I am very sad to report that Nancy WZ8C, is now a silent key.

Nancy passed away last night and will be missed very much by all FISTS members worldwide.

If you wish to send condolences to her family, please send them to the following address:

Tim Lange and Family
P.O. Box 47
Hadley, MI
48440

Please send this notice to any and all FISTS groups and members to disseminate this information as much as possible.

I sadly send 73, God's Speed Nancy, 88's . . .
Dennis Franklin K6DF
FISTS Awards Mgr / Webmaster

Small image of a Century Award certificate.

01 Mar 14: Please join us in congratulating the recent FISTS Awards winners:

Selwyn	G3JRY	#3761	Rag Chewers
Mauro	HB9FBG	#16260	Millionaire 2 Million Endorsement
Merv	G4KLE	#16273	Spectrum 40m
Fred	G3YJQ	#16276	Perpetual Prefix 100 and 150 Endorsements

For more information about FISTS Awards, available free to paid-up members worldwide, please see the Awards web page.

28 Feb 14: The FISTS Down Under March 2014 Newsletter is now available.

FISTS Down Under is the Australian & New Zealand Chapter of the FISTS CW Club.
28 Feb 14: The first FISTS Eu International Day activity of the year, St. David's Day, is on Saturday 1st March, 14:00-17:00 UTC. The minimum exchange is RST, name, QTH and (if applicable) FISTS member number. European FISTS Activities are relaxed events with sociable QSOs and everyone, from those relatively new to CW to experts, is encouraged to join in. The scoring provides most points for contacting members and non-members in Wales. Logs are welcomed but not essential.

The free FISTS Log Converter program can be used to create an entry for this and all other European FISTS Activities.
27 Feb 14: To All FISTS North America members,

I was contacted today by Nancy's husband Tim and asked to forward the following to as many FISTS Club members as possible . . . please feel free to pass this e-mail along to other FISTS members who may not be on this list . . .

==========

"Nancy is currently facing some health challenges and is not able to respond to everyone like they would like her to. Please be patient and bear with us. When she is back to 100%, she will be working on the new member applications as well as getting out FISTS store items for those that have been ordered. Thank you, Tim."

==========

In the mean time . . . please feel free to send any questions or inquires to me ( Dennis K6DF ) and I will try to do my best to answer or pass them along. If you have sent a new member application that is waiting for processing, please contact me at the above e-mail address. I will respond to any and all e-mails as soon as possible.

Thank You,
73, Dennis Franklin K6DF
FISTS Awards Mgr. / USA Webmaster
22 Feb 14: Ladder Sunday: The next FISTS Eu Ladder sessions are on Sunday 23rd February, 14:00-16:00 & 18:00-20:00 UTC.

The Ladder involves relaxed, conversational QSOs and is a good opportunity to meet up with other members. Call CQ or call other people at a speed of your own choosing. Activity is typically around 14.058, 7.028 and 3.558 MHz, and QSOs must include at a minimum exchange of name, RST received, QTH and (if applicable) FISTS member number. Members from all FISTS 'Chapters' are encouraged to join in.

22 Feb 14: It's a pleasure to welcome our latest members:

Ben	VK3FTRV	#14173	Vic	GI4ONL	#16619	Doug	G3ZLJ	#16621
Phil	F5IYJ	#16622	Dean	M0DAG	#16623	Uli	DF9DU	#16624
James	G0GJM	#16625	Peter	G3XQZ	#16626

18 Feb 14: Palm Radio now provide the "Tone Tube" code practice oscillator. Matching the PPK (manual key) and the mini-paddle with Code Cube, the Tone Tube can also be used with any hand key or keyer.

A built-in small speaker produces a side tone which is adjustable in frequency and volume. This speaker is automatically turned off when you plug in a stereo headphone. Operating time (using a replaceable CR2032) with speaker at maximum volume is about 20 hours CW, and with headphones about 200 hours CW. Key input and headphone output are via 3.5 mm stereo jacks and there is optical indication of keying by LED.
17 Feb 14: Kanga Products (UK) now has the new Rockmite ][ Kit available for 80m, 40m, 30m or 20m.

The Rockmite ][ is the new QRPme version of K1SWL's classic QRPP CW transceiver with built-in keyer. It incorporates enhanced output filtering and a new customized PicoKeyer-RM Iambic keyer chip from Ham Gadgets, 5-40 WPM, enabling a pot to be used to control speed. It's also available in the USA from QRPme.
15 Feb 14: LNR are providing a final limited run of the Key Concepts Pro Pump NT9K "Standard" Version. After this they will be shifting their focus to other models.
14 Feb 14: Satoshi JI0VWL has produced a new version, 1.01, of his callsign trainer CW Freq.NET. This version now runs on all versions of Windows from Windows 2000 through to Windows 8.1.

Please visit the News page for a full list of recent and older news items.

Interested in becoming a member?

FISTS HQ welcomes new members who have a passion for Morse Code.

1990 Vibroplex from Dennis K6DF's collection. Click to go to a larger picture

Benefits of membership include:

Our popular Quarterly A5 News Booklet
Free use of the FISTS QSL Bureau
Access to our members-only area
Help and support from like minded people

The FISTS Club is one of amateur radio's fastest growing organisations. It's an unique club, founded and maintained on solid principles using radio's oldest and yet most reliable communications mode - CW! Why not join us?

FISTS History

The FISTS Club, (International Morse Preservation Society) was founded in 1987 by the late Geo Longden G3ZQS of Darwen, Lancashire England, after recognising a need for a club in which veteran operators would help newcomers and less-experienced operators learn and improve CW proficiency. During the first year, membership reached 300, most of whom were in Great Britain and Europe. The original Introduction to FISTS by Geo holds as true today as it did when he wrote it. Geo also explains how he chose the name FISTS.

Sideswiper ('cootie') Key Number 9 made by Bill NT9K. Click for a large picture.

The North American Chapter was formed in 1990 to assist 11 members in the USA receive the newsletter and as a banking convenience. Nancy Kott WZ8C of Hadley, Michigan was named US representative, a position she still holds but she now handles the affairs of over 7,000 members in the Americas.

The Down Under Chapter (New Zealand / Australia) was formed in 1998 to provide a similar service to Australasian members, with Ralph Sutton ZL2AOH as the VK/ZL representative. From a VK/ZL membership of four, there are now over 100 members "Down Under", principally in New Zealand. The New Zealand membership is the largest in any country outside England, Wales and North America.

The East Asia Chapter was formed in 2004 by a few Taiwanese and Japanese members to provide East Asian members with various services in their native languages.

Worldwide, FISTS members number over 10,000 members, growing each month.

Why not join us?

Acknowledgements: Thank you to Dennis K6DF, Bill NT9K and Billy AB4RH for permission to use photographs from their key collections.