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Thanks for visiting my website and allowing me to tell you a little about myself and my favorite ham radio activity: CW.  Maybe you have a similar interest and background or maybe even we've spoken under one of my several callsigns.  My name is Joerg Vollbrecht and I use the name "Joe" on CW, and even in person for my English-speaking friends.

I live in the small village of Reinsdorf, which is located in the southern part of Sachsen-Anhalt, more or less in the middle of the country, about 25 km north of Weimar and 30 km south of Halle/Saale. But Reinsdorf is not so small that it has not had ham radio activity. In 1979, when I was 11 years old, I listened to my neighbor DL5WK (formerly Y21QH) making those strange dit and dah sounds as he "talked" with friends around the world. Although it was difficult, I managed to learn Morse code by listening to tapes at about 8 wpm, starting with the easy letters and persevering despite so many other interests at that age.

My first contact was from our local training club station, Y62AH, and I was so excited that even now I remember the date and the station I worked!  It was May 2, 1981, on 80 meters with Y41ZH (now DM7DX). Two years later I received my own callsign, Y62QH, and I used both CW and SSB for several months. I knew Ron, DL5CL (fomerly Y21UH), and Ingo, DL3HQN (formerly Y23OH), from my first radio club meetings. I started listening to their "high speed" weekly QSOs on 80 meters at about 30 wpm, but really could not copy that fast. At the very next club meeting, though, I mentioned my interest in trying to copy their messages. They instantly invited me to join them! Everytime I checked in they were kind enough to slow down for me. Ron gave me one of his old keyers as a gift, which was key to my CW speed increase. In only a few months I was going fast enough to keep up with both Ron and Ingo, and not much later I joined the Radio Telegraphy High Speed Club (HSC). By then, of course, CW had become my preferred mode. I found it great fun and hugely satisfying, far more so than SSB. In January 1991, I was invited to become a member of the First Class CW Operators' Club (FOC) and even traveled to various annual meetings in the United Kingdom, United States and Europe, meeting some of the best and most experienced CW operators in the world. Later, I was elected (and remain) Secretary of the Radio Telegraphy Club (RTC). In fact, for anyone who might want to learn a little more about CW and how much fun it can be, please send me an email or contact the President of RTC, Dirk, DL5CF. My email address is joe@dl4cf.com and Dirk's email address is dl5cf@rtc-dl.de. Learning CW is really not that hard and it is a fun skill to have and use. After a while it becomes just like talking and no longer just a series of dits and dahs like we hear on the radio.
I'll see you on the air!

73,

Joe, DL4CF