DL4CF

LoTW is my preferred method for confirming QSOs. However, please use Club Log's OQRS if a QSL card, for whatever reason, is needed.
Please avoid sending paper QSL cards unless I have requested one from you!

​QTH: Nebra (Unstrut) near Halle Grid: JO51TH (remote)

QTH: Eichwalde on the southeastern outskirts of Berlin Grid: JO62TI (local)

Hello,

Thanks for visiting my website and allowing me to tell you a little about myself and my favourite radio communication activity: CW. Perhaps you have a similar interest and background, or we have spoken under one of my several callsigns. I'm Joerg Vollbrecht, a 55-year-old East German-bred, and I use the name Joe on CW and in person for my English-speaking friends. I live in Eichwalde on the southeastern outskirts of Berlin.

I grew up in the small town of Nebra (Unstrut) / Reinsdorf, located in the southern part of Saxony-Anhalt, more or less in the middle of the country, about 38km northeast of Weimar and 30km southwest of Halle (Saale). Nevertheless, Reinsdorf is not so small that it has not had Amateur Radio. In 1979, when I was 11 years old, I listened to my neighbour DL5WK (formerly Y21QH) making those strange dits and dahs as he "talked" with friends worldwide. Although it was difficult, I learnt Morse code by listening to tapes at about eight wpm, starting with the easy letters and persevering despite so many other interests at that age.

My first contact was from our local 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 80m with Y41ZH (later DM7DX and now Silent Key). Two years later, I received my callsign, Y62QH, and I used CW and SSB for several months. Then I started listening to Ron's DL5CL (formerly Y21UH) and Ingo's DL3HQN (formerly Y23OH), weekly high-speed QSOs on 80m at about 30wpm, but I could not copy that fast. At the next club meeting, though, I mentioned my interest in copying their messages. They instantly invited me to join them. Every time I checked in, they were kind enough to slow down for me. Ron gave me one of his old electronic keyers as a gift, which was the key to my CW speed increase. In only a few months, I was going fast enough to keep up with both, 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 fun and hugely satisfying, far more so than SSB. In January 1991, I was invited to join the First Class CW Operators' Club (FOC) and even travelled to various annual meetings in the United Kingdom, United States, Europe, and Africa, meeting some of the world's best and most experienced CW operators. 

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. My email address is dl4cf@gmx.de. Learning CW is not that hard; it is a fun skill to have and use. After a while, it becomes like talking and no longer just a series of dits and dahs.
 

I'll see you on the air soon!

Cheers and 73, Joe

DL4CF / M0HVM  / MM0HVM