CWops
| CWops | |
|---|---|
| Full name | The CW Operators' Club |
| Founded | January 2010 |
| Membership | Nearly 4,000 membership numbers issued by 2026; members in nearly 100 countries |
| Joining | By nomination; 25 wpm or faster, sending and receiving; annual dues |
| Activities | |
| Training | CW Academy (free, membership not required) |
| Weekly events | CWTs, one-hour mini-contests |
| Annual contest | CW Open, first Saturday of September |
| Newsletter | Solid Copy |
| Online | |
| Website | cwops.org |
CWops, formally The CW Operators' Club, is an international amateur radio club for operators who use Morse code (CW). Founded in January 2010, it had issued nearly 4,000 membership numbers by mid-2026, to operators with call signs from nearly 100 countries. Its full membership is aimed at proficient operators, but the club is best known to newcomers for CW Academy, its free online training program, and for its weekly on-air events, which are open to everyone.
Membership
Joining CWops is by nomination rather than by simple application: a current member nominates the candidate and three other members act as sponsors. A candidate must be able to send and receive Morse code at 25 words per minute (wpm) or faster, and members pay dues, with annual, five-year and lifetime options. Each member receives a membership number, which is used in the club's on-air exchanges.
The club describes its aims as bringing together and supporting operators who use Morse code, offering free CW training, encouraging both ragchewing and contesting, and recognizing excellence in CW. Its tagline is "Celebrating the unique art form of Morse Code."
CW Academy
CW Academy is the club's teaching program and its largest public activity. It offers online, class-style instruction led by volunteer CW Advisors. It is aimed at three groups: complete beginners, returning operators who want to regain or improve their skill, and operators who want to try something new but lack the confidence to start alone. Classes are free, carry no obligation and do not require CWops membership.
Sessions run three times a year, each lasting two months: January and February, May and June, and September and October. Students work in small groups with their advisor, building the copying skills needed for real on-air contacts.
CWTs and the CW Open
The CWT (CW Test) is a one-hour, QSO-party-style mini-contest held four times each week, on Wednesdays at 1300 and 1900 UTC and on Thursdays at 0300 and 0700 UTC. Spreading the sessions across the day gives operators in different parts of the world a convenient time to take part. The exchange is short:
- Members send their name and CWops membership number.
- Non-members send their name and their state, province or, outside North America, their country prefix.
Non-members are welcome, and CWTs are a popular way to sharpen speed and copying skills against real signals. Scores are posted online at 3830scores.com rather than sent as log files. Typical sessions are fast, so newcomers often listen first and call stations sending at a speed they can copy.
The CW Open is the club's annual contest, held on the first Saturday of September. It is divided into three four-hour sessions, each scored separately, so operators can enter any or all of them.
Awards and publications
The club publishes a monthly newsletter, Solid Copy, with an archive going back to 2010. Each year it presents the CWops Award for Advancing the Art of CW, which honors people who have made substantial contributions to the use of Morse code. It also offers six operating awards and sponsors plaques for top scorers in several categories of major CW contests.
Relation to other CW clubs
CWops sits at the faster, more contest-oriented end of the CW club world, alongside groups that focus on other aspects of the mode. The Straight Key Century Club is built around mechanical keys and slower, relaxed contacts, and FISTS concentrates on helping newcomers. Many operators belong to more than one, and CW Academy graduates often move on to activity in all of them.