Learning CW

[shaft]

I've caught the HF bug and there seems to be a whole other world out there in CW that I want to conquer. I've searched and checked out numerous sites that offer apps that teach or help you learn CW. What has worked for you? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

[fineshot1]

By far (in my opinion) the best practice method is listening to the W1A1 on the air code practice sessions if they still do that(not sure). That is what worked the best for me back in 1974 when I first got my novice class license. Its "on the air" "real world" receiving conditions with QRN, QRM and all. This method got me up to 18 words a minute in 3 weeks of listening to all sessions each day for 3 weeks. Have fun and good luck......

[mtindor]

Originally Posted by shaft

I've caught the HF bug and there seems to be a whole other world out there in CW that I want to conquer. I've searched and checked out numerous sites that offer apps that teach or help you learn CW. What has worked for you? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Everybody appears to be unique when it comes to copying / sending CW. First off, everyone typically is able to send CW easier than they can recieve it, at least in the beginning.

In general though, and specifically for copying CW, I think you really must have an interest in it . it seems to me that a lot of people who have barked about CW are those who just really had no interest in it. if the interest is not there, you probably won't learn it.

When I started to learn CW, back in 1991, I used the Gordon West tapes. Everybody has their preference, and there will be a lot of people telling you Gordon West tapes suck. But for me they were perfect. I had no problems learning CW.

There are different methods for teaching CW - i've been out of touch with the learning end for a while so I forget. But there are proponents who claim the Farnsworth method is the best, and then there are other methods. Apparently some people felt Gordon's way of doing it was incorrrect and would result in people not being able to adequately copy code above 13 wpm or so. In my case, I had no such hurdle and do not think the method Gordon West uses posed any limitation on my ability to learn.

As fineshot1 said, listening to W1AW is a great way to learn/become more proficient copying CW. They have a daily schedule (multiple times a day, multiple bands) and send the code in various speeds from 5 up to 20+ (at least they used to). I would listen to this as often as I could to improve my reception of CW and it worked great.

For some [i never had this problem] I think it is important to first find out what tone is the most pleasant and conducive to your enjoyment copying code. Some people might like a higher pitched tone, some might like lower - go with what sounds best for you.

Also, don't let yourself get burnt out by listening for hours on end. Space yourself out. And be prepared to push yourself - you'll fall into a rut and get stuck at a certain level of copy (5wpm for example) if you don't force yourself to listen to code that is sent at faster speeds.

For me, even when I could copy only 5 wpm, I could copy it better if it were sent at 13pm with 5wpm spacing - meaning each character's dot-dash combo is sent at 13 wpm but the spacing in between characters is the spacing you woudl get if you were sending at 5 wpm.

For me at least, the idea was that I did much better by listening to the characters themselves being sent at faster speed so that my brain could learn the sounds of the full characters rather than my brain identifying the individual dots and dashes and then having to translate them to characters. I think everyone [including me] start out identifying a character by its individual dot-dash components - But I think the sooner you learn to identify full characters by their sound without breaking it completely down to dots/dashes, the better off you will be improving your speed and proficiency. At least that was the case for me. And listening to CW with the character speed fast and the spacing slower was the ticket for me.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll do well. And I'm sure you'll be glad you learned and will get a lot of enjoyment from it. You might even get to the point where you start participating in various QSO parties, Field Day, and other events using CW. Despite what people say, it's definitely easier to copy CW in a pileup or in conditions with a lot of fade than it is to copy voice. Granted, it's much slower - but it does get through.

Mike

[w0fg]

Try this:
G4FON

[Bill_White]

I used "A Fully Automatic Morse Code Teaching Machine" to pass element one.
Wiki: Welcome Visitors

[w0fg]

Once you've learned the basics, this is a great simulation of real-world conditions.
DX Atlas: Amateur Radio software

[mtindor]

Originally Posted by w0fg

Once you've learned the basics, this is a great simulation of real-world conditions.
DX Atlas: Amateur Radio software

This is an excellent tool - I used it to improve my copy under adverse conditions... I like to participate in the occasional casual contest/qso party. I wanted to mention it but couldn't remember the name... thanks for bringing it up. I think I'll download it again and install it for S&G since I don't have an antenna up right now.

Mike

[Tweekerbob]

For learning 5 wpm, I think everyone's posts said it best. To increase your speed, I believe the best way is to actually do it...get an HF rig, a straight key, and go to town. General rule: don't send faster than you can receive. If need be, ask the other operator to slow it down.

By actually trying to have a conversation with someone you are less apt to let your mind wander and are more interested in what that person is trying to say. I passed 5 wpm off of tapes, but 13 and 20+ by just doing it.

Good luck and have fun

[ampulman]

I have one of these from the late 50's sitting in my basement. Haven't looked at it in years.

http://www.n4mw.com/instructograph.pdf

Amp

[chrizby]

Well everybody is different, that is for sure. I know that I have heard quite a few people talk about how quickly they were able to get up and running with code, and then I look at my progress. Oh well. I remember the first time I started using G4FON (highly recommended) and I just thought that those 5 minute tests were lasting at least a half and hour. Soon enough you will be moving along.
Just don't get discouraged.
I can be really dyslexic, and I have trouble learning something that cannot be written down. And the biggest thing to understand is that Morse is a sound language. You have to memorize about 40 sounds and learn to associate that sound with a letter, punctuation, or prosign. And you have to have that association up and running so that it is as fast as it takes you to pull your hand away from a hot stove. It has to be a reflex. There is no time to think up some little trick phrase or whatever gunk advice you are going to hear out there. Hear the sound, associate it with a letter. Lightning fast, reflex.
- Never never never do 5 wpm code. Start at 12-15 wpm with g4fon
- You have to really want to learn code. Decide why you want to learn it and work from there.
- Practice everyday. Use a variety of methods. Software, W1AW, whatever works to get you up to a reasonable speed.
- K7QO's Home Page This is a pretty good program too, just follow his advise and you will be on your way. I got up to about # 80. He does some punctuation that you will not need. But its overall really good if you find you have trouble focusing on your studies using a computer.
- Read this The Art & Skill of Radio-Telegraphy - Contents Page download it. Its a great book
- I read a few other books just to provide some history of the code. Lewis Coe has a good book 'the Telegraph', and then there is 'The Victorian Internet' by Tom Standage . We are so far removed from the period in time that Morse Code was used that it is difficult to find it relevant.
- I almost forgot. It really helped me to use one of those portable ic chip recorders with a bunch of short morse code phrases on it. You gotta build up a little morse code buffer in your head so that eventually you can 'copy behind' when you are receiving code.
- straight key, bug or Iambic Paddle . Well that could last a month of sundays. I started with a paddle and yes it was very difficult to get just right but overall I am happy I went with it. Its up to you.

So many technological advantages to anybody over the last 150 years in learning the code, and yet it seems that now noone finds it is useful except for some ham bones.

Hope that helps

Victorian Internet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Thayne]

Originally Posted by shaft

I've caught the HF bug and there seems to be a whole other world out there in CW that I want to conquer. I've searched and checked out numerous sites that offer apps that teach or help you learn CW. What has worked for you? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Don't do it; Go chase chicks and enjoy life

[shaft]

Originally Posted by Thayne

Don't do it; Go chase chicks and enjoy life

HA! Im married with with a 3 yr old. My days of chasing chicks are long gone, plus child support is way too expensive.


For everyone else, thanks a lot for the suggestions. As expected, everyone has a different way of learning, so I'll review the various methods that were suggested and fine one that fits my learning style.

This is one of those things that I didnt really have a desire to learn until last weekend while scrolling thru the HF bands. I couldnt pick up any voice conversations but found a ton of CW across multiple bands. So now Im hooked. I want to learn code and figure out what Im actually picking up, and perhaps sometime in the future be able to work other stations.

[DaveNF2G]

ACK! You cannot receive CW by ear. You need a radio receiver.

However, you can decode Morse Code by ear.

[APTN]

If you can learn Morse code, good for you. I've been messing around with it. (I can recognize a few letters.) Besides HF, you also may hear it on VHF/UHF as used for repeater identification.

[w0fg]

Here's another Morse skill-builder that was just written up on the ARRL website. I downloaded it last nite and gave it a try. Like Morse Runner, it will give you a good workout once you know the code.

[hertzian]

What helped me out a lot was the desire to know what I was missing. I didn't really care for anyone else's opinion - I just know I wanted to get the most out of my receiver, and learning cw was free.

Each day after some time with the tapes, I'd also just listen to the receiver and just try to copy down the few characters I picked up each day. Having a receiver to actually put into practice what I'd learned earlier was key. I had to do it nearly every day at first, otherwise I'd forget some of the characters I'd learned the day before. Having a receiver for me was paramount to keeping it enjoyable. I knew I didn't have perfect copy, but it was progress!

The W1AW code practice sessions were ok, but I just jumped into qso's in progress, and just tried the best I could. When I got frustrated, it was time to quit and relax with some SSB monitoring.

I also used to just pick up any magazine or newspaper, and use a code-practice oscillator to try and send it to imaginary listeners. That really helped me, since I had a physical "feel" for what the sound was like, rather than just hearing dots and dashes. I would just try and send the characters I had learned, and skip the ones I didn't know yet. And by visually, I mean seeing the characters I wanted to send on paper, and translating that into movement and sound - not trying to "visualize" the dots and dashes. If you do that, you'll be stuck at 5 - maybe 7 wpm forever.

With that method of trying to send anything laying around the house with the practice oscillator and simple hand-key, it combined 3 senses - visual, auditory, and physical all at the same time. Bam! You don't have to become an amateur radio operator to use a practice oscillator and key either - but then again you just might!

[edmscan]

Look up this program . . . it is by far the best I have found.

G4FON Koch Trainer

It is recommended above as well I believe.

It will allow you to specify what you want to receive.

I would recommend a HIGH character rate and a smaller space rate and that will get over the issue of your brain trying to remember the dit / dah combinations. You then learn to recognize the SOUND.

I use 20 wpm with 12 spacing for example.

In fact I laughed when i watched "Enemy of the State" movie last night, where each time they showed the satellite, they were playing CQ in morse code.

[MLetterle]

Hey me too! I've started with JustLearnMorse and this website: massyn.net morse code training

[chrizby]

ebook2cw - convert ebooks to morse mp3s

Using this program, you can take an ebook from Main Page - Gutenberg
and turn into an mp3 file in cw. Its wise to clean the file up a bit by taking the beginning license
and ending license material out, and also to get rid of quite a bit of punctuation. It works great.

Also I figured out a way to get this program to create vocab mp3 files in much much less time
than it would take to do individually.
Just take the attached text file and put in the proper info into ebook2cw and you will get almost 1000
of the most commonly used words in the english language in cw at whatever speed you want.

Instead of author put 1000 words, Instead of title put 500 hz 40 wpm.

Just be sure to create separate directories for the different groups. Its a lot of files.
I created the text file on emacs after having trouble getting a spreadsheet to properly format it.

Since ebook2cw is set up to do books I had to make some compromises.
The program is set up to create a new file at the beginning of every chapter in a book. To do that
you have to tell the program what word to look for in the file. Usually its CHAPTER, so to make vocab
lists I had to find the shortest separator word I could find and the program seemed to be fine with
the letter 'e' , so that is what I went with. There are 2 e's at the beginning of the line because I guess the program is expecting a number or something after the chapter separator.

Then the word will be repeated three times. I tried to add spaces in between the words and mostly succeeded but to do anything above 40 wpm I would like much more space in between the words so I will have to do another file for those speeds. (not that I am actually able to do those speeds yet).

At the end of each file is the Break <bt> symbol - . . . - .
ebook2cw takes every new paragraph and translates that into the <bt> symbol so there is no need to
do that manually. And somehow with emacs I created the paragraph separator by using rectangle editing.

Give it a shot. The only drawback is that the title of each file is a number rather than the 'word' that is in cw, but who cares. It would take forever to create a 1000 mp3.

Now if I could only get my cheapo mp3 player to see all of the files I have added to it, I would be in business. It only sees about 2000 of the files.

The most difficult by far was the text file. Make changes at your own peril.

--------------------------------
e e
the the the

becomes this in cw in an mp3

e e the the the <bt>
----------------------------------------------
Have fun !!!!!!!!!!