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Learning CW
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I guess it’s about time I get back to that. I tried more than 30 years ago, with some DOS morse tutor program, got maybe to the point of recognizing half the alphabet or so, and stopped putting time into it. But I got a code practice oscillator, and I enjoyed practicing sending more than decoding back then.
So I wonder if there’s some software for the sbitx for that: a morse code tutor that exercises you both ways, sending and receiving? I just got my first paddle, a Putikeeg from AE. So of course I had to have a shot at reading the gpio pins for that last night. I got it debounced too. So I could keep going and write yet another code practice program, but I suspect it’s quite redundant. There are several packages on the pi already (apt-get search morse or so will find them) and I guess they are all the type that play tones for me to decode. And there are CW decoders of course, which take audio input. But measuring timing to detect what I’m trying to send with my key could be done directly, rather than generating audio and treating that as the input. |
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Hi Shawn, You can use FLDIGI to decode what you are keying, I think that is a good way to practice. For decoding practice, I really like qrq. It's a terminal program similar to MorseRunner. By default it gives you callsigns to practice decoding, but you can load lists of anything, like common words etc. Another excellent resource is - Kurt has developed many resources for learning. I am also a fan of the CWOps CW Academy. This is how I learned - they host classes via Zoom that will take you from 0 to 30 wpm. 73 and hope to catch you on the air sometime - KE8BWA On Sun, Feb 23, 2025 at 1:38?PM Shawn Rutledge K7IHZ / LB2JK via <social=[email protected]> wrote: I guess it’s about time I get back to that.? I tried more than 30 years ago, with some DOS morse tutor program, got maybe to the point of recognizing half the alphabet or so, and stopped putting time into it.? But I got a code practice oscillator, and I enjoyed practicing sending more than decoding back then. |
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Im a CW man Myself so here are some tips i give others.
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If you have a way to decode it, go to the ARRL website and search for code practice. they have archives of practice sessions and qualifying sessions plus the text to go along with the sessions. then pick the fastest code you can possibly receive and go from there.
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Arrl has it from 5wpm up to 40 wpm.
Good practice material as you relearn the CW. Try to push yourself to go faster on the code and when you get it down again, you will soon find you will be able to copy a few charactiers here and there on a faster setting, then keep going even as you learn it. each character should be learned being sent fast like 15,20wpm but spaced out for the speed you can copy. that way you know what the characters sound like at a faster speed and you are not trying to count dits and dahs.
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This is my own opinon of it. if you can learn the character sound at a faster speed and know what it sounds like when you hear it, it will be easier when you decrease the spacing of the charactors. example the word bat at 5wpm:
B ? ??? A???????? T? but the characters or letters are being sent as a faster rate at 15 to 20 wpm. now at 10: B? A? T now at 15 B A T now at 20wpm : BAT
then when you progress and practice on the practice logs ARRL has, you will find you can start picking out the characters even if the actual code speed is 15 to 20 wpm.
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I taught my Son this and he way surpasses me on CW. He is now hitting about 35 wpm and copies behind about 3 to 4 words.. this was started on a code practice oscillator i built for him and using one of my rigs for receiving real time transmissions in the Extra class sections.And listening to the ARRL bulletin broadcasts .
I also required him to do the traditional CW key instead of a paddle or bug. He now has switched to a more advanced key
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There are loads of practice material online,and software that can be found for FREE and some which i recommend to a beginner that has been created by many talanted hams for a very very low cost. and also the best thing after refreshing your code and getting up to at least 5-10wpm is on the air copying real time code.
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If you learn the code being sent at a faster rate for the characters, then shortening the spacing will be easy. You will find that after learning the code characters at a faster rate, you wont usually have the traditional speed limit compared to someone who was trained with characters being actually sent at 5wpm.
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Once you learn it , use it. make hour long tapes so you can listen to them while you are putting around the yard on the mower,etc. see how many words and such you can decode in your head.try to visualize letters coming across your mind like a ticker tape machine.
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Some hams use a typewriter or now, the pc? to type the letters and such as they come out from the speaker. Or headphones.
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hope this helps. just my take of it all and im sure there are loads of hams here who probably have better advice. Liten to them all.
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Good luck on your beginnings of a neat and fantastic venture in the world of ham radio with CW.
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73
David
acxh
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Another great resource is the Long Island CW Club ().? They have developed a complete curriculum for learning CW and how to use it on the air, with lots of classes offered via Zoom every day of the week at all levels. For software, another one to try is PCW Fistcheck.? It will decode what you send, and also show you graphically how your sending compares to its computer-generated CW. 73 de W0ZF On Sun, Feb 23, 2025 at 12:38?PM Shawn Rutledge K7IHZ / LB2JK via <social=[email protected]> wrote: I guess it’s about time I get back to that.? I tried more than 30 years ago, with some DOS morse tutor program, got maybe to the point of recognizing half the alphabet or so, and stopped putting time into it.? But I got a code practice oscillator, and I enjoyed practicing sending more than decoding back then. |
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I learned it with code quick. It uses words and phrases to help it stick. I highly recommend it and it's pretty inexpensive. On Sun, Feb 23, 2025, 1:22?PM Dave Fugleberg via <dave.w0zf=[email protected]> wrote:
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开云体育David, your suggestions are spot on.? I know from my?experience that your suggestions work.? It has been 20 + years since I worked on my code, so love your ideas and refreshed my faded memory.? Once I get finished with XTra class study and test
will get back to it!
Bill
K9YEQ
Scottsdale, AZ
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Christopher Miller via groups.io <djmalak2k6@...>
Sent: Sunday, February 23, 2025 1:48:10 PM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [BITX20] Learning CW ?
I learned it with code quick. It uses words and phrases to help it stick. I highly recommend it and it's pretty inexpensive. On Sun, Feb 23, 2025, 1:22?PM Dave Fugleberg via
<dave.w0zf=[email protected]> wrote:
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Here is what I advise: On Mon, Feb 24, 2025, 8:38 AM Pierre - FK8IH via <jb.gallauziaux=[email protected]> wrote:
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On Sun, Feb 23, 2025 at 02:48 PM, Christopher Miller wrote:
I learned it with code quick. It uses words and phrases to help it stick. I highly recommend it and it's pretty inexpensive.------------------------------------------- ?
Would you share more about your learning with code quick?? What was your experience before starting?? What speed are you able to copy at?? Every time I hear code quick mentioned people either say it was the only thing that worked or it is the devil himself and they got stuck at x wpm. |
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Hi Doug,
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If you want to learn to copy code fast, stay away from Code Quick. I used Code Quick to quickly learn CW to pass my basic CW level.?But after that when I wanted to copy code faster it was an impediment. This was because you hear the code character, convert that to a "sound-alike", then convert that to a letter, then remember the letters to create a word or a phrase. Perfect for slow speed CW and writing it down, but not for faster head copying.
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I am now trying to "unlearn" the "sound-alikes", and starting over again with "instant recognition" techniques. There is lots of information on this.?
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You can use apps on you computer or smart phone or on the Internet to generate letters, groups, phrases, call signs, and sample QSOs at any speed. There are also good on-line courses.
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At the moment I practice listening at 35wpm to single character, then two characters, then three characters, etc. But then when I listen or send in the 18 - 22 wpm it is a lot easier and there is no "translation time" as in the Quick Code method.
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George VY1GP
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Correct George.
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There's a reason the shortest definition for? ghe 4 characters is Aetna - they appear the most frequent in the English language.? Therefore, Gary willbe the most used and the first to be instant in recognition. Extended to words the same idea as you progress in expanding your memory capabilities to larger words or linger holding times in memory to connect with thought.
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All, part of the curriculum in the CA Academy Morse Code classes. Get the process down as a foundation for learning at any speed - without the mental road blocks.
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73,
Ken
KD2KW |
J R Parrick (K?TBS)
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