Learning Morse Code
Ham's around the world share their knowledge how to learn or
expand your morse code skills.
Practicing higher speeds
Practicing sending
Learning sounds
Practicing CW
Sending at top speed
Extra space
Copying speeds
Having little conversations
Using a tape recorder
Supermorse
marine radiotelegraph stations
practice hint
Avoid too much practice.
rag chew contacts
Use KB6MT tapes
Various hints
Contest or pile up operation
Marine radiotelegraph stations
Learning Morse
Enjoy it !
For the novice CW operator
Try to "say" the letter
what I learned in 49 years on CW.
Accuracy
KR4IU's hints
Learn when to STOP...
Learn it as a kid
participate in CW contests
Don't think about sending
Don't try to be what you are not !
Try to run at higher speed than you are used to do.
If you can copy 70 to 80% adjust your speed to 1
or 2 WPM (words per minute) higher.
It's the hard way but it can work out fine.
Wilko PA3BWK
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Practice SENDING very fast but ACCURATELY - this in
itself will improve your ability to copy fast code.
Also use a tape-recorder to tape your sending,
and then try copying it a week or so later.
One final tip - throw the pencil away, copy in your head!
Try to run at higher
speed than you are used to do.
William K1WD
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Learn the sounds of words not letters.
Start with small two and three letter words first.
Bob Lanning W6OPO
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Practice CW regularly, preferably daily, while learning.
Keep the sessions short.
When you're getting 90% of it increase the speed.
And, most important of all, ENJOY!
Michael Crestohl VE2XZ, W1RC
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Send at speeds that you are comfortable with.
It is most annoying for experienced ops to listen
to someone trying to send at speeds he is not
proficient at. Speed will come naturally with
practice at slower speeds.
Robert Hill (John) W6YF
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A little extra space between words helps a lot
when copying at or beyond your basic CW speed limit.
Frank Merritt VE7FPM
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Practice,Practice,Practice
Always try to copy speeds just above your comfort level.
When you then slow the speed down, it will sound easy.
George Brien VE1NK
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Begin practice sessions by sending "with wild-abandone" send
as quickly as you can think.
Have little conversations with yourself. e.g. "Hi, how are you
today?" "I am doing quite well thank you." etc.
Learning to connect the code with how you think
helps more than you might imagine.
Ernie Thomas N3PXF
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The greatest aid to improving your sending is a tape recorder.
The next time you are on CW, turn on your tape recorder and
record your sending,
it is a humbling experience !!! Are you sending "H" for "S"
...."6" for "B" ??
Do you run EVERYTHING together in one continuous stream ??
Listening to your sent CW on the recorder will help improve your CW, try it.
After over 40 years on the air we still record our CW, it is
easy to fall into bad sending.
Whitey K1VV
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The software SUPER MORSE by M.Lee Murrah proved to
be very helpful when increasing my CW speed.
It features a so-called BOOST mode which adjusts
speed automatically according to your error rate.
Contrary to many other methods this is actually
a closed-loop system and allows you to learn with
optimum effectiveness. Of course you should know
to type on a PC keyboard, but if you don't, this
is a chance to learn 2 things at the same time!
SUPER MORSE (version 4.1, file name SM410.ZIP) can
be found in the SIMTEL archive (msdos/hamradio),
probably also elsewhere (CompuServe etc).
Markus Lenggenhager HB9BRJ
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marine radiotelegraph stations
As of this writing (04/09/97) there are still plenty of marine
radiotelegraph stations in the 4, 6, 8, 12, 16 and 22 mhz bands.
These stations send using machines, and you may be surprised at
how fast you can copy properly sent cw.
Also, these stations often send traffic lists, which repeat
the call letters of the station being called,allowing you
a quick accuracy check. Finally, since these stations are located
all over the world and send their calls frequently, they are an ideal
way to check propagation and practice code at the same time!
cu on 40m es 30m! 73, Dan
Dan Zabcik WB5YUZ
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Learning Morse ? Never use a character speed of less than 18-20wpm,
maintain 80% copy, practice little and often (15-20mins per day)
It works !
Simon Langlois GJ4ODX
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Avoid too much practice. This will avoid frustration.
Try what is known as distributed learning.
A very little at a time, but learn it well.
In other words, small doses frequently.
David R. Balla KW4N
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Set a goal of 5 dx contacts, or 2 casual rag chew contacts per day, and your speed will improve, as will your accuracy.
Listen to other qso's which are faster than your comfortable speed, and soon your speed will increase as well. Always send at a speed matching the other operator, hopefully he/she is sending at a comfortable rate for themselves as well.
Long live the art of CW
Bruce Wade VE1NB
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Use the KB6MT Jerry Ziliak tapes to get yourself to 21 WPM quickly.
No plateau!
Useful if you don't know code, or if you do know code already.
Second set of tapes teaches ham words from 10-30
WPM. Although it's only a few words, it DOES give you the feel
and the confidence to go faster with CW.
Tapes teach you the letter sound at 21 wpm for entire course.
You're learning the sound ONCE. Tapes are good for learning 21 WPM.
NOT good for taking 5 or 13 wpm test
(sending speed is much slower on the tests.)
Howard Miller N9RUI
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When learning to copy higher speeds, practice writing down the character
only after hearing the following character. Once this is practiced a bit,
hold off writing down the character until hearing the second character afterwards.
Once this copying-behind method is learned, the code speed seems
to slow down and it practically eliminates making corrections to the copy.
It also is a significant step in the process of learning to copy
in your head and not on paper which is necessary at significantly higher
code speeds. Another method for increasing copying speed is to learn
to recognize the common character combinations.
For example, in English common character combinations are those such
as TH-, -LY, -EST, -ER where the dash indicates whether it is usually
found at the beginning or end of the word.
Also, those words such as THE, AND, OR, BUT, IF, IS, ARE, AT, MORE, TO, FROM, etc. are a great aid for learning higher speed operation.
When learning to send at higher speeds, try to emphasize the space
between words. You will be complicated for having a good "fist" because
your friend who is copying your sending is able to clearly distinguish
between words and it gives a slight bit more time to write down the code
he/she is copying. The bottom line is practice.
This is best done in bursts of 15-20 minutes at first but mainly without
forcing oneself to copy or send when stress begins to build up.
When it's fun and progress leads to a pleasant sense of accomplishment,
progress seems so easy but a few minutes each day,minimum, is necessary to build up both copying and sending speed.
Remember to practice sending at slower speeds than the copying speed,
emphasizing precision and making it easy to copy.
Never make your sending one big long word with few required spaces.
BOB LUNSFORD KK5R
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Most people nowadays use CT or other programs to
handle pile-ups
or contest and some of these don't even use a key, but use
the in-built keying feature of the program. Atg high speeds, however,
it often happens that a callsign is entered incorrectly into the computer.
The hectic of editing plus the danger of sending a wrong call sign adds
to the stress of the situation and can make operating stressful,
hectic and one loses concentration.
Thus: Key all things you send on the air manually with a regular keyer.
At the same time you can slowly enter the call sign into the computer.
Even if you make a mistake, you can calmly correct while the
other station sends the report.
This technique has been tested in expeditions and in a
major contest (48 hours WAE) and turned to be the perfect solution
for operating smoothly and without any hectic situations.
Peter Lemken DF5JT, Berlin
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Marine radiotelegraph stations
As of this writing (04/09/97) there are still plenty of marine
radiotelegraph stations in the 4, 6, 8, 12, 16 and 22 mhz bands.
These stations send using machines, and you may be surprised at how
fast you can copy properly sent cw.
Also, these stations often send traffic lists, which repeat the call letters
of the station being called, allowing you a quick accuracy check.
Finally, since these stations are located all over the world and send
their calls frequently, they are an ideal way to check propagation
and practice code at the same time!
cu on 40m es 30m!
Dan Zabcik WB5YUZ
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Never use a character speed of less than 18-20wpm, maintain
80% copy, practice little and often (15-20mins per day) - it works !
Simon Langlois GJ4ODX
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The one thing I have found with CW is that to ever get proficient
at it is 1st to enjoy it. Set a goal for yourself, like to WAS all CW.
Most of us that love and enjoy CW are very much perfectionists.
We need to succeed at what we do. So set that goal you want to obtain, and relax and enjoy the code for what it is, a wonderful new language that seems to be slowly fading away.
Take your time and before you know it your speed and proficiency will exceed even your highest dreams.
Ron D. Smith N7RD
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Use good procedure even at slow speed. Send call signs once only,
do not repeat unless requested.
a ',' (--..--) sounds better than a period (.-.-.-).
If you are stuck for something to say send K and listen.
Never call cq dx (its meaningless, if dx can hear you they will reply).
Never send N at the end of a transmission unless you really mean you do
not want anyone else to call (or perhaps break in).
Finally if you would like to qso anyone in North America call cq NA not USA.
It may happen but as of now VE and XE are not part of the US!
Too much space is better than too little between words.
73's - good cw is music
Pat Nicholls VE3DZZ
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Send at least 15 minutes twice a day of magazine articles or the like.
Try to "say" and send the letter, not the sound. Next try to "say" and send shorter words.
After a while, an "A" will simply be an A and not dit dah for example.
Above all else, practice, practice, practice!
Galen Johnson WA6SBB
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What I learned in 49 years on CW.
1. As they said in the service, send the same speed as the slowest op on the net. How many times have you heard a guy calling CQ at about 18 wpm and the response is near 30?
2. Don't copy each letter. Think about what the context of the message is.
Anticipate, so that when you hear a W7 and he's giving his QTH, and he is
sending Las V.......how wrong could you be to guess Vegas?
There must be hundreds of guessing shortcuts that lead to copying CW faster than you ever imagined. Don't copy every letter unless the message must be accurate the first time.
3. Be tolerant of other CW ops. We're all trying, and heaven only knows how
bad I was when back in the 1940s I thought I was king of the hill!
4. Code can be musical. It can, under the fist of a truly great CW op (not me
of course) almost sound like music. And that's what I miss.
Electronics can make the code approach perfection, but just try sounding out the dits and dahs of the last three letters of W0LLN's call. .-.. .-.. -. you can put it to a rhythm that will not show up on an electronic keyer.
5. Finally. I have always believed in switching back and forth between keys. Is the king of the hill today hot on the electronic keyer, but he can't use a bug? Is the Vibroplex guy snubbing electronics because it's too "automated?" And would that same guys condescend to slip a straight key into the line?
We're all CW ops, and thank God there are those who become proficient at their key of choice, for I truly have copied some wonderfully fast and interesting fists right in the middle of the "all sounds alike to me" part of
the band.
CW forever.
Ron WoOIZ
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What I learned in 49 years on CW.
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1. Accuracy is more important than speed. Speed will develop with experience. Be patient.
2. Leave proper spaces between letters and words. See 1. above.
3. Make a list of 2,3 and 4 letter commonly used words then practice sending them to yourself.
4. Practice and more practice.
I would rather copy and have more respect for a station that sends
accurately than one who fails to provide proper spacing between letters
and words in a quest for speed.
Carl P. Lagoda W3CL
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Having listened to CW for many years(25+),I believe that newcomers should concentrate on the following items:
1 Send letters,numbers,and punctuation properly.Keyers if used correctly, sends perfect characters,whereas with a straight key we learn to send as best as we can. Practice does help alot toward good sounding code.
2 Make sure spacing between characters is right,by this I mean each characters should sound istinct. Enough space to let the listener know first character is over before starting the next character.Words are made of characters, but characters ran together sounds like nonsense.
3 Make sure spacing between words is right,by this I mean each
word should be distinct from the last word,and not the first letter of new word distinct from last letter of the last word.Words have a different spacing than letters.
4 Spacing is almost everything in CW.Even though the keyer can make perfect characters out of the dits and dahs,the spacing between characters,and the spacing between words is up to you the sender.
The keyer can not read your mind, it does not know when one letter or word ends,and the next begins.
5 Learn to use common abbreviations.Learn what the the
prosigns mean,and when to use them correctly,learn to send them smoothly like one character.Learn to hear them, you will be using them alot.
6 The books tell us to use the following for timing:
Dit 1 unit of time
dah 3 units of time
Space between dits/dahs in a character 1 unit of time
Space between characters 3 units of time
Space between words 7 units of time
Only a machine can do this perfectly.The human hand can come close.In practice(straight key) the dit and the space between dits/dahs within the characters is made as short as possible,while the spacing between characters,and words can be slightly longer.Since each contact on the bands might be at a different speed,the spacing will change with this speed change.
7 The so-called Farnsworth method of sending the characters, at a faster speed than the words would indicate is the easiest to copy for me,and makes learning to copy at higher speeds easier since you already are use to hearing faster characters.
8 Well sent CW with proper spacing is a godsend to listen to.
Use a tape recorder to listen to yourself,this way you can catch your spacing problems and correct them. And before you know it you too will hear those words that makes a brass pounders head swell with pride, "Nice Fist OM".
73, Richard Dean Young KR4IU
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Especially taking a copying test, when you miss a letter and try to 'dig' it out of your brain,you have likely missed two more letters. Practice dropping the search and keeping a focus onthe next letter or word. It's easy to 'fill' a missed letter here and there - harder to figureout a long missed string.
Good Luck!
Bill Coleman N2BC
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learn it as a kid.
My first qso 70 years ago on CW and ever since almost exclusively on CW.
Best if you learn it as a kid. Your learn your own mother language in four years. Code is a new
language. Give it 4 years to perfect it.
Don't hurry ! Good CW operators will help you on and
off the air!
Leslie "Laci" Radnay W1PL, HA5CPL
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participate in CW contests
If you like to participate in CW contests, try training with the program RUFZ.
Just using it for 10 minutes a day has increased my callsign-copying speed
from 20 to 30 wpm in a couple of months.
Guillermo Gosset XE1RGL
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Don't think about sending
Don't even think about sending until you can receive.
When you are ready, record yourself sending passages from book/newspaper read backwards.
Receiving playback harder to anticipate content, therefore easier to assess performance.
Bob G4PVB
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Don't try to be what you are not!
Don't try to be what you are not! Operate at speeds you can handle and
above all, ENJOY what you are doing. I would much rather work an op at 3 WPM,
if that is the limit of his capability; than to try and copy him at speeds beyond his
limit. As FISTS members say "Accuracy transcends speed."
Tom K8CZ