I learned morse by copying from 78 rpm phongraph records, gradually increasing the speed, but I believe modern methods based of Farnsworth are far superior.
My club asked me to think about how the club could conduct cw training. I searched for resources online, and was very impressed when I found the cwops program some time ago. Students must participate in a series of lessons where they each both receive and transmit, always at 20 wpm, but with extra space between characters a la Farnsworth. 3 courses are conducted each year, via Skype, with students from around the globe. You can easily find that out online, but here is some additional detail. I asked cwops if they would let me teach their curriculum locally to our club members, with a time schedule of our own choosing, and over an FM repeater rather than Skype. The answer was yes. So, if their schedule doesn't fit you, do ask them, and maybe you can get something going with your club. Neither instructor nor students need to be or become cwops members. So far, nothing has come of these ideas in my club. The requirements that students obtain paddles and keyers suitable for sending at 20 wpm, and commit to attend the full series of lessons, may be a strumbling block. Nevertheless I think the program looks great, and I would be very interested to hear about the experiences of others that have actually used the cwops program. Another thought: For copy practice, you want to listen to speeds faster than what you are currently comfortable with. That can be frustrating if there is no way to compare what you caught with the full and correct text. Here is a way to get that access to the corect answer. Participate in a contest such as Field Day, where a given station's exchange is the same for every qso. Find a station using the desired speed that is running CQ on a frequency. Listen to a few of his qso's until you have copied his callsign and exchange information (something like 3A SFL, which stands for class 3A in the Section of South Florida; you should already know the corresponding info for your own station). Once you are at that point, give him a call when he is done with a qso. You know that it is time to call him when he sends something like QRZ or FD or CONTEST. Don't send his callsign, only your own, and don't bother with K or BK or variations thereof. It is ok to send at a lower speed as long as you don't send any unneeded info in addition to your callsign. Once you hear him send your callsign, send your own exchange information. Etc. Repeats are often requested by AGN (send it all again) or CLS (send your class) or SEC (send your section). The qso is over when both stations have sent R or QSL or some equivalent. The whole qso is so short that you don't need to send your own callsign again at the end; when you sent it at the beginning, that also counts as the end. The fact that you can take plenty of time to copy his information, and that the information is short and follows a predictable pattern, makes you comfortable communicating at a speed higher than your normal capability, and meanwhile your brain is getting used to the sound of high speed morse. 73, Erik K7TV -----Original Message----- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of dgb Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2017 3:37 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] OT Learning Morse anew Yes, the best is http://www.cwops.org/cwacademy.html 73 Dwight NS9I On 6/11/2017 5:25 PM, Jim Sr Sturges wrote: > I think I learned code all wrong. Can't ever seem to get my speed up. > > Surely some of the astute among you _know_ The Perfect Method, and I > hope you will share? > > To complete the OT-ness of this msg, I recently completed the QRP Labs > Ultimate WSPR/QRSS kit and re-learned the joys of soldering iron > burns, again. Certainly nothing wrong with Hans' excellent kits, and > the price is amazing for the functionality, design, and quality. > > Then I installed the PAE heat sink end panels on my KX2. The latter is > not for the faint of heart! I STRONGLY recommend the somewhat buried > hint in PAE's instructions to remove the AT board before attaching the > PA transistors to the heat sink. Tried it the other way and > re-discovered that my micromanipulation skills are right up there with > my CW -- maybe better, which is damned depressing. > > So, any help mastering Morse? > > Thanks in advance and 73, > > Jim N3SZ > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to ebasil...@cox.net ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
