From: bill@c3177208.ssr.hp.com (Bill Chidester)
Subject: Re: Best way to leard Morse code?
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 02:33:09 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Orlando Fl.
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1scd1 PL4

ASPRUIL1@ua1vm.ua.edu (Allen L. Spruill) writes:
: What is your recommendation of a way to relearn Morse code?  I have a Tech
: license and it's been years since I got my Novice and even used code, but I
: have developed an interest in upgraing to General and maybe doing some code
: on HF.
:  
: Tell me what you think about ways to learn code - specific tapes or computer
: programs.
:  
: Allen
:  
: Allen L. Spruill / P.O. Box 2791 / Tuscaloosa, AL  35486 / Amateur

  Allen --

     I agree with Val, the immersion method worked best for me.  I spent
  a lot of time on the air as a Novice, but didn't really progress until
  I got some code records (from 13 to 22 WPM, plain text and random groups).
  I found the random groups best for boosting speed:  spend about 15 to 20
  minutes every other day.  Start with a speed that gives you a 50% copy
  rate and progress to 80% copy -- then boost the speed again.  It's 
  not very satisfying, since you never feel you've accomplished anything,
  but you will avoid those "humps" at 10, 18 and 22 wpm that most people 
  settle in at.  Spending lots of time on the air was fun, and I got very
  good at decoding really crummy code.  No help at all for boosting speed.

      Be aware that one five letter random group is not the same as a
  plain text five letter word.  If you can copy 20 of them in a minute, it
  is equivalent to about 25 WPM of plain text.  The reason being that     
  Morse code is engineered to move data rapidly.  The more common a letter,
  the fewer dits and dahs it takes.  Good for picking letters on Wheel of
  Fortune...  At any rate, you can move a lot more English (er, American)
  language words at a given baud rate than you can random letter groups.

      I didn't know this, so I had 22 five letter random groups knocked
  out cold for my General test (back when you had to sit in front of a 
  civil servant to get a General).  The guy who gave me the test looked
  like the meanest ogre to ever threaten a goat (Hal Richmond, FCC Washington
  office):  He's actually one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.  Total
  CW man -- I don't think he owned a microphone. 
  
      I'd been primed to be nervous so I waited for the palms to get sweaty.
  As Hal set up the machine and the rest of the applicants wiped their brows,
  I kept watching my palms for the sweat.  When the tape started, I copied the
  string of v's at the beginning of the machine setup (and he counted 'em).  
  Thirteen WPM seemed so slow that I was sure the machine was set to 5 WPM, but 
  nobody else complained.  After about four minutes of playing games -- like
  dropping back five or six words and playing catch up to relieve the boordom
  (you had to copy 65 letters without an error) I got up and handed Hal my 
  sheet.  He said "What's the matter?  You didn't seem to be having any 
  trouble?".  I told him if I didn't have it by now, I wouldn't get it in the 
  last minute.  He told me that I hadn't missed a letter in four minutes.  If
  I had copied all five minutes correctly, I would have been the second person 
  he'd ever tested to have done it.  The first was Arthur Godfrey:  The price
  of being a wiseass.

-------------------------
 Bill Chidester   KE4WS
 bill@c3177208.ssr.hp.com