Great video! My personal advice: - learn characters by the sound, never by dits and dots, and then learn the most common words by sound as well. The whole word - start by doing DX. DX exchanges are basically rst and sometimes name and qth. - if you feel insecure about your listening, use a decoder but look at the decoded text only when you miss a good part of what was sent to you. There are pretty good apps that decode cw, just leave your phone close to the radio. - don't wait until your listening is perfect to get on the air. It's important to trigger the effort/reward mechanism - as you get good, go paperless. This will allow you to increase your speed.
All veteran CW Ops say the same thing...and IMO, it's BS - I submit the vast majority of CW OPs started with dits and dahs just as the way most of us gained competence with language - we learned the alphabet and then words made up of the sound of the alphabet letters combined. Nobody learning english looks at the letters d-o-g and knows how to pronounce the word dog - i.e. we learned to spell and then talk unless we learned visually - e.g. a parent or teacher pointed to the dog and said the word enough times and we learned dog by association. But what is the visual with Morse Code? It doesn't have four legs, fur and a tail - no, it only has dits and dahs so we first learn the dit/dah components and through practice we graduate to the letter phonetics and ultimately we learn entire words and even sentences....but to suggest a person can dive head first into the phonetic deep end is wishful thinking. I submit everyone, if they are honest, started with counting dits and dahs and to suggest otherwise I think discourages newbies from entry into Morse Code when hearing the constant berating of veteran CW OPs declaring "you're learning it wrong." - fiddlesticks.
@@sharetherisk7647 I did what you desribed 20 years ago, then I gave up CW because it's impossible. The recently I bought I QRP and I had no choice besides learning CW. I did what I advised and got to DX and contests in less then 3 months. All my close radio friends had the same problem, and every ham they know had the same issue. Recently I met two hams at the park who had just got their license. They had no previous experience in CW and they tried exactly what I said. one is a young man and the other is a senior. Both are up and running CW and doing their DX. Facts tell me it works. Might not be the only way but it works. CW is not hard at all, the only thing that prevents people from learning CW are other operators that call learning methods BS bcs they didnt learn that way and veterans who insist that every cw newbie should be able to ragchew. 73s
@@sharetherisk7647 unless you have learning difficulties, I can guarantee you learned to speak long before you learned to spell or write. Thus you learned by rote from the sounds of words and syllables. "duh...og. duh og. D-og. Dog." You don't learn how to write the letter D until much later, but you'll be saying it just fine aged 2. CW is no different. Don't learn -.-. = C and --.- = Q you instead learn what it sounds like "dahditdahdit dadahditdah".
@@sharetherisk7647 not me. I started learning with 25wpm char speed and 10wpm spacing(Farnsworth). 25wpm was too fast to count and I did learn by the musical rhythm each char has. It was hard to tell at first but it’s kinda amazing how your brain can tell the difference between similar chars, like U and V. H and 5. At fast speeds like 30+ it is impossible to count but your brain can still pattern match it accurately.
I’ve been working on and off at CW for about a year. At 2:20 you described it perfectly. It’s nerve racking, but getting on the air and using CW is important. Which is definitely a fear I need to get past. - KD5QZG
Nice video and, as a long time amateur (since 1962), I have to tell you it is absolutely great that new hams nowadays are eager to "master" Morse code instead of avoiding it. I am an extra and a QRP devotee who got so tired of new techs bitching about upgrading to general because of the 13 wpm code test. Now, I have "elmered" at leastways 10 hams over there past 5 years who have started out with zero code skills and, within 6 months to a year, are at 20-25 wpm and enjoying POTA, SOTA, contesting, etc. Keep up the good work!
Thanks! I think (anecdotally) that there is more interest in code now. I never understood it being a hard requirement for the license - if it was the most popular mode of the time, people would have learned it automatically.
@@temporarilyoffline back in the 70s and 80s, prospective amateur radio ops were just interested in getting on the air and yakking. It was, after all, in the wake of the CB craze. They did not want to be bothered "with that crap". To tell the truth, if they studied half as hard as they complained, they could have gotten to 20 wpm! My regard for the new hams who attack CW proficiency with elan knows no bounds! Keep after it there and you will become more than an amateur radio operator, you will inherit a noble legacy and skill you can be proud of! dit dit!
Good video and excellent advice I came back to CW about 10 years ago after a long gap and found fldigi very helpful. You don't need to let it read everything for you, just glance at it when you 'fall off the log'. Before long you'll realise you've almost stopped glancing at it and have magically become a cw operator :) Once you know you can do it, it stops being scary so get stuck in! It's not cheating, it's more like using stabilisers on a bike... 73 de G0TVJ.
Very Helpful! I have an Advanced Call, so I knew CW at one point, but it's been 30+ years. Relearning it now and dreading that first QSO attempt. I'll use these tips!
Steve, give it a rip and you will be surprised. I got my license back in one sitting going from nothing (my Novice had expired) to Advanced, KB6HK. (Man, those 2x2 calls were sexy!) But I barely scraped through the 13 WPM test and I hardly touched a key for the next 19 years! In 1995, I began studying for my Extra and found to my surprise that I could copy 15 WPM comfortably. Before I knew it, I was up to 19 WPM and passed with ease a months or so later. It seems there's a "window" that opens up in that range because you start listening to words not letters. Also, nowadays since there's no test, you can head copy which allows you to get the drift of the conversation rather than copy verbatim. Good luck to you!
The nice thing in the current Ham era is that CW is no longer a gun held to your head if you want to get on more HF than technician licenses allow. As it’s no longer a “threat” folks are WAY more willing to explore CW. A GOOD THING! 👍🏻😁
I have heard a lot of people say the code requirement was too slow and turned them off... and an lot more people say "I'm learning morse code" now that the code requirement is gone. Either way, good times for all of us!
Good video. You are spot on. About 2 years ago I felt ready (not really) to respond to a POTA CQ. I needed some question marks but I got trough. Then I made more. Then I went to a park and played the other side. I have 5 parks activated and many more to come. I also joined SKCC and made it up to T. Early on I met some friends and we started to do a CW net twice a week for an hour. Two hours of listening or sending a week with others who are in the same boat about learning. These two years of CW learning and practicing gave me a tremendous amount of joy, satisfaction and self confidence. I am turning 75 this year. So do your first QSO. Just jump in even when you think you are not ready. The ham on the other end understands you, he wrestled with the same problem some time ago. Make your first, then the second will follow, then thousands more and you start soaring like an eagle. By the way, I never use computer decoding. I once tried, but it distracted me more than it helped. I keep my mind focused on what I hear, not on the garbage on the screen. If I miss something, I ask back. 73!
Using the pota site is a pretty slick idea! Those whole words will be second nature if you stay on cw. Maybe a month or two of regular operating. I sure enjoy the music of dx coming in with some polar flutter and funky qsb. Hope you're taking ur time and having fun tapping out the code.
Trying one more time to get through the code. Thanks, this was great. In case you don't know this already the manual for Q and Z signals is the ACP-131. It's online as a pdf. TY 73 ZKA and QRU.
From what I understand, ending songs with shave and a haircut or knocking it was wildly popular in the early 1900's. 73 in morse is the closest thing we have to "shave and a haircut" (we can't send jibberish) so the response to a 73 became "dit dit".
Yep. Damn sight easier now than five decades & some back when a grizzly chief radioman was glowering at you over a cup of coffee in USN “A” school ;-). Or an employee of the federal government at some FCC office. Having a set of pre-written or memorized tropes to toss back and forth is also a definite help. Kinda like all the prosign strings I memorized under that glowering gaze. And, with POTA QSOs, you not only build up your confidence, you can amass an impressive collection of parks contacted toward award certificates. Closing in on 500 as I squeak! Thanks for the reminders of fond memories of my youth & the advice to newcomers! 73 de W8IJN
Hey Nils! I think that having that glowering gaze might have made the learning faster. I have zero demands on me to learn CW other than personal desire... and sometimes you need to cut the grass instead... POTA QSOs are lots of fun!
@@temporarilyoffline Mowing the lawn is about the only exercise I get any more. Ain't bad form of meditation either, though my neighbors probably wonder why I'm wandering back and forth muttering in Norwegian ;-)
Good analogy. I failed typing in high school, although I'd been programming on the timeshare terminals (late '70s). The typewriters were IBM Selectric, and if you even =thought= about pressing a key, BANG! Wrong!! I taught myself after high school with a manual typewriter. Much better! I got fast, also in bursts, programming my C64. Today's flat keyboards stuck, plus I have neuropathy in my fingers and that slows me down.
@@temporarilyoffline so I tried it and fldigi isn’t decoding it properly...just gibberish....Something in the cw settings maybe? Works for all other modes I tested
Thanks Steve, I've been a radio ham since 1986, we were required to have CW to pass the test back then, but even at a low level of 12 wpm, I have not used morse since. I'm trying to get relearn this and get back into CW, what sort of key and associated equipment would you recommend to help me with sending? Obviously, I'm not experienced enough to be using an Iambic type key, morse keys are very hard to find down here in New Zealand. What are your thoughts? 73, Mike.
I wanted to use an iambic key from the start. It made more sense to me than a straight key, but either one is good. I'm not sure about New Zealand shopping, I looked and saw one on amazon... looked expensive, but most things morse code are. Most radios have a built in morse code "trainer". What radio do you have?
@@temporarilyoffline Gidday Steve, after having watched your video a second time (I'd just got home from work when I saw it the other night), this makes a lot more sense. I run a Kenwood TS-430S HF set and a Yaesu FT-857D here, I also have a Kenwood TS-180B, that I'm too scared to start up, because of reasons.... I was always told that Iambic keys were not for people learning morse code, but the more I think about this, it makes sense. I was quite stand-offish about buying things from Amazon, but I will have a look for a key from them, I bought an antenna from there a couple of years ago and it never turned up, after US$280 sent to the vendor. Thanks for your reply. 73, Mike.
Mike, I too am trying to get back into cw. For my General exam back in the early 90s, I squeaked by my 5wpm exam sweating bullets. Ah memories! Google "copper head keyer". You should find one or two listings for a capacitive touch iambic key. The parts are dirt cheap, easy to find, and it's so cool to send in near total silence.
Missed this one Steve, great video I’m really looking forward to starting to learn CW, I bough a morserino but haven’t built it yet! I’m just downloading FLDigi now. I did notice it was a bit difficult to follow the qso with it, what were all the random characters appearing in the “Receive” box? Please.
Hey Paddy! The random characters are all the "noise on the band" that your brain normally filters out, but the computer isn't that good at. Its not "fool proof", but it helps get over some of the fear of the QSO and is a great tool to move you down the line in your learning process.
Great tip, T.O. I actually avoided the POTA CW ops because I thought it would be more complicated but you've shown that it couldn't be any more simplistic. I noticed that you have the squelch threshold turned all the way up in FLDIGI, is that to help from getting the random characters that pop up and to get better decode? Mine is almost all the way down and I get all kinds of garbage. BTW, I love the Commodore stuff in the background, takes me back to days long passed. Kind of wish I still had mine.
Hey Chris, Thanks for watching. I have the SQL set at "factory default" in FLDIGI. I didn't think to turn it up or down. I never use squelch on HF, don't know if that's a good or bad habit. I always use it on FM/VHF.
Nicely done video - definitely nice have a bit of backup. It was suggested to me to essentially the same thing during some of the CW contests. Do you run the 7300 in CW mode or USB-D mode?
@@temporarilyoffline especially when you have adhd and a head injury that don't help matters haha That's why I prefer digital modes. Can type quicker than I can process code in my head lol
@@Terribleguitarist89 I can name my ADHD issues for you - they are my children walking into the shack and asking me questions while I'm trying to listen to CW 😀
Thank you very much. I believe I have FL digital on my computer, so I am going to check it out. I believe I have it on my pi as well . I really want to do it on a pot activation too.
I think my biggest problem is that I don't fully understand CW and it is very easy to get distracted. I find that I'm getting better all the time, but its good to have a useful tool for backup!
I use FLRIG, but never messed around with FLDIGI. Can you send morse code with it as well? I've been looking at a Winkeyer after watching one of Sterling's videos. Thanks for the video. I like the basic breakdown of the POTA QSO.
Yes you have to get on the air !! I downloaded the "morse expert " app onto my phone and found it very useful, just lean my phone against the radio and it decodes.
Is there commonly accepted calling frequencies on the Bands for contact because Ive scanned from 6 - 160 m and the only code I've heard was coming from the ARRL Morse Code Practice broadcast
Yes, look up "(band) band plan", but generally x.030 is the QRP calling freq or x.100+ is slower speed, or the SKCC uses x.050, but as long as you're respectful, you can call CQ anywhere in the CW space.
Do you have any document that can help setup IC-7300 , I can receive without any problems, but I can't controle the radio, change frequency, change modes etc, honestly I didn't understand if all this it's possible. About morse, in fact I'm listing a lot of POTA but with Flidigi I think it's the step that was missing. Thank you.
The best thing in CW is that you get to understand and play at the same time. Such a great hobby to sharpen up your brain and coordination skills. Just have fun and there's no wrong in having mistakes to trying CW. Other veterans can understand if you're still learning and still working on your key (they can feel you 😁). I can still remember the 1st time I tried on a straight key and it was awesome! Stay Positive and just keep on trying. Enjoy. 73! - 4H1JCP
Hi Steve! Do you mind if I use this video for the show? I’ll credit you and put your RU-vid link in the description section of the video my friend. Keep cranking them out!! Larry
Thanks my friend I liked it a lot and think it can help a lot of people. I had a viewer that wanted some CW content. I really like this a lot. Thanks for letting me show it my friend. Best Wishes Steve!! Larry
@@temporarilyoffline Been listening to CW Ninja and I have my callsign, TU, RR, CQ, and many of the letters down where I can send them. On the copying side I get hung up on the B and J combinations because of the similarity, and I have trouble sometimes between Y and Q. These cheats will help. The POTA suggestion is super idea. The thing I most worry about is not getting the other call right and not being able to send it right. So as of yesterday I started writing down the CW calls on POTA and practicing sending them from memory with no chart to help me out. I may never be 45 wpm, but I will get to 15-20 by the end of this year. Saw K6ARK's SOTA activation with the mini QRP radio, and I have to get good enough to send CW from a park. That's my 2022 goal.
@@j.d.-alawyerexplains5064 ..--.. is your best friend! I am very happy at 18-20wpm. Its been a while since I touched a key, so I'm probably back down to 10-12wpm if that. I'm thinking it would help to listen to POTA stations in the background as well
Yes, As long as you can get audio into your computer, FLDigi doesn't care where it comes from. On my computer, my radio just shows up as another sound card.
I dont understand the comments about finding the correct system install, where is the list ? this is a rubbish downlmoad system.. im running win 10 it says Do not blithely use the big green Download button! Use the "Files" menu item or the "Browse All Files" link. so where is this link... i cant see it anywhere...
I would assume that you need the radio to be in DATA mode - so where it says CW on the rig, you might need to switch that to USB/LSB-D ? I'm not sure though. This video was about practicing your sending and getting over key fright, so I never sent from FLDIGI.
The REAL cheat is to buy a morse keyboard adaptor then literally just type what you want to say, then use an app or your radio to decode ... then you never need to learn morse at all. Remember kids, it's 55N, not 5NN. Also, I don't log. Anything. Ever. So don't be waiting for me to confirm a QSO.
Morse code signal report, RST, is Readability 1-5, Signal strength 1-9, and Tone 1-9. So using “N” as shorthand for “9”, then it is 5NN for 599. Not 55N.
I agree. This is a way to help others overcome key-fright and learn the "rules of the road". I remember my first CW QSO without training wheels and it was full of anxiety... and fun.
in USA for pota when you work a pota station you usually send report and your state. This helps the POTA station know where he is getting out to. so ur 5NN NY or NJ or whatever. And the pota will then send TU NY or TU NJ 73 or 72 if qrp. It can be fast and furious when he has a pile up. hee hee ......................... 73 de GØNMY
Why do you need to do this? If you leaned it properly then receiving should not be a problem, you should be able to read it! You should have picked up procedures from listening to actual QSO's on air. If you need to read on a computer then you are not ready to use c.w. on air. Get more practice. My first QSO's I wrote down what I wanted to say so I'd get it right. It soon became second nature to do it, a matter of a few QSO's. G4GHB.
Good video. Even easier, most of the time activators don't send park number, just RST so it's even shorter. GET ON THE AIR!! It's the best way to increase your speed. KL7TC
