a person. the powers rsgb and offcom decides it was too hard, so rubbed out the need to speak to all countries in a standard language known worldwide, fools.
some years ago I tried to learn Morse Code but gave it up; however, I'm fascinated with CW so a few weeks ago I decided to would give it another try. Frustrated with the higher speed I decided to download an APP to my phone, (CW Morse code) again not getting anywhere I decided to just listen to the sound of characters, spaces, and words at higher speed untell I got it. your idea of higher character speed and slower spacing between words is brilliant. Thank you.
I’ve been trying to learn with the chart and with the list with the dots and dashes... Brah , the way this guy explained made so much sense, now I can actually hear Morse code, you’re a legend mate
This presentation is spot on. Best way I learned: 1.Started with 18 word per minute sounds for each letter and number. Forget slow 5WPM. You're better off hearing the fast sound and learning to recognize it than learning slow and trying to speed up. 2.Practice tapping code from text in magazines. 3. Download recorded conversations and transcribe them onto paper until your hand learns to immediately scribble the letter/number upon hearing the sound. At 18 WPM, there just isn't time to go through translating dit in your mind to an 'e' and then finally writing it down. It has to become an immediate reaction to the sound. I use the lower case e because it's faster than writing the capital E. Took about 6 months. Years later, I still know it. Really fun. Here's one place you can learn the pattern of the most common words at 18WPM ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--ej5AmTYFC0.html
I wanted to get my Technician license just so I could build an APRS tracker for model rockets so I bought the study book, studied up and then went down one Saturday to take the test. After I passed the test, the proctor asked if I wanted to rake the exam for General. I said I hadn’t studied for it but I’d give it a shot. I didn’t pass by one question but the gauntlet had been thrown. I immediately bought the book for the General exam and began studying. After one week I was ready but the next exam was still three weeks away so I figured I’d go ahead and start studying for the Extra exam and the Morse test. I downloaded a Farnsworth program for my computer and began practicing. Sure enough, in the next three weeks I was proficient enough to pass the General, Extra, and code test in one sitting. I haven’t launched a rocket since.
Wolf is absolutely correct. I taught Morse code in the Air Force for three years. We call them sound patterns. And it's not dit dah but didah, or dahdidahdit for C etc. I haven't copied Morse in over 30 years and I am sure I could wake up tomorrow and sit at a typewriter/computer and copy 25wpm. Not bragging, just a fact. Once you learn this it is similar to a different language.
This statement is so true. We had a piano player in our training class and she picked up learning and copying MC at a higher speed than was required by quite a bit. 20 wpm was our requirement she graduated at 28 wpm.
Keep at it, slow and steady and you'll do great. I took up this Morse Code journey due to my new involvement in QRP radio about 2.5 years ago, and it's been a lot of fun to learn and use. There may be other helpful articles for you on the blog... www.hamradioqrp.com
Worked my way up to a General Class back in 1993 when a 13 wpm CW exam was required. Got lazy on SSB Phone and eventually left the hobby for nearly eight years. I am back as of 2018 and plan to make CW my primary mode of operation as CW is what attracted me to HAM radio in the first place. I find your videos intriguing and see now why I held myself back to 13 wpm years ago. I plan to become proficient at 20+ wpm and your videos are very helpful!
I first learned Morse code in 1976 when I was preparing for my Novice exam. I learned from the Radio Shack kit "From 5 watts to 1000 watts" using cassette tapes. I like this method better and I think it would have been easier for me, but I did get proficient at 40wpm. Thanks for the excellent video. I recommend this video to anyone wanting to learn Morse Code. dah dah dit dit dit dit dit dit dah dah what a pleasant sound to hear this.
I started learning Morse in 1976 on my Standard II sigs course...however it was the first lesson every morning..40 minutes at a time... Around 10 minutes in I had to admit defeat as it all became just dit dah dit dah dit dah all through..so it was throw it in and go for a cigarette.. But I want to pick up the skill again...by the way I'm now 68 years old..
Robert Leidner good for you, I was born '78 so I'll have to keep working until I die. Theoretically they say I could retire when I'm 69 or something if I live that long and can manage on a couple of hundred a month. Yeah fat chance for that.
I learned morse code earlier this year in just about a week and a half. It's not to difficult. Now i can write practically anything in morse code. Although im not fluent enough to know what something is just by hearing it so i do have to get better. i do realize that the way i learned it was a mistake though
I was an 05B / 05C in the army. The wash out rate in code school was horrendous. We learned it starting slow than faster and faster. What your saying sounds like a good idea.
Farnsworth: Sending characters at 20wpm, but spacing them at 10wpm. It's easier to close the gap on the spacing while hearing the characters at sound patterns at any pitch, rather than stretching the individual characters. I.e. "Hello...how...are...you...?" vs. "H e l l o h o w a r e y o u ?"
I had a 5-1/2 hour so on 20 meters with an LU8 station a couple months ago on 20 meters. There was a lot of QSB and there was a couple of stretches of about 20 minutes each that that we we had had to to use use words words twice twice. But it was solid copy all the way, and loads of fun. We would not have been able to talk more than a few minutes with USB because at times it sounded like we were keying static. I wish more folks would become proficient with cow, but there's still a lot of cow activity on the bands. I remember when it was tough finding a hole in the novice bands when I got my ticket in 76. I was a General when I went in the Coast Guard and got my extra after I got out of RM 'A' school, taking my 20 wpm test with a typewriter. I am glad to see RU-vid videos that encourage learning CW as it is a very fun and reliable mode of communicating.
lcwo transformed my CW. For years I dabbled and tried and practiced, but after a month of lcwo I can 'see' CW at 30+wpm, it's a very strange feeling. Something that no one talks about is the feeling of being able to read very fast CW - just amazing..
I got my ticket in (1989), and that's when there was a 5 wpm requirement. I was ready for my exam in probably about (2) weeks. If anyone is thinking about upgrading, or just wants ing to learn CW, just do it. I promise you that I don't have any special abilities, but with practicing a few times per day, you'll surprise yourself with how quickly you'll get it. I learned with Gordon West cassette tapes, but there's probably better methods now, such as the site (LCWO.net) mentioned in this video.
Well done! After several methods, I finally settled with LCWO, too. Plus, real QSOs with all the thrill of live signals and the vagaries of ever confounding band conditions.
Thanks for your explanation of morse word speed and character speed. I've always assumed that increasing character speed also meant increasing your word speed too. :)
This is exactly what I needed. Set up an account at LCWO.NET about an hour ago and I'm surprised at what I can already recognize by sound - will be spending a lot of time there going over each lesson until I can "speak" this new language. Testing for HAM in Canada, Morse is still a requirement. Cheers!
MrAmberol Well it isn't required anymore for the license, that's what I think he means. I'm studying for my equivalent to Extra right now and it has no more CW but you have to be able to build a superhet receiver from random parts in your head and know every regulation and convention by heart. 73's from NL
I learned Morse 45 years ago from a marine signaller but we had to use an aldis lamp ( very like a large torch with a trigger rather than a button to turn on or off) we learned the code in groups of letters such as ndb (dah dit//dah dit dit/ dah dit dit dit) , eish (dit /dit dit/ dit dit dit /dit dit dit dit ) TMO (dah / dah dah / dah dah dah ) AUV ( dit dah / dit dit dah / dit dit dit dah) etc
8:40 Maybe that is why the characters in a message meant for morse code and and are grouped in the into 5 characters each but pause in between them. This gives the brain time to process the information ?
I like to think of it more as the rhythm of each character, then the rhythm of each word. I learned it many years ago and never lost it! LV cw!! 👍👍👍😎🇨🇱 73’s W5PN
The thing is you can use morse via sound or light! It's absolutely genius! I'm having a go at learning it just for the shizngiggles more than anything else
Cool. You can send and receive with a Technicians license but the band limitations really limit you. You shouldn't have any trouble passing the General if you haven't already.
Why did this pop up on my screen? Did RU-vid somehow know I had an Extra class ticket from 4 decades ago? OK, if you're interested in CW, the key is not only practice of course, but going beyond letters to word recognition and even to partial phrase anticipation/recognition. Then you're running 30-40 wpm comfortably. Push yourself to keep up listening at rates beyond your capability. It will come, believe me. But beware, once ingrained, there is a downside: You will start to think in CW. No kidding, and there's no going back. I still find myself subconsciously tapping out my thinking while driving or watching TV. It never stops. Old time low banders I'm sure know this. OK, have fun!
I had the same question - why did YT pop this up for me. I haven't heard CW in 25+ yrs. It wouldn't take long to pick it back up, maybe not at 40wpm ;) I sort of miss it - once you got used to it, it was like music. I remember practicing CW at work with my stapler back in the Novice days. 73.
I wonder why YT popped this for me too, I'm studying for my Dutch F class license which has no Morse code requirements, but I've been listening to a fair bit of it low on the HF bands and would like to learn... but how the hell did YT know that?
hmmm, you'll never increase your speed? I learned slow, at 5 wpm, to pass my novice license. My ticket came in the mail and at 13 yrs old I stayed up till 3am Saturday and Sunday operating all night the first weekend. I bet my speed went to 10wpm in those 2 days because I actually used it to communicate. I took my general at 14 years old at the FCC office in downtown Houston where passing the 13wpm code test was a piece of cake because I was up to 35wpm. You have a lot of good info in this video, but I disagree with all these methods. The order? I sat down with the encyclopedia in 5th grade and started with the letter A and in 2 days I had all the letters learned. I used a code record album to get my speed to 7wpm so I could pass the novice test while a bit nervous.
If only 50 plus years ago I knew "don't count dots and dashes".... LOL I'm an Extra Class ticket holder and I still suck at code. Because I memorized a chart long before I ever heard CW on a radio. At ten or eleven I was repairing shortwave radios I found thrown away in alley ways in Detroit, refurbishing them, and knew enough to set up antennas. I still didn't even know about ham radio until I was in High School. Joined the military as a communicator - STILL didn't a ham license. Finally, in 1991 I got my license. And continued on with communications with the military and Missile Defense, but STILL can't do code well. Now, I know the secret. So for the guys and girls thinking it's a "parlor trick" or "joke" or "I can text someone"..... remember, CW is faster, if you know how to do it ;)
Thank you very much for this video, it's a breakthrough. I have been learning morse code, now day 8, and I am starting to learn the sound and rhythm using the More Mentor app, which has a similar learning method to the app you referred to. However, at 20 words P/M and Farnsworth at 20 WPM it is just a blur of sound, nothing is distinguishable from any other sound. The breakthrough here is Farnsworth set at 5 WPM and maintaining my 15 to 20 WPM (this is a caffine dependent setting) I am now learning. You are the only person to have pointed this out and it has made a massive difference as I am able to differentiate clearly between the individual letter sounds. Cheers.
Is the Vibrokeyer your favorite keyer? I see you used the iambic key like a single lever key. You used three motions to get letter K, whereas iambic keying allows that with only two. I have both iambic and single-lever keys, and I clearly prefer the Vibrokeyer. Less mistakes for me.
It is sort of like learning to read before you learn to write. Having said that, you learn simple words first, then learn how to make simple sentences as you progress. Somehow, capital letters and punctuation come a little more slowly.
I've always found Morris code interesting because I always hear it on our fire and police scanner's, but have no clue on how to interpret it other than waiting for the voice that starts talking immediately after.
I can't agree totally cause there are individuals that cannot distinguish a dash from a dot acoustically, so just merely by sound want work THEY NEED TO COMPARE with the chart.
8:52 - That's fast, but I still hear the number of dits as 3 (S), then 4 (H). Anyone else who counts the dits at 20? At least I don't keep that visual chart mentioned at 5:34!
They need to teach this to us from our primary school, even if we don't use it it seems a quite a important language considering it might come to use some way
Thank you. to lcwo.net I go. K was our telephone ring, M was my grandparents. This is an omen. The two letters I've known since knee high to a grasshopper.
I didn't shred it because I want to be able to do blinks, flashes of light, and use a series of dots and dashes themselves, like I did on Reddit to communicate.
Very well done vid! I've been Up/Down the CW ladder many times and about to get back on LCWO.NET for the umpteenth time. Your recommendations to NuBees is perfect. Again, Good Job...... 73 OM
Thank you for the video! Engaging and helpful ! I will finally learn Morse after watching my colleagues click and beep away on our Amateue Radio expeditions!
How is your CW radio machine thing and key dih dah sound machine called? And what model is it and where can I buy it? And also how much time have you been doing morse code? (Sorry If I'm asking alot)
Inexpensive Morse Code straight keys with built in oscillators are available on auction sites. In the video I'm using a couple types of keys that require being connected to an electronic keyer. Just search for morse code (or CW) paddle and electronic keyer and you will find lots to choose from. I started making on-air, morse code contacts with other amateur radio operators after a couple months of practice.
Hello :) Friedrich Clemens Gerke developed the code we use now ! Which is called ! International Morse code The original Telegraph type code was a wee bit different ! After a operator learns his ABC`s He should copy copy and copy some more ! The ARRL has code files ! Search ARRL code files Takes a bit of effort to learn to copy at 20 words per minute or so ! Not what I would say is hard ! Just takes time and mental effort ! If a person does not expend the effort he will never learn ! That is just the way it is ! Everything worth learning takes effort ! Radio Telegraphy Morse code sent and received via radio ! Is mainly but a hobby now ! But still a lot of fun ! I I personally build simple qrp transceivers and have a good bit of fun working cw ! 73
I'm a two-finger typist, so I'd have trouble, timewise, responding to the LCWO sounds, correct? IOW, one would have to be a touch-typist to effectively use LCWO, correct?
I don't know why RU-vid recommend me this video...lol...but I found it very interesting and I'm actually thinking about learning it!!!...I am now a sub to your channel..
Samuel L. Morse invented the code bearing his name but the expresion S.O.S. he didn't invented,this expresion came later and tell me what is the name of first letter transmited through telegraph tehnology,let see if everyone know(not that i'm the smart man around).
A little rusty but it's still there. about 1979 when I got into it. 13 WPM was what I needed to get general, then went to advanced class. I gained success when I went with what u say, got some cassette tapes with code sent at 20 WPM with wide letter spacing. Then speed comes easier. N4ISF. Some of the old guys learned it to over 60 WPM. That's fast, like listening to someone talking.
I heard the opposite, that you should type it and not write it down. Please explain your rational why you think writing it down is better than typing? Thank you and as a result of watching this I will be taking the LCWO courses.
Ok took your advice, shredded the chart, also took the opportunity to shred the power of attorney, now sitting at my dinner table talking in dits and dahs. Family are concerned 😂😂😂
thanks mate.. very good and informative video.. i start to use this program LCWO great crack.. but i just learning . cheers. you never know when you need this
7:59 Like you said I found myself counting the sounds and referring to the chart.. I can't RIP the chart up because I have the Phonetic Alphabet next to it and it's laminated but I will learn the way you're suggesting because that makes more sense than trying referring to a chart. Using the chart is kinda fun for a beginner like me though who just wants to interpret it.