made my first CW contact today

[KD2GOE]

made my first CW contact today on 40 meters 7.033mhz with VE3CWP
I did cheat... i was running programs on my computer and a interface controler i made..
I hope to work some psk31 and RTTY soon

 

[KD2GOE]

I hope to some day work CW with out the help of a computer.. right now i just dont get it..

 

[the_old_curmudgeon]

welcome to the club of CW ops

I find CW the most satisfying mode because of how much effort I had put into becoming proficient at it.

There are lots of opinions on how to best learn CW (Farnsworth vs. Koch method, etc. etc.) but 1 thing you should definitely do is join the Straight Key Century Club (it's free) and take advantage of their program of pairing up new CW ops with Elmers who among other things will hold regular skeds so you get some on-air experience. You can learn it as long as you're willing to put in the time and energy.

Here's a useful link: http://www.skccgroup.com/member_services/beginners_corner/

 

[mechanic]

CW is the only digital mode that the mind can work with directly! Memorizing the characters is the tough part.... There are mnemonics that can be used to make it easier. The cadence of certain letters can make for easier memorizing. An example would be for the letter L, in CW the Morse code characters are.... Di Da Di Dit, it has a certain rhythm or sound. To many it sounds like "The L with it" or "To He** with it" with the accent on L or He**.
The opposite of CW characters for 'L' is the letter 'F'.... Di Di Da Dit. A way to memorize this letter would be to think of the words.... "I don't know that" with the accent on the word know.
The letters E, I, S and H are numbers of dits in CW, like so E is Dit, I is Di Dit, S is Di Di Dit and H is Di Di Di Dit. P and X are opposites, P = Di Da Da Dit and X = Da Di Di Dah. Y and Q are another pair. B and V are another.
Most letters have these opposites and you can make up your own mnemonics or 'tricks' to remember each word. Longer words are abbreviated and use only simple words. As you become used to hearing different words, some if not all have a certain rhythm in CW and these become familiar as you would hear the spoken word! It is all rote!

Da Da Da Di Dit, Di Di Di Da Dah! or 73! mechanic

 

[KD2GOE]

I found this older video i think it is kined of cool...

army morse code pt 01:

 

[Beetle]

CW is the only digital mode that the mind can work with directly! Memorizing the characters is the tough part.... There are mnemonics that can be used to make it easier. The cadence of certain letters can make for easier memorizing. An example would be for the letter L, in CW the Morse code characters are.... Di Da Di Dit, it has a certain rhythm or sound. To many it sounds like "The L with it" or "To He** with it" with the accent on L or He**.
The opposite of CW characters for 'L' is the letter 'F'.... Di Di Da Dit. A way to memorize this letter would be to think of the words.... "I don't know that" with the accent on the word know.
The letters E, I, S and H are numbers of dits in CW, like so E is Dit, I is Di Dit, S is Di Di Dit and H is Di Di Di Dit. P and X are opposites, P = Di Da Da Dit and X = Da Di Di Dah. Y and Q are another pair. B and V are another.
Most letters have these opposites and you can make up your own mnemonics or 'tricks' to remember each word. Longer words are abbreviated and use only simple words. As you become used to hearing different words, some if not all have a certain rhythm in CW and these become familiar as you would hear the spoken word! It is all rote!

Da Da Da Di Dit, Di Di Di Da Dah! or 73! mechanic

That's "83".

Using mnemonics like that is really a bad way to learn, IMO. Once you get above 7 or 8 WPM, you hear "dahdahdidah", you think "PayDay toDay" (which doesn't include the letter Q) - and it just slows you down. The idea is to hear the sound pattern and instantly react with the correct letter popping into your head completely on its own.