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CW Guys, info please

binrat

WDX Club Coordinator
Staff member
Nov 5, 2008
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The Great White north
CW guys, how did you learn CW??
I've been trying to learn CW for about 3 years now (off and on) without luck.
I'm strictly mobile and portable (SOTA) and with the conditions I'm wanting to have CW as a back up for SOTA activations. My radio (KX2) will decode CW but sending is my problem.

Thanks
 

Check this out.
http://www.i0cg.com/Cw_all_sch.jpg
Cw_all_sch.jpg
 
Back in the day after I got my "no code tech" I began studying with a program known as code quick. It worked for me and I was proficient up to 13 wpm although I never went and tested for my general or advanced back then. You associated the sound of the characters with a catch phrase. Example would be -.-- would be "Y did I die" for the letter Y. I have been interested recently about relearning and using the cw portions of the bands. Not only to grab new contacts but to gain a little more respect from the old guys..

A local has been working at learning and has been using the Koch method.
You learn by the sound of a character rather than struggling with dits and dahs. It's been working for him. Everyone learns differently and at different rates, so whatever works for you. Lots of apps out there. Let us know what you decide on, might give me some insight as well.
 
I've tried "learn CW online" without any luck. I got to about 7 characters and hit a permanent wall. I have tried a few apps which did not work for me as well.
 
I sounded out the letters and numbers in my head that I seen on road signs. I was too young to have a driver’s license, but this helped limit my boredom while I gazed out the window of my dad’s 1953 Chevy Bel Air. Code practice was also supplemented with an old Zenith floor radio that included SW bands. Sometimes it took hours to finally find a station that was not only slow enough to copy, but also one that was adjacent to a foreign broadcast station. CW is difficult to copy without a BFO providing a beat tone. Finding a nearby foreign broadcast station merely took the place of the BFO circuit that was absent in that old radio. Looking back at my experience, I believe this also helped me prepare for copying CW under adverse ORM conditions, but I wouldn’t recommend such a crude method for today's beginner. With all the great CW compatible receivers nowadays, I highly suggest using one for real life practice. As for hitting a wall, CW is not a gradual learning process like some skills. It comes in unexpected spurts. If you practice a little every day, there will be times when you wake up noticing yourself copying code much faster than the previous day. I don’t know why that happens, but I suspect a fresh start after a good night’s sleep has something to do with it.
 
Binrat: You probably know more than you really give yourself credit for.
Just about everyone even non-operators know (3) SOS … --- …
Numbers were easy for me, due to it's progressive sequence.
1 .----
2 ..---
3 …-- etc.
6 -....
7 --… etc.

Next group:
E .
I ..
S …
H ….

Next group
A .-
U ..-
V …-

Next group
N -.
D -..
B -...

Once passed these groups. combined with good old SOS You have already got Half the international alphabet!
So stay with it...listen...listen … listen
This is how when teaching the old U.S. NOVICE class license courses is how we started. (5 wpm)
Which in real time is only about 1 letter every 2 seconds!!!!
All the Best
Gary
 
CW guys, how did you learn CW??
I've been trying to learn CW for about 3 years now (off and on) without luck.
I'm strictly mobile and portable (SOTA) and with the conditions I'm wanting to have CW as a back up for SOTA activations. My radio (KX2) will decode CW but sending is my problem.

Thanks

I used the CODE QUICK program. I passed the 5 wpm code test after just 8 hours of study one hour per night for 8 straight days. I don't even do code but I ACED the test with Straight Copy so I could upgrade before the FCC gave it away.https://www.cq2k.com/index.html

SIX-SHOOTER
 
I still use my car horn to tap out down the highway. The little MFJ-418 Code Tutor is probably the best thing on the planet. Small, easy to travel with.
 
All great ideas.
I started with code quick.
It helped me a lot when I first started.
-..
D
Dog did it
dah dit dit
.-..
L
the light is lit
dit dah dit dit
I used to play the cassette tapes ( rember those?) on my way to and from work.
Took me a couple months but I got it.
I think Mudfoot can send 20 wpm while driving and eating a Sonic cheeseburger using a straight key strapped to his leg.
:D:D:D

73
Jeff
 
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