Excellent! Your experiences and advice echo my own when learning the code and teaching it to students in licensing classes for the local radio club. "Don't try to count the dots and dashes. You won't be able to do that at any useful speed.", I would say to them. "Listen instead for the sounds as if they were syllables in a sentence, and learn the common words such as "the", "test", "and (es)" and "CQ" the same way. It's getting to be a lost art, but one that still has some value -- mostly just for fun now. Oddly, there is one use I never expected. I live in America and a few times a year, there are gunshots going off at night -- probably by people just having fun, but also sometimes by vandals putting holes in parked cars. When I've called the police and they asked me how many rounds I heard fired, I'll say I heard the letters "H and I", so there were six rounds going off. I can't count six rapid dits, but I can definitely hear those letters. I'm pretty sure that's not Samuel Morse expected either when creating the code. -- John (N0BUP)
Hi John, I love the gun shot idea. That's really good! The code has ,more uses than comms, then. It is fast becoming a lost art but lets hope it survives for a while longer. Cheers., Ray.
Hi Ray, It's great to hear about your days of learning electronics and the culture that goes with it. People from all walks of life, having a common interest in what was then High Tech ! When I was learning radio theory once a weeknight at a local school. One of the teachers, who was a TV broadcast engineer by day his name was Bob. He would drag out some new HeathKit twins that another class had built, and a Vibroplex bug and go to the lower portion of 80 meters . He was really fast copying code, he never wrote or typed anything down ! When I asked one of the other hams how fast the code was he said, at least 35wpm ! I asked how did he know that, he said because I can do 30 and he is loosing me ! He then said that's nothing for Bob, we tested him with a tape recorder and played it back a triple the speed..... It was at 60wpm !! He then smiled and said, some of us were trying to get him to try reading 45baud RTTY ! No Joke !! Keep the memories flowing ...!!!
A tip I picked up from my instructor at Long Island CW Club is to practice copying using graph paper. If you don't know a letter instantly, skip a box and concentrate on the next letter. Another method is to make some mark if you dont know the letter. Something quick and easy. I use a ^.
Greetings from Pensacola Ray. I am just a beginner in Morse and I’ve spent days listening to different perspectives in learning Morse etc. but I find everything you said is EXACTLY the methods I am teaching my self now and it makes so much more sense in learning by sound. Starting to recognize letters quickly when hearing them now, and I’m learning in blocks of 5 just like you mentioned. Wish me luck! There’s nobody I know that is into it and my neighbor friends must think I’m nuts- especially being a woman, but I hurt my back and pretty much left suffering and about to loose my mind out of boredom so learning Morse is a blessing. Keeps my mind busy and it’s challenging. I simply LOVE it and once again- thank you for so much valuable info. It all makes perfect sense! Cheers!!!
Trish P Hi Trish, it’s great to hear from you. I’m so pleased that you’re learning Morse Code. It will certainly relieve boredom and, yes, I wish you all the luck in the world. Take care. Cheers, Ray.
Hold on... I want to send you something to hear if you have a moment. It’s what I’ve been using to listen to the rhythm of the letters in order to learn. Keep in mind that on utube- you can always speed up what you are listening to by going to the 3 dots up at the right hand of the screen and when you touch on the 3 dots a menu pops up where you can adjust the speed of any utube and then later go back to the 3 dots upper right hand and make it go back to regular speed.
I’m trying to see if the link copied. I’m not very good at this kind of stuff! If you see the link, listen to it and see if it’s appropriate for the rhythm of letters. I do not use the words it’s showing for learning the letters.... I listen to the rhythm only and it repeats each letter several times before moving on to another. It can be sped up on utube by the 3 dots on upper right corner. I’m not sure what speed it is teaching the rhythm but it seems faster than the other lessons I’ve run across and they generally only do one letter at a time. I like this particular link because it does each letter several times so it sinks in better to me personally. ua-cam.com/video/SNaHv3byzw0/v-deo.html
Thanks for this great video. In my army service, back in 1979, I learned and served as a morse operator, for 16 months. In the Morse learning classes, our teacher (a Sergeant) made us sing each character, he didn't let us count how many dots and dash are, it must became a sound together, like in music, and that's what we must memorize as each character. A for dash and I for dots but with a T or R in the beginning of the sound depending if it was the first or following sounds. For instance C sings like Tarirari, A is Tira, where the A is a long sound and the I is a short one, like the dash and dots are long and short sounds. So we learn how to sing morse characters, to remember their sound, and the teacher plays like a maestro, just to play with us. Happy days, has you use to say. Regards Ricardo
This was really fun listening to you about this. I worked a usaf “printer systems operator” back in the late 70’s and early 80’s and had to learn code at 12wpm. Never had to learn to send, just receive, but... I got pretty good at it. Over the years I totally forgot all of it. Around 2002 I got interested in amateur radio and went to take the tech test and when I got there they asked me if I was going to take the code test? I took it too and darned if I didn’t pass it! I’ve never been so proud! Then they dropped the code completely from the ratings. :-( I loved what you said about learning letters at speed. Slow down the space between the letters but leave the letter at the higher speed so it sound rhythmically correct. That is such a great point! I never thought about that before but you are so on point here! Now i have to tell you, I did associate certain phrases and music with letters when learning, I’m not sure why but they still are with me today. “V” = the start of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, di di di dah. Q = the wedding march opening “here comes the bride”, dah dah di dah. “K” = a trumpet fanfare, dah di dah. And one of my favorites, sorry for the profanity, it smells like chit, di dah di dit. This was so much fun, I listened twice, thank you! Buddy KG4ZSH
Hi Buddy, I'm glad you liked the video. Thanks for the great feedback. OK on the Fifth Symphony etc, interesting stuff. If it helps, then it can't be bad. Cheers, Ray.
Thanks for the video Ray! It is encouraging to hear that you learned in spurts. I get discouraged when my progress seems to get stuck. I will use your words to remind me to persevere.
Really excellent explanation and you make me happy about these tips.by the way I decided starting learning mores code even I am 72 years old so before 6 months started and faced same what you mentioned and i did these tips from my mind to solve learning problems now I am using speed 8 wpm for space between letters and 20 wpm speed which a good way of learning.By the way I am YI1LA radio amateur and I Consider CW mores is the real hobby .Thank you very much for your advice
Good sound advise on learning morse. Alway dit’s and dahs never dots and dashes. And never try to pre guess a word your receiving, only write down what you hear. I was taught by G2CJO a fantastic radio ham. My call is G0RLB . Best wishes Brian.
If I live to be 150 I will learn it, nut life is to short for me! I did learn it at school, I was in a small school and the old head teacher used to stop 5 minutes before end of school and do Morse lessons, but I can't remember it now, we all had keys and took turns in sending Morse, however, he never often sent Morse to us, just a small message at the end of the lesson. I don't think he was a Ha, however, what he was in the war might be another thing as he never spoke about it, even when asked. Maybe he thought we would all need it, but back then I never thought I would be interested in radio of any kind. An old guy (can't remember his call sign now) used to sit on the CB and send bursts of Morse. He learned it by going through the spelling of a road sing or something he saw, he just spelt it out and before he knew it he knew all the letters. Took him a while to read Morse I remember him telling me, but he could rattle it off when sending it. He sadly passed away a good few years ago now. Have to say prefer to use SSB, but that is a personal choice. I like to hear the Morse when it has a flowing sound to it, however, some operators make it sound like someone hammering in some nails or putting a shoe on a horse. They are still better than me though. Keep it up Ray, love the videos.
Very useful Ray, thanks. Regarding the noise and interference, you might benefit from something like a loop antenna like one of the Wellbrook ALA series. Magnetic loops respond mainly to the magnetic component of the radio wave instead of the electrical part, which significantly reduces the received noise level on the lower HF bands.If I try a wire antenna at this location nowadays it's hopeless. The loop may yield weaker signals, but the signal to noise ratio is much more favourable.
There is a free app called CW Trainer. You can change the speed for characters and words it will send you random letters in blocks of 4 or 5. You can select the letters. Start with two then keep adding one or two more.
Hi Ray, I’ve been using an app called “,morse mail”. I can keep letter speed fast but space the gaps. Also you can alter the frequency of the morse.Then email it to myself and listen to the morse. Simple to use and you can design your own tuition in the farnsworth style. Regards Barnie. CT3250.
Hello, Ray. I'm immensely happy I've found your channel again! In any case, not sure if you covered this or not as I've not watched the video in it's entirety, but there is a wonderful site I'm currently learning Morse on that DOES let you change both character and word speed. As a new ham not even licensed for a year yet, I too have heard you should learn receiving at a higher rate of speed in terms of characters per minute therefore your brain can recognize them as letters. Anyways the name of the site is LCWO.net It stands for learn CW online. You can create an account, and it will show you your progress, give you activities, and teach you with both the Farnsworth and the Koch methods. I have found it to be incredibly useful and within a week or so of learning I'm nearly halfway through the alphabet at 30 characters and 7 words per minute. By the way, I apologize for the VERY long comment but I thought I'd throw my 2 cents out there to help you or anyone out there attempting to learn the code. With that said, keep up the great work on your channel and 73's de KD9LGP!
Hi you must be busy with life. Just to let you know I have seen huge numbers of people who show how life is where they live. Their UA-cam numbers are very high. Your a good story teller, and can show your town and history with your own flavor. I know there are stories of those days and streets that will be a joy to you and us.
Eazy Street people have asked to see around my home town but I thought it would be a boring video. Perhaps I should make a video and see how it goes down with everyone. Cheers, Ray.
@@g4nsj Well Ray you were making videos of valve (tube) radios. I'm thinking that's just up there with worm farming. I rebuild radios so I know its kind of thing your don't talk about at Christmas Dinners.
Hi, there is a program written by G4FON that changes the character spacing while keeping the dits and dahs within the character at another speed. So you can set, as I have done, the speed at 15 to get the rhythm and the spacing between at say 5. As you point out this allows time to process what you've heard. I think you can search for G4FON cw trainer, and download the software at www.g4fon.net/. Its the Koch CW trainer version 9. Good luck, cheers and thanks for all the lovely youtubes, 73! Howard
I'm getting ready to do the morse exam. However, its the terminology I have a problem with. I feel privileged as I'm the only one in the club that calls the system morse code. Everyone else calls it CW as the radio uses that mode for transmission. It seems to me that speech is more of a continuous waveform than morse code as the carrier is not interrupted but with morse code the carrier is broken up into dots and dashes. For that reason I could never call morse code CW. Kind regards M7AOE
Just going back over this again Ray, thinking I might start again (I'm 81). Just a comment if I may. When I was learning morse (early 60's) the rule was NEVER EVER, EVER talk about or even think about Dot Dash, or even Dit Dah. Only Didah, right from the word go. Hope that helps someone. Baz
Hi Ray, thanks for another interesting video. I have had problems deciphering Morse Code, when hearing various Amateur DX signals on the low VHF band, which I use for indicators to check for TV and FM DX. Also, leaning generic code can be a challenge. Many Morse Code signals that I have heard have very small gaps between characters and with the fading DX signal as well, it can be very hard to work out the call sign. I am occasionally putting some of my Morse Code DX catches on to my UA-cam channel to show what each station sounds like. Anyway, take care. Robert.
"G4FON's.... Koch" for the more advanced student....But, for the beginner it is excellent...with variable word and character speed plus QSB + other good stuff. Not sure about a phone app but there is one for the PC...and you can introduce letters etc...as you improve. I recently had a QSO with a morse guy....the only morse I've heard sent with a stutter...hi..hi...
Another way do to speed up learning Morse Code, is to convert street signs and advertisements into dits and dahs. Learning CW is all about the time you spend doing it, but be warned it can become a bit of an obsession when you're out and about. I never looked back when I learnt CW in the 70's, and still use it to this day.
My dad was a wireless op in the RAF during the war and never touch a key for 30 odd years but could still do about 35wpm ( writing it dow) and 25+ in his head ... bloody infuriating as 40years later im still trying to master if😂
I am also getting back into CW after 18 years away from the hobby. funny how i can still read 12wpm 100% but my aim is to head read at 20wpm in time. 73s ..
The snag with short letters like T- or E or I , is that they finish before the next long one comes along and you haven't got the short one written down! Do you write down in block capitals or longhand (joined up writing.)? Joke. Lady called Dorothy, absolutely sick to death of hubby's (Fred) Ham Radio. "The place is fill of junk. The garden is full of poles, wires, earth pegs, the most appalling noises fill the house ...Interference, strange voices, morse code.." "I've had enough. I'm going back to mother's TO STAY!" Fred said "Aw. ..Don't Dash Dot!" I'm trying to recover my own lost speed at CW but it ain't easy. MY last CW contact was C. 1959/ 60! Needs lots of WD 40 to loosen up THAT! Sure is like riding a bike but don't take any corners too fast!
You just cant do it by counting......you have to learn the sound of each character...The first thing I learned was CQ...if you listen to it on a shortwave radio...you recognize it immediately..
I'm using lcwo.net for learning at the moment. I'ts free, online, uses Koch method and you can select different speed for letters and spacing. Seems a site worth checking out if you're trying to learn morse.
Lovely old Key Ray I am like you haven’t used Morse Since my test donkey years ago,I had a Mate he sadly S/K now ex Ships Sparks he could have conversation with you while he copied High Speed Morse his top speed was 40 WPM those the days old Mate.Ian VK2IJ And great hand sent Morse Ray.
Hi James, this sort of thing is pretty good but not cheap... www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MFJ-557-Practice-Key-Built-In-Oscillator/152191039406?hash=item236f4af7ae:g:IZMAAOSwWZ9XoLq3
if you've an Iphone ( and I presume the iPad) there is a Koch Trainer that you can send higher speed characters with larger spacing but one of the best is lcwo.net/ . I've been trying to do CW since 1975 !
Ray, try IZ2UUF morse kock cw, Android app. Although I'm still a beginner, I was trying to discourage a new recruit from forming a lookup table in his head by learning each letter by rote and learning too slow. At first he couldn't understand how you could decode the morse without first memorising the individual characters, until I explained that my wife could touch type at 60wpm+ and if you asked her where a letter was on the keyboard, she'd have to look to find it. 73 de Steve M0KOV
Thank you for the tips i have been usei g the apps and your rite you loose the musical rhythmic aspect of the code..thanks and keep up the good shows..CHEERS 73s
This has been a big help. Associate the sound with the letter. It's the sound, not the dots and dashes.
Excellent. 👍
Excellent! Your experiences and advice echo my own when learning the code and teaching it to students in licensing classes for the local radio club. "Don't try to count the dots and dashes. You won't be able to do that at any useful speed.", I would say to them. "Listen instead for the sounds as if they were syllables in a sentence, and learn the common words such as "the", "test", "and (es)" and "CQ" the same way.
It's getting to be a lost art, but one that still has some value -- mostly just for fun now.
Oddly, there is one use I never expected. I live in America and a few times a year, there are gunshots going off at night -- probably by people just having fun, but also sometimes by vandals putting holes in parked cars. When I've called the police and they asked me how many rounds I heard fired, I'll say I heard the letters "H and I", so there were six rounds going off. I can't count six rapid dits, but I can definitely hear those letters. I'm pretty sure that's not Samuel Morse expected either when creating the code.
-- John (N0BUP)
Hi John, I love the gun shot idea. That's really good! The code has ,more uses than comms, then. It is fast becoming a lost art but lets hope it survives for a while longer. Cheers., Ray.
Hi Ray, It's great to hear about your days of learning electronics and the culture that goes with it. People from all walks of life, having a common interest in what was then High Tech ! When I was learning radio theory once a weeknight at a local school. One of the teachers, who was a TV broadcast engineer by day his name was Bob. He would drag out some new HeathKit twins that another class had built, and a Vibroplex bug and go to the lower portion of 80 meters . He was really fast copying code, he never wrote or typed anything down ! When I asked one of the other hams how fast the code was he said, at least 35wpm ! I asked how did he know that, he said because I can do 30 and he is loosing me ! He then said that's nothing for Bob, we tested him with a tape recorder and played it back a triple the speed..... It was at 60wpm !! He then smiled and said, some of us were trying to get him to try reading 45baud RTTY ! No Joke !! Keep the memories flowing ...!!!
Thanks, Joe. It's great to her from you. I remember the Vibroplex bug keys! Wow, happy days! Cheers, Ray.
A tip I picked up from my instructor at Long Island CW Club is to practice copying using graph paper. If you don't know a letter instantly, skip a box and concentrate on the next letter. Another method is to make some mark if you dont know the letter. Something quick and easy. I use a ^.
Greetings from Pensacola Ray. I am just a beginner in Morse and I’ve spent days listening to different perspectives in learning Morse etc. but I find everything you said is EXACTLY the methods I am teaching my self now and it makes so much more sense in learning by sound. Starting to recognize letters quickly when hearing them now, and I’m learning in blocks of 5 just like you mentioned. Wish me luck! There’s nobody I know that is into it and my neighbor friends must think I’m nuts- especially being a woman, but I hurt my back and pretty much left suffering and about to loose my mind out of boredom so learning Morse is a blessing. Keeps my mind busy and it’s challenging. I simply LOVE it and once again- thank you for so much valuable info. It all makes perfect sense! Cheers!!!
Trish P Hi Trish, it’s great to hear from you. I’m so pleased that you’re learning Morse Code. It will certainly relieve boredom and, yes, I wish you all the luck in the world. Take care. Cheers, Ray.
Hold on... I want to send you something to hear if you have a moment. It’s what I’ve been using to listen to the rhythm of the letters in order to learn. Keep in mind that on utube- you can always speed up what you are listening to by going to the 3 dots up at the right hand of the screen and when you touch on the 3 dots a menu pops up where you can adjust the speed of any utube and then later go back to the 3 dots upper right hand and make it go back to regular speed.
I’m trying to see if the link copied. I’m not very good at this kind of stuff! If you see the link, listen to it and see if it’s appropriate for the rhythm of letters. I do not use the words it’s showing for learning the letters.... I listen to the rhythm only and it repeats each letter several times before moving on to another. It can be sped up on utube by the 3 dots on upper right corner. I’m not sure what speed it is teaching the rhythm but it seems faster than the other lessons I’ve run across and they generally only do one letter at a time. I like this particular link because it does each letter several times so it sinks in better to me personally.
ua-cam.com/video/SNaHv3byzw0/v-deo.html
Thanks for this great video.
In my army service, back in 1979, I learned and served as a morse operator, for 16 months.
In the Morse learning classes, our teacher (a Sergeant) made us sing each character, he didn't let us count how many dots and dash are, it must became a sound together, like in music, and that's what we must memorize as each character.
A for dash and I for dots but with a T or R in the beginning of the sound depending if it was the first or following sounds. For instance C sings like Tarirari, A is Tira, where the A is a long sound and the I is a short one, like the dash and dots are long and short sounds.
So we learn how to sing morse characters, to remember their sound, and the teacher plays like a maestro, just to play with us.
Happy days, has you use to say.
Regards
Ricardo
Hi Ricardo, that's interesting. I agree, don't count the dots, just listen as if it's music.
This was really fun listening to you about this. I worked a usaf “printer systems operator” back in the late 70’s and early 80’s and had to learn code at 12wpm. Never had to learn to send, just receive, but... I got pretty good at it. Over the years I totally forgot all of it. Around 2002 I got interested in amateur radio and went to take the tech test and when I got there they asked me if I was going to take the code test? I took it too and darned if I didn’t pass it! I’ve never been so proud! Then they dropped the code completely from the ratings. :-(
I loved what you said about learning letters at speed. Slow down the space between the letters but leave the letter at the higher speed so it sound rhythmically correct. That is such a great point! I never thought about that before but you are so on point here!
Now i have to tell you, I did associate certain phrases and music with letters when learning, I’m not sure why but they still are with me today. “V” = the start of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, di di di dah. Q = the wedding march opening “here comes the bride”, dah dah di dah. “K” = a trumpet fanfare, dah di dah. And one of my favorites, sorry for the profanity, it smells like chit, di dah di dit.
This was so much fun, I listened twice, thank you! Buddy KG4ZSH
Hi Buddy, I'm glad you liked the video. Thanks for the great feedback. OK on the Fifth Symphony etc, interesting stuff. If it helps, then it can't be bad. Cheers, Ray.
Thanks for the video Ray! It is encouraging to hear that you learned in spurts. I get discouraged when my progress seems to get stuck. I will use your words to remind me to persevere.
Stuart Hall keep going, Stuart. You will get there!
Thanks Ray, always find your video clips very interesting and helpful. Russ
Thanks, Russ.
Really excellent explanation and you make me happy about these tips.by the way I decided starting learning mores code even I am 72 years old so before 6 months started and faced same what you mentioned and i did these tips from my mind to solve learning problems now I am using speed 8 wpm for space between letters and 20 wpm speed which a good way of learning.By the way I am YI1LA radio amateur and I Consider CW mores is the real hobby .Thank you very much for your advice
Thanks, glad you're finding the videos useful. Cheers, Ray.
Good sound advise on learning morse. Alway dit’s and dahs never dots and dashes. And never try to pre guess a word your receiving, only write down what you hear. I was taught by G2CJO a fantastic radio ham. My call is G0RLB . Best wishes Brian.
Brian Stoneley hi Brian, thanks for commenting. I gut meet you on the air one day. Cheers, Ray.
Hi Ray, just got one of those keys myself and just passed my 15wpm morse this last weekend so I hope to do a lot more morse!
Kind regards,
Simon
M0SYS
Well done, Simon! Great stuff!
Well done, when will we hear you on the air? Though I might never hear you up here.
bob4jjjj within the next few weeks I think.
Ray, that was a fantastic video, thank you.
I might even give it a go...🤔
Hi Barney, yes give it a go!
Hey Ray, very inspirational. Thanks
If I live to be 150 I will learn it, nut life is to short for me! I did learn it at school, I was in a small school and the old head teacher used to stop 5 minutes before end of school and do Morse lessons, but I can't remember it now, we all had keys and took turns in sending Morse, however, he never often sent Morse to us, just a small message at the end of the lesson. I don't think he was a Ha, however, what he was in the war might be another thing as he never spoke about it, even when asked. Maybe he thought we would all need it, but back then I never thought I would be interested in radio of any kind. An old guy (can't remember his call sign now) used to sit on the CB and send bursts of Morse. He learned it by going through the spelling of a road sing or something he saw, he just spelt it out and before he knew it he knew all the letters. Took him a while to read Morse I remember him telling me, but he could rattle it off when sending it. He sadly passed away a good few years ago now. Have to say prefer to use SSB, but that is a personal choice. I like to hear the Morse when it has a flowing sound to it, however, some operators make it sound like someone hammering in some nails or putting a shoe on a horse. They are still better than me though. Keep it up Ray, love the videos.
bob4jjjj I wish I’d been taught Morse at school. I might have taken more interest and not played truant.
@@g4nsj Oh, I did that as well, but only after I went to secondary school.
I went fishing instead lol.
Thank you for the excellent tips Sir. Good on getting that CW contact after getting back on the horse.
L G thanks!
Thankyou,D Steele Lake Station Indiana, Just got my extra class ticket,and now im learning code.
Daniel Steele well done!
That is starting to happen to me. I call it receiving Ghost Morse. Many thanks Larry
Very useful Ray, thanks. Regarding the noise and interference, you might benefit from something like a loop antenna like one of the Wellbrook ALA series. Magnetic loops respond mainly to the magnetic component of the radio wave instead of the electrical part, which significantly reduces the received noise level on the lower HF bands.If I try a wire antenna at this location nowadays it's hopeless. The loop may yield weaker signals, but the signal to noise ratio is much more favourable.
Hi Jonathan, I've often wondered about a loop. I might try it, thanks. Cheers, Ray.
There is a free app called CW Trainer. You can change the speed for characters and words it will send you random letters in blocks of 4 or 5. You can select the letters. Start with two then keep adding one or two more.
Mr. Scotchpie thanks!
Hi Ray, I’ve been using an app called “,morse mail”. I can keep letter speed fast but space the gaps. Also you can alter the frequency of the morse.Then email it to myself and listen to the morse. Simple to use and you can design your own tuition in the farnsworth style.
Regards Barnie. CT3250.
Barndog TM Hi Barnie, thanks fir that. I’ll check it out. Cheers, Ray.
Very inspiring and informative. Thanks. Salute from Alabama.
n2dabloo thanks!
Hello, Ray. I'm immensely happy I've found your channel again! In any case, not sure if you covered this or not as I've not watched the video in it's entirety, but there is a wonderful site I'm currently learning Morse on that DOES let you change both character and word speed. As a new ham not even licensed for a year yet, I too have heard you should learn receiving at a higher rate of speed in terms of characters per minute therefore your brain can recognize them as letters. Anyways the name of the site is LCWO.net It stands for learn CW online. You can create an account, and it will show you your progress, give you activities, and teach you with both the Farnsworth and the Koch methods. I have found it to be incredibly useful and within a week or so of learning I'm nearly halfway through the alphabet at 30 characters and 7 words per minute. By the way, I apologize for the VERY long comment but I thought I'd throw my 2 cents out there to help you or anyone out there attempting to learn the code. With that said, keep up the great work on your channel and 73's de KD9LGP!
Zachary Anderson Hi Zachary, that’s great, thanks for the info and good luck with the Morse. I’ll take a look at the link you sent me. Cheers, Ray.
Hi you must be busy with life. Just to let you know I have seen huge numbers of people who show how life is where they live. Their UA-cam numbers are very high. Your a good story teller, and can show your town and history with your own flavor. I know there are stories of those days and streets that will be a joy to you and us.
Eazy Street people have asked to see around my home town but I thought it would be a boring video. Perhaps I should make a video and see how it goes down with everyone. Cheers, Ray.
@@g4nsj Well Ray you were making videos of valve (tube) radios. I'm thinking that's just up there with worm farming. I rebuild radios so I know its kind of thing your don't talk about at Christmas Dinners.
Eazy Street worm farming! Love it! 😃
Hi, there is a program written by G4FON that changes the character spacing while keeping the dits and dahs within the character at another speed. So you can set, as I have done, the speed at 15 to get the rhythm and the spacing between at say 5. As you point out this allows time to process what you've heard. I think you can search for G4FON cw trainer, and download the software at www.g4fon.net/. Its the Koch CW trainer version 9.
Good luck, cheers and thanks for all the lovely youtubes, 73!
Howard
Howard Alban thanks, Howard!
I'm getting ready to do the morse exam. However, its the terminology I have a problem with. I feel privileged as I'm the only one in the club that calls the system morse code. Everyone else calls it CW as the radio uses that mode for transmission. It seems to me that speech is more of a continuous waveform than morse code as the carrier is not interrupted but with morse code the carrier is broken up into dots and dashes. For that reason I could never call morse code CW. Kind regards M7AOE
Just going back over this again Ray, thinking I might start again (I'm 81). Just a comment if I may. When I was learning morse (early 60's) the rule was NEVER EVER, EVER talk about or even think about Dot Dash, or even Dit Dah. Only Didah, right from the word go. Hope that helps someone. Baz
MATCHBOX WORKSHOP hi Baz, it’s nice to year from you. And thanks for the tip, I’m sure many people will appreciate that. Cheers, Ray.
Hi Ray, thanks for another interesting video. I have had problems deciphering Morse Code, when hearing various Amateur DX signals on the low VHF band, which I use for indicators to check for TV and FM DX. Also, leaning generic code can be a challenge. Many Morse Code signals that I have heard have very small gaps between characters and with the fading DX signal as well, it can be very hard to work out the call sign. I am occasionally putting some of my Morse Code DX catches on to my UA-cam channel to show what each station sounds like. Anyway, take care. Robert.
The code can be challenging but it's worth pursuing in the end.
Ray great video again Sir. I am getting back into CW as well my friend. I personally really enjoy CW on 40 Meters
Excellent, I might see you on 40 some time. Cheers, Ray.
"G4FON's.... Koch" for the more advanced student....But, for the beginner it is excellent...with variable word and character speed plus QSB + other good stuff. Not sure about a phone app but there is one for the PC...and you can introduce letters etc...as you improve.
I recently had a QSO with a morse guy....the only morse I've heard sent with a stutter...hi..hi...
ningis21 thanks for the info.
Ray is a real treasure!
Jan Sugalski thanks! 😃
Ham Morse app for iOS can be set up to do Farnsworth spacing
ACitizenOfOurWorld thanks!
Another way do to speed up learning Morse Code, is to convert street signs and advertisements into dits and dahs. Learning CW is all about the time you spend doing it, but be warned it can become a bit of an obsession when you're out and about. I never looked back when I learnt CW in the 70's, and still use it to this day.
Matt Bates excellent, thanks Matt.
Matt Bates Yes sure about the phone
My dad was a wireless op in the RAF during the war and never touch a key for 30 odd years but could still do about 35wpm ( writing it dow) and 25+ in his head ... bloody infuriating as 40years later im still trying to master if😂
I think some people just find it easy. Rather like playing the piano, some are natural and others just can't do it. Cheers, Ray.
Useful video. By the way North Foreland was a BT Coastal station not a Coastguard station.
I am also getting back into CW after 18 years away from the hobby. funny how i can still read 12wpm 100% but my aim is to head read at 20wpm in time. 73s ..
CW trainer in the Android apps store does the Farnsworth method allowing faster characters with longer spaces. It's very configurable.
Thanks Mark, I'll check it out.
There is another one called Morse Mentor (also has the farnworth method) I use it sending 15wpm (spacing at 10wpm)
LEEBOY25 oK, I’ll take a look. Thanks.
(Orange icon by Wolphi LLC)
The snag with short letters like T- or E or I , is that they finish before the next long one comes along and you haven't got the short one written down!
Do you write down in block capitals or longhand (joined up writing.)?
Joke.
Lady called Dorothy, absolutely sick to death of hubby's (Fred) Ham Radio.
"The place is fill of junk. The garden is full of poles, wires, earth pegs, the most appalling noises fill the house ...Interference, strange voices, morse code.." "I've had enough. I'm going back to mother's TO STAY!"
Fred said "Aw. ..Don't Dash Dot!"
I'm trying to recover my own lost speed at CW but it ain't easy.
MY last CW contact was C. 1959/ 60! Needs lots of WD 40 to loosen up THAT!
Sure is like riding a bike but don't take any corners too fast!
MauriatOttolink block capitals... of sorts!
@@g4nsj
Know what you mean!
You just cant do it by counting......you have to learn the sound of each character...The first thing I learned was CQ...if you listen to it on a shortwave radio...you recognize it immediately..
Piece of music to your ears . Best Bent Wire Best, try to recognize words by the complete sound,
Thanks!
I'm using lcwo.net for learning at the moment. I'ts free, online, uses Koch method and you can select different speed for letters and spacing. Seems a site worth checking out if you're trying to learn morse.
hoggif thanks, I’ll check it out.
Brilliant video...
Like the letter 'D' is 'dad did it'.
Lovely old Key Ray I am like you haven’t used Morse Since my test donkey years ago,I had a Mate he sadly S/K now ex Ships Sparks he could have conversation with you while he copied High Speed Morse his top speed was 40 WPM those the days old Mate.Ian VK2IJ And great hand sent Morse Ray.
40 WPM, that's amazing. I don't think I'll set that as my goal, though!
as usual great
Did you get the blue Peter badge for doing Morse? Lol
paul1962uk no, but I wish I had! 😃
@@g4nsj I thought that was a Blue Peter badge. That takes me back. How did you get that Ray? Is there a video about that in the works?
@@cigarboxguitar9519 I cheated, the badge was given to me. Sorry about that!
@@g4nsj Still cool to have one though.
Are there any good practice keys so i can work on sending without tying up the air waves
Hi James, this sort of thing is pretty good but not cheap... www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MFJ-557-Practice-Key-Built-In-Oscillator/152191039406?hash=item236f4af7ae:g:IZMAAOSwWZ9XoLq3
@@g4nsj thanks ray have been watching your videos for a few years got me to pull the hobby off the back burner. 73 from the U.S KC9RXC
if you've an Iphone ( and I presume the iPad) there is a Koch Trainer that you can send higher speed characters with larger spacing but one of the best is lcwo.net/ . I've been trying to do CW since 1975 !
Nice fist!
What up? I like your videos
"To L with it" - L
Dah di dah helps me,more like a song,not dit dah if you see what I mean,ex pirate(caught!)😕
Hi Roger. Ex pirate, love it!
Ray, try IZ2UUF morse kock cw, Android app.
Although I'm still a beginner, I was trying to discourage a new recruit from forming a lookup table in his head by learning each letter by rote and learning too slow. At first he couldn't understand how you could decode the morse without first memorising the individual characters, until I explained that my wife could touch type at 60wpm+ and if you asked her where a letter was on the keyboard, she'd have to look to find it.
73 de Steve M0KOV
Oily Digits thanks Steve, I’ll check it out.
Thank you for the tips i have been usei g the apps and your rite you loose the musical rhythmic aspect of the code..thanks and keep up the good shows..CHEERS 73s
700 WEEDKILLER thanks!