The best way to learn CW?

[KA9MOT]

Any advice? I do have a block.....it is insane boredom. I don't know how to get over it. I've been seeing these cheap QRP kits and I think they would be allot of fun to build, are cheap and I'm betting they would be a blast to operate.... I just need to get over my CW boredom hump.

I know I am a clown but I am very serious about this. Any advice? HELP!!! I've been trying to learn CW since I was a kid.

[WØTKX]

http://aa9pw.com/morsecode/

[W5GA]

When I was learning it as a kid, I would start reading street signs, billboards, anything at all to myself in code.

[KC9ECI]

G4FON. Take it in small chunks, 10 to 15 minutes a day. Took me about a year. When you get ready to try some on air stuff, check out FISTS (I didn't have much luck with them, but YMMV) or the Elmer program through the SKCC. Good luck.

[K7SGJ]

I learned it by sending code back and forth to a neighbor kid who was a ham. We used 100w 110vac bulbs keyed with an old navy key. We were lucky we didn't kill ourselves.

Best thing I can suggest is to use one of the online cw tutors to learn the letters, numbers, and a few punctuation marks. Then, get on the air as much as you can. You'll be surprised how quickly your speed and accuracy improves. You might also want to do W1AW code practice, too. Pick out as much as you can. If it's plain text, you'll be able to fill in what you missed when you go back after you are finished copying. Hell, when you want to get on, let me know. I'll talk with you at any speed you are comfortable with. We can take as much time as you want/need.

[WØTKX]

Using the website I linked to, it starts out with the easy "short" characters, like E I S H T M O.

Use an "anagram server" to make words with these few characters. Run the Farnsworth settings so the character speed is reasonably fast (abut 13 wpm) but the overall speed is slow, 5-7 wpm. Later, when you speed up, learning the characters a little faster will help a lot.

http://wordsmith.org/anagram/
Anagrams for: E I S H T M O Try advanced (http://wordsmith.org/anagram/advanced.html) options to fine-tune these anagram results.

162 found. Displaying all:
Homiest
Eh Moist
Eh Omits
He Moist
He Omits
Hie Mots
Hie Toms
Hie Most
Hies Mot
Hies Tom
Heist Om
Home Sit
Home Tis
Home Its
Homes Ti
Homes It
Hoe Smit
Hoe Mist
Those Mi
Ethos Mi
Hes Omit
She Omit
Mise Tho
Mise Hot
Semi Tho
Semi Hot
Smite Oh
Smite Ho
Times Oh
Times Ho
Items Oh
Items Ho
Mites Oh
Mites Ho
Emits Oh
Emits Ho
Mite Ohs
Mite Hos
Time Ohs
Time Hos
Item Ohs
Item Hos
Emit Ohs
Emit Hos
Ties Ohm
Site Ohm
Tie Mosh
Tie Ohms
Me Hoist
Em Hoist
Some Hit
Tomes Hi
Motes Hi
Smote Hi
Tome His
Mote His
Toes Him
Toe Hims
Toe Shim
Eh I Mots
Eh I Toms
Eh I Most
Eh Mi Sot
Eh Ism To
Eh Mis To
Eh Is Mot
Eh Is Tom
Eh Sit Om
Eh Tis Om
Eh Its Om
Eh Ti Oms
Eh It Oms
He I Mots
He I Toms
He I Most
He Mi Sot
He Ism To
He Mis To
He Is Mot
He Is Tom
He Sit Om
He Tis Om
He Its Om
He Ti Oms
He It Oms
Hie Ms To
Hem I Sot
Hem Is To
Hem Ti So
Hem It So
Hems I To
Mesh I To
Them I So
Hes I Mot
Hes I Tom
Hes Mi To
Hes Ti Om
Hes It Om
She I Mot
She I Tom
She Mi To
She Ti Om
She It Om
The I Oms
The Mi So
The Is Om
Me Hi Sot
Me His To
Me Hit So
Me Oh Sit
Me Oh Tis
Me Oh Its
Me Ho Sit
Me Ho Tis
Me Ho Its
Me Ohs Ti
Me Ohs It
Me Hos Ti
Me Hos It
Me Shot I
Me Host I
Me Hots I
Me Tho Is
Me Hot Is
Em Hi Sot
Em His To
Em Hit So
Em Oh Sit
Em Oh Tis
Em Oh Its
Em Ho Sit
Em Ho Tis
Em Ho Its
Em Ohs Ti
Em Ohs It
Em Hos Ti
Em Hos It
Em Shot I
Em Host I
Em Hots I
Em Tho Is
Em Hot Is
Ems Hi To
Ems Oh Ti
Ems Oh It
Ems Ho Ti
Ems Ho It
Ems Tho I
Ems Hot I
Stem Oh I
Stem Ho I
Met Hi So
Met Oh Is
Met Ho Is
Met Ohs I
Met Hos I
Set Hi Om
Set Ohm I
Set Oh Mi
Set Ho Mi
Eh I Ms To
He I Ms To

[n2ize]

I first learned to send code and I would just tap out words, phrases, sentences, , names, etc. with my fingers or feet. I could send fast but I couldn't receive for nothing and thus could not get a license. Finally I decided to get the receiving down. I had an Atari 800 computer and I wrote a program to send code. It could be set to either generate random charachters and send them as code or, to read text from a file and send it as code. I could also set the speed, spacing, tone, timing, etc. That program helped me quite a bit and basically got me up to speed on the receiving. Then I just started listening to people sending on the air.

Another thing that helped was to listen to code being sent faster than I was capable of receiving comfortably. I could do this by setting the program to send very fast or by listening to a fast CW op. on the air. Even if I could only pick out a letter here and there I would force myself to keep on listening. Then, when I would finally drop down to a slower speed it seemed easier each time.

Now, I don;t know what happened to that program I wrote. It may be sitting on an old 5.25 inch floppy diskette somewhere in the back of a deep dark closet. But I am sure there are plenty of modern day resources available that work even better than my crude 1980's cw program..

In any event those resources and techniques worked very well for me. Mileage may vary.

[KA9MOT]

Thanks for all the good info. I guess if I really want to do this, I'm going to have to buckle down, stifle the yawns and get 'er done.

Thanks again!

[WØTKX]

Ever listen to the W1AW broadcasts? They send pages from QST.

I have always sent faster and better than I receive. Imagine that.

[NQ6U]

I have always sent faster and better than I receive. Imagine that.

I think that's pretty much the case for everybody. I can send pretty decent code at about 20 WPM but I can't copy it worth shit even at 5 WPM.

[N8YX]

General coverage receiver, and tune around until you find some MIL or commercial stuff. This used to be a lot easier 20 or 30 years ago. Nowadays W1AW and some of the slower fists in the 40 and 80M CW segments are your best bet for on-air practice.

[n2ize]

Oh, BTW when I said above that my program would "send code", I meant into a speaker or set of headphones so you can practice copying. It did not send code over the airwaves.

[WØTKX]

Goodness, let's hope you didn't. :stirpot:

[n2ize]

Goodness, let's hope you didn't. :stirpot:

I would never transmit without proper authorization from an authoritative source.

[n2ize]

General coverage receiver, and tune around until you find some MIL or commercial stuff. This used to be a lot easier 20 or 30 years ago. Nowadays W1AW and some of the slower fists in the 40 and 80M CW segments are your best bet for on-air practice.

Are there any MIL or commercial users of cw anymore ? I thought they all declared it obsolete.

[N7YA]

Thanks for all the good info. I guess if I really want to do this, I'm going to have to buckle down, stifle the yawns and get 'er done.

Thanks again!

Ive been doing CW on HF for nearly 30 years almost exclusively, im certainly no FOC member by any means.

The advice i can give is, first and foremost, dont put too much pressure on yourself. Relax and go however fast or slow you damn well please in learning.

Next, tune the subbands and listen. Try to make out characters flying by in live qso's as it will train your ear for what you actually want to use it for. And remember rule number one up there.

Third. These guys are all saying one common thing, translate everything into code. Its easier than it seems when you remove the pressure to perform and simply try to enjoy the moment.

And dont forget to relax, dont stress and let the code just flow. Really, theres only about 40 characters you need to learn...you can do this!