[CW] CW "Interference" When Learning Typing

[Ron Evans]

CW Lovers,

I learned cw at age 16 but didn't attempt to learn typing until my 
sophomore year in college.  By that time the rhythms of cw on my old 
J-38 hand key were firmly ingrained in my head and, more importantly, in 
"muscle memory" in my hand.  On my first day of typing class and for 
several days thereafter, I encountered a most unusual problem.

In short, I wanted to strike the lever for a given letter on the manual 
typewriter the same number of times I would have moved the telegraph key 
lever to make the same letter!  The problem was especially acute on the 
"dit" letters -- i, s, h, and 5 and the "dah" letters m and o.  (For 
some reason the number zero wasn't a problem.)  The letter "e" wasn't a 
problem since it was made with a single stroke both on the typewriter 
and the telegraph key.  The same was true of the letter "t," also made 
with a single stroke.

Thus, the word "big" ended up as "b i i g," at the very best!  Often I 
would find myself doing the same thing with the "dah" letters.  "Man" 
could very well end up as "M M a n"! It was very embarrassing but only 
lasted for a few days during which my brain was "rewiring" itself to 
think "typing" instead of "cw."  The mixed letters (those with both dits 
and dahs) never seemed to be a problem.

Remnants of that faraway problem (1961) survive today in my ABSOLUTE 
inability to copy cw with a keyboard of any type!  Instead of typing the 
letter I am hearing (or, if lagging, the letter I heard several 
characters ago), I will often "key" the letter on the computer keyboard! 
  That is, if I hear a "c," I will often key the letter "c" by typing 
four "c's" instead of one!

Thus, I've learned to copy cw almost completely in my head at speeds up 
to around 30 wpm and NEVER attempt to copy by typewriter or keyboard. 
Copying at higher speeds with a pencil is also out of the question for 
me, since age has done some wild and wicked things with my nerves, and 
basically I just can't "keep up."

But...hear this...I LOVE CW and rarely work any voice mode.  CW is still 
the closest thing to music that I will ever be able to produce!

Has anyone out there ever heard of a similar problem to my problem of 
learning to touch type?  *grin*  Say "yes" and make me feel better!

73,

Ron Evans - KD5S (formerly K5MVR 1957 - 2002)
-- 
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   KD5S  (ex K5MVR) - Loving the "glow"  since 1957
        Fort Worth, TX  "Where the West Begins"
           mailto: cosmos41@ix.netcom.com
       http://www.geocities.com/sweetvengeance
          Does the name "Pavlov" ring a bell?
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