[CW] Re: CW] CW "Interference" When Learning Typing

[Fred Adsit]

Your tale of woe is fascinating! My 'my problem of learning to touch type'
is not as comlex, but it has wrecked my ability to copy CW on a keyboard
at the speeds I can read CW.
Got my ticket in 1948, PRIOR to taking typing class for a full year. In
class, I simply could not type faster than I could send CW. My CW speed
rocketed up very fast, but I fell into a mental trap of seeing every
printed thing, and some things not in print, in Morse Code. The teacher
passed me after asking why I could simply not type much above 30 wpm. I am
not much on keyboarding in the shack. I handled traffic for years and all
messages went down on 3x5 sheets, written with a PEN - no errors or it was
a mess, and not using a stick to write kept me sharp re accuracy. The
messages were labeled as to net destination and paper-clipped to a
magnetic knife holder gracing the front edge of the first layer of
shelving above desk level. I CAN copy on a mill (computer with the caps
lock on), but still only at about 30 wpm. I reckon that would put me in
good stead with the now historic commercial ops, but it is way too slow
compared with my ability to read the code. BTW, folks might take a clue
from Bill Pierpont who referred, in 'The Art & Skill of Radio-Telegraphy',
to 'head copy' as Reading, and literal copy as just that, Copying. Makes
sense, as when you read the paper you do not copy it, do you? However, I
do read the entire paper and read what I am typing here -- in what else -- 
Morse Code. :-) This last item does not refer to anything you said, Ron.
It is just an opportunity to promote the use of read / copy terminology.
73 es ZUT!
Fred Adsit, NY2V
ex-W2ZOJ - 1948
W2ZOJ - ZUT ARC
ZUT: "CW Forever" use approved by
Coast Guard CW Operators Assoc.

----- Original Message -----
Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 19:13:19 -0500
From: Ron Evans <cosmos41@ix.netcom.com>
To: cw@mailman.qth.net
Subject: [CW] CW "Interference"  When Learning Typing

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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