[CW] Secrets of CW

[David J. Ring, Jr.]

>From a paper written by Frank Merritt, VE7FPM which appeared in the FISTS
Keynotes issue 8/9 2003

In the paper, Frank has some wonderful observations about teaching a method
of sending on a straight key that are very worthwhile - in fact they are
probably the best collected observations that I've seen in one place in 40
years of CW.

The secret in sending with a hand key is to learn how to use the long
muscles of the arm rather than the shorter muscles of the wrist.  If this
method is adapted to sending with a speed key, you will notice the
advantages also.  With a semi-automatic speed key, the dashes if sent with a
rolling of the arm will be much less tiresome, likewise, the dots are sent
by a roll of the arm.  Experience has taught many that using the muscles
that are further up the arm create a sort of easy to sustain rhythm which
produces beautiful code.

73

David Ring, N1EA

THE SECRETS OF CW
Frank Merritt, VE7FPM

Many CW Amateur Radio operators never get beyond the very elementary mode of
operation. One of the reasons for this is they never open themselves up to
the true potential of CW. Another reason for this is that often times they
just don't try very hard.

In dealing with this fascinating situation it is necessary to go right back
to the beginning with operating CW. In the beginning many operators just
don't like CW. It seems to be "so hard". It is a requirement that they feel
has been forced down their throats. With a predisposition such as this one
cannot wonder they find everything about CW to be difficult and unpleasant.

We humans are individually programmed. This can be likened to a computer.
Without an operating system program a computer is nothing more that a bunch
of electronics. However, with the operating system the computer becomes a
tool that can be used. We individuals can also see the results in other
areas of our lives of this programming. This can be considered as natural
abilities. Actually, it goes much deeper than this.

For the most part most people just "live" with these mind-sets. We feel that
they are "built in" and therefore are not changeable. Of course, this is not
the case but this is the "easy" way to deal with the matter of these
predispositions. Sometimes we can see the sources of some of these
individual ways in terms of family conditionings, societal conditionings and
even pre-natal preconditionings. This is nothing more than a studied
consideration of the human condition.

Many of these conditionings and pre-conditionings are very subtle and seem
to evade most considerations. However, in the case of CW something can be
done about it. Many years ago the was attending a signal school in the army.
Immediately outside a room that was used as a laboratory, a punching bag was
attached to the wall. The CW operators in-training used the punching bag to
relieve the tensions of learning CW all day. Experimentally it was found
that if a radio receiver was tuned to an RTTY signal the CW trainees would
be gone in less than two minutes. The CW trainees were used to the random
rhythm of CW and found the repetitive nature of RTTY to be very disturbing.
The very nature of the CW signal was incompatible with the RTTY signal. As
soon as this relationship was discovered it was used to clear the punching
bag area when operations in the lab were desired.

The very interesting feature of this tale of subliminal conflict is that the
sound of RTTY was familiar and acceptable to me but not those students of
CW. Years later when I was studying CW to prepare for my Amateur Radio
examination I found that as I accepted the rhythm of CW I no longer had any
difficulty in learning CW. What was going on was something way down deep in
the mind. Those trying to learn CW virtually always have a mental block or
pre-conditioning that causes a conflict when learning it.

This would almost seem to be something that is so deep and strong that it is
impossible to learn CW. How many times have we heard prospective Hams say
that "learning CW is just too hard". Their approach had not adequately dealt
with some preconditioning. This statement seems to indicate that there is a
way for the individual to soften this preconditioning and even reverse it.
That is exactly correct!
The manner of dealing with this deep-seated emotional feeling is amazingly
easy. When learning CW is necessary to condition the mind to accept the
rhythm of CW. It is fascinating to see how easy it is to accomplish this.
The technique of doing this is simple and without stress. A source of random
CW is required that can be varied in both speed and volume. It is best to
have a unit that has a provision for an external headset or speaker(*).

What is new is the way that the CW practice unit is used. A time should be
selected that does not require the full attention of the student. This can
be during a time of activity that does not require concentration. By playing
the random CW at a low audio level it is just barely perceived by the brain.
Periodically change the selection of the random CW text. Make no attempt to
recognize the CW characters. What is happening is that the brain is being
conditioned to, at first, accept the CW and eventually be a ease with it.
Sleep teaching? Yes, close to it. If using the unit for sleep teaching be
sure that if you use a pillow speaker the level is very low.

Years ago I jammed an old record player to continuously repeat a record and
then used a record with random CW characters. I used this device at night as
sleep teaching. The first morning after trying this I found that my wife was
not happy with all that noise going on all night. Be sure that your wife, or
whatever, is compatible with this procedure. The second problem was found to
be1~t that eventually the brain has the capability of memorizing an amazing
length of random CW. Hence it is desirable to be able to select one of a
number of random CW offerings.

It hardly seems necessary to make the point that the results will probably
not be instantaneous. It will take time and perseverance. Little by little
you will be able to notice an improvement with the ease that you hear and
remember CW.

Along with this practice it is wise to use a newspaper as a source and gain
practice sending CW. At first this will be tiring but again with time you
will find that it gets easier and easier. In sending code the greatest
emphasis should be placed on sending PERFECT code. Use a straight key for
this practice. Learn to send perfect characters and words using the proper
spacing of one space between characters and three spaces between words. At
first keep the speed slow enough to make it enjoyable while a challenge. In
a week or so it should be possible to send 30-minutes of newspaper text at a
time. While you are at it, try sending just "e" as many times as you can on
your straight key.

At first this will be for a short period of time but with practice this time
should move up to as much as 30-minutes. That sounds really hard. It is not
difficult with practice. The usage of the straight key should be such that
the wrist muscles ARE NOT used. They are short and tire quickly resulting in
a "glass fist". The arm should be used as a long lever using the muscles of
the lower and upper arm. At first these muscles get tired quickly but, they
are long and can be trained to function without any effect of the "glass
fist". This term goes back to the early years of CW sending in which the
short muscles of the wrist get tired and the operator just has to stop
sending. Just keep the wrist muscles taut without strain and do no pivot at
the wrist.

Remember that you have been receiving perfect code from the machine. In a
matter of time borrow a Ham receiver and tune in to the CW portion of the
band that seems to work the best for you. The reason for this is that very
few people send perfect code all the time.

As the practicing continues you should begin to pick out small words such as
"an", "or" and "as". When this begins to happen you will notice that words
such as "the", "and", "good" and "this" just pop out of the CW stream. Now
you are making real progress.

Not everyone progresses at the same rate. Above all be patient with
yourself. You will be surprised how the code begins to just "come". Whatever
you do keep with a straight key for sending. A Semi-automatic key or Bug
will be for later. Much after the Bug, the Iambic keyer will be a boon to
sending. FIRST LEARN TO SEND PERFECT CW WITH THE HAND KEY.

Sometimes when I am driving I talk with myself in CW about the view of the
road etc. No, this is not a sign that I have slipped off the deep end! It is
a good training for learning to converse in CW with other noises within and
without the car. By this point I am sure that you will be using CW at the
bottom of your favorite HF band. Good luck.

(*) One such commercial CW practice unit is the MFJ Model 418 which is sold
by Durham Radio Sales and Service for $1 19 plus taxes and shipping. This
unit will be found on page 29 of their latest catalog. The unit can be
purchased online at: www.durhamradio.com

ADVANCED SECRETS OF CW
Frank Merritt, VE7FPM

Yes, there is still more to the mystery of operating CW. We now delve into
the innermost byways of this interesting facet of Amateur Radio. The
earliest forms of communicating intelligence by radio was by CW. The CW that
we now use is a derivative of the land-line Morse communications. This is a
fascinating study, but we will focus on radio operations. The most basic
concept is that the characters from which words are made are communicated by
a series of dits and dahs. This, in itself, does not seem to be too complex.
But, this is just the beginning of a story and a development that is
involved in the most recent information regarding the brain and its use.

>From CW the state-of-the-art progressed (?) to voice as with Amplitude
Modulation (AM). This was a way for anyone with some competence in voice
communication to take part in the exploding field of radio communications.
Also, this involves music transmission.

However, CW did NOT just fade away. There remained many operators who did
not abandon CW in preference to voice communications. The reasoning for this
is nothing less than arcane. There was a difference that was, and is,
difficult to comprehend. That does not mean to say that it is an impossible
enigma. This is not the case.

Many CW operators realized that there was something more to the
International Morse Code than just memorizing the representations of the
letters, numbers and punctuation. This is where we really delve into the
advanced mysteries of code.

We will momentarily discuss another facet of the overall situation. Typists
find that there are different levels of typing. At first it is a great
challenge to just type the text. As proficiency increases it is found that
the typist can read a bit faster than the actual typing. This is as if the
brain is storing the information to be typed and then it is typed at the
speed of the typist. As time goes by the typist notices that there is a
mental translation that permits the eyes to provide the input to the brain
resulting in typing without any conscious action. Again, as time goes by the
typist finds that he/she is able to read the typed text and edit it for
typing errors. A part of this mental editing proceeds the typist becomes
aware of the text so as to read it for errors that are more than just
spelling errors.

In this progression it is not unusual for the typist to divert his/her eyes
from the screen and type the original text entirely from the formulation in
the brain. We can see from this discussion that it is possible for the brain
to do more than just convert words/letters to actuated keys. There is much
more to it. This diversion has nothing directly to do with our premise of CW
operation but indicates the power of the brain.

As time goes by in the practice of CW the operator becomes aware of small
words at first that just "pop out" of the audio. Words such as "as", "or",
"an" and "if" just appear out of the seeming jumble of the International
Morse characters. This is when the operator BEGINS to really be an operator.
For some this happens quickly and for some it takes much more experience.
The eventuality of this characteristic is that in a matter of time the
operator finds that he/she is copying two to three words behind and that the
word/words are mentally checked and corrected for errors. Now this is
something!

Each operator has what is called a FIST. That means that his/her sending
exhibits characteristics which are unique to that person. In WWII this meant
that radio intercept operators knew the fists of many of the enemy operators
which provided a clue when the enemy moved units to a new location. It was
quite common for the intercept operators to provide names for the enemy
operators which sometimes were quite humorous.

Today the individual fist is not as obvious as it once was due to the fact
that it is common today to use an electronic keyer. It is a correct
observation that the keyer drives the sending of the operator. However, in
time there always are slight variations in sending characteristics or even
words that indicate a particular operator. Also, it must be observed that
the way different operators express themselves says a great deal fur their
personalities. That is something to think about!

Perfect hand key sending is beautiful to hear. Also, it is easy to copy!
This leads us into the problems that arise in copying CW. It is not uncommon
that under some conditions a relatively good code operator may not be able
to copy well if at all. What is involved here is that running characters
together results in an almost impenetrable jumble of characters.

Especially when there is QRM of QRN the result is absolutely impossible to
deal with. It is obvious that the goal of every operator should be to send
perfect code. In reality this does not always happen but it certainly is a
reasonable goal for every operator to aspire to.

One of the charms that is easy to recognize with CW is that as it is a
language within itself and it is based on the English language. To be sure
there are countries that have developed somewhat unusual forms of CW but for
the most part Amateur Radio CW operation is in English. What is common with
a foreign operator is that he/she begins their operating career with a
prompt sheet providing the basic information to be communicated. As a matter
of fact, the prompt sheet is very common with beginning operators whose
basic language is English. The first contact of any operator is very
challenging to deal with this new language of CW.

The other side of the coin of CW operations is that for most operators WORK
is required to master the art of CW. There are those operators who just seem
to immediately develop the ability to send code but for most of the rest of
us it was (or is) an uphill battle until proficiency is gained. In our
present world this does not satisfy the increasing demand for instant
gratification and so it is a barrier for some. The citizens band is an
excellent example of what happens when this instant gratification is taken
to a logical extreme.

In all CW operations there is a desire for brevity. This is why a number of
codes have been developed to express more complicated statements or
questions in the form of three letters of the code in question. One example
of this is the Q-code. The Q-code designation of QTH stands for the
geographical location of the sender or QTH? represents a question for the
sender to communicate his/her location to the receiver. Some of the Q-code
items are rather amusing, such as QLF which means "send with your left
foot". While originating with commercial circuits the designation QLF is
never heard on the Ham bands, and for good reason.

Efficiency of transmission is a consideration of CW operators. CW may be
sent and received with a bandwidth of 500 Hz or less! What this means is
that a number of CW operators can use the same spectrum that would otherwise
be used for one AM or SSB signal. Of course, the other side of this equation
is that a good stable and selective receiver is a great advantage in
operating with CW. This is not to say that these qualities are an absolute
necessity but rather and advantage in the practical world.
Operating with CW with a narrow bandpass receiver means that much undesired
noise and the effects of other signals is just lost. This is a very great
enhancement and makes CW operating much more pleasurable.

Operating CW is an art as much as anything else. It certainly is not
something that a neophyte operator can expect to do easily or quickly. As
much as anything else this fact tends to make it somewhat exclusive. The
removal of the proficiency in CW requirement has opened the door for many
who never otherwise would have become Hams because now they can just get a
licence, buy a radio and operate. On the other hand (and there is another
hand) there has been no infringement of CW operations on any band by any
country (to the best of my knowledge). Some think that CW will just fade
away. I don't believe that is true. It is somewhat unfortunate that effort
is required to become a CW operator. But really, is that true? I doubt it.
As operators in general realize that there is something more than voice or
digital communications they become candidates for the art of CW. The game
has changed a bit but in the long run this may be an advantage. Time will
tell.