[CW] Ham Code Speed vs. Commercial Code Speed

[Alan W. N5LF]

It is very possible to copy solid at 55 wpm, especially copying in your
head.

My late father, Joe W5GKX, could copy CW solid at about 45 wpm with a
typewriter without really straining.  His usual ragchew cruising speed was
about 35 wpm.  While typing, he could even roll in a new piece of paper
(overlapped slightly with the current one) while copying code--He'd get a
few words behind and then catch up on the typewriter.

He was a teenaged ham in the 1930s and a radio operator in the Army Air
Corps in WWII.  His early experience with ham radio led him to a very
successful career as an electrical RF design engineer and inventor into the
late 1980s.

And he was ALWAYS very welcoming to newcomers to CW.  If they needed code at
5 wpm, he'd send 5 wpm by using just the dash side of his 1962-vintage
Vibroplex Original bug.  I still use Dad's bug today, so a little bit him is
always with me on the air!

Alan W. N5LF