[CW] Fast hand speed - over 25 wpm

[Buck - N4PGW]

For what it's worth, when I was operating 20+ on a strait key, it was not up
and down, but left and right.  I had mounted my key on the side of the rig
and sent sideways.  I think my top speed was about 22 wpm, but when I
finished a long QSO or long period of operating, I needed my left hand to
help my right hand hold the fork so I could eat. Lol

Buck
N4PGW


> -----Original Message-----
> From: cw-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:cw-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On
> Behalf Of David J. Ring, Jr.
> Sent: Monday, May 16, 2005 6:48 PM
> To: CW at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: [CW] Fast hand speed - over 25 wpm
> 
> Hello CW operators!
> 
> A few years ago, someone on here mentioned that it was "impossible" for
> anyone to send 25 wpm with a hand key.  Some of those who said they "used
> to
> be able to" were no longer able to.  It takes constant practice to keep
> this
> speed.  I remember handling traffic from a ship with a South American
> Radio
> Officer, who was sending nearly 30 wpm - he was using a hand key - I was
> stunned.  I had been a bit critical of his fist, but seeing that he was
> doing it on an "up and downer" key, now I was impressed!
> 
> For several years, I have been trying to find a recording of fast hand
> speed
> key sending.  I have just found one!
> 
> The various Wireless Colleges, such as Colywn Bay, and London, and Bremen,
> Germany required that their students pass 25 wpm (125 gpm) minimum sending
> and receiving tests.
> 
> I tried to contact the old students, but somehow they've aged and when
> push
> came to shove, they found that they could no longer (although many thought
> they could!) send 25 wpm on a hand key.
> 
> Recently, I stumbled upon a page of recordings of mostly 78 records and
> Edison cylenders from the early 20th century - one had "fast radio code".
> 
> I've copied the file and cleaned it up a bit and posted it here.
> 
> The segment of the recording is about 42 seconds.  According to my
> counting
> and calculations, the code speed seems to be just about 27 wpm.
> 
> I made a count of 19.2 words in 42 seconds.  This comes out to be 27.4
> words
> in 60 seconds.
> 
> Here is the location of the file:
> 
> http://www.qsl.net/n1ea/fast_hand_key.mp3
> 
> Here is where the original sound file came from:
> http://www.normanfield.fsnet.co.uk/morse.htm
> (*There is also a recording of Thomas A. Edison sending morse there... he
> also invented the recording machine...)
> 
> Here is what I decoded:
> 
> NEAR RADIO CAROLINE FTO 81044 III 50S = DURP CASTELNUEVO = VAPOR ALCANTARA
> SALDRA BARCELONIA EL OCHO NOR
> 
> 42 seconds long - RCI80 45USU =RTAB LEN +2
> 18.5 WORDD
> 
> 
> Note - at the time this was recorded, III was the signal for period in
> Internal Morse Code.
> 
> The recordings of American morse on
> http://www.normanfield.fsnet.co.uk/morse.htm would also be of people who
> were first generation telegraphers - Civil War sounds.  This is what Morse
> Code sounded like in the 19th Century!!!
> 
> 73
> 
> David Ring, N1EA
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> CW mailing list
> CW at mailman.qth.net
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/cw
>