[CW] In your head

[Ron.K3PID]

Hi Neil. I am no expert but I had the same issues although I didn't visualize a ticker tape it was still a stream of letters. I always found that my buffer was about 3 characters long so I had to guess at the word with the first three characters... And yes you are correct, the answer is practice, practice, and practice!  As you have observed, words like NAME, QTH, THE, HI HI, and most of the Q signals are the first things that start to fall into place.  Try talking to someone in letters! That is spell out the words one letter at a time and you'll see what you brain has to do. I used tapes of spoken letters generated with my computer to get my buffer length up to 6 or 8 characters and viola! pretty soon I was copying it all in my head. The only things that takes effort at that point are call signs.  If you think about it Neil, you can probably copy CQ at almost any speed! 

Another technique that I have heard people use is to use a computer program to copy the CW on the screen while you listen to it and watch.... It reinforces the link from sound to letter.

Good Luck and hang in there!

K3PID
Ron H
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