[CW] Morse Training

Mon Jul 19 17:31:51 EDT 2010

Now that you know - you probably would neer do that again.   The Scouts, and 
other organizations used to encourage things like flash cards,ss or cute lil 
memorization pictures.  All those really did for you was to learn the code 
by eyesight, and then when it came to copying sound, you had to convert in 
your brain, from vision to hearing, to trying to figure out what you heard. 
The ONLY way to do it, is start with sound at the beginning.  Start with 
fairly fast code - not 5 wpm.   You do not want to start with slow code and 
trying to count dits and dahs, which the vast majority would do, at that 
type of "remembering".  Run the code at 13-15 wpm minimum, with spacing 
between the letters at a normal 5wpm rate.  Write each and every letter down 
as you hear them.  Use just a few characters at a time, and get them 100 
percent on paper, before adding more characters.  Add those characters one 
at a time, to your already known ones, and again get 100 percent copy, 
before the next character added.

I devised a group method way back in the 60s, where I did just that, 
teaching code to Scouts.  I had one boy, who LEARNED the code and passed 
5wpm (with dits and dahs at 15 wpm) in THIRTY minutes. That was the fastest 
student I ever had.  Others have done it in 2-4 hours.

Just sit with your student and send by hand E E E E E etc. and say the 
character each time.  Have him write them down as you send them.  If you see 
him getting faster than you, add the next character T.   Then send E E T T E 
T E T T E T till he makes no mistakes, then add A A A A then go to E T A A T 
E A T E A A T E etc.  Until again he makes no mistakes.   Then go to the 
letters I , O , N, S.  one at a time the same as above.  In there you might 
actually stop after a few characters, and send some simple worlds.   AT  EAT 
TEA  .  Do that after adding 2 or three characters, and get him used to 
copying words, and getting word spaces correct.  Once that group 
E,T,A,I,O,N.S  is learned, and he can copy your words and simple sentences 
100 percent, he now knows the major characters in the English language. 
Those are used in most words.  End that session.    Tomorrow, go back and 
send all the characters/words again, and insure he has them all down before 
adding the next group of characters. E T A I O N S  - C D G H M U, then W P 
R K B V  then G L X Y  finally  F J Q Z.  The numbers should take another 
session.  The period, comma, question mark and slant bar can be thrown in 
during any of the session, as seen fit, to use with "words".  This is a 
method that one can program into a computer for himself, or can use with 
hand keys, and send manually, always watching the students to insure they 
"get" a letter before introduction of the next one.

Ive  used this in teaching several hundred students over the years, and it 
works.  Look up the article on the Boy Scout 1985 Jamboree, so see how a 
small group there was able to pass Novice in less than a weeks time.

 P W Q  Z
Danny Douglas
N7DC
ex WN5QMX ET2US WA5UKR ET3USA SV0WPP VS6DD N7DC/YV5 G5CTB
All 2 years or more (except Novice). Short stints at:  DA/PA/SU/HZ/7X/DU
CR9/7Y/KH7/5A/GW/GM/F
Pls QSL direct, buro, or LOTW preferred,
I Do not use, but as a courtesy do upload to eQSL for those who do.
Moderator
DXandTALK
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DXandTalk
Digital_modes
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digital_modes/?yguid=341090159

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "jack" <jfriend31 at comcast.net>
To: "CW Reflector" <cw at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2010 4:16 PM
Subject: Re: [CW] Morse Training

>i memorized the code by flash cards i made. then i would sound out the
> letters of a word or name or sign as i saw it on the street or
> wherever.
>
> then i listened to a paper tape machine for practice until i could read
> at about 7 wpm.
>
> then i took the 5 wpm test and Novice and Tech tests.
>
> jack
> AK70
>
> On Mon, 2010-07-19 at 10:50 -0700, John Westerlage wrote:
>>
>>
>> I'm curious about some of the advice about learning Morse.
>>
>>
>> I no longer remember exactly how I learned Morse, or how long it took,
>> since I've been using it daily since 1956.  But I do remember that it
>> was a kind of hit or miss type thing - no formal training.  And one
>> day I just realized that I was head copying.
>>
>>
>> Nowadays, some of the newer online or pc-based trainers have help
>> files advising not to practice for more than 5-15 minutes at a time.
>>  To me, that sounds like WAY too little.  They also advise not to
>> practice when too tired, too frustrated, too sick, or too whatever.
>>
>>
>> But I wonder about the old commercial Morse training schools in the
>> heyday of Railroad or American Morse telegraphers and the military
>> training in International Morse.
>>
>>
>> What kind of time schedule did these training regimes maintain?  Was
>> it eight hours per day?  How many breaks, and how long were the
>> breaks?  How many days or weeks did the training last?  What was the
>> attrition (dropout) rate?
>>
>>
>> It just doesn't seem feasible for a commercial or military school to
>> pamper students the way these modern trainers advocate.
>>
>>
>> I sometimes, now that I'm retired, put in a 10 hour day on the air,
>> and never get tired of Morse.
>>
>>
>> I'd sure like to be able to accurately tell these new guys how it
>> happened in the "old days."  Any thoughts?
>>
>>
>> john, n5dwi
>>
>>
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>
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