[CW] Thank you, Zenith Radio Corporation

[Garey Barrell]

You guys need to 'take the pressure off'.   Just tune in to a good CW signal faster than you can copy.  Then just sit 
back and enjoy.

If it's considerably faster than you can copy, at first you'll only hear a letter or word once in a while.  But as you 
listen, you'll find that more and more of it becomes readable.  Once you are 'hearing' it without stress, THEN you can 
begin to write it down.   This will slow you down again at first, but will soon come back up.

It's just like learning a new language, the more you hear, the easier it becomes.  I got my speed up well past 65 wpm 
many years ago by getting involved in NTS.  I was meeting four or five nets each night during the week, and the last 
thing you wanted to do was to have to ask a sending operator for a 'fill'.  Great incentive.!!  Plus, almost every op 
was top notch and sent essentially 'perfect' cw.  Much less of the truly BAD CW on the air today, thanks to electronic 
keyers, but the only thing a keyer does for a bad op is enable him to send much more rotten cw, faster!   :-)

73, Garey - K4OAH
Glen Allen, VA

Drake 2-B, 2-C/2-NT, 4-A, 4-B, C-Line
and TR-4/C Service Supplement CDs
<www.k4oah.com>

Craig Roberts wrote:
> I, too, suffer from "Knoppow Syndrome", only mine's a worse case. I have been copying code for over 40 years but still 
> can't seem to break through a 30-35 wpm barrier, and I can only copy at that speed for short periods of time.  I know 
> what the problem is, but have a heckuva time overcoming it.
>
> When I'm at an uncomfortable speed, I tend to "wander away", especially after I have missed a word or two and attempt 
> to "replay" them. I know darned well that that's a rookie mistake, but my brain seems to default to that mode 
> nonetheless.  It's a shame since it discourages me from hanging out in the Extra Class sub-bands where 40 wpm seems to 
> be the speed 'o the day.  Heck, I'm comfortable with my"manual transmission" Amplidan and 20-25 wpm, but very few 
> fellows in the Extra bands favor such "slow poke" rhythms.
>
> When I retire in a couple of years, I'll devote more practice time to my CW.  Of course, I might be too ancient to 
> improve much by then :-)
>
> 73,
>
> Craig
> W3CRR
>