[CW] Flavours of Morse

[D.J.J. Ring, Jr.]

Originally sent to the sideswiper net group.
73
DR N1EA

From: "VK5EEE" <vk5eee at vkcw.net>
Date: Feb 14, 2017 10:58 PM
Subject: [SSN] Flavours of Morse


Dear Side Sweepers whether single or double liver...

A subject that has often riled me in the past, and still raises it's head, 
is the anti-bug anti-cootie, or rather, I should say anti-non-standard-CW 
arguments made by operators that I myself often find inferior in their 
abilities in CW -- but not always! There are those who are very skilled 
operators of CW but who dislike certain styles, or any wide deviation from 
standard CW. 

I posted in a forum today on this subject, and thought it may be of 
interest to other side swipers, so I think it worth sharing here. I am not 
preaching to the already converted, but I think this subject should be 
written about, and even some videos produced on it, that could do a lot to 
furthering the cause of bug and swing CW... Rhythm & Blues, Reggae, Soul 
and even Jazz...

I also include a link at the end to a post I made on the Flavours of CW. I 
also have to confess, and I hope I'm not disliked for it, that I love 
"french CW" -- I find French cootie operators have a very lovely CW, partly 
assisted by the extra characters perhaps, and that when I was in England I 
noted some did not like that French CW :-)

But I also like Russian QRQ CW in Russian Language, I even liked Arabic CW 
which was last used in Sudan and its overseas embassies right up until the 
80s and sent on straight keys. In fact, I like all types of CW -- well -- 
almost all: *personally* I draw the line at joining letters on an 
electronic keyer like C = TR or KE, but when sent on other keys some 
letters can be quasi-joined!

An example is my callsign: on an electronic keyer I would send my callsign 
in perfect Gerke Code with 1:1:3 ratio: VK5EEE. But on a bug/cootie I could 
make the dah in the V shorter, and the dah in the K (one or the other or 
both) longer, and I could join the K to the 5 which could be sent at double 
the dit-speed, followed by EEE, and that would not detract from it's 
intelligibility.

What lead me today to write on this subject (again) was a criticism 
levelled against AA4OO saying that his bug ration on 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-DGvvrCLIE was 20WPM dah and 25 WPM dits. 
WOW, seriously...!? It's lovely bug sending, nothing wrong with it, but 
because it varied from Official Gerke Code (International Morse Code 
actually), it attracted a criticism!?

So I thought I'd not let the machine-CW-only have the final say, just as I 
would not let the Oxford-English-only have a final say over the Jamaican 
"Jomehkun", Thai English "Tinglish", Trinidadian "Trinni" and other 
variations, let alone other superior languages (French, Hungarian, Thai etc 
;-) -- hehe I hope my fellow British friends can take a jab in the ribs now 
and then haha

Please have a listen to my video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=gjqT8PSqG_w

There as we all know we can demonstrate  that it is possible, at certain 
speeds, to send on a straight key, on a electronic keyer and on a bug, 
"perfect" CW that would be indistinguishable from "PC sent CW" and make all 
keys sound the exact same.

After showing that with a CQ call on each of the keys, I then try to show 
off hot-swapping keys, with mixed success :-)

Now I come, once again, on this particular issue, to counter KE6EE with 
both tripple E's having differing views. It is a horse that has been beaten 
before, but in the case of those who have not heard the argument before, I 
as one of those who has long "mastered CW" have a view that is held my many 
CW operators, but far from ALL CW operators:

Official "perfect" CW has a ratio of 1:1:3:7 dit-inter-dah-space. Yet, 
American CW has a very different ratio, again officially, and I don't know 
them all, but the dit:dah is 1:2 not 1:3. This results in a very different 
sounding Morse, but it is still Morse, in fact, it IS MORSE. The one we all 
use today is not Morse Code but Gerke Code: See http://www.vkcw.net/cwtoday 
click on the 3rd issue of CW Today for the story.

I'm only out to state some facts and my own opinion and that of many bug 
users and cootie users regarding dit:dah ratios. First, look at the font of 
this email: it's a font and it works, right? But it is not the only font, 
there are many fonts with different ratios, and they all work, though for 
some people a particular font is favoured and easier to read while others 
find that same font obnoxious at worst, or less than ideal at best.

And so it is with music, and so it is with CW. I am one of those who 
believe that Morse is music and rhythm and what matters is -- between the 
operators on a particular circuit -- intelligibility and easy of sending 
and reception. Radio amateurs are generally not qualified to pass judgement 
on such matters as those that operate for 8 hours non stop these days in 
contest only push buttons, they are button pushers. 

Those who ARE qualified to talk on this topic are those of us who have in 
various services had to receive and/or send CW non-stop for 8 hours. And 
there are many different services: military, police, maritime, etc etc and 
each of these services had their own versions of "Morse" or rather "Gerke" 
code. The military, of which there are several ex members probably among us 
here too, by necessity generally had to use the OFFICIAL EXACT ratio in 
order for their to be zero sigint or little sigint to enemy that could be 
used.

That does not mean that it is only military types who favour official Gerke 
code in its perfect form, no matter which key it is sent on, and advocate 
for the type of sending I have demonstrated in the above video- which, by 
the way, I ALSO ENJOY. I like the sound of keyboard CW but I also like the 
sound of various extreme fists, and even this Ludwig Van Beethoven -- great 
practice to try to emulate it in sync on your cootie: 
http://www.zerobeat.net/morse505.html

But I can tell you that if you have to listen to endless CW for 8 hours 
non-stop and take it all down accurately, official Gerke code actually 
sends you to sleep!!! Unless you drink endless cups of coffee or chew a 
cola nut. On the other hand, a different type of Morse that evolves within 
a particular closed network of operators using cooties and/or bugs, at 
25-30WPM even, but which has a variation of ratios depending upon the 
letter, is less stressful over long durations.

This is why police networks, to take one example of a closed network of 
operators, developed their own styles. In fact, I'd say some of those 
styles notably that by INTERPOL LYON on cootie keys was the best CW ever, 
to MY ears. 

So yes, I could add the cootie to that video and also do a perfect CW Gerke 
Code transmission same as the other keys... but when I use cootie I used a 
different style, shorter inter-character gaps, some rhythm and swing, and 
when I use a bug the same, I vary that style, and I dare say some of my 
dit:dah ratios will be 1:7 not 1:3 -- and would NOT be understandable by 
many of the CW operators who were raised on Perfect Gerke Code and/or 
electronic keyers.

Yet those of us who find that handwriting very easy, and pleasurable, find 
it VERY easy to copy such, and often much more relaxing and therapeutic (as 
with styles of music) than official Gerke Code. I should produce a video of 
this to PROVE that we send such code DELIBERATELY and I can easily do this: 
as I showed in the above video that I can send perfect Gerke Code, I can 
also send perfectly-repeatable bug-EEE-code: I can send each word twice in 
EXACTLY the same manner with a completely different and variable 
inter-character spacing and dah-durations.

I think I should produce such a video at some point as I believe that a 
great many who hear bug CW (even cootie CW) simply assume we don't know how 
to send code, and we are SLOPPY and that our sending the way we do is 
because we can not do it perfectly, whereas for most OPs the very opposite 
is true: EVER dit, space, and dah, is deliberately CRAFTED. Don't some of 
you also get the feeling or impression or feedback or criticism from some 
who hear our sending and think we can improve it, even though we are 
sending (not necessarily always, but most of the time!) EXACTLY as 
intended? And crafting very detail deliberately?

Yes, it means very often that our audience who can copy our (often 
non-standard CW) is severely reduced as only those who have truly mastered 
CW in all its forms can follow us when we use more severe variations, and 
even those that can often find our styles to their disliking. To be honest 
I am quite sure if there was a competition to decode a huge variety of CW 
styles including foreign CW, many of us here would be one of the winners, 
it's not something most CW operators have had to do, copy non-standard CW: 
those who operated in closed networks (military vs police) often find 
difficulty with other types of CW. However I do believe that ship sparks 
(R/O) are generally more skillful (unless they only worked on British ships 
and ONLY worked GKA:) at decoding a variety of fists, and also QSD from 
rolling ships, drunk sailors, etc.

So in conclusion I am of the firm opinion, nay knowledge, that there IS NO 
ONE CW -- yes there is the Gerke Code that most of us use and it has an 
official version, and even that official version changed in most of our 
lifetimes from a 4 dit-duration interword spacing to a 7 dit-duration 
interword spacing, and most amateurs don't use that official "International 
Morse (Gerke) Code" as their interword spacing is often too short and their 
inter character spacing is often too long -- yet it MATTERS NOT. There are 
many legitimate CWs, languages, even different codes (American vs 
International), and styles, and they are valid.

What matters is: can you read this? 

And: are you having fun?

All best wishes, 
Lou VK5EEE

Here are some more posts on Flavours of Morse and also a video of a cat 
sending Meourse (CatW): http://www.vkcw.net/forum/t-
1366733/flavours-of-morse

-- 
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in Australia 
has been an expensive exercise for me in terms of time and loss of 
earnings, but worth it. 
There is now an Appeals Tab at VKCW.net. Donations however small will help 
me to help you 
enjoy your hobby more. *Please visit http://www.vkcw.net/donate 
<http://www.vkcw.net/donate> and consider a donation. *

73 es 77 de VK5EEE 
Lou.

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