[CW] "THE SECRETS OF CW" by Frank Merritt, VE7FPM

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

THE SECRETS OF CW
Frank Merritt, VE7FPM

Many CW Amateur Radio operators never get beyond the very elementary mode
of operation. One of the reasons for this is they never open themselves up
to the true
potential of CW. Another reason for this is that often times they just
don't try very hard.

In dealing with this fascinating situation it is necessary to go right back
to the
beginning with operating CW. In the beginning many operators just don't
like CW. It
seems to be "so hard". It is a requirement that they feel has been forced
down
their throats. With a predisposition such as this one cannot wonder they
find
everything about CW to be difficult and unpleasant.

We humans are individually programmed. This can be likened to a computer.
Without
an operating system program a computer is nothing more that a bunch of
electronics.
However, with the operating system the computer becomes a tool that can be
used. We
individuals can also see the results in other areas of our lives of this
programming. This can be considered as natural abilities. Actually, it goes
much
deeper than this.

For the most part most people just "live" with these mind-sets. We feel
that they
are "built in" and therefore are not changeable. Of course, this is not the
case
but this is the "easy" way to deal with the matter of these predispositions.
Sometimes we can see the sources of some of these individual ways in terms
of
family conditionings, societal conditionings and even pre-natal
preconditionings.
This is nothing more than a studied consideration of the human condition.

Many of these conditionings and pre-conditionings are very subtle and seem
to evade
most considerations. However, in the case of CW something can be done about
it.
Many years ago the was attending a signal school in the army. Immediately
outside a
room that was used as a laboratory, a punching bag was attached to the
wall. The CW
operators in-training used the punching bag to relieve the tensions of
learning CW
all day. Experimentally it was found that if a radio receiver was tuned to
an RTTY
signal the CW trainees would be gone in less than two minutes. The CW
trainees were
used to the random rhythm of CW and found the repetitive nature of RTTY to
be very
disturbing. The very nature of the CW signal was incompatible with the RTTY
signal.
As soon as this relationship was discovered it was used to clear the
punching bag
area when operations in the lab were desired.

The very interesting feature of this tale of subliminal conflict is that
the sound
of RTTY was familiar and acceptable to me but not those students of CW.
Years later
when I was studying CW to prepare for my Amateur Radio examination I found
that as
I accepted the rhythm of CW I no longer had any difficulty in learning CW.
What was
going on was something way down deep in the mind. Those trying to learn CW
virtually always have a mental block or pre-conditioning that causes a
conflict
when learning it.

This would almost seem to be something that is so deep and strong that it is
impossible to learn CW. How many times have we heard prospective Hams say
that
"learning CW is just too hard". Their approach had not adequately dealt
with some
preconditioning. This statement seems to indicate that there is a way for
the
individual to soften this preconditioning and even reverse it. That is
exactly
correct!

The manner of dealing with this deep-seated emotional feeling is amazingly
easy.
When learning CW is necessary to condition the mind to accept the rhythm of
CW. It
is fascinating to see how easy it is to accomplish this. The technique of
doing
this is simple and without stress. A source of random CW is required that
can be
varied in both speed and volume. It is best to have a unit that has a
provision for
an external headset or speaker(*).

What is new is the way that the CW practice unit is used. A time should be
selected
that does not require the full attention of the student. This can be during
a time
of activity that does not require concentration. By playing the random CW
at a low
audio level it is just barely perceived by the brain. Periodically change
the
selection of the random CW text. Make no attempt to recognize the CW
characters.
What is happening is that the brain is being conditioned to, at first,
accept the
CW and eventually be a ease with it. Sleep teaching? Yes, close to it. If
using the
unit for sleep teaching be sure that if you use a pillow speaker the level
is very
low.

Years ago I jammed an old record player to continuously repeat a record and
then
used a record with random CW characters. I used this device at night as
sleep
teaching. The first morning after trying this I found that my wife was not
happy
with all that noise going on all night. Be sure that your wife, or
whatever, is
compatible with this procedure. The second problem was found to be that
eventually
the brain has the capability of memorizing an amazing length of random CW.
Hence it
is desirable to be able to select one of a number of random CW offerings.
It hardly seems necessary to make the point that the results will probably
not be
instantaneous. It will take time and perseverance. Little by little you
will be
able to notice an improvement with the ease that you hear and remember CW.

Along with this practice it is wise to use a newspaper as a source and gain
practice sending CW. At first this will be tiring but again with time you
will find
that it gets easier and easier. In sending code the greatest emphasis
should be
placed on sending PERFECT code. Use a straight key for this practice. Learn
to send
perfect characters and words using the proper spacing of one space between
characters and three spaces between words. At first keep the speed slow
enough to
make it enjoyable while a challenge. In a week or so it should be possible
to send
30-minutes of newspaper text at a time. While you are at it, try sending
just "e"
as many times as you can on your straight key.

At first this will be for a short period of time but with practice this
time should
move up to as much as 30-minutes. That sounds really hard. It is not
difficult with
practice. The usage of the straight key should be such that the wrist
muscles ARE
NOT used. They are short and tire quickly resulting in a "glass fist". The
arm
should be used as a long lever using the muscles of the lower and upper
arm. At
first these muscles get tired quickly but, they are long and can be trained
to
function without any effect of the "glass fist". This term goes back to the
early
years of CW sending in which the short muscles of the wrist get tired and
the
operator just has to stop sending. Just keep the wrist muscles taut without
strain
and do no pivot at the wrist.

Remember that you have been receiving perfect code from the machine. In a
matter of
time borrow a Ham receiver and tune in to the CW portion of the band that
seems to
work the best for you. The reason for this is that very few people send
perfect
code all the time.

As the practicing continues you should begin to pick out small words such
as "an",
"or" and "as". When this begins to happen you will notice that words such
as "the",
"and", "good" and "this" just pop out of the CW stream. Now you are making
real
progress.

Not everyone progresses at the same rate. Above all be patient with
yourself. You
will be surprised how the code begins to just "come". Whatever you do keep
with a
straight key for sending. A Semi-automatic key or Bug will be for later.
Much afterthe Bug, the Iambic keyer will be a boon to sending.

FIRST LEARN TO SEND PERFECT CW
WITH THE HAND KEY.

Sometimes when I am driving I talk with myself in CW about the view of the
road
etc. No, this is not a sign that I have slipped off the deep end! It is a
good
training for learning to converse in CW with other noises within and
without the
car. By this point I am sure that you will be using CW at the bottom of your
favorite HF band. Good luck.

(*) One such commercial CW practice unit is the MFJ Model 418 which is sold
by
Durham Radio Sales and Service for $1 19 plus taxes and shipping. This unit
will be
found on page 29 of their latest catalog. The unit can be purchased online
at:
www.durhamradio.com

ADVANCED SECRETS OF CW
Frank Merritt, VE7FPM

Yes, there is still more to the mystery of operating CW. We now delve into
the
innermost byways of this interesting facet of Amateur Radio. The earliest
forms of
communicating intelligence by radio was by CW. The CW that we now use is a
derivative of the land-line Morse communications. This is a fascinating
study, but
we will focus on radio operations. The most basic concept is that the
characters
from which words are made are communicated by a series of dits and dahs.
This, in
itself, does not seem to be too complex. But, this is just the beginning of
a story
and a development that is involved in the most recent information regarding
the
brain and its use.

>From CW the state-of-the-art progressed (?) to voice as with Amplitude
Modulation
(AM). This was a way for anyone with some competence in voice communication
to take
part in the exploding field of radio communications. Also, this involves
music
transmission.

However, CW did NOT just fade away. There remained many operators who did
not
abandon CW in preference to voice communications. The reasoning for this is
nothing
less than arcane. There was a difference that was, and is, difficult to
comprehend.
That does not mean to say that it is an impossible enigma. This is not the
case.
Many CW operators realized that there was something more to the
International Morse
Code than just memorizing the representations of the letters, numbers and
punctuation. This is where we really delve into the advanced mysteries of
code.
We will momentarily discuss another facet of the overall situation. Typists
find
that there are different levels of typing. At first it is a great challenge
to just
type the text. As proficiency increases it is found that the typist can
read a bit
faster than the actual typing. This is as if the brain is storing the
information
to be typed and then it is typed at the speed of the typist. As time goes
by the
typist notices that there is a mental translation that permits the eyes to
provide
the input to the brain resulting in typing without any conscious action.
Again, as
time goes by the typist finds that he/she is able to read the typed text
and edit
it for typing errors. A part of this mental editing proceeds the typist
becomes
aware of the text so as to read it for errors that are more than just
spelling
errors.

In this progression it is not unusual for the typist to divert his/her eyes
from
the screen and type the original text entirely from the formulation in the
brain.
We can see from this discussion that it is possible for the brain to do
more than
just convert words/letters to actuated keys. There is much more to it. This
diversion has nothing directly to do with our premise of CW operation but
indicates
the power of the brain.As time goes by in the practice of CW the operator
becomes aware of small words at
first that just "pop out" of the audio. Words such as "as", "or", "an" and
"if"
just appear out of the seeming jumble of the International Morse
characters. This
is when the operator BEGINS to really be an operator. For some this happens
quickly
and for some it takes much more experience. The eventuality of this
characteristic
is that in a matter of time the operator finds that he/she is copying two
to three
words behind and that the word/words are mentally checked and corrected for
errors.
Now this is something!

Each operator has what is called a FIST. That means that his/her sending
exhibits
characteristics which are unique to that person. In WWII this meant that
radio
intercept operators knew the fists of many of the enemy operators which
provided a
clue when the enemy moved units to a new location. It was quite common for
the
intercept operators to provide names for the enemy operators which
sometimes were
quite humorous.

Today the individual fist is not as obvious as it once was due to the fact
that it
is common today to use an electronic keyer. It is a correct observation
that the
keyer drives the sending of the operator. However, in time there always are
slight
variations in sending characteristics or even words that indicate a
particular
operator. Also, it must be observed that the way different operators express
themselves says a great deal fur their personalities. That is something to
think
about!

Perfect hand key sending is beautiful to hear. Also, it is easy to copy!
This leads
us into the problems that arise in copying CW. It is not uncommon that
under some
conditions a relatively good code operator may not be able to copy well if
at all.
What is involved here is that running characters together results in an
almost
impenetrable jumble of characters.

Especially when there is QRM of QRN the result is absolutely impossible to
deal
with. It is obvious that the goal of every operator should be to send
perfect code.
In reality this does not always happen but it certainly is a reasonable
goal for
every operator to aspire to.

One of the charms that is easy to recognize with CW is that as it is a
language
within itself and it is based on the English language. To be sure there are
countries that have developed somewhat unusual forms of CW but for the most
part
Amateur Radio CW operation is in English. What is common with a foreign
operator is
that he/she begins their operating career with a prompt sheet providing the
basic
information to be communicated. As a matter of fact, the prompt sheet is
very
common with beginning operators whose basic language is English. The first
contact
of any operator is very challenging to deal with this new language of CW.

The other side of the coin of CW operations is that for most operators WORK
is
required to master the art of CW. There are those operators who just seem to
immediately develop the ability to send code but for most of the rest of us
it was
(or is) an uphill battle until proficiency is gained. In our present world
this
does not satisfy the increasing demand for instant gratification and so it
is a
barrier for some. The citizens band is an excellent example of what happens
when
this instant gratification is taken to a logical extreme.

In all CW operations there is a desire for brevity. This is why a number of
codes
have been developed to express more complicated statements or questions in
the form
of three letters of the code in question. One example of this is the
Q-code. The Q-
code designation of QTH stands for the geographical location of the sender
or QTH?
represents a question for the sender to communicate his/her location to the
receiver. Some of the Q-code items are rather amusing, such as QLF which
means
"send with your left foot". While originating with commercial circuits the
designation QLF is never heard on the Ham bands, and for good reason.
Efficiency of transmission is a consideration of CW operators. CW may be
sent and
received with a bandwidth of 500 Hz or less! What this means is that a
number of CW
operators can use the same spectrum that would otherwise be used for one AM
or SSB
signal. Of course, the other side of this equation is that a good stable and
selective receiver is a great advantage in operating with CW. This is not
to say
that these qualities are an absolute necessity but rather and advantage in
the
practical world.

Operating with CW with a narrow bandpass receiver means that much undesired
noise
and the effects of other signals is just lost. This is a very great
enhancement and
makes CW operating much more pleasurable.

Operating CW is an art as much as anything else. It certainly is not
something that
a neophyte operator can expect to do easily or quickly. As much as anything
else
this fact tends to make it somewhat exclusive. The removal of the
proficiency in CW
requirement has opened the door for many who never otherwise would have
become Hams
because now they can just get a licence, buy a radio and operate. On the
other hand
(and there is another hand) there has been no infringement of CW operations
on any
band by any country (to the best of my knowledge). Some think that CW will
just
fade away. I don't believe that is true. It is somewhat unfortunate that
effort is
required to become a CW operator. But really, is that true? I doubt it. As
operators in general realize that there is something more than voice or
digital
communications they become candidates for the art of CW. The game has
changed a bit
but in the long run this may be an advantage. Time will tell.

=30=
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