[CW] KY8D’s Morse Code Page
D.J.J. Ring, Jr.
n1ea at arrl.net
Sat Sep 1 13:47:41 EDT 2018
https://starling.us/free/morse/
KY8D’s Morse Code Page
Learning anything at all is far less fatiguing when you can break up each
day’s study into a number of short, intense stints. Hard to do when it ties
you to a computer. Here’s my solution: sets of 10- to 12-minute *.mp3 files
for loading into a portable player. Hundreds of hours worth, with each
file’s content unique. Those plus the software which I used to make them,
written in Perl. All free, no strings attached.
------------------------------
Morse Code Audio Files ↑ <https://starling.us/free/morse/#> →
<https://starling.us/free/morse/#GUS-2>
Here are jumble-word sets with punctuation. The naming sequence works like
this. Download buttons with fraction bars are Farnsworth sets. Ranges to
left of the slash is the Farnsworth speed, right of the slash is the
character speed. So a lable of 05-10/25 means 25 wpm characters initially
spaced at 5 wpm but converging on 10 wpm by the end of that set.
*Download: *Archives of sequential *.mp3 files
Koch Intro <https://starling.us/free/morse/F_10-16x16_Koch_Training.zip>
First
CW for beginners.
04-08/20 <https://starling.us/free/morse/F_04-08x20_Jumbles.zip>
08-12/20 <https://starling.us/free/morse/F_08-12x20_Jumbles.zip>
12-16/20 <https://starling.us/free/morse/F_12-16x20_Jumbles.zip>
16-20/20 <https://starling.us/free/morse/F_16-20x20_Jumbles.zip> 20
wpm Farnsworth drills.
05-10/25 <https://starling.us/free/morse/F_05-10x25_Jumbles.zip>
10-15/25 <https://starling.us/free/morse/F_10-15x25_Jumbles.zip>
15-20/25 <https://starling.us/free/morse/F_15-20x25_Jumbles.zip>
20-25/25 <https://starling.us/free/morse/F_20-25x25_Jumbles.zip> 25
wpm Farnsworth drills.
06-12/30 <https://starling.us/free/morse/F_06-12x30_Jumbles.zip>
12-18/30 <https://starling.us/free/morse/F_12-18x30_Jumbles.zip>
18-24/30 <https://starling.us/free/morse/F_18-24x30_Jumbles.zip>
24-30/30 <https://starling.us/free/morse/F_24-30x30_Jumbles.zip> 30
wpm Farnsworth drills.
06-12 <https://starling.us/free/morse/P_06-12_Jumbles.zip> 12-18
<https://starling.us/free/morse/P_12-18_Jumbles.zip> 18-24
<https://starling.us/free/morse/P_18-24_Jumbles.zip> 24-30
<https://starling.us/free/morse/P_24-30_Jumbles.zip> 30-36
<https://starling.us/free/morse/P_30-36_Jumbles.zip> Regular speed drills
10-30/16-30
<https://starling.us/free/morse/Punctuation_10-30x16-30.zip>
Farnsworth
punctuation drills.
Below are yet more archives of MP3 files. These are plain text, stories
downloaded from Project Gutenberg. Not such good practice as jumble-word
sets, since Q, J and X occur but seldom. They are, however, a whole lot
more fun.
*Download: *More *.zip archives of *.mp3 files.
13-20/15-20
<https://starling.us/free/morse/CW_The_Tree_of_Life_13-20x15-20.zip> “The
Tree of Life” by C. L. Moore
10-18 <https://starling.us/free/morse/CW_Death_of_a_Spaceman_10-18.zip>
“Death
of a Spaceman” by Walter M. Miller Jr.
12-20 <https://starling.us/free/morse/CW_Sjambak_12-20.zip> “Sjambak”
by Jack Vance
15-23
<https://starling.us/free/morse/CW_The_World_That_Couldnt_Be_15-23.zip> “The
World That Couldn’t Be” by Clifford D. Simak
18-28 <https://starling.us/free/morse/CW_The_Dunwich_Horror_18-28.zip>
“The
Dunwich Horror” by H. P. Lovecraft
20-31 <https://starling.us/free/morse/CW_Voodoo_Planet_20-31.zip> “Voodoo
Planet” by Andre Norton
22-34 <https://starling.us/free/morse/CW_Omnilingual_22-34.zip>
“Omnilingual”
by H. Beam Piper
13-30 <https://starling.us/free/morse/CW_The_Ultimate_Weapon_13-30.zip>
“The
Ultimate Weapon” by John W. Campbell
20-25 <https://starling.us/free/morse/CW_A_Princess_of_Mars_20-25.zip> “A
Princess of Mars” by Edgar Rice Burroughs
All *.mp3 files in the archives above were created by feeding ASCII text
into an audio file generator program called gus_morse.pl, which I wrote
initially in 2006 and have improved somewhat for 2015. ASCII files for the
word-jumble sets derive from a second companion program,
gus_jumbled_words.pl, written in 2015. ASCII text for the punctuation
drills was hand-coded. So then, if the above-listed practice drills do not
quite suit your fancy, below are the tools to fashion new ones however you
like. I wrote them for me and you get them free. Please report any issues
that you may have.
------------------------------
Morse Code File Generator ← <https://starling.us/free/morse/#GUS-1> ↑
<https://starling.us/free/morse/#> ↓
<https://starling.us/free/morse/#GUS-2-1> →
<https://starling.us/free/morse/#GUS-3>
Most other Morse code generator programs available on the Internet run on
Java and play through the MIDI device of a sound card. Mine is different.
It runs on Perl and works by reading instructions and/or plain text in from
a *.txt file. On Linux and Windows both it can generate *.wav files, which
all MP3 players know how to play. On Linux alone it can be triggered to
auto-call other built-in transcoders to change those *.wav files on the fly
into either *.mp3 or *.ogg formats. On Windows you have to perform such
transcoding externally. Here is an external link on different ways to do
that: wiki <http://www.wikihow.com/Convert-a-WAV-File-to-a-MP3-File>.
*Download:*
Perl <https://starling.us/free/morse/gus_morse.pl> POD
<https://starling.us/free/morse/gus_morse.html> Script & Doc
1. On Unix/Linux/BSD/OS X ↑ <https://starling.us/free/morse/#GUS-2>
→ <https://starling.us/free/morse/#GUS-2-2>
Download the source script and rename it from *.txt to *.pl. Also
remember to adjust the path in the shebang line. I have it set for
Ubuntu Linux. Your’s might be different. You very likely already have Perl,
but in addition need to acquire these two extra modules for Perl:
Audio::Wav and Time:HiRes. Get those in the usuall way from CPAN, pkgsrc,
or wherever. Read the PODto learn all the features.
2. On Windows ← <https://starling.us/free/morse/#GUS-2-1> ↑
<https://starling.us/free/morse/#GUS-2>
First, here’s the easy-peasy way, a ZIP archive of two stand-alone 32-bit
*.exe files: gus_jumble_words.exe and gus_morse.exe, which are
simplified, one-click versions that ask questions rather than take their
arguments on the command line. Generates *.wav files only. To get *.mp3,
batch convert them in whichever music manager you prefer. Alternately, if
you can script code in Perl, then just do the same as for Linux.
*Download:*
ZIP <https://starling.us/free/morse/gus_morse_exes.zip> Win7
Binaries
------------------------------
Practice Text Generator ← <https://starling.us/free/morse/#GUS-2> ↑
<https://starling.us/free/morse/#> →
<https://starling.us/free/morse/#GUS-4>
Here is a Perl script to generate *.txt files for Morse code practice
programs. Use it with my own audio file generator script above, or with any
other. It creates a file of jumbled words taken at random from lists of
more than 85,000. The word lists derive from an on-line dictionary for the
word game Scrabble. Words containing high-score letters: Z, J, Q, and so
forth. Lists for only that half of the whole alphabet. The not-so-rare
letters turn up regardless. So then, more balanced practice.
And since Morse code is not just letters alone, the program stirs these
into the mix: punctuation (1:5), number groups (1:7), reverse-spelled words
(1:11), and random gobbledegook (1:19) to keep you alert. Those ratios are
the default. You can override them with switches. Feed the resulting *.txt file
into my gus_morse.pl script with an embedded, top-line instruction of...
*wpm=25**farn=13**lang=en**incr=0.0**decr=0.09**codec=mp3**about=0**max=10*
...and you’ll get about one hundred 10-minute *.wav or *.mp3 files of
25-wpm characters with 13-wpm spacing to start and slowly increasing to
about 22-wpm spacing. Takes quite a while for so many. If your PC is slow,
leave it run overnight. Then put the whole lot into your MP3 player, turn
off *shuffle* and listen to them sequentialy.
Note that the word-jumble algorithm is random. Re-run it again to generate
a new file of mostly different words, jumbled differently. Don’t be
surprised at *any* word which might turn up. Sailor-words are legal in
Scrabble, so it would appear. Likewise the names of seldom-mentioned body
parts. Only one of those words (and its derivatives) did I bother editing
out from those lists.
*Download:*
Perl <https://starling.us/free/morse/gus_jumbled_words.pl> POD
<https://starling.us/free/morse/gus_jumbled_words.html> 1
<https://starling.us/free/morse/jumble_1.txt> 2
<https://starling.us/free/morse/jumble_2.txt> 3
<https://starling.us/free/morse/jumble_3.txt> 4
<https://starling.us/free/morse/jumble_4.txt> 5
<https://starling.us/free/morse/jumble_5.txt> Script, Doc & Sample Results
1-5
------------------------------
RAM disk ← <https://starling.us/free/morse/#GUS-3> ↑
<https://starling.us/free/morse/#> →
<https://starling.us/free/morse/#GUS-5>
It is often more convenient (and very much faster) to work inside a virtual
drive (aka RAM disk) when composing audio files. On my current Ubuntu Linux
box I create a RAM disk at boot by adding this line to my /etc/fstab file.
tmpfs /media/ramdisk tmpfs rw,size=2048M 0 0
On my one-time NetBSD Unix box, I had used to do the same by having this
line in my /etc/rc.local file.
mount_mfs -s 900m swap /ram
You can also do it for Windows, but there will be some hoops to jump
through. Really, it ought to be built in. Time for Microsoft to catch up
with the Amiga 2000, circa 1985 on that particular score. Here is a link to
a well-recommended free utility which I use at work sometimes: html
<http://www.ltr-data.se/opencode.html/#ImDisk>
For Mac OS X too there are ramdisk solutions. I cannot vouch for them,
having never yet owned a Mac. For whatever it may be worth, here is a link:
html
<http://www.tekrevue.com/tip/how-to-create-a-4gbs-ram-disk-in-mac-os-x/>
------------------------------
MP3 Players ← <https://starling.us/free/morse/#GUS-4> ↑
<https://starling.us/free/morse/#> →
<https://starling.us/free/morse/#GUS-6>
I have two MP3 players, a cheapo and a nice one. I tailor my audio files to
work on both. My cheapo is a Sandisk Sansa Sport/Clip player, a tiny thing
with an itsy bitsy screen. For that I keep the file names short and also
set the genre tag to ‘Audiobook’ per the Sandisk website instruction (even
though it isn’t a proper ID3 tag). I likewise set the album tag. That is so
the Sansa will group them. Hopefully that is also good enough for other
players.
My better player is Cowon iAudio 10. For audiobooks to work on that I don’t
have to do anything special. I mention it however because of a most useful
feature. The Cowon lets me vary the playback speed while at the same time
compensating for tone. Thus I can reduce or speed up a particular CW audio
file while still retaining the 750 or 800 Hz that I’m used to hearing. So
if it’s unavoidable to skip a day in my CW speed-gain practice, or if I’m
tired or for whatever excuse, I don’t have to back up to an earlier file. I
can keep going from where I left off. Handy when it’s a story downloaded
from the Gutenberg project or cut-and-paste copied from out of an ebook. In
fact, that feature is excellent too for listening to a regular narrated
audiobook under conditions of noise or when my attention needs to be
focused mainly elsewhere. Like when driving. Just thought I’d mention in
case you were shopping.
One thing the Cowon does not have (and the reason why I bought the Sansa)
is an external hardware button for pasusing playback. Instead you have to
activate and cue the menu. Very annoying when I need to pause in a hurry,
like when restaurant wait staff has come to take my order.
------------------------------
Other CW Study Aids ← <https://starling.us/free/morse/#GUS-5> ↑
<https://starling.us/free/morse/#> →
<https://starling.us/free/morse/#GUS-7>
If my system doesn’t suit your taste, click on the call signs listed below.
Maybe one of theirs you’ll like better.
*Visit: * DJ1YFK <http://fkurz.net/ham/ebook2cw.html> DL2KCD
<http://www.schlaupelz.de/Alice_in_Wonderland.html> K7QO
<http://www.k7qo.net/> AC4FS
<http://www.hotpeppersoftware.com/downloads/pom_downloads.html> AA9PW
<http://aa9pw.com/morsecode/> G4FON
<http://www.g4fon.net/CW%20Trainer.htm> K5TR
<http://www.kkn.net/~k5tr/audio/sprint_practice/> AH0A
<http://ah0a.org/AH0A.html> M0TRN <https://github.com/sunny256/cwwav>
W5BRB <http://c2.com/morse/> W0UCE
<http://www.w0uce.net/Morsecode.html> SMRCC
<http://www.smrcc.org.uk/Morse/morse.htm> SKCC
<http://www.skccgroup.com/member_services/learning_center/>
------------------------------
Study Tips ← <https://starling.us/free/morse/#GUS-6> ↑
<https://starling.us/free/morse/#> →
<https://starling.us/free/morse/#GUS-8>
Write it down. Write *all* of it down *all* of the time. Making hard copy
is Morse code’s *original* purpose. Western Union telegraphers did not just
listen and then speak the gist of what it was they thought they had heard.
No one would pay for such sloppy service. They wrote *everything* down.
Back when I was still in the navy I went to school in Charleston SC where
they taught me how to build mines. My barracks roommates for a while were a
pair of radiomen going to code school. From the very beginning they were
tought to make hard copy of all they heard. This they were trained to do on
typewriters, the point being that you can still type even at the highest of
speeds. So then, hard copy. That is the goal.
On a related note, know also this. When on the radio someone asks, ‘Do you
copy?’, what that *properly* means is, ‘Are you making a record?’ Which is
to say, writing it down, typing it out, or engaging the printer. When they
are wanting only to ask if you can make out what they’re sending, then is
when they ask instead, ‘Do you read?’ It never fails to annoy me when
Hollywood gets that dead wrong. Even worse is when they say, ‘Over and
out’, which is exceedingly rude. Saying ‘out’ means, ‘I now leave the air.’
Which is to say that that I now go away, I no longer listen, usually
because of turning my radio off. Whereas ‘over’ means ‘It is now your turn
to talk.’ We must keep our meanings precise: read/copy mean two different
things, as do over/out.
Sorry for that little diversion. I just needed to vent for a moment.
Ahem... So then, hard copy. It’s faster and you make fewer mistakes. And
such few misakes as you make will matter less, because you won’t stumble.
How that works is like for typists. Old time secretaries typed 90 wpm by
training their fingers to respond directly to what was seen with the eyes.
They didn’t think too very hard about what they typed because that just
gets in the way. Better was just to let the text flow from sensory input to
tactile output. Best is to detach one’s awareness of future and past and
float lightly upon the current of *now*. A meditative state, if you will.
If the mind is busy analyzing, trying to keep up with the instant of *now*,
then it is certain to stumble upon each and every surprise. So then, do not
decypher words letter-by-letter. Don’t be trying to read a word until after
that word is done. Don’t read it until after the following space. Then at
the soonest. Better yet, read from two or three words behind. Meanwhile let
your subconcious route signals from ear down to fingers. If you learn to
just let it flow from ears straight to paper, this without thinking, then
any little mistake that you do make won’t give you that instant of panic.
Avoiding the panic prevents a stumble. Panic over a single letter cause
those stumbles which cost the whole of a word. Loss of a word gives an even
bigger panic, tripping the listener up so badly as to lose the next word
also. It’s a chain reaction that way. So then, don’t listen to the word
now. Read it instead after it’s written. Likewise only write a letter after
hearing all of it. Write it smoothly, not fast and jerky. Write it while
you are hearing the letter to follow. In short, be a *follower* of what
you’re hearing. Write the letter you’ve heard while you are hearing the
next. Read only whole words after they’re already written. Do it like how
you follow a person, from a distance, not stepping right on their heels.
Learn signals by the sound of their rhythm. This you can’t do at 5 wpm, nor
yet even at 10 wpm. Space them apart as slow as you like, but hear each
separate signal sent at a fast speed. Hear them so fast you don’t have time
to count dits and dahs. Hear them like little snatches of music. Let your
subconcsious attend the distinction, each by its rhythm. Then train your
fingers to write it *all* down, but to write *smoothly.* Don’t write in
haste. There’s no need to finish the letter you’ve just heard before the
next letter begins. Learn to *follow* behind whatever you hear. Write it
down one letter behind so that you’re not trying to guess. Read what you’ve
written two or even three words behind
Learn them in groups a few at a time. Don’t add another until the ones
already learned sound like letters and not combinations of dits and dahs.
Move on like that. There are programs other than mine to help you with
that. Mine is mainly to help you build speed. Or to regain speed you once
had but since have lost. However you learn, though, get in the habit to
write it all down. Let your subconscious route the signals from ear
straight to fingers. If ever you build your speed up to 30 wpm and higher,
then maybe you can’t write so fast. A typist could keep up, though, I’m
certain, since that is what the navy required. Time enough then, to just
relax and maybe listen only by ear. But since you’re here, reading this
now, chances are good you’re not there yet.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/cw/attachments/20180901/50fc05b4/attachment-0001.html>
More information about the CW
mailing list