[CW] Head Copy Morse Code Trick from KQ9I

Wed Apr 27 14:58:09 EDT 2022

    I tried doing something that I think is similar to the 
"trick" of visualizing but found it got in the way. I learned 
code originally by writing it down. That works but is limited in 
speed and I found if I couldn't write I couldn't read the code. I 
thought typing would help but found it really didn't. I tried 
visualizing the letters as I heard them but found it also slowed 
me for some reason. I can't quite explain what I eventually did 
but I decided just to listen to the code and recognize what I 
could. Not try to recognize even words, just the letters. They 
began to pop into my head and I began to be able to read words. 
My ideal was to be able to read code the way I listened to 
voices, just hear the letters and words. I realized I had been 
straining and trying to remember letters I missed. Can't do that, 
just let them go and listen for the next letter that you 
recognize without strain. I think the old rule about practicing 
faster than you can copy is wrong. Practice at a speed you can 
copy without much effort and go on to a faster speed. Again, hard 
to explain, its mostly an attitude.
    I learned code when I was about twelve. I could send like a 
whiz but had trouble copying. No practice material available. It 
has taken me all these years to recognize and try to correct the 
errors.

On 4/27/2022 11:04 AM, N4JO wrote:
> Thanks for posting this, Dave: I absolutely concur with this 
> observation about interpretation of audible information. In fact, 
> it was a revelation for me, which I posted about recently on 
> another forum, when I realized that I was getting tied up in 
> knots /saying the name/ of incoming letters in my mind. I started 
> /visualizing /them instead, and within minutes was doing a better 
> job. Apparently the parallel use of my brain's "audio circuits" 
> was making it difficult. Unfortunately I can't yet keep the image 
> of enough letters ("ticker-tape") to form words, but it may 
> simply be that I need more practice. It certainly takes me a 
> couple of moments to remember to switch between "mind's ear" and 
> "mind's eye", but when I can do it, the improvement in capture 
> efficiency comes fast.
> 
> Jim says: "I'm */thinking /*about what that word means." EXACTLY! 
> - except for me it's about the letters even before the words 
> come! I think that it is, paradoxically, from years of 
> engineering, wherein I'm accustomed to analyzing all data that 
> enters my head /as it does so/, and cross-relating it to 
> everything else I think I know in order to determine if  it's 
> valid or useful or not. For CW, one has to "simply" copy in the 
> letters/words, make a sentence in your mind, and /only then 
> /interpret it. That is /hard/!
> 
> Jim's article is the best description I've EVER read of my 
> challenge with CW (if I also add a dose of ADHD into the 
> picture), and I'm deliriously glad I'm not alone. Based on his 
> success, I'm going to focus on polishing my visual capture skill, 
> because I think that's going to work for me better than any other 
> method. Of course, I still need to complete 100% instant 
> recognition - I'm maybe close to 90% like he was.
> 
> I've reformatted the text of Jim's article into a regular 
> adaptive wrap below, so it'll be less vertical, and hopefully 
> easier to read...
> 
> julian, n4jo.
> 
> ===
> 
> On 4/19/2022 6:38 PM, D.J.J. Ring, Jr. wrote:
> 
> *Head copy "trick"*
> From: Jim KQ9I 
> <mailto:jim.dawdy at gmail.com?subject=Re:%20Head%20copy%20%22trick%22>
> 
> This is something I stumbled across that seems to make a real 
> difference for me. It may not help others, and it even may be 
> somewhat counter-productive at higher speeds.  I am a visual 
> learner, have no real good ear for anything and currently can 
> copy CW comfortably at 10-12wpm sustained, although I can copy 
> the characters at a Farnsworth speed of 25wpm.  I am a VERY fast 
> reader, so this "trick" may work for others who are strong 
> readers but not great at turning audible CW into head copy or 
> even on pen/paper/keyboard.  Also, my memory is awful so that 
> doesn't help me with head copy either.
> 
> The "trick": When I hear the code, instead of thinking about the 
> letter, I */visualize the letter appearing on a blank white sheet 
> of paper in front of me. /*Almost like an old-fashioned 
> typewriter slapping the letter onto the page, for those of us who 
> remember such archaic technology.  For a few of us, the better 
> analogy might even be "ticker tape".  And in a sense what I'm 
> doing is visualizing the ticker tape in my head, since I don't 
> (obviously) try to keep the whole QSO text visualized in my mind, 
> but rather sentence by sentence, like a ticker tape that you hold 
> in your hands: the stuff from a few minutes ago "disappears" and 
> you're just "seeing" the section of mental "tape" that you hold 
> between your hands.
> 
> So if the QSO is something like:
> 
> *FB JIM UR RST 57N 57N HR IN NYC* *NYC *then that's what I keep 
> visualized on my imaginary tickertape/typewriter/whiteboard.  And 
> exactly in those kinds of big giant bold letters (makes it easier 
> to recall, for some reason).  On paper I'll jot down 57N during a 
> pause, because I don't know about you, but I'm constantly 
> forgetting what the report was by the time the QSO is over and I 
> have to enter it into the log, unless I was copying everything by 
> hand from the beginning.
> 
> if there's a *BK* then I "erase" the tickertape and visualize the 
> next section.  Rinse/wash/repeat.
> 
> Rationale:  I think the thing that stumps a lot of people, and is 
> certainly an issue for me, is that in learning CW we are limited 
> by the speed our brain processes the audible information.  Now, 
> if you have "instant character recognition", which of course is 
> the goal, you process EXTREMELY fast because it's essentially 
> your unconscious (high speed) brain doing the heavy lifting, and 
> not the conscious  (low speed) brain.  Still, what I've struggled 
> with is I hear the code, and regardless of whether it's by 
> instant recognition or not (90% instant for me now, although I 
> have a few characters I struggle with),  is that in trying to 
> head copy I then */think/* (conscious mind=slow), either about 
> the letter itself  in order to write it down, or I'm trying to 
> decipher the whole word and I'm */thinking /*about what that word 
> means. This of course takes time, and that's the enemy because 
> there's more letters coming while you're thinking about the one 
> you just received. It seems to me, that by visualizing the words 
> on my imaginary tickertape/page, I get to bypass that whole 
> thinking process.  I don't have to "think" about the text/message 
> or its meaning, because it's /right there/ in front of me and I 
> am automatically comprehending it.  For example, when I read a 
> book, I virtually never see the letters/page in front of me.  
> Instead, I visualize the scene or think about the idea.  Reading 
> the text is wholly unconscious and automatic, like breathing.  
> That's why for me reading a book is like watching a movie.  So I 
> suspect I am tapping into that skill or part of my brain, but 
> instead of turning written words into images, I'm turning audible 
> CW into an image, just like when I read, and those "reading 
> muscles" are super-strong, making it relatively easy to "see" the 
> CW and "know" what it means without having to think about it.  
> That's why my caveat that for someone who isn't a heavy reader, 
> this may not work so well.  Of course, there's always more than 
> one way to skin a cat.
> 
> I don't know how this will hold up at high speeds, because 
> 25-30+wpm is such a distant goal for me.  I could see where my 
> mental tickertape, instead of printing letters prints whole words 
> and you get the same effect, though.
> 
> 
> 73
> Jim, KQ9I
> 
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-- 
Richard Knoppow
1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com
WB6KBL