[Elecraft] Learning CW (was: CW Program)

[k4wtf@ENTERZONE.NET]

Vic,

Eric has told me that your original message concerning countermeasures was
intended to be tongue in cheek.  I apologise for obviously taking it as a
far more serious statement than it was intended and becoming offended by
the notion that you, or anyone for that matter, would discount a QSO
because they suspected, or knew for that matter, that the operator on the
other end was using a computer crutch.

On Tue, 7 Jan 2003, Vic Rosenthal wrote:

> Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:
> > 
> >  He introduced himself and we chatted
> > for half a minute. Suddenly he said, "cuse me.." sat down and sent "QSL"
> > on the bug and started flailing away like mad on the mill, completing
> > the message that he had copied in his head while he spoke with me. 
> 
> Actually, this ability wasn't so rare among professional CW operators.  The
> direct ear-to-mill connection with brain buffering seems to have been developed
> by the nature of day-in day-out job.  It was done by a process below normal
> awareness.  Some guys could not tell you what they had just copied without
> looking at it!  This is not something that I can do -- if I'm copying code and
> someone talks to me I need to decide who to listen to.  I also cannot speak
> while sending!

I think that some people are simple predisposed to attain this ability and
some are not.  For example, I type at somewhere between 70-80wpm depending
on the keyboard, etc.  I have been doing so for years.  While I can "think
ahead" while I'm typing, I can not talk to someone while typing and if
someone interrupts me, not only can I not type but, my train of thought
derails with absolutely no survivors!  I am in awe of people who can type
a letter/email about one subject while carrying on a conversation (or
listening to someone talk about something for that matter) on another
subject.  Doing the same thing while sending/receiving CW is truely an
incredible skill!

<snip>

> patterns and short words ('the', 'ing', 'ert', etc. are heard as units and not
> groups of letters -- maybe up to 20 wpm), and finally you start to hear whole
> sentences.  The phenomenon of 'hitting the wall' at a particular speed usually
> means that you are learning a new mode.
> 
> Vic K2VCO

What would you suggest for someone who can copy at 10wpm but is completely
incompetent at 5wpm?  Did I somehow skip a "mode" in the learning
process?

73 de John - K4WTF