[Elecraft] Re: CW recognition (speed increase)

[Mike Markowski]

Pete and all,

My experience is similar.  I spend time consciously working on improving my
speed and then time on the air both for enjoyment of qsos (the main reason) and
for becoming comfortable at that speed (the lesser reason).  I seem to plateau
at a given speed for a few months and the qso'ing seems to fully build the
ability there.  One other thing I recommend that I discovered recently are CW
traffic nets.  They require a different kind of copying where every letter
counts.  I've been in a slow speed net for a couple months working on plowing
through their 75 training messages & it's great fun.  I've been a ham 3 and a
half years, and summarizing my routine:

1) W1AW or Morse Academy (powerful, free program) to increase speed a little bit
2) QSOs to reach comfort level at new speed
3) CW net to sharpen copy skill

I'm interested in methods other ops successfully use.  But I'm guessing the best
approach is simply practice, practice, practice, like everything else in life.

73,
Mike  ab3ap

wd4lst at windstream.net wrote:
> ...My persuit of reliable 20+ copy Has taken
> some time, and it seems to have several parts to it. At the core is Listening
> to W1AW and on the air QSOs....
> -73s,
> Pete