[Elecraft] Re: CW recognition (speed increase)

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Fred, K6DGW wrote:

Right Jim, this strategy works poorly at most everything.  Aside from 
the fact that mental and physical skills vary from one day to the next, 
copying CW as an amateur radio operator is not a perfect art, nor does 
it have to be, unless you're handling record traffic.

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Fred, your comment reminds me of the Novice who got frustrated, saying,
"Sheesh!! I can only copy CW half the time!" 

His friend replied, "So? Then just get on the air every other day." 

I operate a lot when I'm doing other things. My shack used to be in one
corner of the kitchen, and I'd often be operating and cooking. Sometimes I'd
make noise (grab hot handle and shout "##$%@&&!!!") and miss something. It
should be no problem to say, "SRI OM -- PSE AGAIN ABT THE SKUNK THAT GOT
INTO THE SHACK?" 

We don't get all of it anytime, even listening to people talk. Often it
doesn't matter. Language has so much redundancy that we can grab the message
even without a bunch of the words. (Indeed, when I was a Novice, my biggest
problem was anticipating the next letter or word, and when it was something
different I got flustered and missed a whole lot of letters or words! It was
only when I quit trying to out-guess the sender that my speed really picked
up!)

But don't go overboard guessing. For example, don't get caught saying "FB OM
ABT THE GREAT NEWS ABT UR AUNT BESSIE" when in fact he told you she just
died! When you miss it, ask for a repeat! If you're too embarrassed, blame
it on a mythical op ("HVY QRM HR..."). I'm more likely to say, "SRI OM QRM
IN SHACK PSE AGN..."

__
AR

Ron AC7AC