[Elecraft] RE: How Morse is learned

[Darwin, Keith]

Jeff (& the group),

I've been a ham since my teen years, 30 yrs ago.  Actually it's not that
long on the ham-radio time scale.  Anyway, I've been mostly CW since
then but have not been continuously active.  I figure I have something
like 10+ yrs of continuous ham experience.

My code speed, after 10 yrs of work tops out at about 25 wpm.  Actually,
it hit that peak about the time I passed my extra and really hasn't
risen since then.  I'm fine with a QSO at 18 wpm and begin to struggle
some and miss stuff here & there at 20.

I hear stories of folks who after 1 or 2 yrs are up to 25+ wpm.  I'm
certainly not one of those!

I think that some people have a lower ceiling than others.  Maybe not,
maybe it comes down to technique and learning approach, but I don't
think so.  The good news is that 10 wpm is very likely NOT your ceiling.
Forget about going faster, just start having QSOs.  Hey, I'll work you
at 10 WPM and we'll have fun.

Once you've put a bunch of QSOs under your belt, you find your speed is
higher and you'll have fun getting there.

Another piece of good news is that once you learn CW (10 wpm counts)
you'll not forget it.  My first QRT period happened the 4 yrs I was in
college.  I had gotten to about 9-10 wpm then quit for 4 years.  When I
got back into the hobby my CW speed quickly climbed from about 5 wpm to
15 in 9 months.

- Keith KD1E -
- K2 5411 -

-----Original Message-----

It's been about 5 years since I started to learn the code past 5 wpm.
For about 2 years now, I've been stuck at 10 wpm or just a bit less.
At times I've really worked to increase my speed, then I get
discouraged. I hear some words at a faster speed, but not that many.
I wonder if I'll ever get to, say, 18 or 20 wpm, just to be able to
carry on a conversation with many of the ops I hear on 40, 30, and 20.
It sure would be nice, but much of the time I just resign myself to 10
wpm.

Jeff
K6ATT