[Elecraft] CW Mistakes

[Kevin Cozens]

Greetings, Frank.

> Before I get on the air. What are some of the most common
> errors for beginning CW Operators. Thanks

When starting down the road to learn morse, I would toss any sheet that shows 
the characters as a bunch of dots and dashes. You would be better off with a 
sheet that shows the characters as a bunch of dits and dahs. It will help you 
to learn the sound of characters rather than how many dots and dashes are in a 
character (ie. you won't be building a translation table in your head from 
sound to dots/dashes to the character.

An A isn't .- it is didah. A C isn't -.-. but dahdidahdit.

I learned about morse code long before I was interested in becoming a ham and 
still find I "count" the dots and dashes at times. At least I can copy code 
during contests in the 20 to 25 range (and 30 if I hear the exchange a few 
times). I'm more comfortable around 15wpm but I wish I could learn to get rid 
of the translation table in my head which still comes in to play at times.

Getting on the air helps but I found that even casual listening to CW on air 
is useful. Tune around to find some code at a speed that you feel you can copy 
and just listen to it even if you aren't in a position to write it down. 
Casual copying of code (and head copy) can still improve ones speed. In my 
early ham days, at a time when I wasn't on the air for a while it had brought 
my code speed up from about 5wpm to around the 10wpm mark. Now, I have found 
working contests has once again helped me to copy code at higher speeds.

There is some other useful information on CW operating at: 
http://www.ac6v.com/morseaids.htm

-- 
Cheers!

Kevin.

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