[Elecraft] CW Mistakes

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Kevin VE3SYB wrote:

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

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Absolutely! It's the sound that's important. Similar cautions are found in
the earliest handbooks I have dating back to the 1930's. I suspect that's
been so since the beginning of telegraphy.

And, as all of those books point out, the best of all is to HEAR the stuff
sent. The ideal use of "code practice" oscillators was to have someone else
send copy. But, even if working alone, hearing oneself send the characters
is superior to the ditdah system, the "ditdah" sound system is far superior
to the "dot-dash" which is far superior than looking at the dots and dashes
on paper. Nowadays we have tapes and other media where we can listen to CW,
as well as on-air practice. W1AW and others sending slow code practice have
been very popular for decades for a very good reason. 

Now, that doesn't stop the "dit counting" altogether. At least it doesn't
for me. Once in a while I'll stumble wondering, for example, if I heard a
"B" or a "6" and quickly resolve it by replaying the "tape" in my head and
noting whether it had three or four dits. I must have a few neurons
dedicated to solving those puzzles because I can usually keep right on
"recoding" the characters in my memory while I'm doing counting - at least
for a few following characters - so I don't miss anything. 

That used to happen most often copying messages encrypted in five-letter
code groups that include a mix of letters and numerals in any order. Of
course, that's strictly character-by-character copy. There are no "words" to
recognize, and any combination of code characters is possible. 

Ron AC7AC