[Elecraft] Farnsworth Method

[Bob Nielsen]

On Mar 26, 2008, at 3:19 PM, Phil Kane wrote:

> Robert Tellefsen wrote:
>
>> Hi Ron
>> Looks like we are of the same vintage.
>> I was a 1952 Novice too.
>
> Count me in that year as well.  I learned my 5 wpm from and  
> Instructograph that the HS radio club had.  Engineering school and  
> grad school/employment took up much of my time after that and I  
> stayed a Tech until 1962, took the Advanced in 1968 when it again  
> became available, and 20+ wpm Extra in 1974.
>
>> I remember working every day on my code, sturggling up to 13 wpm.
>> The night before I took the bus into Seattle for the General test, I
>> had a buddy send me some code practice for a final tune up.
>> So, he launched into this string of stuff that made no sense to me
>> at all.  I had to ask him, what was he sending?  Turns out he was
>> sending the index to the tube tables in the back of the handbook! :-)
>> Really had me going 'til I understood what was coming at me.
>
> I was TDY in New York at the time so copying W1AW's code practice  
> to get to 13 wpm was a snap.  They sent tube tables as "pseudo- 
> groups" and text from QST consisting of whole words starting at the  
> left-hand side of the line and going backwards to avoid "copying  
> ahead".  It worked!
>> Great days those were.
>
> Amen, brother.

Add me to the list of those licensed in 1952 (there are a bunch of  
us).  I borrowed an Instuctograph and had it up to a little over 10  
wpm when I went to take the tech test several months later.  I  
figured I would take the 13 wpm code test at the same time, intending  
for it to just be practice.  That which resulted in a no-pressure  
session and I passed (I did the same thing 25 years later, getting  
Extra class instead of Advanced).

73, Bob N7XY (originally WN6SWE)