[Elecraft] My First steps on CW

[Jon Perelstein]

I'll second what KI6NUL said -- I find a lot of "relaxed speed" CW at 
7.040-7.060.  Here in southwestern CT, I think there's more in that range than 
up above 7.100.

And, as pretty much everybody said, get on the air and have QSOs, get on the air 
and have QSOs, get on the air and have QSOs.

In addition, there are many people who feel that listening to faster speeds 
helps them better learn and helps them increase their speed more rapidly.  It's 
annoying and it's frustrating as hell, but it does make you stop counting the 
individual dits and dahs and instead hear the character as a whole.  It's 
especially useful if used with a known source so that you can check your work 
later.  I downloaded the ARRL CW practice files from the ARRL website and then 
listened repeatedly to those about 5wpm faster than I could handle.  I truly 
believe that it helped me get up to speed much more quickly than I might have 
from just on-the-air QSOs.  


But, as I said, it IS frustrating and annoying to listen to faster code because 
there will be so much you can't get (at first).  If you're going to try it, do 
it for short periods at first so that you don't wind up throwing your computer 
or your KX1 through the nearest window.

Jon
KB1QBZ