[Elecraft] K3 CW text decoder

Mon Jul 23 20:13:24 EDT 2012

Hi Jim.  Thanks     don't get me wrong.    I think I was probably 
speaking to a more personal effect.   I have found that when I am 
watching the display my brain stops decoding.  so for me its definitely 
a bad habit.  I avoid using it for that reason.  I can see that this 
tool is very useful and for many a learning aid but thats just not for 
me.    In a contest however when I am in a more doing than learning mode 
the decoder is a lifeline!

Several years ago I had my first introduction to a  CW operator that 
made it look so easy and worked effortlessly.    while at Field Day he 
was sending, and recieving at breakneck speed.  I was in a position that 
I needed his input on a problem I was having with the logging program.   
I stood and waited till he finished a QSO started tuning to the next 
station before I asked a question.   Giving me full attention he gave me 
the answer I needed and we continued talking a little about another 
situation.  while doing so he continued at his key making several more 
QSOs without stopping.  I was so amazed at the skill that Ken had that I 
have set my goals to be that good.

Cheers and 73
Dave

On 7/23/2012 4:38 PM, W4ATK wrote:
> Bad habit??? Actually, I have found it to be a great device for helping me in increasing my code speed. It allows me to enter into QSOs where the speed would be a problem and as a result as I copy along with the decoder and am beginning to copy words not characters in my head. I use a keyboard for sending quite a bit. As one of advanced age with the accompanying joint problems as well as coordination issues, after a short interval on the paddles I am afraid my code becomes erratic. With the keyboard, I am good to go.
>
> I had to copy 20WPM to graduate from Radioman School (USN) and go on to CT School for my secondary training. Fortunately the Navy recognized I would never be a great CW operator and I was placed in the non-morse "O Branch".  Since O Branch guys had to pass the 20WPM code test to advance in grade, I had to wait quite a while until the forces that be decided that was bit of a stretch for us, and dropped that requirement. So instead of banging on a typewriter, I finished out my tour in a R&D position at Cheltenham, MD. Great fun, new toys, and learned a lot that has stuck with me throughout the years.
>
> The desire to be proficient in code has never left me and at 79 (almost) and 58 (almost) years as an amateur operator I am still looking for improvement. :-))  The decoder is helping me achieve those goals.
>
> 73s Jim, W4ATK
>
> On Jul 23, 2012, at 3:15 PM, dmoes at nexicom.net wrote:
>
>> Coming from a guy that is trying very hard to learn code,  Its hard to
>> resist the text decoder but have only used it as a crutch in contests.
>> When I am just having day to day QSOs I plod along without the
>> decoder helping me.  After well over a year of learning CW I find that
>> I would have been part of that 70% going off to cook school.   I am
>> struggling and sometimes feel like giving it all up and throw out the
>> key.   I made the mistake of starting slow and I think that is part of
>> my problem now.   so for the last little while, at same advice of a
>> local CW champion, I have been listening to other QSOs plus and using
>> the learning program "just learn Morse Code"  sending at least 20WPM
>> or faster either random words and abreviations or some text files.   I
>> did have a text file of some 500 plus QSOs  that were great to use for
>> learning but cant find it.
>>
>> As for the CW decoder  its nice to have in contests for a beginner but
>> I think it could also become a bad habit.
>>
>>
>> David Moes
>> VE3DVY
>>
>>
>> On Monday 23/07/2012 at 9:43 am, Guy Olinger K2AV  wrote:
>>> In the later years, since the no-code decision in USA licensing
>>> particularly, I have noted an increase of contest QSO's where the
>>> other end
>>> obviously copies 25 WPM somehow and only sends 8-10 wpm, and that
>>> clearly
>>> on a hand key.
>>>
>>> The flurry of complaints, when 4.51 partially unglued the CW text
>>> decode on
>>> the K3, further confirms it.
>>>
>>> As someone who could copy 20 WPM at age 14, and can still copy 50-60
>>> wpm in
>>> my head, it is hard to imagine listening to code and not simply
>>> understanding it, like someone talking to me.  I've asked some folks
>>> why
>>> the difficulty learning code, and they relate something that usually
>>> sounds
>>> like the "13 WPM barrier" tale.
>>>
>>> As it turns out, the old way to learn code is all wrong as a universal
>>> method.  Code needs to be learned like a language, and at 20 wpm to
>>> start
>>> with.   But that's not how it's done the old way.   The old way has
>>> been
>>> around since WWII and the Army Signal Corps. Memorize the alphabet
>>> with
>>> visual dots and dashes beside it.  Then just keep at it until you
>>> don't
>>> need the card any more.  Do it with a typewriter from the get go.
>>> Eventually a sound in the ear is directly linked to a typewriter key,
>>> copied autonomically, and you can carry on an unrelated conversation
>>> at the
>>> same time.  Buggers don't know what they've copied until they read it
>>> on
>>> the page.  Really.
>>>
>>> OF COURSE that worked, FOR THEIR PURPOSES.  People CAN learn code that
>>> way.
>>> But quite MORE CANNOT.  What did army do?  They sent 100 draftees into
>>> a
>>> class and then kept the 30 best in the signal corp and sent the other
>>> 70
>>> back to the infantry.  That WOULD work for an army.  But it clearly is
>>> not
>>> a universal method, and using dash dot cards prevalently in hamdom all
>>> these years produces a 70% who gave up on code, and now use CW
>>> decoders in
>>> CW contests because CW contests are FUN!!! and CW covers distance way
>>> better than SSB.
>>>
>>> So what's this cr*p about learning code at 20 WPM?  NOBODY can
>>> translate 20
>>> wpm sound to dididahdahdidit and then to question mark by looking at
>>> the
>>> card, at 20 WPM.
>>>
>>> Well, you're exactly right, of course they can't, and that's the
>>> point.
>>> THAT METHOD is doomed to failure for 70% of those who try it.
>>>
>>> CW needs to be learned from 20 wpm code SOUNDS.   The *WORD* "and" at
>>> 40
>>> wpm has a distinctive sound that has nothing to do with letters.  The
>>> WORD
>>> "and" has the same exact sound at 20, 35, 50 and 75 wpm, if the
>>> sending and
>>> receiving hasn't mushed the sound and made it indistinct at  higher
>>> speeds.
>>> Not hearing it at 75 is a matter of INDISTINCTNESS or not
>>> concentrating,
>>> it's not copy speed.  If it's distinct the word "and"  sounds the same
>>> at
>>> any speed.
>>>
>>> One will not be able to copy German at 50 wpm, if you don't know the
>>> SOUND
>>> of German words in CW.
>>>
>>> It's like listening to an auctioneer talking really fast.  The issue
>>> is
>>> making your mind stay up with him and how clearly he ennunciates his
>>> fast
>>> words.
>>>
>>> New way.  Code learners hear the sounds of most common letters at 20
>>> wpm
>>> right off the bat.  E  T  A N.  You memorize the SOUND,  no visual
>>> dots and
>>> dashes, no repeating dits and dahs to oneself.  You learn the SOUND of
>>> the
>>> letter, first off.  Then learn words:   eat   tea   net  at  an  ten
>>> Speed is never an issue.  Ever.  Almost nobody fails in this method.
>>>
>>> You don't need to text decode that code.  You just listen to it, just
>>> like
>>> listening to SSB.  Except CW has that 10 dB advantage and you get a
>>> lot
>>> more signals in the same space.
>>>
>>> Contact W0UCE.   See w0uce.net   Life can be good.  Listen to a CW QSO
>>> as
>>> you walk around the room doing something else.  Keep firmware 4.51.
>>>
>>> 73, Guy.
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