[Elecraft] [OT] increasing CW copy speed: practice slow -v- practice fast

brian alsopb at comcast.net
Sat Dec 5 10:22:58 EST 2015


RUFZXP. One guy has topped the 1000 character/minute speed (200 WPM)

Just downloaded it a few days ago after years of non-use.  Now has a 
WINDOWS interface instead of the old DOS format.

Contesters start with an advantage since many of the calls in the 
database are real contest participants.  Recognizing these familiar 
calls is easier...


73 de Brian/K3KO


On 12/5/2015 15:13 PM, efortner wrote:
> There is a program called Ruftz (google it) and I think it is free that
> sends call signs. You choose the speed you want to start at and start the
> process. It sends a call sign and you type it
> In the box. If you get it right it will increase the speed until you miss a
> character or number at which point it will decrease the speed. It can
> probable send faster than anyone on this list can copy.
> Earl, K4KAY
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Danny
> Higgins
> Sent: Saturday, December 05, 2015 3:34 AM
> To: 'Robert G Strickland'; 'Elecraft'
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [OT] increasing CW copy speed: practice slow -v-
> practice fast
>
> Over 40 years ago I wrote a GWBASIC program that sent random 5 letter groups
> of letters and/or numbers. Like the Farnsworth system (although we had never
> heard of it before) it asked for a starting and a target speed and adjusted
> the spacing between letters so that the characters were sent at the target
> speed but the thinking time between characters was adjusted to give the
> starting speed. If you then typed the characters as they were sent, the
> spaces between characters would gradually decrease if you got it right, but
> if you got it wrong the letter that was incorrect was given a higher
> weighting so that it occurred more often. After a period of correct input,
> the weighting would decrease and the speed would start to ramp up again.
> This either gets your morse up to your typing speed, or in my case, my
> typing up to my morse speed. Groups of letters could be enabled individually
> so that someone just starting could begin with EISHTMO before adding
> additional letters as proficiency increased.
>
> Unfortunately GWBASIC died with the advent of Windows3 and other versions of
> BASIC did not have the BEEP command that was used, but recently I have
> rewritten the program in Python and it runs on a Raspberry Pi2 at least up
> to 50 WPM.
>
> Danny, G3XVR
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Robert
> G Strickland
> Sent: 05 December 2015 03:22
> To: Elecraft
> Subject: [Elecraft] [OT] increasing CW copy speed: practice slow -v-
> practice fast
>
> The following comments/questions focus on increasing CW copying speed, not
> the task of initially learning the code. That said, there may be an overlap
> between the two tasks.
>
> W1AW starts its CW practice speeds fast and then slows down. Presumably, as
> the speed get slower the mental demand lessens and copying becomes easier;
> then, ease of copying starts occurring at higher speeds over time/trials.
>  From my days studying animal learning, I remember significant research to
> the effect that starting a new task in the easiest form [slow CW speed]
> lessened/prevented errors and, by the end, resulted in quicker and more
> accurate learning.
>
> I tend to practice 3-letter groups at 35-40 wpm, 5-letter groups at
> 30-35 wpm, and 7-letter groups at 25-30 wpm [for better or worse]. This is
> somewhat geared to DX contesting since call signs are not "words."
>
> All that said, I'm starting to wonder if the animal study folks may have a
> point. How about the reverse of the above approach. For example, start with
> 3-letter groups at an error free speed, slowing increasing speed as long as
> the error rate stays under some value [5%, say]. Keep working at a given
> speed until the error rate is reached, then increment. Proceed in this
> fashion until a goal speed is reached. Then, repeat in the same fashion for
> longer letter groups. The same approach could be used with numbers, complete
> call signs, and sweepstakes type exchanges.
>
> The general idea is to minimize the error rate so that only correct neural
> networks are formed in the brain. These can be slowly stretched, perhaps
> like increasing strength in weight training and increasing range of motion
> after orthopedic surgery, all the time working at the edge to slowly
> increase capacity. This might also be applicable to increasing the speed of
> characters as in the Farnsworth method. I'm interested in what folks think.
>
> ...rober
> --
> Robert G Strickland, PhD ABPH - KE2WY
> rcrgs at verizon.net.usa
> Syracuse, New York, USA
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