[Elecraft] On CW

[Erik Basilier]

I learnt CW the old way around 1962: starting at slow speed, but I believe that is not the best way. Recently a local club I belong to (most of the guys are fm/repeater types, but a few are interested in reviving/building their CW skills) asked me to think about a possible CW training program. I searched, and found the CWOPS CW Academy. I was very impressed! However, I found their website a bit confusing, so I dug further. I have found out: They are a club with membership fees, but you don't need to be a member to take the training. (In fact, you can't become a member unless you are already good at CW.) Their beginner classes work the same whether the student had learnt CW in the past or is a complete beginner, and I get the impression that the success rate would be about the same for both kinds of student. They run only 3 beginner classes per year, recruited from all over the world, and the number of students admitted per class is quite small. It appears that there is a waiting list of a year or so. When you are already hesitant, that wait has to discourage you a bit, and so would the need to align your schedule to their start date. I contacted the organization and asked if I (not a member of CWOPS) would be allowed to teach the beginner class, using the CWOPS method and training materials to local students, at a time of their choice. The answer was yes! I didn't ask whether any prospective CW teacher would be allowed to do this, but if you know your CW at better than 20 WPM, I think it very likely that CWOPS would approve your request to teach using their materials. So, if you are a student interested in learning CW the CWOPS way, but don't want to wait for a the CWOPS official class, maybe you could find somebody local to lead a CWOPS type class for you and a few friends, assuming that that person would get approval and training materials from CWOPS. As to my running such a class, I am not sure that my club will actually go forward with it, but it seems like a good idea if the prospective students are eager to learn.

73,
Erik K7TV

-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Clay Autery 
Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2017 12:08 PM
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] On CW

CWOPS CW Academy...  Learn by hearing.  Don't EVER use a chart. If YOU doo your part, you can be head copying 25 wpm in what I consider a very short time.

I'm not there yet (just finished Level 1), but I'm headed thataway!