[Elecraft] Copying CW at high speeds

[Ken G Kopp]

See my QRZ page regarding my USC&GS ... later NOAA ... shipboard
operation.  Also "hung out" at WPD, RCA's shore station on the Tampa
waterfront. Op there was Al Andres (not a Ham).

73

K0PP



---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Mike Morrow <kk5f at earthlink.net>
Date: Sun, Dec 29, 2019, 09:39
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Copying CW at high speeds (OT to Elecraft)
To: <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>


Discussions of Morse copying skills are nowadays addressed to casual
amateur efforts where complete and accurate hard-copy output is seldom
required.  Professional Morse skill was measured at the speed that the
operator produced complete and accurate hard-copy.  An operator who head
copies at 50 wpm but hard copies at 15 wpm was a 15 wpm operator.

In the history of Morse for military and commercial service, the ONLY
valuable skill was producing accurate hard-copy of both plain language text
and code groups.  The professional licenses for radiotelegraphy were the
Third Class, Second Class, and First Class Radiotelegraph certificates.
The Third and Second Class licenses required the following:

PLAIN LANGUAGE (including common punctuation) - 20 wpm - Receive and send
100 consecutive characters (1 minute) without error in a 500 character (5
minute) text.
CODE GROUPS (5-character groups of letters and numbers) - 16 wpm - Receive
and send 80 consecutive characters (1 minute) without error in a 400
character (5 minute) text.

Most candidates found that slow-speed code group receiving test to be the
most difficult part.  (It took me three 200-mile trips to the Kansas City
FCC office to finally pass.) All those mental skills that allow an operator
to decipher entire words in plain language are of no help with code
groups...there's no process of "hearing code groups".  There is also no
possibility of reviewing copied text and context for needed obvious
corrections.  Although it's not required for 16 wpm, operators skilled at
high speed code groups develop an automatic "unthinking" response to
actuate keys on the mill/keyboard as characters are heard.

The era of the professional commercial Morse operator essentially ended in
July 1999 when maritime Morse operation ceased in the US.  In the same era
the US military banned use of Morse, even going so far as eliminating it
from MARS repeater IDs.

It was a great era with great operators.  A dear friend of mine (Al, W5KGM)
was a professional Morse operator for airlines and in WWII Atlantic
merchant ship convoys from 1937 to the 1970s.  He could do do everything
commercial-quality at 60-wpm or better.  He became a silent key at age 102
last year...there aren't many such "real" Morse professionals left.

It's unfortunate that the ham bands have been since 1999 the only place
that Morse radiotelegraphy may be heard for practice.  Before that, the
marine Morse bands (especially 400 to 520 kHz) provided far more
interesting copy for development of Morse reception skill.  (I usually kept
a receiver on 500 kHz/600 meters at night.)  Morse skill was also
reinforced (at least for a while) in the Cold War for radiomen in my
squadron of ballistic missile submarines on the logical consideration that
if world events ever provoked missile launch, it was unlikely that normal
sophisticated submarine communications networks would exist afterwards.

But today...Morse is only a hobbyist's or historian's undertaking.  I
personally found practice at Morse reception to be far more rewarding
outside the ham bands...but that option no longer exists.

Mike / KK5F
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