[Ham-Mac] Morse-decoding software

[Richard Hemingway]

Hi,

I second the idea it would be helpful to an old geezer that has never 
been great in decoding my ear.

Dick, N5XRD



>Glen Hinkley NN6T wrote to the CW Operators list/reflector <cwops> 
>this morning:
>>  I had a QSO with KC9VHH tonight on 20 m...CW....
>>  [He] tells me he does not know the code at all
>>  [and] he is decoding and generating the CW with
>>  his computer....
>
>
>Dear fellow Mac enthusiasts:
>
>I neither need nor want to use a computer to read Morse in ordinary 
>operating, ragchewing, DXing, or contesting; but I would like to use 
>one when I demonstrate ham radio to students at my local public 
>school and to spectators on Field Day.
>
>To make live CW QSOs understandable to non-ham audiences, I have 
>gotten other hams to perform near-real-time ("concurrent") 
>translation of the Morse I was sending and receiving; and I have 
>translated while other hams operated; but a good CW operator is 
>valuable and should not be used for a job that a machine could do 
>well enough.
>
>I have tried _by_myself_ to operate and translate simultaneously; 
>but I can't multitask.  If I try to speak to an audience while 
>sending or receiving CW, then I make too many sending errors and I 
>miss too much of what's being sent to me.  I could manage if the 
>keying speed were abnormally slow, but I don't want to go slow, 
>because I am trying to demonstrate the accuracy, the speed, and the 
>all-around effectiveness of CW.  (Besides, if I reduced speed very 
>much, then I'd have to switch to a straight key, or I'd have to pay 
>too much attention to my iambic paddling, because my unconscious 
>"muscle memory" would still be running at high speed.)
>
>I tested two machine (microcontroller+firmware) decoders for live 
>demonstrations and found them practically useless.  Neither worked 
>at all unless both the frequency and the level of its audio input 
>were JUST right and the SNR was quite high.  Receiver VFO tuning and 
>audio level adjustment were very critical; and the tiniest bit of 
>QSB, QRM, or QRN was devastating.  But that was 10-12 years ago.
>
>Later, I tried a Morse-decoding application for my PowerPC (G4) 
>based Macintosh, but the app. kept crashing.  Despite help from the 
>app's developer, I could not solve the problem, so I abandoned that 
>app.
>
>Now, especially in view of what CW Skimmer does, I want to test the 
>current generation of software decoders.  I've asked the cwops list 
>what the best computer program(s) for decoding CW (Morse) are, and I 
>expect most or all of the replies to nominate Windows app's.  If the 
>only good app. is a Windows app., I'll use it; but I would much 
>prefer to use a Mac app., if I can find one.
>
>
>What is/are the best program(s) for a Mac?
>
>
>Thanks.
>
>
>-Chuck W1HIS
>
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