[Ham-Mac] Morse-decoding software

[Ken]

fldigi, which runs on all platforms including Mac does a decent job of decoding decent CW.   However, some of the CW on the bands isn't well sent.  I don't know if there is any computer software that can decode some of the sloppy fists out there.   Humans can do better than computers.

I've found that it does best with high speed cw (e.g. 50 wpm) because almost all of that is computer generated.   :)   It copies W1AW very well.    The 5-15 wpm is more likely hand sent and more challenging for a computer.

73,
Ken
WA8JXM

On Jun 12, 2012, at 1:52 PM, Chuck Counselman wrote:

> 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
> 
> ______________________________________________