[PVRCNC] morse code

[Tom Gallagher]

Joe-----
Being similarly "QWERTY-Challenged" the ear-to-keyboard method doesn't do it
for me, either.

When I learned code, the most effective way was to listen on the novice
bands--- I used a borrowed ARC-5 receiver that covered 3-6 Mc.

The Cassette ALC problem was one thing, but tape "print-through" is just as
bad----- that's where the sound recorded on one part of tape is transferred
magnetically to the tape layers before-and-after the intended position. The
effect is that you faintly hear a character before the intended point in time,
you hear the character at full volume, and then you hear a faint echo. SOOOOO,
if the tape has the word "CAR" on it, you hear:
(dah-di-dah-dit) DAH-DI-DAH-DIT (dah-di-dah-dit) (di-dah) DI-DAH (di-dah)
(di-dah-dit) DI-DAH-DIT (di-dah-dit). Confusing, to say the least.

Since I took over as session manager for the Winston-Salem exam session last
February, I go digital all the way. I use Morse Academy to generate code,
record on a second computer, and then burn to CD. I play the exam on a
boom-box player. The CD software I use to make the audio CD has a setting for
"noise gate" which assures that the only thing you hear is the intended
character.

If there was interest, I could create a CD of common text... maybe Shakespear
or something in the public domain.... or even the text of emails on the
reflector... that just played and played and played for seventy minutes. I
figure I could knock something out and get it in the mail for maybe $5-$7...
if there was any extra it would go to the local club.

Just a comment or two!

73  de tom n4ioz



Joseph Mack NA3T wrote:

>
> I assume people don't listen to cassette tapes any more. Are they learning
> from CDs? mp3s? cell phones :-)
>
> I remember back in the DOS days trying out programs where you had to type
> the letter for the character you'd just heard before you could go on. I
> found these hopeless, I couldn't type accurately and you couldn't follow
> behind. Are there programs nowadays that work or is listening and writing
> with a pen still the best?
>
> Are there CDs of just copy which you can listen to rather than having a
> program to "help" teach you?
>
> I remember the tapes I had to listen to for my license exams were badly
> recorded - because of AGC in the recording, the leading edge of each
> dot/dash was much louder than the rest of the character. I found them hard
> to listen to.
>
> I remember reading about some method where the characters are sent at high
> speed (eg 20wpm) when you're first learning at low speed (5wpm). Has
> anyone figured out if this works yet?
>
> If this kid gets interested, I'll point her in the direction of a Bencher
> rather than a straight key.
>
> Anything else I should know that's happened in learning morse code in the
> last 20yrs that I should know about?
>
> Thanks Joe
>
> --
> Joseph Mack NA3T EME(B,D), FM05lw North Carolina
> jmack (at) wm7d (dot) net - azimuthal equidistant map