New to code? or something....

[ve6wtf]

I REALLY try to use my code, as thats how I was brought into HF, I figured I took the time to learn it I may as well use it and get a little better at it, as it is a very wonderful mode! and it really broadens your horizons.

OKAY,
This is going to be a little bit of question and a little bit of vent!
When I am on somewhere like 20 or 40 meters I try to slow down and answer CQ's from the super slow stations, you know the ones... they are sending CQ so slow you could mow the lawn and come back to hear the last round of their callsigns... I admit it I was there once, and it is great to hear people on the air that are at least trying out their code.. But what is really bugging me is when their CQ is finished, They are 59 when I send my callsign at least twice going as slow as 5wpm and they dont reply.... and about 5 or 6 minutes later I hear them maybe 1kc up and they are trying again?
Is it just stage fright? when someone answers your CQ are you afraid you might screw up? am I going to fast?

point being.. if I am sending my code to fast, or to slow, or you dont understand JUST TELL ME!!! I am willing to slow down, speed up, change my pitch, anything to make the contact as comfortable for you to copy as possible! dont be scared (if that is the case) we all make mistakes!


Anyone else have similar experiences?

[W4INF]

Id say possibly stage fright, maybe a dash of inexperienced. Heck, Im still both sometimes! Think this too, Ive done it twice but would never admit it, reach up to press the filter button or adjust the volume and your pinky knuckle hits the VFO knob... If you didnt know what freq you were on, or that you even did it, all of a sudden your QSOing with nobody! HA HA!

I remember being wet behind the ears new, using a J-38 slow as peanut putter and sounding like a smoke alarm, but some kind soul took pity on me and worked me. I regularly return the favor. Heck, if it wasnt for that Id never kept with the code!!

Cheers,
Andrew

[ve6wtf]

yeah I remember my first contact, AL1G CW to alaska..
I messed up so many times I was just waiting for him to throw in the towel and leave me thier talking to mysel hi hi,
But he was good about it, and returned at the same pace I sent

[K7RQ]

It does my heart good to read posts like the above. Now that the Morse requirement is gone I have great admiration for those who are trying to develop and improve their skill when there is no compulsion to do so. And I think those of us who have '"been there, done that" should encourage them whenever we can. They will make mistakes during the learning process, but then so did we.

Hal, K7RQ

[ve6wtf]

Listen to the poor sod on 7.0575

He is trying SOO hard, It just makes me smile!
I believe its N2BO or at least thats where he was a little while ago, cant hear him too good now.

[ab8ro]

I REALLY try to use my code, as thats how I was brought into HF, I figured I took the time to learn it I may as well use it and get a little better at it, as it is a very wonderful mode! and it really broadens your horizons.

OKAY,
This is going to be a little bit of question and a little bit of vent!
When I am on somewhere like 20 or 40 meters I try to slow down and answer CQ's from the super slow stations, you know the ones... they are sending CQ so slow you could mow the lawn and come back to hear the last round of their callsigns... I admit it I was there once, and it is great to hear people on the air that are at least trying out their code.. But what is really bugging me is when their CQ is finished, They are 59 when I send my callsign at least twice going as slow as 5wpm and they dont reply.... and about 5 or 6 minutes later I hear them maybe 1kc up and they are trying again?
Is it just stage fright? when someone answers your CQ are you afraid you might screw up? am I going to fast?

point being.. if I am sending my code to fast, or to slow, or you dont understand JUST TELL ME!!! I am willing to slow down, speed up, change my pitch, anything to make the contact as comfortable for you to copy as possible! dont be scared (if that is the case) we all make mistakes!


Anyone else have similar experiences?


Having been there, and since I've been almost completely inactive for the last two years going to be there again, I can tell you that it could be any number of things.

There's some chance that they couldn't tell whether or not you were talking to them? Why, because even though their code is very very slow, they're still sending faster than they can receive. It is VERY hard to maintain pace when nobody responds for hours. You will almost certainly speed up.

If they didn't recognize their own call, yes, I'm serious, then it might be that they thought that they were stomping on an existing qso and just moved out of the way.

He may not have copied your call even though you sent it three times and thus he can't respond properly.

If your response was too long he may have simply bombed the copy and gave up.

Finally, when you're only copying every other letter the shortcuts can really make a message incomprehensible.

So, here's my advice to those of you who want to encourage new hams to use code by responding to painfully slow code.

1) Respond even slower than they're sending. It's probably ok to pick up the pace a bit once the qso is underway, but the jitters are at their highest when you're trying to establish the qso. I know this flies in the face of conventional wisdom that you should respond at the pace of the sender, but, I think that it's really obvious when someone is completely new and it's not inappropriate.

2) Exaggerate normal identification messages. Send his call several times and your own a few more. I honestly don't think five or six times is too much for someone who's really struggling.

3) Spell everything out at first because shorthand will just appear like random letters.

4) Avoid launching right into a QSO, just send his call and your own and let him acknowledge you. Heck, that might be enough in some cases. I don't think my first morse qso was much more than that.

5) If he walks up the band, follow him and try again, even more slowy.

Many thanks to those who really try and welcome people to the morse segments. After I re-brushup, I'll be back down there again with my crappy antennas.

[KI4ODO]

I have only been a CW op for a little over a year now. I'm still a somewhat slow op. I ragchew at 15wpm or so. Short exchanges are much faster when I know whats coming next.

What I learned a while back is this. If someone responds to my CQ, and they are sending faster than my ragchew speed, this will quite often correct itself after I thank him for the call, and give him all my log info. They (most of the time) will have a good feel for my speed and respond accordingly.

When I first started out, I would all but panic when someone answered me faster than I can copy. Sometimes a simple "pse qrs --wpm" is all it takes.

Now I even get DX stations answering my cq's and feel very comfortable ragchewing with them. It's a work in progress. Keeps you learning and striving to better your skills. I love CW :D

[N2RJ]

yeah I remember my first contact, AL1G CW to alaska..
I messed up so many times I was just waiting for him to throw in the towel

Her.

AL1G is a YL.

[W4HAY]

By all means, bend over backwards for the newbie! He's probably on the verge of wetting his Fruit-Of-The-Looms!

They get over it. A QSL from a first-timer is worth framing!

[wm3o]

don't send more than a callsign and then send the signal report. the anxiety level of the slow coder is through the roof - i can barely manage a 15wpm QSO and fatigue very quickly - a callsign, a signal report and a 73 is about all i can muster.

but i'm trying... even with the stress, i find CW to be a fun mode and rewarding challenge.

-Steve, WM3O

[ve6wtf]

don't send more than a callsign and then send the signal report. the anxiety level of the slow coder is through the roof - i can barely manage a 15wpm QSO and fatigue very quickly - a callsign, a signal report and a 73 is about all i can muster.

but i'm trying... even with the stress, i find CW to be a mode and rewarding challenge.

-Steve, WM3O

Keep at it steve..

I think its great that even though you guys dont have a morse code requirment in the states I still see many techs (no coders) on the bands, especially on 40 meters.
And I tell ya, when I made my VERY first contact on cw with K9KLR I was very very nervous,

I think its better we encourage people to at least try new modes
For me I had to learn code to get my HF privi's
Encouragement is better than "Yer a no code, earn your priveledges... the bands are going to S**T with all these techs"

For all the no codes out there! you have no idea how rewarding a mode CW really is!

[wm3o]

For all the no codes out there! you have no idea how rewarding a mode CW really is!

you won't know until you try it! i guess for me it's the mystery of it - i'm part of the "club" and can talk about stuff and all my XYL hears is noise ;)

-Steve, WM3O

[KE5KTU]

I think my sending is ok, but my receiving..... Well, I have problems with it.
I have tried listning around the band to some slow people, but they are too fast for me. What would be a nice way to talk to someone on the air and let them know I am new and not fast at copying cw. I have called cq, but no one has answered. If they did, I would have tried to work them, but I almost feel sorry for the poor soul that has to send as slow as I can copy.
Jake

[K0RGR]

I think my sending is ok, but my receiving..... Well, I have problems with it.
I have tried listning around the band to some slow people, but they are too fast for me. What would be a nice way to talk to someone on the air and let them know I am new and not fast at copying cw. I have called cq, but no one has answered. If they did, I would have tried to work them, but I almost feel sorry for the poor soul that has to send as slow as I can copy.
Jake
First of all, don't give up!

Listening on the air and trying to copy, even if you only get occasional words or letters and numbers, is good for you. It's also OK to keep using whatever training materials you used to learn the code in the first place.

Realistically, 5 WPM is probably about as slow as most people can go for a QSO, but that speed is usually good.

The best way to start a QSO is with a CQ, and you must be careful not to send CQ faster than you can copy. People will answer you at the speed you're sending. If you just don't get any replies, see if you can set up a sked with a local. They will be in a better position to debug your problems.

[ve6wtf]

What really helped me out for learning CW was listening to it on my ipod.
I got some cool "podcasts" which were coded qoutes and sometimes newsclippings.

You have to really get used to the seperate letters but make sure that they are going fast enough that it is a little bit challenging, this will help you with recieving faster, and faster.

Set goals for yourself.. first learn the letters, or maybe only a few letters at a time. Then the numbers.. also a good thing to learn is shorthand... for some stupid reason "ppl tlk like ths whn thy r usin CW on the bnds bcuse they r lzy fer sndin cmplte wrds"

Soon you will be able to copy whole words, and your speed will get much faster, then its smooooooth sailing

Or at least thats how I can explain my learning curve....??

[KD5QFL]

I think my sending is ok, but my receiving..... Well, I have problems with it.
I have tried listning around the band to some slow people, but they are too fast for me. What would be a nice way to talk to someone on the air and let them know I am new and not fast at copying cw. I have called cq, but no one has answered. If they did, I would have tried to work them, but I almost feel sorry for the poor soul that has to send as slow as I can copy.
Jake

LOL Just wait till I get on HF. I should be able to go slow enough for you. :D

Heck, smoke signals might be faster. :p

Will

[KE5KTU]

That will work, Will
I will keep the fire burning and some green leaves going just in case. I guess we will do a daytime QSO !
Jake

[kb5zau]

Hey,
CW is why I decided to get back into Ham radio... I forgot a lot of it but last QSO was 1994 and looking forward to get this station back up but QRP this time.

I will also be a 5WPM'er and looking ways to train to remember the letters forgotton. Any suggestions welcome. I forgot all the 4-digit letters such as 'F' and 'L'... I do remember da da dit dit da da!!
But will gladly talk to the first to capture my CQ or vise versa!!

I have No interest in phone mode but had a lot of fumn with REAL rtty and Amtor.. I have a teletype and it works. Im an Amsoil dealer and keep it lubed up real well.

[ve6wtf]

I find phone quite boring as well
It have really lost the excitment for a voice QSO unless its someone I know.

I think it is because of the fact thats its just to easy for me to open my mouth to express myself.
I would much rather pound that sentance out on my paddles

and speaking of paddles..... ONLY THREE MORE MONTHS BOYS!!
THEN ITS JUMPIN IN THE BACK OF THE PICKUP TIME TO GO GET ME SOME FRESHMANS

[lu3fid]

Speed is not important
it is important to the QSO
There are programs in the Web for practice cw - very good
G4FON Koch Trainer it's good
In Google enter "morse trainer" or "cw trainer" and there will be options
73 and lucky

[k0cmh]

KTU:

Ihave helped a number of people get their CW copy speed increased. In almost all cases, their trouble is that thay are trying to hear each dit and dah individually, and then try to figure out the letter.

CW is like music. Each letter has its own "song". When listening to CW, try listening to the letters for the rythem. Listen to each letter as a whole unit.

A real good thing for practice is the G4FON site. The download is free. You can adjust the speed to whatever you want. It has a program where you learn letters in small groups at a time.


Another good thing to do is to record yourself sending. Then see if you could copy yourself. That may improve the odds of getting a reply to your CQ calls.

My best advice is to learn how to send "pse QRS". When someone slows down for you and they are to fast for your copy, keep sending QRS until you can copy them.

Don't get discouraged when someone slows down and then beggs off. You will find some who will stick with you.

Hope to find you on the CW bands.