Increasing CW copying speed.

[KE5FRF]

First of all, I'd like any advice on how to move from being a slow coder to a high speed op. I already know the KEYS to good copying technique commonly mentioned, like hearing the complete sound of the character rather than counting dits and dahs. I HAVE already mastered this, even at 10 wpm copy. Of course, listening to fast code is the second thing most people advise, a little every day. The other common advise is to try to start moving from individual characters to copying words, like the common short ones (example: seeing "the" in your minds eye when "dah ditditditdit dit" is keyed instead of writing down T-H-E) Using this technique, I am already able to skip some words and just jot down important info, like the name, QTH, rig, temperature, power, ant, etc.

So, basically I am saying I have already employed all of these techniques and indeed a CW QSO is much more enjoyable and stress free, but still, I have an easily distracted mind, and 10-12 wpm seems about as good as I can copy even on a good day, and 13-15 wpm is a CHALLENGE to say the least.

So, I am looking for tips from the REAL experts out there.

OK, lastly, I read on one guy's webpage that he advises a technique of having a friend or loved one read the newspaper to you, but instead of actually READING the paper, spell out each word with plain English alphabet. Without writing anything down, the practicing person would visualize the words in his mind's eye, like a scrolling billboard. Supposedly, when the spelled out text is read at PARIS STANDARD speed of 12 wpm, for example, each letter should be read as a second goes by, so 60 letters would be read in a minute, and so on. 24 WPM would be read at 2 alphabet characters per second. Supposedly, using this technique, when applied to CW, will increase code spead as well.

OK my idea is this, since it is a lot to ask to have a friend sit and do this for you, I was wondering if there is a software program with a voice synthesizer that does it for you? I am familiar with windows having a program for actually READING TEXT in plain language for the hearing impaired, but this of course is reading words, not alphabet. If there indeed ISN'T a program out there to do that, I was going to suggest to an industrious amateur radio guy who also dabbles in programming and PC languages to write a program to do exactly that, with sending speed user programmable. This same software might ALSO translate webpage URLS for the practicing fellow into CW tones, when the person wants to start gauging their improvements.

OK, long post, sorry.
73 Heath FRF

[al2i]

Quote[/b] (KE5FRF @ May 11 2006,13:35)]...he advises a technique...
Wow! That is a great idea!

[AG3Y]

Heath, I broke through the 12 wpm barrier by using my index finger to form the shape of the letters on my opposite palm as the cw flew past. Eventually, I did not need to write things down, and I could visualize the entire word as it was formed, rather than thinking of it as a connected series of letters.

You are well on your way, already. The only thing you need to do is to push yourself by listening to higher speed CW constantly. Keep it above the level where you are comfortable with it, and you will find your comfort level rising to a higher wpm rate without hardly being aware of it!

Be selective in which operators you work. If you run across a bad "banana boat swing" don't work them unless you are desperate for the state or country. They will not help you to improve your speed, but just distract you from your immediate goal ( becoming a faster cw reader! )

Good luck! I bet you are a lot closer than you think you are !

73, Jim

[K3STX]

This one is too easy. Do it the way EVERY Novice in the old days did it so they could upgrade to General...

get on the air and practice. It really is just that easy. Don't over-analyze this, just do it.

paul

p.s. if you want to hear some REALLY fine CW ops, tune in tonight at the NCCC Sprint contest, from 0230-0300 UTC around 14.04 MHz (0230-0240 UTC), 7.04 MHz (0230-0250 UTC) and then 3.54 MHz (0245-0300 UTC). There will be some LOUD, FAST CW ops going, I promise you!!!

(I won't be one of them, though.)

paul

[AK7V]

I am not an expert -- I can copy comfortably to about 30wpm. #The guys who are at 40+ are on a different level than I am, but I will be there some day. #

I copy 10wpm the same way I do 30wpm - in my head. #It's more difficult at 10, though, because I sometimes forget what's going on. #It's "too slow." #I can do it on paper, but I don't have any need to. #If I were doing traffic, I would.

Anyway, put away the pen and paper and just listen to code. #Try copying in your head. #You'll be able to go a lot faster when you don't have to worry about writing. #Only thing I write down in a QSO is what's going in the log. #You've got the right idea on learning the sounds of words instead of just letters. #I find that when I'm listening to someone send at around 35wpm, I'm solid copy on normal, every-day words. #But if someone says something uncommon, I often don't get that word. #I think my vocabulary will increase with time, as will my ability to "copy behind". #Another thing to do is sit down with your paddles and oscillator and practice sending. #You can still learn the sounds of words even if you send them yourself. #

Don't be afraid of getting into QSO that pushes your limits. #If you're 100% solid copy at 10wpm, call CQ at 12. #If you're serious about increasing speed, you need to be in QSOs where you're copying only 80-90%. #You'll get the info through context. #It's like talking to someone with a thick accent - still worth doing to make a friend, even though you might not get 100%. #Some will disagree with me, but whatever. #If you miss someone's name or city now and then they won't shoot you. #Just ask for fills or call 'em OM. You're learning.

[w8znx]

do not worry
don't think so much

K3STX is right
just do it
get lots of air time
work ops that are little to fast
it will come to you
it's only a matter of time

easily distracted
do you use cans
can be a big help
i can copy much better
using cans

ag3y Jim, prefers machine like morse code

i prefer a nice bug swing
bit of chirp is also adds to the signal

yours truly
Mac

[wa9cwx]

Re-read the previous posts.
http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[wa9cwx]

I will add that it is not unusual to reach a bit of a stall at 10 WPM. It is less often today due to using Farnsworth, but obviously still there.
AFTER you get to about 15 WPM, your speed will go up in direct proportion to your practice, BEFORE that there is simply a LOT of effort needed to get over the hump.
It sounds like you are pretty darn close to being OVER the hump, DON"T quit NOW! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

As you push yourself to QSO at uncomfortable, but still 80% or so copy, suddenly one day you will realise there was a HUGE jump from where you just were a few hours ago, to where you are NOW.....
THAT will mean #you are likely done with "learning" the code, you done learned it!!...NOW you are PRACTICING what you already KNOW, to make yourself more proficient.

The "jump" may be from 80% at 12 WPM to maybe #80% at 15 or 17 WPM. It MAY be in one day, or maybe the next session, but it will likely be noticeable.

It took me a LONG time to get up to 13 wpm for my General, I had been a novice working 2 AM only, then a Tech on 6 AM, I got the General at age 15, but when incentive licensing came along and I needed 20 WPM, that came VERY quickly, I also got my commercial ticket at about that time, which was 25 plain text and 20 WPM #coded groups.
It took me about three years to get to 13 WPM, and about 3 months to get to 20 WPM +, as I recall....

I would like to add the obvious, this is why I do NOT consider 5 WPM as LEARNING the code.

Five WPM is a nice thing to do, but it is NOT learning code, it is MEMORIZING the code.

I did the same thing when I got my Novice, I MEMORIZED the code, while my dad drove me to the guys' house for the exam.
The guy very kindly let me PRACTICE in his basement for a half hour, before testing me. I didn't even TRY code again until studying for my Tech, and by then I had forgotten it, just over a few months.

What YOU are doing is actually LEARNING code, and, as I said, you are pretty much THERE right now.

[AK7V]

I agree that the jump to 13 from 0 or 5wpm is waaaay more difficult than the jump from 13 to 20.

Going from 13 to 20 happens almost without effort - just operate a couple months and you'll be there.

[KF0RT]

Quote[/b] (K3STX @ May 11 2006,15:21)]get on the air and practice. It really is just that easy. Don't over-analyze this, just do it.
Paul is right.

Get on the air and use it. The rest will just happen.

There's a lot of truth to the "hump" at 10-12WPM, too. Before the Farnsworth stuff, everyone complained about this. I guess Farnsworth helps, but isn't a cure.

And, once you really "have it," it never goes away. At my very best (as a kid), I could copy a little over 30 WPM. Then I got into repeaters and stopped using the code. Then I got married and some time after that pretty much got out of ham radio. Didn't use any code at all for 25 years or more. Getting back into it, my starting point was somewhere around 15-16 WPM. It's taken nothing to get back up to 20+. Still not back to 30, but I can run a contest at 30 if I can hear the exchange twice.

73, Rob

[KE5FRF]

Ok, everyone basically reinforced what i already know, and I appreciate that. I have been having two QSOs a day, and have seen a great leap in my abilities of course.

But still, I was hoping that some more specific techniques or trade secrets might be out there, such as the technique I mentioned earlier. Also, has anyone ever heard of people trying this other technique and their results? And what about software ideas?

[AK7V]

Any time you spend doing the "techniques" or shortcuts would be better and more effectively spent practicing.

So no, I would not recommend spending your time having someone read you letters or whatever. This may be better than nothing if you have no access to a radio or computer, but since you do, use g4fon or get on the air. That's most effective.

[wa9cwx]

Sleep learning, with code tapes starting on a timer, code tapes while driving, or in the background going on during the regular home activities, translating everything you read, or hear, into sounded out CW in your mind, abduction by code speaking aliens, tatooing the more difficult punctuation codes on your hands and feet, translating the Bible into CW for your friends, throwing a "CW Party" for your buds from work, where you invite them all over for a Sunday afternoon and play CW tapes and listen to 20 meters until someone passes out, injecting sodium pentathol while a shadowy figure sends CW through electrodes implanted in your head, ordering your food at a crowded resturant in CW, refusing to have relations with your spouse or girlfriend, until they can recite the Bible to you in CW while you translate, etc.
All of these are popular "tricks" for learning the code, and have been practiced by MANY here on QRZ for years to increase their speed.
Or, you could get on the air....

[k8pg]

PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE AND MORE PRACTICE:D http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
DE-K8PG-Paul:)

[ai4ep]

...instead in posting on the computer, practice your morse code.

simple...effective...accurate...to the point.

73

AI4EP

[N5YFC]

The "get on the air" advice is the best in my book.
I went from almost 5WPM to about 17WPM in about
30 days by getting on the air every day. First it was
one contact a day - then 2 a day and next thing I was
making 5 and 6 contacts a day only because I was
copying faster. It was about 6 weeks from when I started that I went for the 13WPM test and it sounded slow.

It sounds like you are well on your way to 15 to 17WPM
now, so keep pounding the brass.

N5YFC http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[AG3Y]

It's like the old joke, Music student asks the cab driver, "How do I get to Carnagie Hall? " "Practice, my son, Practice! ! !" http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

Nothing beats good old on-the-air QSOs !

[al7n]

Tho others have it right...now is the time to put away all the "learning aids" and start using Morse to communicate with other human beings.....that and get in the habit of listening to what the morse SAYS, like a language...receive it by the word, not the individual letters. For a change of pace, once in a while, listen to Morse that is way faster than you can copy down on paper. Then go back and work with it to communicate with another live person at a speed where you can WRITE down what is being said on paper. Listen to it and get what is SAYS, then write that down a word at a time.

Practice every day, a little. Your speed will take care of itself. Time to stop "studying" it now, and get to "using" it.

[NO8M]

A few elmers in the area told me that once you know all the characters, spend less time receiving and more time practicing your sending. I've been using CW Commicator on my computer with a paddle, set at 20wpm. I've noticed that the more I send, not only is my sending getting smoother, but I'm starting to copy better when the other guy is sending.

[wa9cwx]

Check out W8YRBs site.

He is simply one of the best CW ops out there, and one of the nicest people I know.

He has a whole section devoted to high speed, called FOG, (Fast Operators Group).
I sometimes join in the QSOs that he and his friends have on 40, they will slow down for me to a nice 80% copy at about 45 WPM, but their 'normal' speeds are well over 50.

[KE5FRF]

Well, some of the posts seem to imply I haven't been on the air! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif No, oh contraire, mon frere! Matta o'fact I am just about to call CQ in a bit on 20 meters. I was really looking for some secret trick passed down over the camp fire, so to speak. I am living, eating, and sleeping CW, but sometimes a man has to come out of the shack and see daylight !!! haha http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[AG3Y]

No secrets, Heath, just good hard, solid concentration and work.

WORK ! ! ! ? ? ? said Maynard G. Crebbs in "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis"

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif 73, Jim

[W5HTW]

Did anyone already mention "get on the air?"

Yeah, dat's it! But you do have to do it right, that is, making sure you are pushed when you are in QSO. While poking keys and writing on QRZ, have the receiver on in the background. Find some code that is quite a bit too fast for you, and then go ahead and work on the computer, or something else, but have that code loud enough it is there in your mind. If you're copying 12 wpm fairly solid, find someone sending 18-20 for this part of your practice.

Really, just keep at it.

Ed

[W4HAY]

Same as with anything -- practice, practice, practice! Don't know if anyone has already suggested this, but listen to the high-speed practice sessions on W1AW. They start fast and work down. Keep at it and you'll be surprised how quickly more and more characters, and then words, begin to pop into your head.

And, of course, get on the air and make contacts!

[ai4ep]

practice, practice, practice. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[n0iu]

Quote[/b] (KE5FRF @ May 11 2006,13:06)]I was really looking for some secret trick passed down over the camp fire, so to speak.
There are none! It just takes patience and time. From what I can tell, you got your first license in August, 2005 and just recently upgraded to General in March. This is a great accomplishment on your part, but there really is no way to rush this other than to keep plugging away at it. No one is born with the ability to copy Morse code. While it does come easier for some, we all had to work at it. I certainly don't want to discourage you, but it took years to get my speed up into the 40 WPM range. You're on the right track, just keep up the good work!

[N8CPA]

Patience is the hardest skill to acquire, Brasshopper.

[KE5FRF]

Well, I been a'learnin' for the Extree exam (pardon the appalachian colloqualism http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif Translation: I've been studying for the Amateur Extra license) and after reading the ARRL study book and taking practice exams and passing consistantly at 80% or better, I feel I need not waste any more time. It helps that much of it like phase angle relationships, solid state basics, digital gates, and oscillator circuits are all things I have been exposed to for years. The rest is just rote memorization of facts, and I have pretty good retention abilities. So, next weekend it looks like I'll be going to take the test.

Given another week of study and review I ought to be able to pass with 90% scores consistanly.

Now, question is will passing make me an
Elite or an E-lite?..Extra-lite) hihi... http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[n0iu]

It will make you an amateur radio operator who can spin the big knob and transmit anywhere within the band limits!

Scott NØIU

[ky5u]

One QSO per day at least. 10 minutes a day listening on the air. 10 minutes a day with a software program. Practice while driving, see a word then code it out in your mind.

I use Morsecat from www.morsecat.de where I send the letters at fast speed and just increase the space between words. I can send you a file to use with Morsecat of the 500 most used words in the English language. Using Morsecat I am sending the file at 35-40wpm (becasue my copy is up to 25-30wpm) with two seconds between words. Helps you learn the words.

When I was leaning the code, I set Morsecat for 13WPM. When I was at 10WPM, I set Morsecat for 18WPM. When I made it to 13WPM, I set Morsecat for 20WPM. Like you my concentration would wander. It is only a plateau. When you begin to copy good in your head, it will pass.


Good link: http://www.geocities.com/gm0rse/n0hff/