Seems I have forgotten everything I thought I had learned so far. This is very frustrating for me. I took a complete 24 hours off between sessions to see if that helped but as of tonight's lessons I am drawing a blank. I would like to say I could have used another full week in between lessons but I don't know if that would do any good either. I guess the morale of this story is, If you fill yourself sinking, grab a life vest and swim harder! Don't give up! I so wanted to give up this week but I had to believe this would pass. Time off was of great importance. I started back up just listening to letters that I already thought I new and the ones I was having problems with. I left the lessons for a while and just listened. When I went back to the lessons it took me a while but it has started to come back. There is an old saying, "If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging!" I had to stop digging and I think it did help by taking a day or longer off. Just get back at it and never give up. Richard Barnich, KA8BMA, sent me this as a comment. Thanks Richard, it came at a much needed time. "It’s the glass half full or empty scenario. Grasshopper, dwell on what you have mastered not on what you have not!" TIP: We can all use encouragement at times. Doesn't matter what we are trying to accomplish. Reach out and encourage someone that you might think needs it. I know I have needed it during this course. We practiced sending during the on-line lesson 10 and everyone's did a good job at it, for our skill level, but it is easier to send than to receive. I do believe you need to practice sending and it helps with your confidence to get on the air, which we are ever getting so much closer to doing. It is scary! As of the end of this lesson, session 10, we have learned all the letters and numbers and a few call signs. Most of us don't have them all down yet but we have been exposed to them all. So what did I do between session 9 and 10? Well not much to tell the truth. I listened to code on my phone and my tablet. I do notice the sounds are different on each device I use even if I set the tone to the same, I use tone 700. Sometimes my phone skips a code, for instance, it sound like on the W it is -- instead of .-- and I can only say it does it some times. So it maybe a good idea when learning to stick with one device unless your devices sound pretty similar. Until next time, keep practicing and stay at it, don't give up with the clouds are the darkest. . Aloha and 73! Read Part 1 Read Part 2 Read Part 3 Read Part 4 Read Part 5 Read Part 6 Read Part 7 Read the entire blog here Ham Radio Hawaii Facebook Page
DARREN!!! Another BAD thing that "Newbies do" is that when they first start learning the letters of the alphabet OR numbers they'll COUNT CHARACTERS (dits or dahs) and then when they recall those equating them to a letter or number IT'S TOO LATE, as they've missed a couple of pertinent other LETTERS to complete the WORD !!! I'd initially done that when as a young lad I was learning INTL MORSE and BOY that reeked havoc on TRYING TO IMPROVE YOU'RE SPEED!!! Take heed "New Guys or even older Guys" who've decided that they're missing out on ANOTHER "COOL/VIABLE MODE OF COMMUNICATIONS and are trying to learn it !!! BEST OF LUCK TO ALL!!! Jim
I'm in this too right now and the last few lessons (9/10) have been challenging. Hang in there! I'm far from 100% on this, but I'm committed to learn this. Like you say, it gets difficult when you even take a day off. I was having a very hard time with a few letters, but have been plugging through. I figure that even if I don't come out of this first phase at 100%, I'm going to go back and keep reviewing and reviewing and getting on the air. I may not be at the 20wpm that we are learning at, but I still think its really cool to effectively learn another language! dah di dah Dave
Something to think about on the skips , blips, and speed changes when your practicing. Watch and see if your computer or device is doing security or housekeeping chores underneath your practice. Some times a device or security software doesn't see an audio program and will upset the timing. I've seen this with Morse Cat 2. It speeds up and slows down during a session and usually Norton is doing background stuff. Drives you batty until you realize what it is. I've gone to a older computer that just has the morse code programs or hyperterm on it and not all the under current stuff to get MC2 to straighten out. I've also seen it while using CwCom for off line practice. One time it won't take a word but the next time it does ok. Keep an eye out for it. The slower speeds you don't notice it that much but the faster practice you'll see it.
Here"s a tip for you. A good, low stress way to build association of the code to letters and ultimately words is to head copy ARRL code practice files while reading along on the printed text. Also, on YouTube you can find Morse coding of literature such as "Moby Dick". The text is displayed, so you can read along. Copy at 20 - 30 WPM. Using the higher speed will prevent you (or get you out of the habit) of counting dits & dahs. You will be surprised how quickly copy skills improve. When you practice this way there is no stress. Just sit back, relax, listen to the code and read along. When you get distracted and lose place, just read through the text until familiar characters start to click. Very soon you will recognize many common words as a single melody. Head copy only for this. Writing it down is just another distraction that you don't need at this point.
For sending practice, a good drill to do every day is: "THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOGS BACK". This little ditty has all the letters of the alphabet and after you practice it several times, you will become familiar with words and send them as individual words, instead of spelling them out as individual letters. Also practice the "hundred most common words". Try the three letter ones first, Example: THE, AND, ALL, etc., and procedural stuff like: RST, QSL, QTH, etc. They all have very unique melodies that will allow you to hear as discrete words. Its a zen thing man! The biggest impediment to learning the code is the frustration of having unreasonable expectations. It may come easy, it may come hard. Just keep with it and enjoy the ride. Don't worry about 100% (or 50%, for that matter) comprehension. Like learning any language, with immersion and time you will not be able to avoid learning it, even it you want to!
I have converted nursery rhymes to code. Broken them up into short phrases and play them over and over, some times actively listening other times in the background. Certainly helps becoming familiar with common words. Have had some success erasing the lookup chart I have developed.
