It took me abt 6 month of QSO's to adjust my brain to real world slow code after learning Koch Farnsworth style. I had the exact same symptoms as you. Most real world code is not what we are learning on the modern code courses. I strongly suggest use of the W1AW code practice sessions that are on the air daily since you now know the code. Copy of variations to sending and spacing/rhythm styles will come but only with your doing more QSO's. Just be sure to avoid adopting any bad sending habits and you'll do well. Keep up the good work and I'm anticipating our next CW QSO using your new Jr. Learn Morse Do CW 73
Thanks, Lane. Also, I was able to pick up stations (voice) in Italy, Barbados and around the U.S. Though when I went to make CW contacts last night, it didn't seem to be much improvement over the basic wire antenna I was using before. I called CQ for awhile but only managed to make one contact only about 700 miles away. There was still a lot of QSB, and I couldn't finish the contact because everything faded completely. If I'm picking up voice all around the world, shouldn't I be picking up CW more since it travels more efficiently? I'm wondering if I should just put the wire antenna back up instead since I plan to just operate CW for now. Also, only 2 beacons were picking up.
Condx were somewhat bad Sunday, don't sweat it. I didn't hear hardly anyone at times either. May be better today. Learn Morse Do CW 73
One way to think about this is that code, because it occupies less bandwidth, is TRANSMITTED more efficiently. Sideband requires more bandwidth to contain the message, so in terms of "miles per watt" it's less efficient to transmit. Receiving it is a different question. The only part that really matters is whether a given signal reaches your receiver with sufficient power to rise above the noise floor. If two signals leave their respective antennae at the same power level, then the one that packs that power into a narrower bandwidth will be heard farther away. This assumes that the transmitters and associated antennae are identical, and that the receiver and associated antenna is the same for both signals. We can do a lot to process the incoming signal to lower the noise floor, as in JT8, etc. This is an example of gains from more efficient RECEIVING. What you're doing is making your receiver more efficient by improving your antenna. You're still depending on the vagaries of a somewhat depressed propagation situation. It's hard to point to just one piece. Could be reasons why you're hearing more voice than code -- like there's a major fone contest on, or relatively few code ops using the bands you're listening to, or propagation is in the sandbox. I've got the opposite problem. I hear code from all over the world but I can't hear any voices (except the ones in my head...). That will change presently when I get a dedicated receiving antenna up. 73, Chuck VE7PJR
I agree with this. I'm trying to get to 20WPM+ and Farnswaorth is helping...however copying down below 13wpm is getting challenging now. So when I'm practicing I switch between farnsworth and conventional spacing and vary speed in order t keep strong on both.
