Hang in there! It sounds like you're close. We used to advise people to get their code speed up to about 8 WPM to ensure that they would not have trouble at 5. Thanks for having the patience to try to learn the code. I hope you master it and actually use it on the air. If you play with it on the HF bands, you may find that CW has so much going for it that it would have been a shame if you had not bothered to try using it. You'll find it easier to get a QSO on HF at night with CW. Good luck! Contact: wf0h@arrl.net