A Fun & New Way To Learn Morse Code ~ 04/10/2024

Speaker/Presenter: "Howard Bernstein, WB2UZE, Mike Padron, N1CC &
Jim Crites, W6JIM"
Website: longislandcwclub.org (If you decide to join LICW, please mention RATPAC)
Documents: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/sou1k2...
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Radio Amateur Training Planning and Activities Committee (RATPAC) comprises Amateur Radio Operators of a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. Together, we host nationwide Amateur Radio Zoom presentations twice a week, Wednesdays on general radio topics and Thursdays on amateur radio emergency communications.
Our Website- www.ratpac.us
List of upcoming & previous sessions- tiny.cc/ratpac-list
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The topics are selected from audience recommendations and the planning committee then seeks topic experts or discussion panel members. The presentation audience consists of thousands of amateur radio operators worldwide who participate directly in the Zoom sessions or with video links of the presentation and related documentation sent out after each session. Please complete the form on our web page to suggest a topic or speaker for future sessions.
Join one or more of our Groups.io to receive notifications and participate in related discussions:
Wed & Thur live ZOOM Link- www.ratpac.us/zoom
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EMCOMM - sec-emcomm.groups.io/g/main
Please be sure to include your name and call sign when registering

[@rclark999]

You guys are the greatest! I'm so motivated to learn CW!

[@KE5WCT]

KE5WCT: Mike in Daingerfield TX - just found you site, love it. Learned CW in 63 with my dad for our first ticket. Joined Navy in Dec 63 and became Navy Radioman - CW mandatory, qualed at 18 wpm! Dropped the ham ticket until 82 and got my Navy Mars ticket as KN7OOK, but again dropped it (no equip and constant moves with a family). Dropped the CW when Navy dropped their requirements, and the Coasties shut down the Distress freqs. 2008 new ticket KE5WCT, and plan to get the 'fist' tuned up. Thanks for the KZbin!

[@wb9jps]

Interesting that you mention learning at 12 WPM. Thankfully the Koch method as also used by the wildly successful CWops Academy, which sends at a minimum of 20 WPM with suitable character spacing for an arbitrarily slow net speed. The “plateau for slow learning” was identified in a graph in my 1942 edition of the Radio Code Manual by Arthur Nilson. That was the pre-Koch days when we sent deadly slow dits and dahs. Around 13 WPM, most people can no longer count the elements, and learning slows. Ripping the characters off even faster than 20 WPM is actually beneficial to faster learning in my experience. -Gary NA6O

[@Septantrionalis]

Glad to hear other people struggling with "similar characters". I feel comfortable copying up to 25 WPM, but I really have issues with H/5 and 6/B at higher speeds.... or should I say 5igher speeds.

[@rv6amark]

Great presentation! I got my novice ticket in 1978, with an elmer who loved CW. He taught me the beauty of the interaction of two skilled operators. I fell in love with it. I paused my hobby for several years, but am working at renewing my skills. I probably have fallen back into the "fearful" operator, but working my out. Mark, KE6BB

[@fretlessrick]

I missed this live -- been traveling a lot for work. But ... Wow! What a great presentation! Thank you RatPack. And thank you LICW! I'm Joining!

[@abrahamnorthhampton3327]

Terrific presentation. I am in the camp of "fearful" operators, but this is motivational.

[@joeblow8593]

Thanks for this great presentation

[@barbarahuff117]

Good talking! Thank you

[@jerrymiller8313]

My dad was a code instructor and radio operator in WW2 he could copy and type 35wpm and head read plain text up to 50-60wpm. I did get my general in 1968 but never got very good with code. once he got a rig that could do voice my rather weak skills vanished. I think it is like a language you struggle and then at some point something in your brain flips and you then can start building from there.

[@VickyGeagan]

Just a friendly note their is no longer Dayton. Dayron is now an apartment complex. It is now Xenia Just wanted to clarify that.

[@blugoose86]

Very informative presentation. I joined the club late last year and was doing pretty well according to my instructors. Unfortunately, when it was time for me to get "on the air", I found it almost impossible due to antenna restrictions. I've tried a lot of ways including taking time off from my studies to build small magnetic loop antennas. I've been away from class for about 3 months now and am having a hard time finding the motivation to get back into it, knowing I can't get on the air from home. I know it's getting warmer out but the parks are a little far away for this old man to venture. Basically, I'm stuck. Any suggestions? Thank you for this video. The dedication of you gentlemen is awesome.

[@user-tl5tt5yw3c]

Qtv I think they used qtv and shortened it to TV as a way to say the freq is being used instead of dead air space or pause

[@Steve-iy5eq]

We need software/radio that translates morse into text and text into morse...not many want to learn CW in this day and age

[@soctnights]

Any thoughts? If a person is RH dominant should they learn/try sending with their non-dominant hand or can code proficient individuals alternate easily? 73, W1RKB

[@tomstrum6259]

This is all good but doesn't help the folks that for some reason can't seem to learn touch Typing (Can't remember where the keys are), Foreign language, 2 or more numbers (After a short measured verbal distraction session) & memorize/Recall morse Code characters.....

[@jankersten6212]

What a pitty for the time difference, i live in the Netherlands. If there was no time difference i would probably join your club.

[@RATPAC]

There are session throughout the day, including sessions by UK & VK hams

[@MrSiddharta33]

Hi dear guys, thank you so much for this nice video. I'm blind since I born and CW is something where I feel exactly as the others, everything depends from my brain, not eyes, like when I play chess. Now I'm stock at about 40 45 WPM, that's my plateau. I love for clear (unstructured) QSO, like chat, in italian, with friends on lower HF bands. I hope to meet you somewhere on QRGs. 73 de IZ4APU.

[@RodCornholio]

Morse Mania and Morsie are just a couple of "fun" ways that DuckDuckGo produced.

[@Eidetiken]

I live in an apartment. I can't get on the air whenever I want.

[@chublez]

Nonsense. Where there's a will there's a way friend. One doesn't need a 200ft tower with stacked yagis to HAM. I know a guy that will hang a 10m speaker wire dipole in the Livingroom along the ceiling and push a G90 into it and talk plenty far DX on SSB let alone CW. I know one of the ham channels out here has a video on using the "magic carpet" faraday cloth under a throw rug so its out of sight as a ground plane under I think a wolf river coil antenna to get a multiband vertical option indoors. Sure an exterior antenna solution would outperform these but don't let that stop you trying and enjoying the hobby from the comfort of your apartment.

[@courierdog1941]

Other than copying down the Transcript of this presentation do you have this presentation in a written form. As the message and the content is extremely important and should be preserved, perhaps refined for the reader to digest. the message you are attempting to deliver needs to be preserved and restated for future repetition. This concept needs to be documented and preserved for future use.

[@guideyellowstone]

I'm a new ham thinking about learning CW. This was really helpful and I'm going to do it thank you

[@erinw1485]

To me Any QSO in CW is total Waste or time! I have a CW decoder and a Transmitter with a Computer connected for Sending CW . I've picked up a few words but its not useful.

[@fpaolo63]

PLS take care Your home page has been HACKED

[@RATPAC]

Working on fix

[@plusorminusandtime]

Wearing a Star Wars shirt while showing a clip from Star Trek. LOL

[@gfodale]

Please stop calling Morse Code, CW. It is not. Morse Code is a communication protocol. CW (continuous wave) is a transmission mode. Granted they exist in unison, but they are two different things. This is a technical hobby. (or is supposed to be.) I appreciate the efforts you put into teaching the community. I'll be joining in as soon as I learn some primary things first. (like getting my General ticket.) Thank you.

[@cjbruegge]

Seasoned ham operators understand the difference between Morse Code and CW, but we use them interchangeably since CW is the only way to send Morse code in radiotelegraphy. (And its so much easier to say CW.) But if we want to be really precise, Morse's code was been abandoned 3 years after he created it. What we use today is the Gerke code!!!

[@tamstutz921]

@gfodale Stop. Just, stop.

[@TheMicrofox]

​@@cjbrueggeWell, not true. You could send Morse code as an audio signal via SSB too.

[@cjbruegge]

Good point. i should say in the future that CW is most frequently used to sent morse code in radiotelegraphy!!!

[@WilliaminSouris]

​@@TheMicrofox Local amateurs here in Scotland used to send morse lessons on 2 metre FM to students - around 8pm each night

[@Rubedo777]

Very well done gents. I became licensed back 1994 and I’m a full UK licensed … G0… I had to then leave because of life but kept renewing my licence when required. Now I’ve just finished a dedicated ‘ shack ’ in the back garden / yard and will be going live in June 2024. SWL first because it’s changed so much with technology, I mean computers were still in their nappies / diapers then 🫣 CW always had a romantic appeal to myself and I’m going to do it. Recently I acquired a UK FIST Koch type tutor off a UK ham on eBay and will be using that along with other methods. Surprisingly because the exam back then was 12wpm the recognition was there but there was a tremendous brush up to do… the thing reminding myself is…it’s a hobby, not my job and I need to love it or it will get lost again and I’ll quit ( no I won’t ) Anyways, I thoroughly enjoyed this and I’ve saved it to listen to again, maybe becoming a member later. Your approach and facility is nothing short of excellent… very well done Sirs.73. 💙 QRZ… G0 UVL ( UltraVioletLight 😉 )

[@user-yl1tt9de3l]

MNITNX !!!! VY NICE !!! de US4ET Victor. 73!!! . .