Straight Key hand sending technique as approved by professionals. using Junker cw key

This is how i was tought to send morsecode, by my tutor who was operator in the german navy, but also merchant navy professional for most of his work life. Resting the ellbow, and using the wrist help avoiding "tennis arm" issues (glass fist?) and aid in generating better readable code, also and especially during long telegrams. Please note, this video came into beeing spontaneusly.. i didnt rehears anything and the trained ear can hear my little mistakes easily. It should be enough to get my point across though. Any question, ask - need a new video about something? i make it

[@kg7yts187]

Hey, my receiving is improving! I understood the cq cq cq

[@MikeSmith-vj2rp]

This is actually one of the best videos on youtube about this subject. I am learning cw with a straight key and your technique works quite well. Thank you very much for sharing this information. Your mentor would be proud that you carried on his spirit of helping others by passing on this special technique.

[@Bulletstop75]

Awesome video! Thanks for the no nonsense example of great form!

[@brettbauscher2833]

Excellent video, I'm just starting with CW and I don't have a coach so these videos are very valuable to me. Thank you.

[@WildBillCox13]

Very informative and instructive. I have a friend whose father was radioman for a DC3/C47 during world war 2. His father spoke of the importance of Morse Code frequently and I think my friend will find this demonstration of proper technique very interesting. Thanks for posting!

[@zoolkhan]

cheers :) i remember having had the complaint of other operators about how much labour it would be to use a straight key, and how they would grow tired fast. Thats why i made the video.. people grow tired because they tense muscles where not needed ...i.e. many have a "floating ellbow" they dont rest it on a table... naturally they soon get fatigue in the whole arm. The way i do it, i could send the entire bible w/o growing tired. Modern day radio amateurs often dont have longer conversations in telegraphy anymore, and certainly not telegrams from 200 passengers to be delivered from a cruise liner or navy ship to their families far away on shore....say for christmas or thanksgiving... However, for the professionals "long telegrams" or long session on the key were normal, and speed was required - it was paid by the word, and many messages had to be transfered in a row as quickly as possible - especially for coast station operators. They HAD to have a perfect technique - or else they were unfit for the job.

[@WildBillCox13]

Ah. I had not considered the duties of a ship radio man/telegrapher. A passenger ship would be far worse than I had yet assumed. I can see from my own example (when writing for hours, or using the mouse over time to point and click) how useful it would be to have my elbow resting on a firm surface. The nature of my P.C.s (I have two computers and three monitors on the same table) versus the cramped space available on my tabletop, has kept my keyboards near the edge of my table. This prevents me from resting my elbow and the strain of it has become one of my stress factors. Your explanation has spurred me to thinking about re-arranging my setup to better protect my elbows . . . which will, ultimately, also improve my Karate and Sword workouts. The combination of stresses has been interfering one with the other. Thanks/Kiitos for another useful comment.

[@zoolkhan]

William Cox ..maybe it shows that i grew up in a radioroom of a freighter since before i could walk :-) the wing chun training later (since 91) also had a lot of emphasis to generate speed by "switching off" unused muscles.... (a straight punch requires trizeps, so one focusses on turning off the bizeps - this combats fatigue and generates speed) In swordplay it i have not yet evaluated those principles... holding my two-hander always require some muscle-tension...

[@WildBillCox13]

zoolkhan A well couched lesson I can benefit from and thanks for it.

[@zoolkhan]

William Cox Youre very welcome sir.

[@zoolkhan]

just remember: ellbow rests on table whenever possible (shome ships/planes/cars did not have the space, thats bad luck) - dahs come from the wrist, dits from fingertips. The rest depend on your ear, and the precision instrument youre pounding. The key used here is a junkers from germany build around 1980 or so. You will find prettier, but not better keys out there:-)

[@kurt-kq7se]

I have just started learning Morse code with the Koch Method. I actually managed to pick out some letters from your code...progress!!! Thanks for putting up this video, it's nice to be able to concentrate on what is being shown, and listen to the code, without somebody babbling over it or starting and stopping, which interrupts the flow. I have only seen 'American' style sending where the forearm is on the table, and ' European' style where the Key is at the table edge and the operators forearm is in the air, parallel with the ground. Your style seems to combine the two and appears to make more sense ergonomically. I will try it, although I can only send K, M, S, R, C and Q at the moment ( and not very well!!). Hope to catch you on the band's sometime. 73

[@zoolkhan]

Its how i was taught in the german navy. I only heared later about "styles" :-) The "morsemachine" module on the free training website LCWO.net will teach you the alphabet in no time. There are also proper lessons that mix in more and more letters step by step. I highly recommend that website.

[@Flickchaser]

zoolkhan-Thanks for the vid. Actually seeing a key work w/the script appearing on screen is most helpful. I am just learning Morse and can follow a few more letters each time I watch this.

[@frankartieta6752]

I wish that key was mine ! Wonderful video here !

[@zoolkhan]

I see them on ebay every now and then "junker" about 80€ or so last time i checked.

[@TheMichaelGrace]

Sweet! Thanks for sharing. I'm getting started in CW and this helps a ton. I also have a ts-440s. Cool to see it in your shack.

[@zoolkhan]

glad to see that a new generation carries on the torch.. The ts440 is a fine transceiver.. i still have it, its on the operation table.. i blew the finals.. but it will live again - i plan to put it into my car, and do telegraphy-mobile.

[@TheMichaelGrace]

***** Thanks for the advice!

[@zoolkhan]

***** totally agree. learn accoustically only - and start with faster characters - only the spaces between characters can be made wider in the beginning. by doing so, you learn to memorize the sound pattern, instead of counting dits and dahs in your head.

[@gerbil1970]

Hello, thanks for the reply on AF2Z's channel. Yes, Junkers are lovely keys to operate. I prefer my paddle key these day, much less work, but straight keys look nicer.

[@eogg25]

very good. you were lucky to be taught by a trained operator. I was a Army operator in the 50's but did not go to school, I learned on the job and by practicing on my own time. by myself. I ended up pretty good but I am a pounder

[@zoolkhan]

Yes, i was fortunate to have a classroom teacher who was ex marine professonal and we had a proper training room in a 'folks colledge' as the germans call a place where adults can learn all kind of stuff after hours for almost free. later in the navy i had "training" too, but it was irrelevant then, i had already my big ticket and slept all the way through the navy training until the day i graduated best in the batallion of my generation.. haha.. one other guy worked hard to beat me got the same points but the base commander made me the winner.. boy he was mad, but respectfully we shook hands and as a good 2nd he got a certificate for his ego-wall as well :-) Was first and last time in my life i won anything that ment anything to me. For all other things i need to work hard to obtain, and harder to keep it. -------- glad youre still pounding... find a youngster and pass it on, it would be a huge loss if telegraphy gets forgotten

[@eogg25]

zoolkhan Ich habe gelernt morse code in Deutschland auch, in Bleidorn caserne, Ansbach. I advanced to 1st senior radio operator 1957. see my video on my site EOGG25. j38 cw key and lorenze- baumuster t1 cw key,73

[@KB2CWN]

Very close to how the US Navy radio operators were taught years ago. Good fist.

[@sparky42]

send and hold the key what feels best for your physiology . After you learn the formal way you are going to adjust to what feels best for you anyway after a while . Maybe you had a broken finger , wrist or arm at sometime in your life . A million different reasons. Carpal tunnel etc. Just send the way you feel it to be the best . There is no right way or no wrong way to hold anything . Did you ever watch a leftie hold a pencil . The main thing is to send nice clean , clear erythematic and properly spaced character's. I will tell you what my Elmer WA3EMA told me many a time , and that is " you can have 3 PHD's and not get the code , you either got it or you don't " . You know the different hemisphere's of the brain thingy . That sure holds true. Have fun , it's a hobby

[@zoolkhan]

Very true - after a while you will find your own way - but this video is not the worst point to __start__ the jorney. I am not addressing the old farts, or attempting to change their ways, my vid is for the beginner. Ive seen people - never reaching proficiency, - never getting out clean code (permanent QSD\QLF until silent key) , - blaming the key, ("straight keys generate glass fist","straight keys are slow","straight keys generate fatigue" etc etc) - abandoning CW/A1A operation alltogether.... Why? because they all had in common that they started out wrong. There is a reason why the (german, but also u.s. and other) military developed certain methods. The reason is that they trained masses of people (every couple of months a new batch of recruits) They have a lot of experience, and use that to develop methods that generated the best results in average from a given number of recruits from all walks of life with different degrees of talent. With their, with my way - a beginner has a good chance to reach the point where they actually can worry and find out about adaptations to personal physiology and preference vs failing/giving up long before. And if they divert past that point to a different path - then thats just fine - they will have the required basis for educated decision making by then. My only motivation is to give a beginner an initial direction that does not cause harm, and that is not setting him up for failure. Everything else is in the hands of Poseidon.

[@zoolkhan]

The key in the video was obtained brand new in 1987 ca. and it served me very well. Nowadays i also use an iambic paddle, but both systems are parallel connected and i can swap on the fly. It is my sincere belief, that one should learn to walk (use straight key properly) before he tries to fly (iambic paddle, electronic keyers,memory keyers)

[@RicktheRecorder]

Yes this is nice steady morse, very readable, with as you say a few 'dot' errors. Your style is American, which is fine, and particularly suited to a low profile key. That does not mean, as some US commentators insist on claiming, that the 'European' method is inferior. This involves using the arm and shoulder as well as the wrist, flexibly, on a taller and more substantial key, often bolted to the front edge of the desk. Indeed, perhaps 2/3rds to 3/4s of the world's professional operators use that style, and it does not lead to injury as long as the operator remains relaxed, as he should.

[@zoolkhan]

When i was tought this by a german merchant, and later German navy instructors it was not specified to be anyones style. This BS comes from hams 🙂 who also, if asked, have no clear ideas where it was coined :) Plenty of americans believe the floating ellbow is the way to go, and to them i tell you: " if force by circumstance only " Especially in the navy, you may end up with very tiny quarters. (not every ship is a USS Nimitz or saratorga) and in those quarters is no room for the entire lower arm. (my workplace was like that) You make do with what you have - and woosh the standard "floating ellbow and hurting shoulder" is born out of necessity. I think there is no "american" or "european" method. Or else i will be calling this the "german method" since i saw this beeing traine this way in germany by professionals and goverment paid officials alike. And then lets see how much flak i get for that. haha... 73 man de og4u

[@sm7fbj]

How do you work 23WPM with this fist? I get tired in my arm just by looking. Though, nice fist! Music.

[@zoolkhan]

+SM7FBJ did you actually measure the speed? my own estimation would have been around 15-18 wpm. The trick is to have the hand relaxed, only using the muscles required for the job. I can transmit the entire bible this way. The "flying ellbow"-method leads to tension in the shoulder and hand and fatigue comes much faster. hälsningar til sverige

[@adrianoragazzo1321]

Your arm gets tired because your posture is wrong . you arm should sit on the table from the wrist to the elbow . Yes, the arm in the video is too high from the table, wich makes the transmission little imperfect . Also, not every straight keys are ok : it depend about your arm and hand : you'll have to find your one .

[@zoolkhan]

The paddle i use is a CT73 from the ukraine, a very precise handmade iambic paddle with magnetic tension adjustments..very heavy too. Perhaps similar to the shurr keys in its quality, but more affordable. (ebay) - i tried a bencher once.. and it disassembled the momen i touched it in a clubstation... haha.. i sneaked out of it before anyone saw me... will never buy a bencher since that experience :)

[@zs2mat]

Thanks for the tutorial. Perhaps we could see some ideas of adjusting spring pressure and contact gap.

[@zoolkhan]

Greetings matt. I am very frustrated, because i had caption text explaining/translating and youtube decided to disable that feature - making a lot of my videos worthless over night. Regarding the spring pressure adjustment, i am not aware of a doctrine there - it is highly subjective to how it feels good to you personally. I am not sure i am able to give good advise.... but when i get to a new key, different station (club or friend whatever) - then i would normally send a couple of lines (w/o transmitting) like "the quick bown fox..." in order to get a feel for the key... after that i would make the spring hard enough that a slight "tatter" weakness in my style would not accidentially cause a tone - but not too strong that i really need a force. The gap is wide for slow speed , narrow for faster operation - so with a new key, i keep the gap wide tension hard - all this is to reduce errors and then i feel my way towards "comfort" and speed by closing the gab and reducing tension a bit. That works for me, but i never heared my mentors or commaniding officers lose a word about it.

[@Nuvolari1]

Thanks for the effort. To increase effectiveness of your tutorial, you could "talk" about what you had to say in your own post: "elbow rests on table whenever possible - dahs come from the wrist, dits from fingertips." instead of just showing it and hoping the attentive viewer will pick up the important details. BTW, that is not a Junkers key. It is a Junker. At least that's what it says on mine ;)

[@zoolkhan]

As you can see, i have a paddle in the background beneath the rig. I use it for higher speeds. Personally i think, ability to use straight key with a decent fist must be maintained. If you can only morse with help of microchips, youre giving away a major advantage that still speaks for morsecode in modern times: simplicity, and resiliency. So i keep both keys connected at all times, and swap on the fly to reassure myself, i havent lost my fist.

[@stefanonegrini4675]

I will keep it alive!! I promise :D

[@zoolkhan]

mni tks om! cu on mrd coming weekend?

[@zoolkhan]

ah.. allright. ill consider adding a few more caption pointers if you think that helps.. Though,. the student might as well read the description to find out what this is about :)

[@zoolkhan]

in case anyone wonders, youtube has removed all captions texts from all videos, and so they become pointless to many of my viewers.

[@limkhuan5102]

good advises

[@gelubotezan3917]

excellent sending Timo! I wish I hear more such fists in the bands. YO5CRR

[@zoolkhan]

mni tks :)

[@MrSparkomatic]

That was so painful, especially on extended periods. I wound up with my whole arm on the table, and minimum Wrist and Finger Movement. No glass arm, and minimal Arthiritis Pain. What works for you, is the best way. 73

[@zoolkhan]

if you get pain, glas fist or fatigue to soon then you have not understood my instructions. i guarantee you, the "floating elbow" method fatigues you much sooner. and amplifies things like glass fist. the rested elbow allows for relaxation of unused muscles (i.e shoulder) it is not required to mimick exactly my exaggerated motions, as long you rest the elbow. what you see in my video i can (and you technically could) do all day long transmitting the bible at hight speed even. one should at least have tried it as Maritime radio professionals suggest. then you can modify it to fit your individual needs, or abandon it altogether. it would be an educated decision. btw i use the paddle mostly. but i don't lose my skills on the straight key - both keys are parallel connected and even ready to go when rig is in ssb mode. I had to exagurate the motions a bit, to get a point across. Unfortunately youtube erased my subtitle-explanations, so you lack the explanations..... ...unless you actually read the code.

[@zoolkhan]

the information that comes at "turtles pace" is irrelevant. I could as well have sent "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" - as all the infos were already in the description to this video. All the viewer was supposed to do is OBSERVE the arm, wrist, ellbow, fingertips in correlation with dits and dahs. - so it is perfectly ok if you dont watch it til the end, in case you understood my point already sooner. :-)

[@MrDednDave]

Great fist, Timo :)

[@zoolkhan]

well trained by martial arts punching sandbags and concrete walls haha..

[@zoolkhan]

there is also a very good website for learning morsecode - lcwo.net (learn CW online) it has different learning modes for absolute beginners up to the fastest professionals. But if there is anything else you want me to record, let me know.

[@MichaelSmith-ql3ez]

Sorry you got snarky comments. Excellent video. You got your point across. Did anyone listen to your CW? Thanks de N0WDM

[@zoolkhan]

you mean burt2481? haha.. yeah he is a bitter old man, that actually goes to all my videos (i have also many that dont touch ham radio) ... so he goes to all of them to press the thumb down... unrelated of what the vid is about. I am guessing he has subscribed me just to get notified when i upload a new video so he doesnt forget to press that thumb down. If that one day would not happen anymore, then i will know he is silent key. Isnt that cute :-) I do not really care about statistics or thumbs, i dont earn money with this and view numbers mean nothing to me. To him though it means the world aparrantly ... its pathetic .. but i do not really care. I am not insecure, i know my stuff, i have been in the navy. And i will plow through the seas on _my_ course - undistracted. Burt likes to see his face - and he likes to hear his own voice very much. My approach very different. If i make a video about telegraphy, i dont put my ugly nose into the focus but the relevant bits such as a telegraph key in example :-)

[@taraxicumofficinale3538]

You didn't offend me for sure, thanks for the good video. . . 73

[@zoolkhan]

+Taraxicum Officinale cheers :-)

[@zoolkhan]

a) if a student doesnt have the patience to watch 5 mins of video for a livetime of knowledge then he is not worth my attantion. I could "talk" but i deliberately choosed not to. There is too many hams out there who enjoy nothing more but to put their faces into the cam and then talk a subject to death... i prefer to direct the students focus on what matters. I dont know my succsess rate.. maybe its bad, but at least you have at least one accurate video. b) its "Junker" i always mess it up

[@zoolkhan]

Your comment honors me. And i am super-happy that you take it on you, to learn CW. i can recommend the website lcwo.net (learn cw online) made my a young herman high-speed telegrafist. It has multiple ways to improve your morselistening, its free and without any ads. If there is anything else you need help with, please get in touch.. cheers, timo - oh8xat

[@Man0fMeans]

Now THIS is a speed I can receive. Forget that 30wpm+ nonsense!

[@TheMicrofox]

50-60 cps is ok.

[@patrickgorman7230]

awesome technique!

[@zoolkhan]

thank you patrick. i try to pass it on - a challenge in a time, when official military and civillian trainings no longer exist, and radio amateurs are the only ones preserving the art, the newer ones learning alone at home rather than in a classroom as it used to be back in the days, hence they never really get tought the actual technique... or they start right away with an electric key.. never training the ear and rhytm and operation practise... i just try to do my part :)

[@michaelduda4071]

+zoolkhan Thanks for the great video. I've taught myself over the past 2 weeks using a smartphone app (Morse CT), but I would like a real key; I can send decently, but I'm still ridiculously slow at receiving. This video is a fantastic resource-playing it at 0.5 speed just makes it very easy to follow your technique.

[@zoolkhan]

Michael Duda transmitting is actually the easiest part. 80% of the training belongs to the "copying" For that i recommend the website LCWO.NET Once youre ready to operate - "real keys" can be found on ebay. mine is a german junker heavy and precise - and it will last a lifetime. (those 4$ plastik keys that you need to nail on a plank first are junk) I recommend any european key junker is my perferred choice, there are nice army keys from eastern euro on the market and if you want something shiny - maybe KENT is worth a look

[@michaelduda4071]

I also noticed that sending is muuuuch easier than receiving :-) Thanks for the link! Practice makes better... I'm already lurking on eBay, and since I live in Germany, it should't be too hard to find something at a reasonable price.

[@zoolkhan]

+Michael Duda alles klar, ich hab meine taste damals (1987) noch neu gekauft - aber ich weiss nicht ob die noch hergestellt wird. - edit: viele tasten in USA sind nicht so der hit, aber es gibt auch dort ausnahmen. Vibroplex ist einer der besseren hersteller z.b. (bencher paddles fallen auseinander, und richtige hubtasten (straight-keys) haben die garnicht.. nur plastikmuell) Das beste ist deutsch (junker, shurr, microkey) , englisch (kent), oder japanisch. Und bei paddles auch italiänisch (begali) - Uebrigens - lcwo.net wurde von einem deutschen schnelltelegrafisten entwickelt.

[@Varianna12]

Very good sending. One can see why the bug came into being.

[@zoolkhan]

+Varianna12 a "bug" is a mechanical half-automatic key with sideways movement. Not shown in this vid. This is just a "key" :-)

[@Varianna12]

+zoolkhan Yes. Meant that the bug much easier on the wrist.

[@zoolkhan]

Varianna12 my wrist can do this all day long mate. but a bug is definetely faster at some point - so for speed reasons i use the iambic paddle visible in background - when it is more important to get something through the static, and speed is 2ndary - then i switch back to the straight key. This video shows you how to give long telegrams w/o getting tired. Thats the point of this exercise. Merchant navy operators submitted hours in a row telegram after telegram - using this method. (especially on passenger ships with a lot of personal telegrams from and to passengers)

[@Varianna12]

+zoolkhan Dit Dar Dit.

[@munichman1968]

ufb dr OM!!

[@drevil5546]

Are you still using the Junker?

[@zoolkhan]

Yes. It's the best straight key i came across so far.

[@zoolkhan]

if just one person profits from it, then the little effort was justified. We CW operators fight against becoming extinct...and i am happy for everyone who learns it. Its an old mode, but the pro arguments for the mode are not invalidated.. you simply get better DX with much less effort...(no linear needed in CW) All the best for your learning efforts .. check out lcwo.net -website.. (learn cw online) its brilliant and has different methods for absoulte beginners up to hispeed freaks...

[@POON3345]

First part was C Q C if I am not wrong. Dah dit dah dit dah dit dah dah.

[@zoolkhan]

i am guessing you mean the KA .. normal prosign for text/qtc start.

[@POON3345]

@@zoolkhan yes

[@TheMicrofox]

@@zoolkhan I am currently learning CW, and they told us to start with VVV. dididit dah.

[@zoolkhan]

i left this comment standing as an example of what is not ham-spirit and not professional: "burt2481 1 day ago How stupid are you? I made specific comments, speak and your good video will be a great video as it will be watched TO THE END because people will stay rather than watch the information come at a turtle pace" I removed all other comments theat lead to this, as they dont add value to this video comment section.

[@aroc000]

Very nice video Timo! 73 de iu0kwx

[@zoolkhan]

grazie Alessandro

[@petchharrison]

oh is the a kenwood ts440 i see or as i say Trash of Tinshit 440 .. jeff ..

[@zoolkhan]

Jeffrey petch-harrison ...insulting someones rig out of context, always a good conversation starter :) that tinshit has an age of over 30 yrs. lets talk again if your hi end-whatever gear you prefer has reached the same age, ok? btw, the vid is a few years old - and there is now a yaesu ft dx 1200 in its place.

[@Nuvolari1]

When I put "talk" in quotes, I meant it in a figurative sense, i.e., "talk" via code, like you already did. I am fine with that. My point is to "talk" about what you show in the video and not rely on a student to analyze your video, wondering what it is that you want to convey. It has to do with pedagogic concepts. "Say" what you show, show what you "say". Right now, the only relevant part you are saying is to rest the elbow. All the other text is about your teacher and his background. Cheers!