CW Resources
Koch's method
Traditionally, Morse code has been taught by struggling through all the codes at a slow speed and then (slowly) progressing towards higher speeds.
Koch's method, on the other hand, dictates that you should start learning at the desired speed - but you start with only two characters. Each session is five minutes long, and whenever you get 90% or more correct, you add another character.
Just Learn Morse Code utilizes Koch's method for teaching Morse code.
Farnsworth timingTraditionally, reducing the speed of Morse code has been done by making everything take longer, i.e. both the sounds and the silent periods between them. Using Farnsworth timing, characters are sent at the same speed as at higher speeds, while extra spacing is inserted between characters and words to slow the transmission down. The advantage of this is that you get used to recognizing characters at a higher speed, and thus it will be easier to increase the speed later on.
Using Farnsworth timing is optional in Just Learn Morse Code.
The ARRL uses Farnsworth timing for transmissions, practice and test tapes up to 18 WPM (90 CPM).
Farnsworth timing was invented by Donald R. Farnsworth (W6TTB) in thelate 1950s.
Apps
iOS
Ham Morse
Koch Trainer
Morse-it
PC
Just learn Morse code
http://www.g4fon.net go to the Koch trainer
https://lcwo.net
Websites
http://www.skccgroup.com Complete information CW ops. Join grouper a good way to start and get into CW
https://www.qsl.net/n1irz/finley.morse.html Good Morse code reference page (just learn Morse code)
https://cwops.org Three classes offered a year to get CW students proficient with CW
https://morsecode.ninja/ great site. Many many YouTube videos.
http://f6dqm.free.fr/soft/cwplayer/en/cwplayer.htm A good Windows training software app. A lot of fun to play with.
Videos
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lockdown+morse This site came up as a COVID 19 get away
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uadDqm0pObY Old US Navy training film
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6ggckXtZjs Up dated sending by a German trained sailor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmg1MlstxWM Old US Navy training film
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_oXTSQ4AGk Ask Dave 13: The CW Renaissance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sqiyJi6YM8 Ham Radio - Learning Morse code, three things to avoid for better sending
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BlhhBK1CBw Morse code Ninja
On air code practice W1AW http://www.arrl.org/w1aw-operating-schedule
My Adventures of CW
Morse Code, one of the greatest adventures and struggles of my life. I think it all started in Boy Scouts with the competitions of Camporees against other troops. There were a couple of us, George and I who took on the challenge of memorizing the code to use for semaphore and light in order to gain the extra points. The agonizing process required learning that familiar table of dots and dashes that Samual Morse first developed in 1837 with international revisions to what we now know, and use today as the International Morse Code, in 1851. Long story short, we beat the other troops. George and I went on to set up a signal light from the Tujunga to Sunland communities where we flashed simple light messages occasionally to each other.
Junior and High School I found myself interested in ham radio and of course the entry level Novice license required that five word a minute code test. But guess what, I knew those dots and dashes. I needed to get some practicing listing and not watching blinking lights. My studies began. I built a practice oscillator and bought a cheap key. I found you could buy a 33 1/3 rpm record with Morse code tracks to slowly and painfully play simple letters and words at 5 WPM. At this speed I learned as many did, to count the dots and dashes of the characters especially the numbers. I developed the mental look-up table that unfortunately resides in my head to this day. My dad would take me to a weekly code practice group in Glendale where several of us want-a-be novice operators would listen to the slow. Dooooots and dassssshhhhes. Slow enough to look up in my mental look up table.
The big day came. I was excused from school and took the bus to downtown LA and found the FCC building. There sat the examiner, non smiling, in his suit. The 605s was completed and the code test began. You had to get 60 seconds of correct copy in five minutes. Piece of cake. I referred to my lookup table locked in my head several times, but at 5 WPM it works. I passed the code test, the rest was easy. WB6TLZ 1961.
Fast forward a few years, Novice license lapsed, graduated 1963, community college and I had a strained relationship, and Vietnam was escalating. I figured the Navy was the place to be. The recruiter said I could be a Radioman. First day at boot camp came a battery of tests to determine placement aptitude. One of the tests given was to determine your ability to learn and receive Morse code. I searched and found the lookup table still in my head. But it was only good for 5 WPM. All I needed. Perfect copy. The placement officer asked if I wanted to be a Communications Technician, CT? I asked if that was like a radioman. He said, sort of. Ok then, sign me up. CT’s come in several flavors. I chose CTM (maintenance). I got to repair the equipment used by the other CT branches, Linguists, Crypto, Technical, Operators. It also gave me the opportunity to sit and copy the the five letter Morse code group schedules to relieve some of the other operators while at sea. In port I did indulge and get my Tech license and onto my General.
My greatest stumbling block and struggle has always been the the ability to effectively increase my code speed and hang with the operators that make head copy look so easy. The operators who listen and Morse Code as language that is understood with the same ease and grace as our common spoken language. I attribute it in part to initial method of learning. The lookup table still resides in my head. If I miss a character or QRM causes a loss of several characters, the lookup table appears and the interruption begins. What was that I heard? Now I’m really behind and lost. We did not learn language by a lookup table of sounds. We learned the sounds. Morse Code is a collection of sounds not dots and dashes. When you send code with a key you send a sound. Not a collection of dots and dashes. Much as playing a musical instrument. You play sounds. The listener does not convert those sounds to notes. Consider Morse Code music and the key the musical instrument. Use your ears to learn the code and not your eyes. Listen to the characters at a speed of 15 to 20 WPM in order to not count dots and dashes and mentally sub-vocalize the lookup table. Use the Farnsworth and Koch method and don’t rely on charts of dots and dashes.
The question arises, why use a communication mode from a hundred and fifty years ago that is no longer required for licensing? It’s very effective and efficient. You can make needed DX contacts easier. Many repeater ID’s are in CW. You will find it used in music and movies. For your resume it is a second language. It’s tradition. Just last night in two separate TV programs references to Morse code were used.
N6FVY