Ham Radio - Learning Morse code, three things to avoid for better sending
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 เม.ย. 2018
- A little discussion on sending Morse and a few bad habits some fall into. Plus a couple of hints on how to self-improve your own sending.
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Kevin, Very good information. I am a 78 year OM and trying to learn CW, you have given me some food for learning, so I don't build in bad habits. Thanks
As a new Ham, this was helpful to understand that PRACTICE in sending and Receiving is vital for good communication. Clean Code is the watch word. You-tubes from the US Military in the late 40's and 50;s are useful and demonstrate as you have also shown. Thank you.
One thing that has helped me a bit with spacing is when I send a letter, I think the letter “P” between elements. CQ would be C”p”Q. When I send words, I think the word “Paris”. CQ CQ CQ DE would be CQ”Paris”CQ”Paris”CQ”Paris”DE. This has helped me slow down a bit when sending CW.
As a CW learner (and a member of SKCC) I appreciate everything you are saying here, and I agree with the general ideas you are presenting (although I don't appreciate the SKCC comment - there are a lot of people in the group who spend a lot of time and effort helping new straight key users learn good technique and promoting the value of learning CW), but I wonder how many people who have a 'poor fist' would improve if people are good at CW would answer their mumbled CQs and let them know how they can improve. There's a great deal of emphasis put on contesting and it is very easy to assume that speed is more important than any other aspect of the hobby when you're new - if no one tells you what you're doing wrong, how is a new CW operator to know?
Trying to improve by listening to your own recordings is good, but it will only take you so far. If I can't get any QSOs on the air because my spacing is not perfect, it's unlikely that I'll improve my technique (or even be interesting in trying, for that matter.) It's just as frustrating to someone like me to try to QSO with people who won't adjust to my speed or who won't answer my 5-10wpm QSO but answers others who are sending much faster is frustrating. Ultimately, being ignored is very likely to give new hams the impression that most people on the air are only concerned with working people who are 'pros' at CW, and that's unlikely to entice new people to say on the air.
All that said, I would like to reiterate that I understand and agree with what you are saying about timing and spacing - quality is key in my opinion, far more so than speed - I'm just questioning whether ignoring poor fists is the best way to communicate that they need to work on their skills. It takes time and practice and quality feedback to develop a new language (and CW is very much like learning a language) If you run into the same person who hammering out junk for month after month and they have no interest in your feedback then that's one thing, but you might consider directing people to videos like this rather than simply ignoring them and assuming that they are intentionally being poor fists.
Good points. Thanks for taking the time to share them.
Great tips and info. It was always drummed into me that sending good code is vital so that the 'receiver' has the best chance of making the contact with you.
Spacing is vitally important. Not running characters together and always be polite and try to match the speed of the person on the other side (no good sending at 25 wpm when the other station clearly cant read at that speed) are all really important too.
Hearing well sent Morse Code is a real pleasure for the ear.... Cheers, 73
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I feel better about not understanding some of the code I hear on the air. Thanks Kevin
I totally agree about the word spacing. For one thing, I NEED that space to figure out the word - I learned using Farnsworth so I often lag behind a few chars and need that extra space to catch up. But also if I get "lost" (which I do often!), I listen for the beginning of a word to get back "in sync".
And it's a great method to improve your sending is using a decoder: if the computer can read you, most operators could as well. Another method is using a RBN - again, if the RBN can read you, you're doing OK.
Thanks Kevin for the helpful tips. I am just starting to learn Morse code and found your video very supportive for my learnings.
Thanks for this, it made me consider some points which had not previously crossed my mind.
Great advice. The "welikedriving" example was excellent.
Excellent tips, thanks! I often avoid trying to read code when it's the least bit confusingly transmitted.
Back in a previous century, when code was a licensing requirement, you had to send as well as receive to pass. As a musician, I would set a beat with my feet and send to that beat. Unfortunately, like the other foreign languages I learned as a kid, I have forgotten a lot of the code.
Very good points! Stuff you wouldn't know without experience. Thanks for sharing.
Very good observations and lessons, Kevin. Thanks and I hope some will heed your advice. I like CW, but as I get older - I like you tend to avoid the sloppy senders.
Hi there. I learned morsecode the proper way by counting out the dashes and dots in school and worked as a radio officer for a number of years during the early eighties before it all became obsolete. The dots and dashes relate as follows: dot is one, dash is three, space in between dots and dashes in a letter is one, space between letters in a word is three and space between words is seven. After all these years although rusty it's still all there, just not as fast as before.
Nice channel by the way.
._._. ..._._
When I took my first code test back in the early '90s I had been studying using the Farnsworth method. The code test was in 5 WPM SLOW CODE! Barely passed the test. I couldn't tell when the character was done and another started. Fortunately nowadays there are phone apps and computer programs to teach using Koch sequences and high character speeds with Farnsworth spacing.
Isn't it funny how many people say that it's easier to send than receive? You did a great job! The true test is having a program decode what is being sent manually.
Excellent video, thank you for posting. These ideas will help me to improve and develop morse skills.
Excellent info… after all we do tell folk who have poor audio on SSB, but often we don’t with CW.
Your suggestions are very good, especially decoding in either rig or software.
This really does reflect quality of your sent code. It is also very good to use ALL the time, as it stops you getting into bad habits with sloppy code.
Very good tips! My pet peeve with copying CW has always been the guys that smash the words together as you put it. Spacing is SO important. With all the decoding and sending software these days, it make me wonder when I hear clean code just how many are actually sending and copying the code in their head....
I agree there are some rare birds out there whocancopysomethinglikethis at 30 wpm while doing their taxes but the rest of us mortals need spacing ; ) There are some phone app decoders that will work for sending practices as well
As a super young ham I was always amazed by the old salt cw operators at field day. A couple of the really good guys were WWII Navy radio operators and spooky good. They would be chatting back and forth to each other while flying through contacts and harassing us young guys with our new fangled psk stuff haha
Whucncpysumthglikeths. Hihi
I listened to an SKCC QSO last night and it took forever to figure out what one of the guy's callsign was. The spacing and timing was horrible. It turned out that he had a 1X2 call and I thought it was a 2x3 call. The other guy was good and in fact he's the only reason I copied the callsigns. Good on him for being able to understand the other guy. There's a guy that I hear quite often that doubles or triples the length of the last dash in the letter K. That said, my straight key work isn't ready for prime time... but I'm working on it. I guess I would rather hear bad code than no code but sometimes it's the same thing... 73 NE5U
Thank you, Keven I've been learning CW and looking forward to getting on the air. your video is very helpful and ill be implementing your advice!
Glad it was helpful Mike. There's something about making contact with Morse that just *feels* like ham radio at it's purest. I hope you enjoy it. Check out the Straight Key Century Club, SKCC. Lot's of guys that are learning and good easy s l o w contacts for those that are new to it. They hang around 7050 to 7055 most days and nights.
Kevin Loughin Hi Kevin. Great video....... No I didn't get it !! I'm laughing as I remember a room full budding pilots MANY years ago , when we were tested on code....as the examiner was really hurt when some people complained....so he would keep repeating !!! I think we all passed :)
Great video Kevin! I am teaching a beginner cw class through my local radio club. I'll be showing (and discussing) your video during this week's class meeting. Thank you!
Ron Harvey
WB5UPS
Я в детстве занимался радиоспортом. Участвовал в соревнованиях "Охота на лис". В армии служил 2 года (1987-1989) связистом на радиостанции. Морзянку помню до сих пор как второй язык.
Down to earth exact explanation. Thank you
I like your videos Kevin. The use of the wording of Dot and Dash vs. the sounds of dit and dah may confuse new operators between something seen vs. something heard. Keep up the good work! KX4EZ
I concur with you. My opinion is that, as other ways of communications, the interest of two correspondents is primarily to be able understand eachother. So, before other considerations, I think it's a matter of good manners.
Excellent video and demo. Thank you for taking on this topic. My take on all this is it is about having empathy for the person who is listening to you. Would YOU like to decipher your own code? I have been practicing and have yet to make my first QSO, but this whole topic is immediately apparent once you start listening to actual code on the air.
Kevin, you are absolutely correct! There is more bad code on the air than good code. That is why so many new CW ops get very frustrated and many just give up and go digital. If you have good code the computer programs copying CW can copy it quite well, but if code is bad it these programs struggle badly too! It really is too bad the FCC did away with CW code proficiency requirements for licenses. But we all know why it went bye bye and bad code (FIST) has always been an issue, Many good points.
Good video..sending truly has become an afterthought..
In addition I might add that one reason for code that almost sounds spastic (for lack of a better word) is that many individuals don't grasp the key correctly..DON'T be a tapper..you see that in movies and it's just wrong..it results in shortened dits, multiple dits instead of just one, and a host of problems..
There are two accepted keying styles..american and european..both work..I use the European method and my arm lasts longer..others may be different..google both methods and watch videos..it'll help you..
BTW the advice about recording yourself and later trying to copy it is a very good idea.
Great Lesson, well done. I'm just learning CW myself and at the moment I'm finding reading harder than sending. I can read letters at 30wpm but when letters are strung together to make up words, then I'm lost. It would be great if you did a lesson on reading as well. Best Regards Dave. MW6IVW
It's all in the rhythm
Watched this twice now 😂😂😂
Thank you SIR: Kevin.L ....! It's v.cool to learn of the idea that you are giving ..!
Great lessons. The long dash is almost like a dialect, like a hillbilly. Thanks for the examples.
Excellent and well said.
I think the problem is many do not learn rythmically. Each letter, phrase etc has a rythmn, CQ for example.
It is really difficult to hear your own mistakes, especially when you just start. Morse is all about getting a feel of the rhythm and counting helps getting control when you start. A dash counts to three, the dod and the space in a letter to one. Spaces between words count to seven. For example the letter C (-.-.) counts like 123 1 1 1 123 1 1. You start slowly and count faster once you have control. At some speed you can just let go of the counting but your wrist is used to moving in the right rhythm and moves automatically. Another problem is the position of the hand, wrist and the arm. They have to be in the right position to control the morse key properly and in a relaxed way. Your characters will immediately start varying in length once the cramp kicks in because the position of the arm and hand are incorrect.
After 50 years working CW with a straight key, bug, and now an iambic electronic keyer, I have found that I like a 3.1 to 3.2 dot-dash ratio. It seems that DX stations I'm contacting tend to hear my call better with a slightly longer dash. I also use a slightly longer character spacing for the same reason. This is with an iambic key though, not a straight key. I haven't used a straight key in years, so my sending would probably be horrendous if I tried to run SKN. The infamous "Lake Erie Swing" came about from ops using a semi-automatic key, emphasizing the dashes, and having the dots set too fast for what they were comfortable sending. Finally, having a QSO with an Italian CW operator is nearly impossible, unless you're a really experienced, high speed operator. Some of them run around at least 40 WPM. Those Italians, they love their speed, lol. That's why I bought a Begali key. 73 es gud DX de N4QM K
Good points well made.
Sending is just as important copying.
The difference is sending is MUCH easier to learn to do correctly.
Morse Elmer, on iPhone is awesome.
Nice video. I have been trying to learn morse code and an having fun with it. That is the main use of my MFJ-464 it reveals mistakes in keying real quick. I can't stand loping lolly there's someone out there that is impossible to copy.
Great Video, I wish a lot of the people I have CW QSO'S with would watch this video before sending me their trash over the air waves.
Great video.
hi, enjoyed your video. In the Air Force a long time ago I was xx207 - Morse intercept operator stationed in Italy copying warsaw block communications. At the time I could copy 25 groups per minute. But Albania had real crappy Chinese made equipment which sounded like sparrows. Terrible code to hear. Anyway, I would like to get back into Morse via Ham radio. Can you make a recommendation to me about the type of equipment to get so I can get started?
Hi, Kevin. Glad I found your video. I'm a newcomer to CW, trying hard to learn the right way. While looking for code to listen to on the air, I've been a bit dismayed by some of what I've heard. In many cases, it's like trying to understand somebody who's speaking with a very thick accent. I can copy it, but only just. Doing so is no fun, however, and when I hear it I tend to move on as you do.
As a beginner, I hesitate to judge other people's fists. Is this stuff really considered bad practice or is it an accepted part of "ham culture?" Do people send this way because they don't know any better, they're purposely adding some cute personal touches that sound good to them, or they're having trouble with their keyers or software? It's puzzling.
In any case, my goal is to send the best CW I can and videos like yours are helping me get there. Thanks for the advice.
That sounds like Morse from old WWII movies that you get on television so that makes wonder did SOE teach sloppy Morse code.
You guys out there there is a PDF file called "The secrets of Easy Morse Code Sending!" should help make you a better HAM.
Awesome code key! Where do you get those skulls? Thanks for the good advice.
I made it. I put the part file up on thingiverse if you have a 3D printer.
Accurate and neat is the way to go !
Great video, Kevin. Here's a big one: in bad conditions SLOW THE HECK DOWN. All those little dits get lost in the QSB and the M&N and render your signal unreadable. I know you're real proud of sending QRQ and all, but when the other station can't copy your call, and keeps asking for it over and over, and you keep answering at 20wpm, and he keeps asking again... SLOW THE HECK DOWN. Because otherwise you're sending at 0wpm. Which isn't QRQ, mate.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. 73 Bret C / AC0AE
Hello Kevin,
I would add two more things to avoid in morse communication. The first is sending too fast, or even too slow. Too fast and you miss letters or even words, too slow, and the things end up as "T"s.
To me the second one is worse than the 3 you mentioned:
In a sense you mentioned it, but not quite: The dot-to-dash ratio. While having long dashes is a bit sloppy, it is mostly readable, if not exaggerated too much. Much worse is when you can hardly distinguish between dots and dashes (dots too long or dashes too short). Then the brain get so confused that the sent "code makes no sense at all. combined with the letter and word spacing being off it ends up as total gibberish, even if the signals are strong.
I have heard this on air several, and **then** I give up even trying!
Thank you.
Put your oscillator side tone in one ear, your other ear gets a pre-fab text from your app and send as you read and hear.
Doesn't take much explanation, math, measuring, etc.
You're a good teacher Kevin...There's too many videos where the person just waffles on without actually showing or talking about how to do the things he says in the title....who wants to hear about how the winds blowing at his QTH when he's supposed to be showing how to use a morse keyer....Anyways keep up the good work mate
Thankssomuchforyourvideosir73
Even when sending with an IAMBIC (paddle) keyer it is possible to run the individual characters too close together - the keyer will quantise the inter-character space to the nearest dit but this can mean you send with only 2 dits between letters and probably way less than 7 dits between words. CARE is needed whichever method you use to send. I agree with all the comments that mention rhythm - rhythm is all important for sending with a straight key! Personally, I prefer to space characters and words by more than the defined minimum as this takes some of the decode pressure off the listener.
73 to all, Tim G0ETP.
Thanks for the video…..I was a RM2 1961-65, self taught. I loved Morse code. When I first started accuracy was paramount. We sent and received encrypted 5 letter code groups. I have been away for 56 years, recently got my ham ticket. I find sending at approx 20wpm is easier to send & receive than slower speeds. Any thing slower I end up counting dits & daas . Is it alright to extend the spacing between letters and still spend 20wpm? Thanks Ted
Sure. Some recommend learning code with a higher character rate and slower spacing. The idea being that the student learns the sound of the character, rather than learns to count elements. The latter will lead to hitting a wall at some speed where it takes your brain too long to process counting.
Apps are great for this. I have an app that will decode as you text and you can see what it sees. If your spacing is too great, it will put a word space. Too small and it can't understand.
Heard someone last night and his sending seemed to be in a panic and no spacings ... i fave up and so-did the laptop 😂
QRS- PLS SPCE -K
Letters mashed together visually is easy to read because the eyes and brain don't need the spacing. Audibly mashed together is a nightmare when the only thing identifying them is their quantity and space between each other.
It takes time to listen to all and then after the final dit or dah then figure out what was sent.
11:42 this is the NUMBER ONE trick used for people in "public speaking" training so that you'll know how you "sound to others"!
U R my hero! I don't make videos but if i did it would address the same issues.
Makes total sense. If every sends better everyone has a better chance at copy.
01:50 Dot to Dash Ratio
04:58 Spacing Between Letters
08:22 Spacing Between Words
_Other sending tips:_
11:30 Record yourself and then try to decode it later.
12:51 Test yourself with a CW Decoder Application Program
;-)
In my personal opinion, English orthography alone makes it harder than it should be to copy Morse Code. As i hear letters, i want to sound out a word. But since almost every letter in English has two, three, or even four different sounds depending on the word. For example, CH has three sounds: church, Christ, machine.
Thank you for the good advise on cw grammar. 73 s kp4vm.
So true !
Is there a trustworthy source of fldigi for every operating system? Wikipedia/Google send me to a website that does not have HTTPS (secure connection) and my OS complains that it might not be trustworthy. Plus the pages are full of various named and versions of apps, so it's not clear what is used. Do you have any links you would recommend to obtain the fldigi FOSS? Looks very cool.
You could go to the official source forge page for the official downloads.
sourceforge.net/projects/fldigi/files/
@@loughkb Thank you! Took a bit but I found a video ( th-cam.com/video/lnqKDal6jYs/w-d-xo.html ) explaining how to download the required files. It wasn't the normal 'green button' for some of the associated software. Green button first, then back, and then 'files', and then choose the appropriate install format for one's computer OS (.dmg for Mac, setup.exe for Windows). Software so far seems a bit buggy & crashy, but probably because I'm using it wrong. Just trying to do code practice without connecting to my rig for now. Audio card hookup is (as one resource put it) "a maze of parallel paths" ;-) Ham is so high tech now!
Found another video that was quite helpful (th-cam.com/video/FyaONgb-Yp8/w-d-xo.html ) Forked fldigi it to GitHub (where most programs are these days) and maybe someday look at some of the programming code more closely. Way beyond my current level though. So far, so good and promises to be a lot of fun.
I think code speed is a big factor too. Sending perfect 5wpm is not the same as sending 20wpm
Missed one of my “favorite” gotchas. The short dah. If I can’t tell if you’ve sent a 4 or 5 or maybe 6 🤔 your dashes are too short.
Yep! I hear a guy on 14.061 often that sends CQ as C A A, or C E T A.
I want a cool skull nob for my key too!
The link to the object is in the description. If you don't have a 3D printer, check your local library or look for a local hacker space. If you're in an amateur radio club, check with the club somebody there might have one.
Thanks,that was very helpful.73 de ZS5DG.
Great video! 73 de N4BRM
Lambic keyers take care of the slop.
New ham here. Is it unwise to go directly to an iambic keyer (so the radio handles the duration of the dit & dah? 73 de KI5HXM
I usually recommend starting out with a straight key as a way to help you in learning the proper spacing. But that's not a rule or anything.
@@loughkb thanks for the reply. I can see it useful to start with a straight key. Skipping that phase seems like cheating. I always tel people when I borrow something that I stole it fair and square. Haha. Back to code: I am planning on taking classes from the Long Island Cw group (I forget their name).
One more gripe... using the wrong Q signals on CW. Yikes!
And not putting in the question marks. QRZ means "I am calling". You send that to someone you didn't copy, I have no idea what you mean. QRL, same deal. Are you talking to someone I don't copy, or asking if I'm using the freq? Put in the damn corkscrew!
Ver ygoodandinformativevideo tha nkyou! ;)
Made my Novice way back in the early 70s WN7SEZ and then my master WA7SEZ
Kevin, you have great videos. But, my complaint here is your prep. You are doing a video on morse code, take a few seconds to look up the details. You THINK a dash is the length of three dots? You think the spacing between is one dot (or is it two). How can you teach us if you don't know?
With morse, there are recommendations and guidelines that vary depending on who wrote them. I just approximated a generalization of the rule.
People get really hung up on the minutia of the details where it's not really set in stone.
The surprising thing is that a lot of people are good at CW as functional users must be uncommon.
Slightly off topic -- I'm trying to practice CW after 30+ years expired license (just got re-licensed). Keys are f-ing expensive!! When did this happen? I picked up a very simple key for the built-in electronic keyer, and I think I had to pay $60 for it.
Hamfests! I nearly always see several that are good and not too pricey. I paid $20 for that antique telegraph key you see in the thumbnail and it has a great feel to it.
Someone is hoarding all the J-38 keys. LET OUR KEYS GO!!
Also, regardless of Morse being eliminated from ALL Ham tests [in Feb 2007], Morse's popularity is as strong as ever. Supply-and-demand for the limited supply of keys that qualify as Antiques raises the price (but nowhere as much as on eBay).
There seems to be a multitude of websites offering downloads for 3-D printers so you can run off your own copies of straight keys and paddles for a buck -- printer not included.
The simple and obvious solution to your points and all the comments below is to leave the Morse sending to computers, just like everyone does in CW contests. Is this what we want? Is machine Morse better than ham-fisted, I wonder?
Yep, there are a lot of ops on the band right now who are just plain sloppy. They don't realize it. They are trying to go faster than they are able and should just slow down. That gets me into trouble every time. The one that really frustrates me is the fellow who plays with dot/dash ratios on his keyer. He thinks it improves the code. It doesn't. The KISS principle applies here. There is a reason the ratios have stood the test of time for a hundred and fifty years. *First learn to send, then learn to send faster* .
On the idea of auto-completion that only works with plain text and is most assuredly a bad idea. One should train themselves to not anticipate the next letter because you have that "Wait whut?!" moment if the next letter isn't what you anticipated. High speed intercept operators (a dying breed) were trained never to anticipate the next letter. This is because they were copying random letters. Anyway ... just my two on that.
Is that key a J-38 if not what?
It's certainly the same style. I'd have to take it off the platform and look for marks on the bottom. There's no markings visible on top. I picked it up at a hamfest. It was with an old style magnetic sounder, part of a telegraph station from the past.
@@loughkb Thanks. Have you seen this amazing key collection? th-cam.com/video/GwsFwhJHSoQ/w-d-xo.html
He has lots of individual key photos on QRZ under his call KM4AHP.
I passed 5 wpm when I took the test. But I only passed the q and a portion. And I barely passed it. I wouldn't call it copy.
. . . _ _ _ . . . SOS Remember this
Yeah, but you typed "OSO" in code.
@@loughkb 🤣🤣😄 I did. I'll correct.
(Already my most stupid action of 2023)
Thanks a lot, KEVIN. 73,s de ea7dwk.
Not everyone is perfect. If you want perfect go digital. There may be physical or age reasons a sender isn't perfect. These arrogant, unrealistic expectations are what discourages newbies not sloppy code. Do the best you can with what you have.
Your keying technique is like handwriting. When they are bad, they are both hard to read. There is a guy I hear on 40 all the time that is so bad, his DAH length changes within a letter. He is very consistent so I have learned to copy him. But I wont Q with him. His CQ is DAH DIT DAAAH DIT. DAH DAAAAH DIT DAH. Drives me nuts.
Thanks so much for the 3D reference.
Woah there young fella.
You started wrong. Morse code is not dots and dashes, dots and dashes are visual. Morse code is sent by hand and received by ear.
You are misleading the newcomer as soon as you begin by talking about dots and dashes.
It is DITS and DAHS. No disrespect intended but truth should be told.
That's just nit picking.
@@loughkb I didn't expect anything else from you.
far too long winded I fell asleep 3minutes in. One way to teach dot /dash ratio is to tell learners to tap the key for a dit and press the key for a dash..
That advice will probably lead to dits being too short. And the short dits can be lost in static.
Sorry to hear about your short attention span. *Wink*
Not necessarily. I was in the Royal Navy and it was a method or explanation for those who had difficulty making their dits different from their dots. @@loughkb
Love it! Great information.. Working on learning CW now. 73 de KK4LGL
This is a CW community service announcement! TU FER THIS 73 de VK2AOE
Thank you.