Quick Start: Learn To Copy Morse Code
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ม.ค. 2022
- For most, the major hurdle to learning Morse Code is receiving and understanding the code, e.g. copy the code. Today I give you a method to start practicing today and four applications, PC, Android or iOS to get started.
I'll be back again soon to talk practicing transmitting Morse Code
Recommended approach:
- Follow the Koch method
- Set character speed to 15-20 words per minute
- Set Farnsworth spacing to 5-10 effective words per minute
- practice at least 15 minutes a day
- Continue to add Koch character pairs to your practice until you recognize the tones.
Recommended apps:
G4FON: www.g4fon.net/
Morse Toad iOS: apps.apple.com/us/app/morse-t...
Morse Toad Android: play.google.com/store/apps/de...
Morse Machine iOS: apps.apple.com/us/app/morse-m...
Morse Machine Android: play.google.com/store/apps/de...
Morse Elmer iOS: apps.apple.com/us/app/morse-e...
Morse Mentor Android: play.google.com/store/apps/de...
Want the best HT antenna? Signal Stuff Signal Stick signalstuff.com/?ref=622 (This is an affliate link)
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While I'm certainly not the smartest apple in the bunch, I am proud to say I've been all CW for many decades now, easily ragchewing at up to 40 wpm, using no computer to xmit or rx, just my paddle & my rig's internal keyer...73 & dit dit🇺🇸🤓
That is awesome to hear!
Wow you are amazing
I’m tryi;g to get started. I’m amazed that it’s all so complicated. Nobody seems to sell “Morse code starter pack with radio,paddle, bush aerial”. I’ve been struggling for weeks to decide which is the best beginner kit overall. There isn’t one but the closes seems to be the (tr)usdx thing …
@@redskyz483 Thank u for the really kind words, but no, I'm not amazing; in fact, I was just lucky to find a niche in our very expansive, but wonderful, hobby where I'm quite comfortable (compared to many other aspects of our hobby where I'm NOT, LOL); that is, with hindsight, I'm not sure how I even passed the FCC exams from decades ago but somehow did; & even today, while many hams have embraced everything digital (& routinely use computers as part of their stations), I haven't, at least not yet; so I remain "stuck" in the analog world, LOL; take care & Best 73 to u & urs, de WA4ELW😃🇺🇸
@@ehayes5217 check out the word sarcasm.
Your interest in CW is influencing hundreds of people to learn the code. That's awesome Josh! No one will ever regret learning the code. It's fun and quite addictive. Keep up the good work...73!
Another great video!! I really like the shorter length format you did here. Keeping it around 10 minutes makes it easier to digest
I post at least one short one a week. 👍
Nice! G4FON is a great tool. It doesn't let you sabotage yourself by slowing down the character speed but allows Farnsworth spacing. I've heard Koch pronounced as "coke" too.
Morse code is supported by the video game Wolfpack. It is a multiplayer co-op game where 20 players divided among four U-Boats attack a convoy protected by AI escorts. The host can set the game conditions to include "realistic radio" which requires the boats to communicate with each other with an game Morse key or key bindings.
Interesting. Thanks. I’m looking it up.
So glad you made this! Back in November 2021 I was listening to a CW contest on my FT-891, didn't know CW at all, just playing radio. But then I hit the zero-beat button. Then I hit narrow, and reduced the width... and suddenly it CLICKED for me and I was like, WOAH. CW can do THAT!? That's... absolutely magic, nothing else can do that, now I get why people are CW geeks! Ever since, I've been playing with Morse Machine a few times a week, hoping to join the Long Island CW Club in the upcoming weeks/months as my hectic work schedule allows. 32-year old ham, hoping to keep this skill alive for the future :)
Really enjoying all the CW videos Josh. It's inspiring me more to learn CW, so keep those videos rolling on CW.
Watched this and I was sending and receiving within a couple of minutes! I was a radio op in the army upuntil the mid 70s. You never forget!
I got started over the holidays but have slowed down since going back to work but your stream with the Long Island club got me re-motivated. I can really see the value for POTA/SOTA or just DXing with my IC-705. Just joined up and am looking forward to getting back on the horse.
THANK YOU SO MUCH! Got my ticket in 73 and barely scraped by 5wpm. Now an old man with a little more money for stuff, but sadly lacking code skills Your discussion has helped a lot. 73
this is one of the most practical and useful videos I have seen in a long time
Thank you!
I’ve started and stopped several times… time to finally conquer it! Thks!
Gordon West produced some excellent tapes for learning Morse code. I got quite a way through that before the pandemic. I'm going to start again. I was looking at a QCX, but I may be veering towards a mountain topper now 🙂
Thanks for the app ideas Josh.. very helpful
Great intro for everyone looking to get started with CW. Very nice!
Thank you!
This is a great motivational video. I had already downloaded three apps on the subject!
Thank you!
Nice approach Josh!
Morse Toad kept me motivated to keep with it.
Morse code is on my list can't wait!
I love that there is a craze in learning CW, and I appreciate your vid! I'm a vet U.S. Air Force Morse Systems Operator, and I will throw in this: huge diff in learning it and being able to copy it fast. I don't know how anyone would do it without a keyboard. Practice practice practice. 🙂
FYI say your piece in the "On the Air" magazine of ARRL. Nice
Thanks!
Great advice
United States Army, Fort Devens, MA. November 1969.
Monday morning 0730 hrs. Basic Morse Code training begins.
Wednesday afternoon 1130 hrs. Passed 4 GPM Morse code test, for A - Z and numbers one - zero.
January 1970 passed 12 GPM with a MILL (military type writer all no lower case letters)
Approximately February 15, 1970, passed 15 GPM with a stick (pencil). Graduated from Basic Morse Code Training.
April or May 1970 passed 18 GPM receive, 15 GPM sending Morse code on a J-38 Morse code key.
Dit Dah is Alpha!
When I learned to copy Morse code, I did not learn to copy words, I learned to copy groups of characters. 5 letter groups, or 5 character groups (mixed letters and numbers). After a few months of field work, you could sort of zone out and just hit the keys on a MILL reflexively and not have to pay too much attention to it. When I tried to copy clear text (real words) I could not do it. I would start to read the words I was typing and lose trace of what Morse character was sent.
When communicating in Morse code, with other units in the Army, we sent and received encrypted 5 character groups.
When working to copy enemy Morse code, it could have been 3 character groups, 4 character groups, or 5 character groups, of either letter groups, number groups or mixed letters and numbers. Sometimes when copying enemy Morse traffic, on a TT-28 Teletype Machine I had to copy code with one hand and turn the tuning knob with the other due to the enemy transmitter not being frequency stable. I remember one that I had to follow up and down the dial 10 Khz!
TBH, Joshy boi seems pretty committed to this morse thingymajig. When you put yourself/reputation on the line, you are bound to succeed! Especially if others constantly ask you if you've done that thing that you really wanted to complete. (at least in my experience, this is the case) (no risk, no reward? amirite?)
great inspiration
Great video Josh. Wishing you tremendous success in learning code.
Thank you!
I received my Tech Plus in 1992. Had to learn CW for the exam. I had the Gordon West Radio Shack cassettes. I bought his CDs. Just need to listen to them again. KD4MAN A/E
It is fascinating that it is like a language.
I learned common word code patterns so I didn't hear the individual letters but the words themselves. It is like when you are reading, you don't say "t h e, the", you see and hear the word in your head. That is the goal with CW (IMHO). Once I learned the common patterns, then I only had to concentrate on the less common. The common words would give hints as to what the uncommon word might be. An Extra Class Elmer gave me the insight with the phrase in code "BEST BENT WIRE". Working that over and over I started hearing the word not the letters and applied that to what was common in most QSOs. Not for everyone, I'm sure but it worked for me and I broke through the 10 WPM barrier that was holding me back.
73 de N5XS
It's "Bens best bent wire".
Also practice with "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" - ALL letters of the alphabet.
Also, on youtube, The Ham Whisperer! The CW courses are pretty good and you only have to move to the next course when you are comfortable. A great resource!
Good video!
Great work!
Thank you! Cheers!
Learned CW back in 2001, requirements were still 5 WPM for the General license... I downloaded the Koch CW trainer (G4FON) and spent a few weeks with it, passed the code test no issues. I ragchewed now and then in CW but I found it somewhat tiring after awhile to stay attuned to a conversation. However, I did nab my one Australia contact using CW because I could not hear them on SSB. I haven't used the code in years but I still remember all of it... nice to know that G4FON is still around, it's a great program!
New subscriber from your Field Craft Survival episode
Morse Mania helped me learn the code. I just need to work on copying the code.
My resolution is 1920x1200 :D
Got my tech license in early 90s and cw license in '92.
Had a couple years off from the hobby and restarted in ~2015. Trying to train my cw
but have a hard time to get faster than 40 cpm (~8 wpm).
I've downloaded G4Fon, but I'm a bit lost with the program. It would be great if you could do a video on how to set it up and use it, or recommend a video someone else has done. Thank you for the videos Josh!
Will do!!
In the middle of CW Academy Beginners course. Love CW!
Do it!
CWA is really good for learning!
There is also Morse Mania game on Android, really good!
I’m starting to learn Morse code bc you’re videos! Thank you! Also what’s that red cw transceiver called?
Congrats! It’s a Mountain Topper four band
Came on to make a joke about your problem with P.. just kidding, I did want to say how well spoken and understandable you were in the video. I am also one of the people who tend to get hung up on hearing... But got some good tips here to try
Thanks Dude!
CW is a language, just like Spanish, French and etc.. You can’t expect to learn in a short time. It takes patience and continual practice - about 10-15 minutes a day for your brain to digest and process. Morse Elmer (IOS) is great as is Ham Morse (another IOS app). A more serious morse “trainer” is Morse Runner. I initially learned by word association - not recommend since I cannot get the Da Dit Dit (letter D) The Dog Did It - out of my head... Maybe you now have the same problem? Dog Did It - Dog Dit It. Dog Dit It… arg…..
Very good vid Josh, sadly, Ray G4FON became Silent Key last year, he was President of FOC, what a great legacy he left. Cheers, Keith (POTA addict)
I'm so sorry to hear of Ray's passing. I exchanged a number of e-mails with him years back. I had just discovered his program and was enjoying using it.
@@hokep61 Rgr, very sad Josh. Keep up the good work OC. cheers K
heathkit made a course for the general tag over 40 years ago that i used to learn cw. wish the tapes were still around. i loaned someone my copy and never saw them again.
Hi Josh,
Slightly off topic: Is there a Windows program and/or Android app that lets you type in a message, convert to Morse, record and send ota using your base station and cable/BT? Of course, also need to be able to receive morse, translate to text and view/save to file? Have not seen anything like that which reliably works.
Thanks!
73,
John - KK7JBZ
So I downloaded the Morse Chat app. Using the playground feature I learned that I can send quite well. Not being able to copy at even slower speeds without relistening is what's holding me back. Until today and my practice with sending, I didn't really have the instinct of instantly converting the letter into its sound. Now that I've got that down I might be coming along. Quick question: Could I just take an FM transmitting HT on the 2 meter band with vox activated and use an app like this as a key to send CW?
Listening to it like one hears music you can do it, to hear it as the letter instead of dits/days.
This just occurred to me about ten seconds before I read your comment. Lol. I’m a musician and for whatever reason, this just jumped out at me. I am a drummer, and I can’t read music tab, so I play by feel and by ear. I think this would possibly make it easier and faster to learn for some.
The other good Android software called CW Studio and I am using 28 to 30Wpm with a Fansworth spacing of 5 Wpm minute. I am finding it really good I hope others will find this software helpful as well. 73' from ZL1BMA.
Great video Josh what time is the class on Thursday that you are in and who is a good Contact person for joining the Long Island CW club?
I aim for all the late classes that are in the evening my time. I am in Beginner 2 and intermediate classes. I try to aim for Tuesdays and Thursdays, but it varies with my work schedule.
I passed my first novice test at age 16. Even then I could never copy 20 wpm. 15 wpm was my limit. Notice how they have eliminated CW for advanced and expert amateur ham classes today. There is most likely a correlation with book text reading speed and copying CW.
Two apps on Android I would recommend is
CW Studio
Morse Mania
Got my first license and radio 6 months ago and I refuse to do anything other than CW until I can fully activate one POTA and SOTA. Sadly winter had come right when I started to get confident. Just a few more months and I’ll have to find another reason not to use voice. I hate talking to people lol
I want to say that Google has an awesome course on Morse code pnemonics that lets you learn the alphabet in just a few days. They do stuff like banjo for b, because it is da dit dit dit, and they draw a picture that has the head of the banjo as the dah, and the dits as the frets, for instance.
It made it much easier to not have to constantly check a paper for the letter. That let me focus more on listening once I got to that point.
Oddly enough, I generally recommend not looking at dots or dahs or images. Just the letter and hearing the tones to associate. Anything that get in between remembering -… as B is just something that could slow your copy down
@@HamRadioCrashCourse 👍 it needs to go directly from sound to paper (or keyboard). If it goes from sound to visual aid to recognition to paper you will never get your speed up.
I'm just looking into CW, so, no experience. Also, not a psychologist. But, if it goes anything like my learning guitar process has been (throughout my life), the intermediate helper process gets "short circuited" and thrown out by your brain as soon as it's no longer useful... ie, pretty quickly. If that works for CW you'd be just going straight from sound to copy fairly quickly.
Sadly it doesn’t work that way. If you get visual aides involved your get speed locked and plateau at a low speed level.
I am a very visual learner so I have to tear myself away from "seeing" dits and dahs in my head. That is why I am concentrating on just hearing to sound pattern and associating it directly with its letter. I guess it's how I learnt to talk as a child: hear the sound and then say it/understand it. I focus on comparing two sounds together until the brain hears the distinction; then I move on to another sound.
How wonderful.. Morse Toad was made specifically an older version of Android, Morse Machine isn't available for some reason, and the third app is exclusive to iOS.. any other apps for Android in America aside from Morse Chat?
I wish that a Morse training program would give practice using typical QSO formats rather than random generated characters. I’ll look for you at a park very soon.
G4FON will do that. Long Island CW Club does this and there is a device called the Morserino that does it too.
I got my Advanced Operating licence in 1985 when CW at 10wpm was compulsory. Receiving at 15wpm so as to pass is the way to learn as you say to recognise the sound of the code as against slow morse learning. I learned by slow morse because that was how it was taught, it was agonising. I couldn't get faster than 8wpm (plateaued), took 6 months to get there. So shitful. Use the Koch app. I used CW for a while and declared after all that effort I was not going to let it slide but I found it tedious and boring to use in QSOs. I have not used it in years.
It is boring . If you’re forcing your self to learn MC is it really worth the effort ?
@@tonywright8294 Thanks Tony. I think you are agreeing that, yes, it is boring (to some people), And I think you are saying that if it is hard why do it to yourself? Back in 1985 you had to prove proficiency at 10wpm whether it was boring or not. I decided that after all the effort of learning it I was going to use it and not let it slip. It didn't work out like that, I am competent with CW but it is not for me for the reasons given. I only use it now for a rare one. Cheers.
Is there a program that sends a character & then you have to press that character? If so, are you graded & old character removed, with new ones added? Looked like Morse Toad & the character with partial rings did something like that. Thanks a lot.
Look up the Morserino.
U, G, and W always mess with me
Yep, got my ticket back when general required 13 wpm. Then did nothing with it. Now I've got the bug again and am using an android app to brush up.
Any G4FON mac alternatives?
Good videos Josh❗️👍 I would join the Long Island CW Club in a heart beat if I could use my iPad Pro, use Zoom on it all the time but their software won’t recognize iPad Os
Which software? You just click a link to join. That’s all do. You can use any device.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse Josh when you had Howard WB2UZE on you TH-cam back in Aug 2019 he said that you needed to have a Windows Based CPU because they used G4FON software, do they no longer use that? I will join tomorrow if I don’t have to have a computer because I do everything on my iPad. Thank so much love your videos 73 KV5P
Any tips breaking past plateaus? I feel like I am halfway through LCWO lessons characters at 25wpm/5wpm speed and feel like the characters ,=YVJFZ all have started running together in my head. Currently practicing 2 times a day for 8-15 minutes each time. I have been stuck unable to get to consistently less than 10% mistakes for about a week now...
Start chasing POTA?
@@HamRadioCrashCourse Fair enough, I probably do need to start hearing more over the air morse code but with only like half of the characters memorized I feel like I miss a ton.
Code seems to come and go, it seems most who start to get aggravated then stop. I had to learn code, 41 years ago it was a must. I learned it with help from my wife. I bought 2 test keys and at night if she or I had something to say, we'd code it. just normal conversion.
A video I think would be cool is, are there cheaper geochron alternatives?
Look into the PiClock.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse Will do thank you!
I got a question for anybody that may know... is there any way to decode Morse code that has zero Brakes in it, or pauses? Especially when you don't know which is the beginning and which is the end? I was given some sort of bracelet a while back and was told it's Morse code. (Pretty neat idea to be honest)
49 characters...i tried but, that's some next level stuff there. So if anyones up for a challenge. Could you maybe give it a look? The code is this down below, wrote it both ways cause i have no idea which way it went to begin with (i was told it meant "Wise".... To many characters for that im sure)
..--.-.....---.-..-----...-.-..-.-..........-..-.
.-..-..........-.-..-.-...-----..-.---.....-.--..
Hello , can somebody recommend some app for android? This app in video can't find them :(
Hey maybe u or some of the subscribers can help me out but I play airsoft and everyone that use radios at my field and they all use UHF beofangs radios but I don't want to use one because they aren't rugged and waterproof enough for how I play but I would like to get a Motorola XTS 3000 model 3 radio that's on the 403-470 mhz UHF band and I'm curious if I can get one to work so I can communicate with everyone on those beofang radios with my Motorola radio
At 4:16, I inadvertently made a Tim Allen noise (or Tim Taylor noise if you prefer)(a.k.a "Uuiihhhhaaa")
For context, start at 4:09.
What did you say at the end in morse
I believe it was CQ CQ POTAKI6NAZ
Na, no resolution here, been ramping up since fall! It’s the cold months, gotta get ready for portable opps camping this year! ;)
Awesome!
I have not copied for at least 55 years so I tryed to copy 20 wpm way to fast dropped to 15 and was missing a lot so I went to 10 and was able copy that with a stick the only thing is I have congnitve or dementia so I will not be able to pass the test
There isn’t a test. Just have fun.
Is the code the same for foreign languages? What's look like in German or Arabic?
On ham radio, contacts most of the exchange is all done in English.
I am actually joining Long Island cw club
Good call!
What is the cw key that you are using?
That is the K6ARK key.
At the time of writing this comment, neither Morse Machine or Morse Toad is available on my Pixel 6 or my Samsung Galaxy Tab. Both apps are no longer supported by the latest generation of Android, which is sad.
Isnt Morse code on its way out ? Not too many people wanna learn it anymore And is it really needed in this day and age with the technology we have now.
Not at all. For reasons I explained at the end of the video
Any tips for someone that can't hear well? I've tried most of the programs out there and it takes my brain too long to figure out the letters I can master 2 - 3 letters then I lose it I've tried at least 20 times with different programs. My hearing is very poor!
Good headphones? Do you have Bluetooth hearing aids? Use those and try again
@@HamRadioCrashCourse I have bluetooth hearing aids and good headphones my hearing is just so damaged my brain has to try to decipher what it is hearing. The frustrating thing is my 96 year old Dad W2NZH can still copy at about 35 wpm and it makes him mad he slowed down. I will continue to try everything I find hoping some day I will be able to do cw.
I wonder if it would help to have a visual aid. Like a fast running waterfall display or an led that lights with the sound.
It’s hard to copy code over only light but maybe the combination of sound and visual would help.
Unfortunately I don’t have an app in mind that does this.
Have you tried to link it to a stereo system with a subwoofer? Maybe if you were able to feel the sound instead of hearing it will be beneficial? Or maybe if you are able to link it to a led or other light source so you can get a visual to accent the audio.
I have the same issue with "a few letters and then it all goes to Klingon to me", that's the problem with learning copy I think, I can't say because I'm not you, but it might be more an issue of brain processing more than hearing itself. And that brain processing is only going to get better with daily practice. As for hearing issues, if you see an audiologist, often there's hearing loss in certain frequencies, but on some radios I believe you can adjust the "zero beat" such that it lands on an audible frequency you can hear well, be that a higher or lower pitch.
I can't hear for crap, subtitles are a "must" in my life. I've had my hearing checked multiple times by multiple audiologists, and I pass with flying colors on their tests, when they play a tone and "can you hear it?" "Yep." which baffled me until I talked to a psychiatrist and found out that audio "processing" is a big problem with things like ADHD and Autism spectrum disorders. My ears work fine, it's just my brain has a very hard time filtering out background noise and other things, it all jumbles together for me and becomes one big unintelligible mess.
But, since voice is very difficult to understand for me without lip-reading or subtitles or other visual cues, I think CW might just be my ticket into radio, even if it is going to take a bit more practice than others for me!
Hope this helps! 73
What is that paddle? It looks like a palm pico paddle clone.
K6ARK is making a Pico paddle 3d printer clone. I have his prototype and an original Pico. He did a really good job.
Morse machine is no longer available for iPhone/ipad
So did the gophers ever come back?
Where is POTA FAQ?
So this was recorded 9months ago, are you proficient at copying code now?
That'smagood question. I have been studying morse code since November. It took three days to learn the letters and numbers. Learning and remembering the sounds took a long while and then once I thought I had them all under my belt I had to re-learn. I did this re-learn cycle four times, which took less time each time. I am now practising and listening as much as possible. Five months later I am just getting to be able to copy bits at 15/18 wpm. It's a long slow process. I don't think there are any shortcuts or magic answers but just practice, practice and more practice.
Can I do extra class studying and learn CW at the same time? My brain hurts just thinking about it 😂😂
Probably. How much free time do you have. 🤣
That’s what I’m doing and it’s not easy
The problem with learning cw is thinking about learning cw.
There is no new easy way to learn.
It takes work.
About 20 minutes of practice a day, every day.
There was a time when with no code no ticket
I a product of that time
FYI Morse toad is not available on Android.
"Koch" method is pronounced like "cook" BTW
Nah.
Pretty cruel to post that kx1 picture knowing that you can't find them.
Don’t watch last weeks live stream. 😅
Or it's a one consciousness awakening
I thought CW stood for Carrier Wave...
It does , don’t know why people have changed it to continuous wave ?
@@tonywright8294 It stands for both. Have to sort by context.
It's not 'Ko-tch' it's Koch like"Cook"
There’s no easy way ! It’s practice practice practice
The blooper at the end just wasn't that funny, sorry.
Nope, I haven't even tried Morse since i was a Boy Scout.
Since we just got a couple feet of snow, I have time to do something indoors, besides studying for the tech license..
Lol
Lost me instantly
🤷🏼♀️
Morse code is dead. No need for it in 2023.
You won stupidest comment on the video. Congrats! Nothing could be further from the truth.
How do you define "dead?"
I hear it practically every time I turn on the (SDR) radio and scroll through the frequencies randomly.
Lcwo is a good website😊
Howard Bernstein (of the club) says that they no longer use G4FON.
What DO they use then?
Thanks!
73,
John - KK7JBZ