Most of what you've been told about learning Morse Code is wrong --dead wrong. Amateur radio operators traditionally have used the slowest,most frustrating, most painful and least effective techniques possiblefor gaining code proficiency.
Learning Morse Code the Ludwig Koch Way
I cannot overemphasize my dislike -- even hatred -- for 5 wpm code.As I've outlined above, it is highly counterproductive to gaining proficiencyat higher speeds. In order to go from 5 to 13 wpm, you have to start overagain, even though you may not realize that while you're doing it. Theworst aspect is that many people pass a 5-wpm test, then never go beyondthat. Why wasteyour time learning a skill (slow code) that has no relevance to real (13+wpm) code proficiency and is of almost no use on the air?
I learnt Morse code as a signalman in the British army, and learnt that it was like music, its a rhythm of sound not a series of dots and dashes our learning speed at that time was 10 words per minute, said to be the slowest for learning it. My speed after 3 years in the army and 30 as a ham, was 25wpm.
I have several ham radio related apps for Android available on Google Play and the Amazon Appstore, mostly related to Koch Morse code CW learning and practice but also including DTMF and Grid Square calculation.
Various tests showed that about 12 wpm was an optimal speed for most people to begin learning. It is far enough above the 10 wpm plateau to avoid it. Further tests showed that once the student had mastered all the code characters at 12 wpm, it was relatively easy for him to advance to 70 letters per minute, and by continuing to practice using the same principles, to advance fairly rapidly, step by step, to the required speeds. Thus a 12 wpm beginning speed seemed well justified.
Could the use of two different pitches, one for dits and the other for dahs, make it easier for the new student to recognize the wholeness of the rhythmic pattern ("melody") of a code character, and make it easier to learn? Could it help reduce the stress caused by the intensity of his concentration in the early learning stages, while he is being introduced to the rhythms and trying to get accustomed to them? It looked worth a try.
If you are running into difficulties learning Morse code, consider the following dirty dozen. They are twelve interrelated problems caused primarily by improper teaching or self-learning techniques coupled with bad habits formed during the learning and proficiency improvement process. Most students encounter one or more of these problems through the course of gaining proficiency. (The credit for this section goes to Jack Ritter, W0UCE, Silent Key. The entire article can be found here.)
3. Counting Dits and Dahs: Learning Morse code by counting Dits and Dahs is a terrible habit that is difficult to break. Counting is typically caused by learning Morse at 5 or 10 words per minute character speed. While some instructors endorse using the Farnsworth method, adding extra space between characters often leads to unintentional counting. And a long delay can allow a student to replay the sound pattern in their head. (Counting is directly related to Problems 7, 8, 9, and 12.)
7. Inability to distinguish spaces and timing: This problem is usually related to learning to copy at slow speed and copying individual letters versus words. Concerning sending, we can tune the bands most any day and hear poorly formed code. This sender is said to have a "bad fist."
If you learn Morse code at 5wpm, using sound-a-likes, memorization charts, or other learning-aids, you will inevitably start your Morse code journey at this proficiency level. This is not advised since you may inevitably get stuck and unable to copy code beyond 13wpm. Some people get stuck for years despite heroic efforts to overcome it! And others transition to higher speeds without much of a problem.
I recommend starting your Morse code journey learning to head-copy with ICR. This will allow you to quickly achieve 25 to 30wpm real-world speeds operating on the air, and it will enable you to progress to the next two proficiency levels.
Koch Trainer is a morse code trainer that uses the Koch Method developed by the German psychologist Ludwig Koch in the 1930's. The method basically states that you should learn morse code at the speed you expect to receive, by training your reflexes to respond to code sent at 20 WPM you'll learn the code much faster.
Koch Trainer is a morse code trainer that uses the Koch Method developed by the German psychologist Ludwig Koch in the 1930s. The method basically states that you should learn morse code at the speed you expect to receive, by training your reflexes to respond to code sent at 20 WPM youll learn the code much faster.Thank you and 73,NickN3WG
People learning Morse code using the Farnsworth method are taught to send and receive letters and other symbols at their full target speed, that is with normal relative timing of the dits, dahs, and spaces within each symbol for that speed. The Farnsworth method is named for Donald R. "Russ" Farnsworth, also known by his call sign, W6TTB. However, initially exaggerated spaces between symbols and words are used, to give "thinking time" to make the sound "shape" of the letters and symbols easier to learn. The spacing can then be reduced with practice and familiarity.
We have seen may operators learning the morse code even if they were not young anymore. learning the code, will require a constant exercise at first, but once achieved, the sound of the code will remain in your head.
Concerning the copy of live QSOs is probably the less useful method, since code sent on the air is typically of poor quality and speed may be different and non constant. Moreover you will not have anything to compare the translated morse code.
By Ham radio operator and avid CW enthusiast David Finley, N1IRZ. This is the first Morse Code book to detail the Koch method and emphasize the training techniques that are the fastest and most effective for code proficiency. The author explains how, using Ludwig Kochs training method, prospective hams can quickly grasp code teachings and pass the FCC exams faster. The author, once frustrated over the code-learning process discovered this simple method and used it to overcome the barrier and upgrade to extra class.
By Ham radio operator and avid CW enthusiast David Finley, N1IRZ. This is the first Morse Code book to detail the Koch method and emphasize the training techniques that are the fastest and most effective for code proficiency.The author explains how, using Ludwig Koch's training method, prospective hams can quickly grasp code teachings and pass the FCC exams faster. The author, once frustrated over the code-learning process discovered this simple method and used it to overcome the barrier and upgrade to Extra Class. Manufacturer's Website Product Website
People learning Morse code using the Farnsworth method, named for Donald R. "Russ" Farnsworth, also known by his call sign, W6TTB, are taught to send and receive letters and other symbols at their full target speed, that is with normal relative timing of the dots, dashes and spaces within each symbol for that speed. However, initially exaggerated spaces between symbols and words are used, to give "thinking time" to make the sound "shape" of the letters and symbols easier to learn. The spacing can then be reduced with practice and familiarity. Another popular teaching method is the Koch method, named after German psychologist Ludwig Koch, which uses the full target speed from the outset, but begins with just two characters. Once strings containing those two characters can be copied with 90 percent accuracy, an additional character is added, and so on until the full character set is mastered.
The &, $ and the _ sign are not defined inside the ITU recommendation on morse code. But the $ sign code was defined inside the Phillips Code (huge collection of abbreviations used on land line telegraphy) as a SX representation. The above given representation for the &-sign is the morse pro sign used for wait.
Koch Trainer is a morse code trainer that uses the Koch Method developed by the German psychologist Ludwig Koch in the 1930's. The method basically states that you should learn morse code at the speed you expect to receive, by training your reflexes to respond to code sent at 20 WPM you'll learn the code much faster. Thank you and 73, Nick N3WG 2ff7e9595c
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