CW
Here's
what Fred - KT5X wrote about CW.
“Background: I am a teacher.
I learned Morse at 12 years of age, now 61. I use CW
exclusively.
Not everyone can learn Morse for a
variety of reasons. Some people, especially a high percentage
of those with dyslexia, can not discern as separate
sounds which do not persist for relatively long periods
of time, typically 200 ms. That is the speed of a dit
(or a space) at about ten wpm which is why some people
get stuck forever below ten wpm.
Morse, like all languages, is easier
to learn while language areas of the brain are developing,
but it can be learned later not so much with hard work,
as consistent practice several times a day, day after
day.
1. Here are the neurological
steps involved in the process of traditional learning.
Some of the newer approaches of listening to high speed
early try to skip some of these steps with varying degrees
of success for some people, and failure for others.
Traditional approach is to memorize
the cipher. Dit-Dah is an A. You generally learn the
letters in groups of five letters at a time. Making
words of the few letters learned, rather than code groups,
may encourage moving into language interpretation later
on rather than neurological auto-response. Code is then
deciphered from a "look-up table" residing
in short-term memory. With practice, short-term memory
can interpret the cipher up to about 10 wpm.
2. Regular use across days
and weeks and sometimes months eventually leads to the
mind committing the look-up table to long-term memory.
Once the look-up table is moved into long-term memory,
access and retrieval is faster. Response time is reduced
such that with further practice, speed will rapidly
rise from the previous plateau of about 10 wpm, to a
new plateau of about 18 wpm. Hence
the old General test was 13 wpm. You could not
have General privileges until you had located Morse
in long-term memory.
3. What happens next may
vary with how one is trained. Many old timers moved
the look-up table into a reflexive response, literally
governed by the spinal-column. This op could copy code
groups the same as words; typically typed the copy,
and did not know what was typed until they went back
and read it. Constant practice with code groups (or
just contest call-signs) will lead to this result.
Most ham ops would prefer to move the
code from a memorized look-up table into the language
area of the brain. It is almost an instantaneous response.
At first it is letter by letter. Eventually it is by
syllables, then sometimes even words. The first
"word" I learned to interpret instantly with
the language center was "and" or "dit
dididit" which I thought was "ES" as
a kid, but now know is American Morse for the &
sign.
How to get it there? Invariably, when
you are copying with the look-up table, you print, even
if you never print normally. Once you have been at 18
wpm for a while, and feel stuck there, it is time to
move on as it were. You can do so by forcing yourself,
and it is difficult, forcing yourself to change to script.
Script runs the letters together into syllables and
words and that is what accesses the language area of
the mind.
4. Early on in the language
center, you are hearing the op spell to you. You will
generally comprehend this up to around 28 wpm.
This "plateau is less hard than previous ones.
To go on past, put the pencil down, and just listen.
In no time at all you will copy 30, 35, 40, 45 wpm.
You don't copy "behind," you simply hear the
person speaking. You either hear it or you don't (QSB,
QRM, loss of concentration). You lean back in the chair,
eyes closed, and words materialize in your head, you
simply know what was said.
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5. If somewhere between 45
wpm and 60 wpm the dits and dahs seem to blur into one
another, you are normal. For me the limit seems to be
56 wpm. I know precisely because when
I copy calls from the contest simulators, it always
settles on that speed.
What's it all about, Alfie?
As the speed rises, you will struggle
more and more, concentrating to actually hear what happened.
It isn't the speed of it, but the hearing
of it that is limiting now. It's about your built in
"echo-suppressor," also known as the
Haas Effect. The normal person does not
discern as separate sounds which do not persist for
at least 20 ms (the speed of a dit or space at 60 wpm).
It is theorized this came about to make speech understandable
in an echoing environment (caves?).
Surround sound capitalizes on this
effect by the way. The same sound as is in the front
speakers are fed to the rear speakers 7 ms later. You
can not discern it, but the ear hears it, the mind interprets
it as an echo, and this provides the full sensation
of "live."
People who copy 70, 80, and 90 wpm,
and there are a few, are among the small percentage
of people who are abnormal in a special way. They do
not have built-in echo-suppression. If you have it or
if you don't, you have no idea what the other one perceives.
But you CAN beat it! The echo suppressor
is active up to about 1,500 cycles. Echoes are weak
at high frequencies, hence our echo-suppression is poor
or non-existent there. Those "stuck" between
50 and 60 wpm may wish to experiment with adjusting
your radio to listen to high speed Morse at extremely
high frequencies.
I have done it, and had no trouble
copying 75 wpm for the first time. I calmly say, no
trouble. Truth is, the ear-piercing frequency was such
an unpleasant screech, that I have never bothered again
;-)
Experimentation
with learning code by listening to Morse characters
at 35 wpm right off the bat skips the lower stages of
interpretation and attempts to jump into the language
areas of the mind. One might wind up jumping into the
auto-neurological response instead of language, however,
and be able to type it without actually understanding
it. You also may not have the interpretive capacity
at slow speeds since you don't even know the code your
copying. so it has to be realized that the short-cut
is a mixed bag.
Choose your method, enjoy the challenge,
have fun. But if after months of consistent practice,
you can not get past ten wpm, especially if you know
you are dyslexic, feel no guilt, and don't let anyone
put you down. We each have our special abilities, or
lack of them. So what. I can't dance to save my life!
72 Fred - KT5X (aka W5YA when
QRP)
K2 # 700
P.S. Origin of "HI HI" for laughter. You
will note everyone sends the I by spacing the two dits
of the I. They do not send, didididit didit. They send
didididit dit dit. slightly spaced. Dit-dit is the letter
"O" in American Morse. You are actually sending
American Morse for "HO HO". Saying, "HI
HI" on phone is, well, pathetic. Laugh, for crying
out loud ;-)”
Thanks to Ed - WA1ZCB
for sharing.
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