There are 4 stages in most learning situations I learned as a trainer:- 1. Unconscious incompetence = I don't know, I don't know 2. Conscious incompetence = I know I don't know. 3. Conscious competence - I can do it if I think about it 4. Unconscious competence - I can do it without thinking. So in terms of morse if you practice very little you might have to think very hard to copy 15wpm , but another persons who does it often at 15 wpm my well be able to do it without even thinking about it.
I wish I'd have known this back when I was a kid, trying to learn morse code for a novice license. Back then code study was an Ameco LP and W1AW transmissions. I did get the novice license and almost made it to the general, but I got sidetracked by an FM station at my high school, and so I dug into the Noll books and passed 3rd, 2nd, and 1st radiotelephone while I was in HS. By the time I got back to ham radio, the code requirement was gone. Although I'm quite rusty, I can still mostly do the conscious decoding. But what I've noticed is that things like CQ, DE, ES, stand out, along with a new one /R; I can pick them out at any reasonable speed
This video is very helpful. Thanks for telling what is happening in our heads at each phase of learning and how the phases overlap. The chart is very easy to understand. I haven't seen anyone else explain gaining Morse proficiency better than you did here.
Thanks, Howard. I appreciate the feedback! I tried to explain how Morse code proficiencies relate to copying speed carefully and clearly. Although I had an outline of what I wanted to talk about, I meandered quite a bit! It took time to edit the video down into something more succinct. I will add that graphic to my Morse Code Ninja website soon. I haven't figured out where the best place is to put it yet. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
You described it all pretty close to perfectly. I learned about the significance of muscle memory when I was young and someone asked me how many speeds my motorcycle was and I had to twitch my right foot 6 times and count the gear shifts. My conscious mind didn't know, but my subconscious mind did. I learned it even better when learning to walk again after a spinal-cord injury. I started by concentrating consciously on every motion until it was giving me headaches. I literally could not talk and walk at the same time. But over a period of time I forced that conscious mental process down into my subconscious so that I could think about other things as I walked. It took well over a year. Now I am learning Morse and I see the same sort of thing happening, and the process is exactly as you described.
Kurt, Thank you so much for your hard work creating these courses. They are the best, hands down, of anything I've tried in the past. Please continue making these "how to learn" videos also. This one was very useful, explaining about the walls we hit, and what our goals should be during each phase of our journey. 73 KB3JC
You're welcome, Steve, and thank you for the kind words. I have strived to create incremental practice content to help anyone no matter where there are in their learning process. Many ideas have come from others struggling with something in particular, so I always welcome ideas for new content. I am happy to create additional videos. I will think about what would be useful to a broader audience. Is there anything in particular that you would like to see me talk about? I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey 73 de AD0WE
Thanks Kurt! I am an advisor for CW Academy, and have taught Beginner and Basic classes. I Most enjoy Beginner, because there I have to UN-teach what most hams have learned, such as 1. Mental Look Up Tables 2. Some kind of wacky mental association between how the character sounds to a animal or figure then to the character 3. Other wacky time soaking mental gymnastics, all this is so hard instead of the right way, ICR, Instant Character Recognition, then on to recogniing words and a good proficiancy copying call signs. You are right in what you teach. This is why I love teaching the basic, or foundational course. IF the foundation ls level and plumb, you can build a building. If you start on a shakey foundation, the building will be like wise, shakey and out of plumb, and unstable. Back to the basics! And practice, practice, practice, in a efficient way. I require at least one hour of practice time per day total for my students. They will not get it by just being in class. Class time is the check up time, not the practice time for class prep. Thanks again, if we work together, he CW Bands will be a better place to be! Best! Andy, WB7DKZ
You're welcome, Andy! And thanks for being a CW Acadamy advisor! It sounds like sure your students get a lot from your class! I am appreciative of all the hard work that goes into CWA. My best regards to you and your family during these difficult times! 73 de AD0WE
Extremely good video. Thanks for all your hard work Kurt !! Good advice Andy. Unfortunately I am in the group that learned the code by using visual dots and dashes 45 years ago as a novice. I am retired now and my goal is to get to 25 wpm. I’m pretty well stuck at 13 wpm. With hard work I may be able to disconnect the “ look up table” stuck in my head. But how? Any ideas how to accelerate this process? I am trying to copy in my head without writing individual letters down. (Except call sign, etc.) I’m using Kurt’s 15 wpm videos exclusively now.
Mr Zoglmann, This is immensely helpful. Cannot thank you enough. You have gone beyond Morse. You have taken us on a journey into the various levels of human perception and linguistic cognition, and even beyond. This is a rare gem of a video. I stumbled upon it after a several month struggle with Morse, spent in just sitting and copying. The transition to listening and ‘head copying’ came as an unpleasant surprise when attempted after so much time and effort copying on paper. The realization quickly struck home - muscle memory is different from intuitive recognition of characters and words as part of a language. This video must be made the very first one any aspiring Morser or CWer should be seeing. Hopefully others will see this earlier in their Morse journey than I. Many thanks. You have a rare gift of deep understanding combined with the good nature to share your knowledge, and the skill and ability to present it in a short, beautiful video lecture. Sincerely, KD2KWH.
You're welcome, Kulan. Thank you for the kindest of words. The foundation for this video is built on my learning experience and on the shoulders of giants - those who have made great contributions to learning Morse code. If you haven't discovered my Morse Code Ninja website, I have a vast library of incrementally more advanced practice content - morsecode.ninja/practice/index.html . It is geared to those working on head-copy. The audio is available on RUclips and available as a direct download. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
I stop at this video as a guidepost, sort of a "see where I am at now" ruler. Unfortunately, I am still slogging along under 20, and I keep trying every resource available to jump the next level. I am very grateful you are here doing this, as I might have said the hell with it by now otherwise. I had mentioned before, my late Wife (N2SKZ) could head copy 30, 40+ while reading a book. All that She did without very much formal training. Well, maybe my study habits have gotten lazy, but I never give up. Thanks Kurt.
I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. I can only imagine the loss that you feel. I'm glad that you are a part of our CW community. It is a place of welcome and support for all. Congratulations on reaching 20wpm proficiency! That is no small achievement. I'm delighted that you have set your sights higher and continue to practice. I wish you all the very best on your Morse Code journey! 73s my friend. 73 de AD0WE dit dit
I'm delighted you found this overview insightful and the other Morse Code Ninja practice helpful. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Hello, Kurt. I had intended to write you about how you have been a major factor in my feeble attempts to learn CW. But, after reading all of the people that have already written, the only thing I can do is agree with them. You are the BEST! Thank you for your time and effort that you do for all of us. 73 KG5OBD
You're welcome, Claiborne. I appreciate your kind words and feedback. It has been my pleasure to give back to the amateur radio community, especially the CW community. I have had nothing but positive experiences. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! If there is anything that I don't have that you would like to hear, let me know, and I will see what I can do. 73 de AD0WE
15 months in kurt and I’m just now learning iwr. Focusing on the meaning of the sentence. So for anyone that has a hard time getting ICR. Time and patience is a virtue. Most importantly is practicing. A regiment daily for the mind.
As I progress in my CW learning journey, I find that the levels you describe are not necessary separate as you stated regarding call recognition, numerical info and etc compared to standard QSO exchanges. There are some "gems" to be found in your responses to the comments. I also struggle with "identifying and then instantly forgetting" and am using the set of words to overcome that. I am also using those same sets of word exercises at higher speeds to work on IWR. With IWR, you either "know" or you don't. However, with IWR, it brings the enjoyment of CW to a different level. I find it very relaxing. Lots of things to work on the different levels for sure and thanks for providing us the materials to help us "get there". 73! KG5OWB
Greetings Terry! I'm glad that you found the responses helpful. If you are having difficulty with "instantly forgetting" words, you might want to try the Sets of 2 Words and then Sets of 3 Words. They are the first sets under the "Sentences" filter on the Morse Code Ninja Practice page. It can be difficult transitioning from copying individual words to entire sentences. I located the most frequent 2, 3, 4, and 5-word combinations in contemporary English. These sentence fragments are known as N-grams and should seem familiar and common to any English speaker. I have selected the top 500 N-grams for each set. To my knowledge, this is an innovative idea that has not been done before! I have found this particularly helpful in learning to head-copy entire sentences. I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Nice explanation of the different modes of Mose code recognition. I enjoy listening to practice videos as I'm in bed, trying to sleep. A perfect soporific - takes enough concentration so you can't think about your obsessions. But boring enough so you aren't kept awake.
Thank's Bart! I'm glad that you find the practice enjoyable and helpful! I have only listened to Morse code in bed once. It was when I was very sick with the flu a couple of years ago. It helped pass the time and take my mind off of things. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
@@KurtZoglmann , thanks for the nice reply. I realize that I often use your videos and have spent hours with them. I get a kick when the little girl (your daughter? ) occasionally speaks the word transmitted in Morse.
@@BartAnderson_writer I'm happy to hear that you enjoy the young girl's voice! Some people dislike the jarring jump from one voice to another. All of the voiced components are computer-generated using Amazon's Polly service. When I first started creating the practice sets it was new and occasionally the pronunciation was so bad that I had to switch to a different voice so that it would be understood. All of my latest videos use the second generation "neural engine" for text-to-speech.
Awesome, Joe! That is a great achievement. The W1AW broadcasts are a great resource for copying Morse code in real-world conditions. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
I have found your methodology of learning code to be the best! I’ve been a ham for 57 years. CW wasn’t my mode initially! But then I learned that I’d I wanted a chance at rare DX, I had a better chance on CW. Now, it is my mode of choice. I little to no SSB. I’ve had my big DX days with big power and beams. The challenge has past! Now the challenge of CW is still alive!!! I’ve sent your videos to a few good friends! Keep up the good work! 72-73 De NØPL!
Greetings, Paul! Thank you for the kindest of words. I'm delighted you found the Morse Code Ninja practice helpful. I have poured my heart into giving back to the amateur radio community and those interested in learning Morse code. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! Long live CW. 73 de AD0WE dit dit P.S. If you can believe it, I have quite a bit more content that I plan on releasing. :)
Good point. Accuracy over speed. With practice and time, good band conditions, and another proficient operator, accuracy and higher speeds are not mutually exclusive. I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
I am a scientist and very analytical therefore struggling at lower speed copying. I will try to tap into the unconscious part of the brain. Easier said than done I’m assuming but will give it a shot. Thank you for this video.
Thanks, Mike! I'm delighted you found this video helpful. If you haven't discovered my Morse Code Ninja website, which provides a wealth of additional information and allows you to find the practice content you are looking for much more easily, I encourage you to check it out - morsecode.ninja. Regarding learning, you may want to read two articles I wrote - Defining ICR and Beyond - morsecode.ninja#DefiningICRAndBeyond . And a second article, Conquering ICR - morsecode.ninja#ConqueringICR . You may also want to check out my Ninja Advice Page ( morsecode.ninja/advice/index.html ), which contains additional advice and food for thought. I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Kurt, thank you so much for the incredible resource that you have put together and generously shared with the ham community!! I can copy call signs (with occasional repeats) up to about 32 WPM. I am comfortable doing a CW POTA activation but I still can't really rag chew. I am now entering the phase of instant word recognition and your videos will be the main tool I use going forward. Once again, thank you very much for everything you have done. 🙂
Greetings, Lyndon. I'm delighted you find the Morse Code Ninja practice content helpful in reaching your proficiency goals. And I'm excited to hear of your progress! I have two relevant practice sets that you may want to check out: 2023 SOTA Activator Callsigns and 2023 SOTA Chaser Callsigns. You can quickly get to them from the Morse Code Ninja Practice page - morsecode.ninja/practice/index.html . Then choose the Call Signs filter. The practice sets you are looking for are toward the bottom. Select the relevant one and a speed and it will take you directly to that RUclips video. I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Yup, still dragging through step 1. Some days I can do single letters at 40wpm, others I'm lucky to break 25. String them into words, and I have to cut that in half or worse. Need to flash recognize the sound without thinking about what they're made of.
Greetings Jim. Congratulations on all of the hard-earned Morse code proficiency that you have achieved thus far. Off days can be frustrating. In my experience, I have noted exceptional days of above-average Morse code proficiency and other days where it is a struggle. I have found that consistent practice is the quickest way to improve regardless of good or bad days. 73 de AD0WE
And THANK YOU for YOUR time and effort! I've sent this video to my fiance, Sarah who at present is a "hopeful ham". In just getting back into it after a several year absentee. I'm presently working with your 30 wpm character recognition. I never really liked slow characters anyway. So I started working with the 30-word a minute character recognition and it's a little uncomfortable so I'm figuring that's exactly where I need to be right now! And so far I've not picked up a pencil.
You're welcome, George. It is my pleasure to give back to the amateur radio community. It sounds like you are off to a good start! I started my journey of learning at a character speed of 30wpm. There are pros and cons to it. The biggest pro is that it likely helps to pick up speed after reaching standard timing at a lower speed. And kudos to you for learning to head-copy from the start. I was very headstrong and resisted it until I realize that I could go no faster than 30wpm keyboard-copying. I am in debt to Joe, KK5NA, for his patience in gentle and persistent nudging me to learn to head copy. Joe is an excellent CW Academy instructor! I wish you and your fiance all the best on your Morse code journeys. If there is anything that you would like to hear that I don't already have, let me know, and I will see what I can do! 73 de AD0WE
I've only been learning for a couple days, but I'm starting to recognize the words "and" and "the". The character speed I'm practicing at is 15 wpm, with a Farnsworth speed of 10 wpm. I made a sample of the classic "quick red fox" sentence so that I can learn all the letters, and I made up my own nonsense sentence based on a list of the most common words, so that I can recognize words. It's funny that everyone recommends learning Morse code "at speed", because as a musician, you get the opposite advice: "practice slow to play fast". That way you can put the conscious effort into really internalizing rhythms. (And melodies, but that's not relevant to Morse.) I started with listening at 5 wpm, but not so that I could count the dits and dahs. I just wanted to hear wanted to hear how the letters sounded with a strong "enunciation".
Also, I do it all as head copy, because having to write things down is just one more thing for me to think about, and I don't want to have to deal with that. I don't need anything but myself for learning how to head copy.
I welcome all paths to success! It can be challenging to avoid counting dits and days at lower speeds, which is why learning at a character speed of 5 to 13wpm is discouraged. If I were to hazard a guess, you are focusing on developing precise and accurate muscle memory when you practice a musical instrument at a slower speed. As you go faster, you are using the same neural circuits. However, with Morse code, this is different. There are four main types of thought processes and associated neural circuits. 1) Counting of dits and dahs with a mental lookup table 2) Ear to finger muscle memory association 3) ICR (Instant Character Recognition), and 4) IWR (Instant Word Recognition). At 5wpm, you are using the first thought process of counting dits and dahs. It will get you to 13wpm, and then you are stuck. To go faster, it requires developing a different kind of thought process to progress in your proficiency. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Hi Kurt, I just wanted to thank you for all your CW practice videos, they have been a real blessing to me on my journey. I can easily head copy and send 20wpm on the air and send at the same speed with a straight key. The past six months I have been practicing head copying at 25 wpm but now I have to practice using a paddle in order to try and send at a matching speed. In my case 18 - 20 wpm seems to be a cut off point between using a straight key and a paddle in order to send good code, and btw I find using a paddle much more challenging as its so easy to make a mistake. 73 DE John VA7JCF
Greetings John! Thanks for the kind words. I'm delighted that you found the practice videos helpful in reaching your Morse code proficiency goals. If you can imagine, I have quite a few more videos in the queue to create and release, including an innovative Taste of IWR (Instant Word Recognition) Course. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thought provoking, very helpful and inspirational. Understanding this is going to help me learn Morse. Very interesting and much appreciation for your hard work.
Thanks! I'm delighted to hear that you found this video helpful in better understanding the progress in proficiency and how that tends to change with time. (If you haven't already discovered it, please check out my Morse Code Ninja website - morsecode.ninja .) I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thanks for the video Kurt. As a new-ish CW student, and nowhere near entering the unconscious word recognition zone, I don’t understand how you handle a word that you don’t know if you aren’t keeping track of the letters. Even fast readers of the written word have to sound words out occasionally (at least I do!). Thanks again. 73.
You're welcome, Lawrence. If someone uses IWR (Instant Word Recognition) to copy at high speed and encounters a word they don't already know, they are unlikely to recognize it. Often the missed-word can be guessed based on the context of what is being sent. This is why I refer to learning IWR (Instant Word Recognition) as building up a vocabulary of sound patterns. I have found it helpful to learn 100 word sound patterns at a time. That is why I have created a series of practice sets - Sentences from the Top X Words. I currently have practice up to the Top 1,500 Words. I am actively working on additional practice sets. I have found that I have to hear the word in a sentence about 20 times before learning the sound pattern. So the practice is very extensive! There are many many hours to enjoy. :) I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Great overview! Now I understand why I got to about 30wpm back in the late 80's when I took a break from my hobbies because my career took my time. Now retired, I am trying to get my CW speed back up. I have now maxed out at about the 28wpm you suggest, and trying to move into word recognition. Beyond that, your tips will be quite helpful, I am certain. Thank you once again. --Mark, KE6BB
Thanks, Mark! I'm glad you found this helpful. I'm also excited to hear that you are interested in improving your Morse Code proficiency now that you have more time with retirement. If you haven't discovered the Morse Code Ninja website, you may want to check it out - morsecode.ninja . On the front page, if you scroll down a little to the Defining ICR and Beyond ( morsecode.ninja#DefiningICRAndBeyond ), you may find this deeper dive explanation helpful. I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Your comment about learning ICW at higher speeds is very true. I was getting frustrated around the 300-words (and 180 qso phrases) section, trying to learn it at 20wpm. Out of frustration, I bumped the speed up to 25wpm and suddenly I'm hearing words, or parts of words, instead of a bunch of characters I have to assemble into a word. 20wpm is surprisingly hard for me, because it's too slow to hear all of a word unless it's short, but too fast to have the time to merge characters together into words...
Greetings George. It can surprise many students, but sometimes going faster is easier and the path to success. I find anything slower than 17wpm much more challenging because of how much time is needed to hold onto characters to form words and statements/sentences. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
25 wpm is the magical number! "Words" begin to appear. Then 30 is the next milestone! 30 is easier to key than 25 and takes less time. I'm working on getting comfortable with 35, and it seems this is the threshold between "Morse code" and QRQ. At 35 wpm the sound begins to change from CW to something resembling more like "patterns of sound" and brrrt brrt-type sounds. 35 is not the Morse code 25 is and requires learning these sounds independently of earlier studies. I'm working on it!
Greetings Jason! I'm delighted to hear that you have discovered IWR (Instant Word Recognition). For most people that tends to happen somewhere between 25 and 30wpm. With consistent higher-speed practice and goosing the speed a bit during practice sessions, I'm positive that you will find 35wpm very similar to 25wpm. You are at a magical time in your learning experience. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that you will have many personal breakthroughs in the next 6 to 12 months of practice. I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Excellent overview! Thanks so much for taking the time to make this video. I'm just starting my "journey." I just completed the CWA Beginners class, and I'm registered for the Basic class that starts in a month. So, I'm dedicating myself to working on ICR over the next 30 days or so. It is a journey! On one hand, I do get frustrated from time to time, but on the other hand, considering all that I knew 8 weeks ago was SOS, I'm really amazed at the progress. The CWA classes are terrific. One small nit-picky point...I think the better description is that ICR takes place more in the "subconscious" mind, as compared to the "unconscious" mind. You definitely aren't in a coma, I hope! ;) I'm finding that you are correct that if I try to keyboard, it's slowing me down. I've been using CW_Player, and at a certain point, it becomes more of a typing practice than an ICR practice. So, I've been just saying the letter out loud without bothering to type it in, even though it's hard to accept my score of 0% correct! Luckily, I found you and this video through the Morse Code Ninja, and it's been a huge help. Thanks again for helping us all on our journey!
Greetings, Clay! Congratulations on completing your CWA Beginners class and well on your way to acquiring ICW! That is a great achievement! Hah! Thanks for the nomenclature correction. I haven't ever taken the time to think about the differences between the subconscious and unconscious mind. "The subconscious is that part of consciousness that is not currently in focal awareness. The unconscious mind consists of the processes in the mind that occur automatically and are not available to introspection, and include thought processes, memory, affect, and motivation." Although based on those definitions, it looks like "unconscious mind" is the correct usage. (I'm happy to stand corrected though.) ICR and ICW are automatic, and I can't tell you how it works precisely. The characters and words pop into my conscious mind. I'm happy to hear that you are working on head-copy! I was resistant to give the keyboard up until I hit the wall at 30wpm and couldn't go any faster. My CWA advisor was gentle and persistent. I eventually switched at the end of my Level 3 class! In my experience, saying the answer out loud reinforces the decoding. It's great to hear you do that too! And thanks for your kind words. I'm happy to give back to the amateur radio community. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
@@KurtZoglmann Thanks for the reply! You know, I think I was thinking about the definition of "unconscious" in the vernacular, as in "comatose", as opposed to the neurological definition! That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it! 9,000 hours of total content! Holy cow, the mind boggles! Luckily for you, I know that it's possible to write a short piece of programming to convert text to code. Otherwise, I'd be stunned by the image of you spending 9,000 hours hunched over your J-38! Lol! Oh, the carpal tunnel! On a more relevant note, my CWA instructor had created audio files similar to yours, but going in the opposite direction. In other words, starting a lower speed and then going up with each repetition. However, now that I've listened to yours, I find it much better for learning. I'm doing the single letters from 38-25 wpm, and the fun/challenge is trying to nail the letter the first time I hear it. I'm getting better! The amazing thing is that sometimes I have no clue how many dits or dahs I just heard, but I know it's a Q. Progress! My brain is getting automatic! Seriously, Kurt, thanks for all the work you've done for those of us on this journey. Most appreciated! Clay NF7X
Ik zag onlangs een video en enkele woorden waren door elkaar geschud alleen de eerste en de laatste letter stonden op de juiste plaats, iemand die de taal meester was kon de woorden ontcijferen ik denk dat dit ook het geval is bij morse code, als ik een gemakkelijk Engels woord hoor en ik ken de eerste en de laatste letter is het alsof de ontbrekende letters ik terug door mijn hoofd herinner
Dat zou het geval kunnen zijn met Morsecode. Er wordt onderzoek gedaan naar de verschijnselen die u beschrijft. - www.treehugger.com/why-your-brain-can-read-jumbled-letters-4864305 . Ik wens je het allerbeste op je Morse Code-reis! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thank you. This video is very helpful in understanding the learning process. I listen to code such that I’m at about 60% proficiency now, but I’m improving with practice. I don’t write anything. I wasn’t sure this was correct, but you have clarified that! Again, most helpful and much appreciated.
Awesome. I'm happy to hear that you are making progress towards your Morse code proficiency goals. I find head-copy so much more enjoyable. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
This is good stuff. I had an old friend, in his 80's, who could copy over 40 wpm, and write it all down, but he had no idea what he had written down until he looked at the paper and read it, which just looked like scribbles to me, worse than a doctors prescription. He could even talk to me while he was doing it, using entirely muscle memory, which amazed me. He had been using Morse and copying it like that nearly every day since he was a teen.
I don't know. I could never read much of his copy. He once showed half a page of it to me from a 24 hour CW contest he'd been in. It was completely illegible. I now wish I'd gotten a page of it when he passed away. I'd frame it. In fact, the reason he showed me that partial page at the time was because he had written it late at night during a CW contest, and he was amused because, as he explained, he had been so tired that there was not a single thing on the page that was intelligible even to him. It was gibberish. He had been copying noise, not code. I think that's referred to as being 'in the zone'. But he left me his old, one-owner, high-mileage, used Vibroplex Zephyr with the weight all the way back to the stop at the high-speed end, where it had clearly been sitting for many years. Yes, I sat and just stared at it for a long time, learning from it. I still haven't disassembled and cleaned it yet. I want the time to do it right. I'll need to learn to use it with the weight out at the slow end, and with a clothespin or 2 on it. But learn I will.
Thanks for this very helpful video. I'm really enjoying your word and phrase videos to help with head copy. It's really working to improve my speed and comprehension.
You're welcome, Aaron. I'm happy to hear that you are finding my Morse code practice helpful in reaching your proficiency goals. If there is anything else you would like to hear that I don't already have, let me know, and I will see what I can do! I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Very helpful. Thx. In my observations, as with anything involving speed, error rates go up. This will be argued, but. In my CW/Morse journey, another dimension came into play; shortcuts/abbreviations/syntax. So, I found there are 3 dimensions to be learned; morse/abbreviations/sentence structure. Cheers! Pursue Perfection To Achieve Excellence
Great point. On the air, Morse Code is like a pidgin. Some standard phrases and abbreviations convey complex ideas with very few characters. But occasionally, rag chews will turn Morse Code into an encoding where anything can be stated. I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thank you for your generosity, Steve! I appreciate it. (I am happy to send you one or more Morse Code Ninja stickers! If you send me an email with how many you'd like and your mailing address, I'll send them out. You can find my contact info on the Morse Code Ninja website - morsecode.ninja/contact/index.html ) If you want to hear anything I don’t already have, please let me know, and I will see what I can do! Quite a bit of my practice content has come from the suggestions of others. Even the request for a podcast I released in December came from others. :) I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
WOW! The best I ever read or heard about learning morse code! I was quite active in the 80's but never used CW, Now I'm 73 years old and my goal is to learn CW at a speed of about 30 WPM. After this video I'm optimistic to achieve this goal!...and the positive side of being retired: more time to practice! Hi, hi! Many thanks, Kurt! 73 de HB9DCZ/HS0ZPR
Thanks for the kind words, Peter! Depending on where you are in your proficiency, you may find the Taste of IWR Course helpful. I just released it a couple of days ago. You can find it at this URL - morsecode.ninja/learn/index.html#TasteofIWRCourse . I wish you all the best in retirement and your Morse journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
I started at about 6 w.p.m., then 8, 10 and 12 and then a bit beyond ready for the test at 12 w.p.m. Had an amateur helping me and also listening on air. I think that is needed to be able to listen through QRM, fading and other noises and get the correct abbreviations and run of a QSO. I did this learning in 12 weeks and passed the test first time. I thought the examiner was going a bit faster than 12 w.p.m. so was glad I had a bit in reserve. It worked for me. Happy at 18 to 20 w.p.m. and can push myself to 25 and some of 30 w.p.m. Only a straight key so can't go too fast sending anyway. I can't type. It's great sitting back and head reading to a couple of guys sending Morse about gardening, a trip out or even a visit to hospital. G4GHB.
I'm delighted to hear of your success, Bill! And yep, even with mastery of QRQ, band conditions can easily require going slower. Learning Morse Code and practicing CW is a joy I hope more people discover! I wish you all the best on your continued Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
@@KurtZoglmann Thanks for the reply, Kurt. After learning it I wasn't going to let it go. I could never understand our G8 licensees not learning it to increase their distance on vhf/uhf. They used to say they were not interested in h.f. as we needed it for the h.f. licence then, yet when learning Morse was no longer required they suddenly appeared on h.f. I've had some great c.w. QSO's on 10m recently with even one Watt out and attic dipole. 73 es HNY. G4GHB.
@@KurtZoglmann Yes, other bands too, I worked IT9PQO yesterday on 17m ssb and said I was using 5 Watts, only after the QSO I realised I was using ½ Watt which I had set the previous day for c.w.. Both on dipoles, mine in the attic, 5.5. report for me, 5.9. for his 400 Watts. I'm still amazed at QRP even after 30+ years. G4GHB.
You're welcome, John. It has been my pleasure to give back to the amateur radio community. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Super useful. The ngrams and sentences have helped tremendously. The chart helps clarify what I've observed with headcopying at varying speeds and what to aim for and expect in the next tier up. I realize now what my elmer has been saying in that though I'm head copying in QSOs, I'm still in ICR space rather than IWR space. Do you find it better to get the endurance up first (3 words -> full sentence) before jumping up tiers? When you do push to the next level, are you starting back at single words or going straight into full sentences?
You have made significant progress, Joey! Congratulations! And those are great questions. 1) Is it better to become more proficient with ICR before focusing on IWR? IMO, that mostly depends on your short term goals. Becoming more proficient with ICR in the short term will allow you to work other stations more effectively. On the other hand, focusing on IWR will enable you to gain speed more quickly. In fact, you will likely need to practice at 30wpm or more to start building up your vocabulary of word sound patterns. 2) When you move from ICR to IWR, are you starting back at single words? Or going straight into sentences? If you have enough proficiency with ICR to copy somewhere between a handful of words to entire sentences, you likely won't need to start over with individual words. Copying multiple words to entire sentences mostly has to do with having enough mental space to keep track of it. Initially, moving from ICR to IWR can eat into that spare mental space, which is why I have created the easiest possible sentences to start with - "Sentences from the Top 100 Words" and "Sets of 2 Words". I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey, Joey! 73 de AD0WE
Kurt, first thanks for the effort you put into content. I think I have watched this particular video several times. Presently I am at 30wpm w/ at least 90% accuracy (~75% @ 35wpm). I struggle mightily though with 2 & 3 letter 30wpm videos, probably on 60-65% accuracy. I have been working on this aspect for a couple weeks and any progress has been very slow - admittedly some of the impediments are environmental, or lack of concentration, or plain old mental fatigue. All that aside, would it be advisable to drop down to 25wpm for the multiple character aspect? By the way, the Mind-Melt series is great fun!
Greetings Shawn, Congratulations on making it to 30wpm with 90% accuracy. That's a fantastic achievement and milestone. It is common to struggle moving up to the next level in copying two and three characters. The key is to focus on ICR (Instant Character Recognition) with a quick recognition time. To help reduce the recognition time and serve as a stepping stone, I created the Rapid-Fire and Mind-Melt series for Letters and Letter-Numbers. It's great you are already practicing with the Mind-Melt series. As far as dropping down in speed, that can also be a good idea. Temporarily decrease the speed and then increase it once you feel you have sufficiently mastered it at a lower speed. (Sorry for the delay.) I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thank you Kurt. Have you considered developing an app for google play store and iOS , that play your lessons while I may be at the dr office? Etc. etc. Just leaning into IWR. •••~•~
You're very welcome, Jay! It is a great idea, and I have thought about creating phone applications. Unfortunately, I don't have the necessary free time for such an undertaking, which is why I went distributing the practice content on RUclips and available for download on my Morse Code Ninja website. Recently, I opened sourced the software used to create Morse code practice sets. And I am beginning to partner with others in LICW (Long Island CW Club) who are interested in taking this idea further. Perhaps someone will create a phone app. iOS and Android devices require entirely different software, so it requires writing the same software twice! Depending on the sophistication of the app, it could take 100s to 1000s of hours. And they would require periodic maintenance to ensure they continue to run and stay in their respective store fronts. Perhaps downloading the audio from my website and putting a handful of the practice sets on your phone would meet your needs for the moment? Good luck on IWR, Jay! I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Thanks for this Kurt and thanks for the exercises. What you had to say was very interesting and certainly rang true for this 68yr old who is finding that he can learn morse! I know what you say about conscious and automatic is true. My touch typing became so much quicker as soon as my brain stopped thinking and then telling my fingers to type. If that makes sense!
You're quite welcome. And I am happy to hear that you are having success learning Morse code! It is an awesome endeavor and a lot of fun! I had never given touch typing much thought, but I'm sure you are right. As soon as muscle memory and the unconscious mind take over moving the fingers, typing speed dramatically increases. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
@@KurtZoglmann Thanks Kurt! One of my problems is that as a photographer by trade, I'm visually orientated and I've found it fatal to look at printed dots and dashes. My mind then looks at the visual library in my head in order to translate! I've been following your advice and learning the sound of the character and progress, slower at first is now much better. 73s de G6XIB
@@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE Unfortunately, it is easy to find "quick" methods for learning Morse code at 5wpm. They should come with a warning about how it will interfere with learning to copy code beyond 13wpm! I was fortunate and did quite a bit of reading before embarking on my own Morse code journey. The free book, The Art and Skill of Radio-Telegraphy by William Pierpont, is excellent and helped me avoid problems early on in my self-study. I am happy to hear that you are having success overcoming this initial learning impediment. It can be frustrating overcoming it and achieving ICR! 73 de AD0WE
Thank you so much for this and all your lessons. I can confirm many effects that you describe here i.e. those I already experienced like instant char recognition to the keyboard but also head copying and instant word recognition. One thing I currently struggle with is words starting with 'ex'. That would be a very helpful topic 🙂
You're welcome! I'm happy to hear that you have made a lot of progress on your Morse code proficiency. Unfortunately, I don't have any specific advice regarding words starting with "ex." However, most people encounter certain letter combinations that sound awkward and are challenging to copy. In my experience, additional practice reduces the oddness of these awkward letter combinations. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
I wonder if you have another video in instant character/ word recognition. I am stuck writing the letters down and end up missing characters. So no I just listen to code. I have tried LICW and CW Academy and just fail fail it seems. It is the frustration wall I hit.. so I am curious if there is another video you have on learning at 20wpm or faster.
Greetings Chris! I'm delighted you haven't given up! I have written far more about learning Morse code on my Morse Code Ninja website than in creating RUclips videos. You may want to read through the Morse Code Ninja Advice page ( morsecode.ninja/advice/index.html ). It has all of the best advice in one spot and is relevant for beginners to those aspiring to achieve 50+ wpm. I am happy to provide more advice, but I'll need to know more about your struggles. You are also welcome to send me an email. You can find my contact details here - morsecode.ninja/contact/index.html . I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
You're welcome. If there is anything that you would like to hear that I don't already have, let me know, and I will see what I can do. A lot of the practice content has come from the suggestions of others. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Very helpful video. Thank you for gifting us your work Kurt. Morse Ninja is part of my daily routine and is helping me with my morse skills. Working on 17wpm, but enjoy learning cw this way just for its own sake :-)
You are quite welcome! It has been my pleasure to give back to the amateur radio community. I'm happy to hear that my practice is helping you work towards your Morse code proficiency goals. And I agree! Learning Morse code is fun! The journey has been just as much fun as getting to the destination. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! If there is something that you would like to hear that I don't already have, let me know, and I will see what I can do. 73 de AD0WE
Great video. The information on your website is fantastic. Your analysis of letter groups, their frequency, and the data extraction for the most common dx callsigns is unlike anything I've seen, and I've been a ham since 1977. You are a genius. (or, possibly, a space alien - either way...) TNX de WB6VIC
Thank you Even for the very kind words. No alien DNA! I promise! But I did visit Roswell, NM once. hi hi. I have given a lot of thought to the process of learning Morse code. Most of my ideas are built off the existing work of others. But there are a handful of original ideas that have advanced the art of CW. And a special thank you goes to Daniel (KK4FOS) at Buckmaster International for making callsign information available to me, which has allowed me to create specialized callsign related practice! (I am working on some additional callsign practice at the moment! I'm not particularly happy with what I have made available so far.) I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Thank you for a very informative video even for an old HAM as me who learned morse code the old way more than 50 years ago and never became very sufficient in copying morse. But it is said that you are never to old to learn and I am now trying to speed up on the code by using some of your videos and I do also look upon it as a good brain exercise at old age 😀Best 73 es tu de LA5RP
Awesome, Oeystein! I'm delighted to hear that you are finding the practice videos helpful. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
You're welcome, Glenn. I'm happy to hear that you found this video and the practice sets helpful. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Interesting. My experience of learning Morse as a RO in the Royal Navy (at 16!). Was quite simple. Start slow, and hour or two a day, increase speed when you get 95% or whatever accuracy then increase speed. No one mentioned how you learned - I don't think you need to know. No one taught us instant character, or word recognition or head copy - all those things come with practice, whether you like it or not. And of course copying 5 letter code makes it impossible - so everything was normally written down or typed. Mostly around 20 wpm but often at 25wpm (Being young makes it easier). No commercial or military operator was taught instant word recognition or headcopy either. With practice some of became special operators and went up to copying 36wpm with almost no errors. Just practice. Simply. I'm not sure there are any fancy shortcuts - you can't learn faster morse without going faster!!
Fantastic experience, Dave! It is possible to go faster without cognition of the mental processes enabling it. Lots of people have done it that way. And yep. It requires lots of practice at higher speeds to go faster. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
@@KurtZoglmann "Journey"? Kurt, I'm not sure I've much journey left to do. I'm 72!! now. I became a ham 6 years ago. It was quite easy to pick up 30 wpm or more again, I discovered that whilst I could easily send 24/25wpm on a straight key with 100% accuracy, I can now only manage 18wpm. That will do me fine.
Hello Kurt! Thank you for all films. They are very helpfull for me . I am starting back after almost 50 years long break in activity on CW on the bands !And you gave me a new look on idea of CW decoding using by my brain of course hi!Thanks a lot!You make a good job! I am now 68 old and it is amazing for me to work on HF on CW . Sorry but my english is- in my mind- absolutly not correct , but I hope you do understand me :) .vy 73!- Matt SP3FYI
Greetings, Ijon! I'm delighted to hear that you have returned to CW after a long break. I'm glad that this video was helpful in thinking about Morse code proficiency. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Hey Kurt. i’ve just started learning morse using G4FON. When learning should I not be writing down the characters for ICR? If not, how will I check my accuracy? Thanks for all your work, 73 Alan
Hello Alan. That's a good question. It's up to you. There are pros and cons to initially learning ICR with pencil- or keyboard-copy vs head-copy. It can be easier to initially learn copying with a pencil or keyboard, but it can be difficult or awkward for people to transition to head copy. I learned to keyboard copy and then transitioned to head copy with a bit of awkwardness. Many people find success learning to head copy from the start. If you choose to head copy, you won't know your exact accuracy, but that is okay. You'll have a general idea of your accuracy, which will be good enough to inform you when you are ready for the next step. Whatever your decision, I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thanks Kurt. I'm on your 28WPM n-grams and 3 digit numbers now. I'm trying to push myself past character recognition and into work recognition. It's pretty frustrating, but there are those magic moments where you realize that you understood the word without having to stack all of the letters up in your short term memory, and those are very satisfying.
You're welcome. With continued practice, you will increasingly copy with IWR. Transitioning from ICR to IWR is one of the more difficult parts of the journey. I found it more difficult to gain proficiency moving from 20 to 30wpm than gaining proficiency from 30 to 40wpm. The latter was mostly putting in the time for practice. I know with persistence, you will get there. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Awesome, Bob. I'm delighted to hear that you found it helpful. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! Feel free to check out all of my advice on the Morse Code Ninja website -- morsecode.ninja/advice/index.html . 73 de AD0WE dit dit
I wonder if anyone has experimented with copying code with one ear vs. the other ear since they go to opposite sides of the auditory functions of the brain.
That's a great question, Richard! I'm unaware of any research investigating whether there are proficiency differences between copying with left, right, and both ears. If you run across any, let me know. 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thank you for all you are doing to help the CW fraternity. I have been using your program for 25 wpm and on a good day get 95% bad days? With an iambic key I practice at sending 20 wpm, but on the air reduce to 18-19 wpm and still make many mistakes. The problem seems to be, thinking what I want to say next, thinking how to spell some words, which is over taxing the brain. Poor timing with the keying sending an h instead of 5 and vice versa. Also my sending is not as smooth as it needs to be as I recall which letter comes next. when I got the full licence in 1987 the tutor said do not go on to use SSB until you are comfortable with morse. I am still working at it. Please Kurt do you have any suggestions? 73' Mike
Greetings Mike. I'm delighted you find the Morse code practice content helpful in reaching your Morse code proficiency goals. And congratulations on real-world CW proficiency of 18 to 19wpm! As you indicate, sending is a different skill than copying. And it sounds like you may be like me and in the minority in finding it easier to copy at a given speed than send at a given speed. Like learning to copy at higher speeds, there are several milestones in learning to send. One significant initial hurdle is transitioning from sending what is written down on paper to sending thoughts and ideas on the fly. Anything mental processes that are done with the conscious mind will be slow and impede sending at higher speeds on the fly. I'd first look to see if there is anything that needs to be worked out and moved to the unconscious mind. Having awareness is part of the answer. My other recommendation is to practice sending on the fly daily at a given speed until you reach a reasonable proficiency. Note the errors but keep going. You may also want to check out the Long Island CW Club and reach out to Terry Jackson (WB0JRH). He has a lot of expertise in mentoring students on sending. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Great question, Patrick. As a general rule, that isn't a problem. Once we become proficient at a given speed, we will continue to be proficient so long as we practice or make QSOs at that speed. We can become rusty and struggle if we only practice at higher speeds and then months or years later have a QSO at a much slower speed than we are accustomed to. Again, as a general rule, if we do become rusty, it doesn't take a lot of work to regain our previous proficiency.
My XYL is the creative one! I am lucky to manage an illustration in Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop! I'm proud of my Morse Code Ninja logo. It is a step above a stick figure. LoL
Great explanation of what I can expect as I try to learn to head copy. I look forward to practicing with your videos. Now I feel like I know what I have to do. Before, I just wondered how I could learn to head copy. Thank you so much for this great CW learning source!
You're welcome, Pat! And I'm glad you found it helpful! It has been my pleasure to give back to the amateur radio community. It has been great getting to know many people from around the world. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
While copying at slower speeds, it is not uncommon to carefully listen and count dits and dahs. I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Unfortunately you weren't around in my youth. This lecture is well done and everything fits with my experience. I'm working on my speed and get lost head copying at times - your tools are the best 73's. alex w5yb
You're welcome, Lynda! I'm glad that you found it helpful. If you are just starting to embark on your learning journey, you may want to check out the Morse Code Ninja Advice page that I have put together - morsecode.ninja/advice/index.html . I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thank you for this video. I am currently at around 18 - 20 wpm. however, copying at these speeds seems like work and I actually feel relief when the qso is over. I would love to be able to copy at 20 -25 wpm comfortable so I could enjoy the exchange. So thank for you for sharing this information.
You're welcome. And awesome work! 20wpm is no small feat! In my experience, a particular speed becomes comfortable when I can copy 30% faster than that speed. So 25wpm became comfortable when I achieved proficiency at 30wpm. My long term goal is to listen to a book in Morse code at 40wpm. But based on my experience, I know that I need to learn to copy at 50 to 55wpm. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
I've used your code practice a lot to increase my speed. This video was a great help in understanding how I can go faster. I learned CW in the military. The army actually taught speed printing. It allows one to write quite quickly and I can print 20 words a minute but it's sometimes a struggle. I had a 30 plus year hiatus from CW and am back again learning and trying to head copy using your youtube videos on word recognition. Thanks for all your research and education on morse. I found it. ruclips.net/video/c8eVAb55OVo/видео.html
You're welcome. And thanks, Gene! I'm happy to know that I have played a small role in helping you continue your Morse code journey. I have never attempted to print at 20wpm, but I can imagine it being painful after a short while. My handwriting isn't particularly good or fast. And my hand tends to cramp up if I take notes by hand. Learning to head copy can be difficult after learning to copy via writing or type code as you hear it. It took me a bit to get the hang of it. Learning to copy one word and then two words at a time is perhaps the most challenging part. It gets easier after that with practice. If there is anything that you would like to hear that I don't already have, let me know, and I will see what I can do. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey, Gene! 73 de AD0WE
@@defrabe1 well it was a long time ago. It’s simple writing letters using the least amount of strokes. I imagine the Army has a training video. Maybe not. I till write that way to this day.
I absolutely love hearing morse code! But, as you pointed out I am at the transition between recognizing words and characters. More than two or three words is as much as my RAM seems to be able to handle so far. Also, copying @ 22 WPM using your practice sessions (using 22 WPM to be able to copy 20 wpm better) I am doing about 80% but in a QSO I become quite stressed and have to write down the characters. 😟 My max printing speed is about 25 wpm if someone is dictating English to me... DE K8QLW / 4 / QRP
That's a fantastic achievement, Kent! If you would like to try your hand at increasing your vocabulary of sound patterns, I released an Instant QSO Element Recognition Course that you might be interested in. You can read more about it here - morsecode.ninja/learn/index.html#InstantQSOElementCourses . I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
I can instant word recogniion up to 45 Max, IF the words are no longer than 5characters long and are familiar. My problem is stringing the words together to form a phrase or sentence. , Rubber stamp QSO/s no problem but I want to copy ragchew with random conversation. What should I be practicing?
That's awesome, Denis. IWR at 45wpm is excellent! I have found longer words to be more challenging to learn. I'm still learning to master words like RESPONSIBILITY and PERSPECTIVE. As I mentioned in the video, I think a part of the problem is the amount of time taken to send such long words. If it takes too much time, I cannot process the complete sound pattern as a whole. I suspect that there is a natural limit to the length of a sound that we can easily associate with a word. (It would be interesting to know what the longest spoken word is in any language.) For these longer words, I have found that it is easier to learn them at a faster speed. As far as copying with IWR and having difficulty stringing the words together to form a phrase or sentence, I understand that problem well! There are two parts to this problem. 1) When first learning to copy multiple words with ICW or IWR, you can suffer from what I call Word Dropping. It is characterized by successfully copying a word and then immediately throwing it away to focus on the next word. I had a bad case of this initially. To overcome this, I developed the "Sets of 2 Words." It is based on Google's research, which gave me the most common two-word combinations. These are so common that you can almost always guess the second word if you get the first word. It helps train the mind not to throw away words as you copy them! After you have success with this first practice set, you can move on to the Sets of 3 Words, Sets of 4 Words, and so on. Once you have success copying at least a few words at a time with IWR, I would recommend trying the "Sentences from Top 100 Words." Given where you are, the words will be easy to copy with IWR, and it is the next step up from copying a few words at a time. 2) If the conscious mind is overly tasked with trying to recognize characters and words, then there is not enough "space" to keep track of the words to form coherent meaning. As your IWR recognition improves and there is less uncertainty about what is being copied, it will increase the amount of space that you have to focus more on the meaning of what is being sent. Hopefully, that helps! I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey, Denis! 73 de AD0WE
@@KurtZoglmann Many thanks for your reply Kurt, you do great work and a real service to the Art of CW. I really needed and was looking for this type of inspiration and practice maybe ten or fifteen years ago and it's been a struggle to get to where I am now. I'll certainly take your advice and continue my journey, there is always room for improvement, as in anything worthwhile. Another factor is the stress in a real QSO of missing some copy and getting flustered, but after all what does it matter, just try to get over it and move on...easier said than done :)) Thanks again for all your excellent work 73 F5VJC
hey Kurt! to get to muscle memory recognition from pneumonic copying, would you recommend sending via straight key or paddles? Or is there no difference? thanks
Hello! That is a great question. And an age-old question. By starting with paddles, you don't have to worry much about developing a lousy fist and can focus more on learning to copy. The biggest advantage of learning Morse code with a straight key is that it allows you to feel the rhythm of the code and master copying Morse code faster. Which one is better? It depends on your situation and goals.
@@KurtZoglmann lousy fist meaning bad tempo? So maybe practice sending with a metronome on as well or just make sure to continue practicing copying while learning to send? Thanks again elmer/*mentor Kurt. Are you a HAM btw?
@@smackymcproductions4443 Lousy fist means that a person's sending has irregular/non-standard timing, which makes it difficult for another person to copy. If learning to use a straight key, I recommend using software, a device, or a CW Elmer to provide feedback on the legibility of your code. If you scroll down to the Automated Decoding section of the Morse Code Ninja Misc page, you'll see several options -- morsecode.ninja/misc/index.html . And yep, I'm a ham. My callsign is AD0WE. If you let me know your callsign, I'll send you a Ninja sticker. :)
Hello Kurt I've read max writing speed is 30 wpm I can copy code groups by hand at 30 wpm but of course it's sloppy penmanship I can copy 50 wpm in my head but I can't send faster than 40 wpm an iambic key Fingers just too slow 73 thanks for all your videos Bob du7et Wt3a ex0et ve5te g0wet
@@greggweber9967 Learning Morse Code at 5 wpm can create problems later when trying to gain proficiency at higher speeds. Running into a speed barrier of around 10 to 13 wpm is common, but some people don't encounter this problem. This occurs because the mental processes used to copy code at 5 wpm aren't workable at higher speeds. A different approach must be used. It is much better to start at least with a 13wpm character speed. Many people start with a character speed of 20wpm. CW Ops is now recommending 25 and 30-wpm character speed as a starting point. You might consider reading through some of the Morse Code Ninja Advice I put together - morsecode.ninja/advice/index.html . I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
MANY, many thanks Kur,t sterling job: _ With my now ,damaged brain I am struggling at 30 WPM but I never give in ,,, Thanks again ,,,Trig ever onwards _._
You are very welcome, Trig! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I also have a write-up from this video on the Advice page of the Morse Code Ninja website - morsecode.ninja/advice/index.html . (Just have to scroll down a little bit.) 73 de AD0WE
You're welcome, Bottin! I'm happy you find it helpful in learning and improving your Morse Code proficiency! I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thanks, David! I appreciate the donation. Look for a Morse Code Ninja sticker in the mail. (They are waterproof and UV resistant, so you can use them inside or outside.) I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
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There are 4 stages in most learning situations I learned as a trainer:-
1. Unconscious incompetence = I don't know, I don't know
2. Conscious incompetence = I know I don't know.
3. Conscious competence - I can do it if I think about it
4. Unconscious competence - I can do it without thinking.
So in terms of morse if you practice very little you might have to think very hard to copy 15wpm , but another persons who does it often at 15 wpm my well be able to do it without even thinking about it.
I wish I'd have known this back when I was a kid, trying to learn morse code for a novice license. Back then code study was an Ameco LP and W1AW transmissions. I did get the novice license and almost made it to the general, but I got sidetracked by an FM station at my high school, and so I dug into the Noll books and passed 3rd, 2nd, and 1st radiotelephone while I was in HS. By the time I got back to ham radio, the code requirement was gone. Although I'm quite rusty, I can still mostly do the conscious decoding. But what I've noticed is that things like CQ, DE, ES, stand out, along with a new one /R; I can pick them out at any reasonable speed
This video is very helpful. Thanks for telling what is happening in our heads at each phase of learning and how the phases overlap. The chart is very easy to understand. I haven't seen anyone else explain gaining Morse proficiency better than you did here.
Thanks, Howard. I appreciate the feedback! I tried to explain how Morse code proficiencies relate to copying speed carefully and clearly. Although I had an outline of what I wanted to talk about, I meandered quite a bit! It took time to edit the video down into something more succinct.
I will add that graphic to my Morse Code Ninja website soon. I haven't figured out where the best place is to put it yet.
I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
You described it all pretty close to perfectly. I learned about the significance of muscle memory when I was young and someone asked me how many speeds my motorcycle was and I had to twitch my right foot 6 times and count the gear shifts. My conscious mind didn't know, but my subconscious mind did. I learned it even better when learning to walk again after a spinal-cord injury. I started by concentrating consciously on every motion until it was giving me headaches. I literally could not talk and walk at the same time. But over a period of time I forced that conscious mental process down into my subconscious so that I could think about other things as I walked. It took well over a year. Now I am learning Morse and I see the same sort of thing happening, and the process is exactly as you described.
Kurt, Thank you so much for your hard work creating these courses. They are the best, hands down, of anything I've tried in the past. Please continue making these "how to learn" videos also. This one was very useful, explaining about the walls we hit, and what our goals should be during each phase of our journey. 73 KB3JC
You're welcome, Steve, and thank you for the kind words. I have strived to create incremental practice content to help anyone no matter where there are in their learning process. Many ideas have come from others struggling with something in particular, so I always welcome ideas for new content.
I am happy to create additional videos. I will think about what would be useful to a broader audience. Is there anything in particular that you would like to see me talk about?
I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey 73 de AD0WE
Finally someone who can explain the process of learning CW!!!!
Thanks, Richard. I'm happy to hear that you found it useful. :)
Thanks Kurt! I am an advisor for CW Academy, and have taught Beginner and Basic classes. I Most enjoy Beginner, because there I have to UN-teach what most hams have learned, such as 1. Mental Look Up Tables 2. Some kind of wacky mental association between how the character sounds to a animal or figure then to the character 3. Other wacky time soaking mental gymnastics, all this is so hard instead of the right way, ICR, Instant Character Recognition, then on to recogniing words and a good proficiancy copying call signs. You are right in what you teach. This is why I love teaching the basic, or foundational course. IF the foundation ls level and plumb, you can build a building. If you start on a shakey foundation, the building will be like wise, shakey and out of plumb, and unstable. Back to the basics! And practice, practice, practice, in a efficient way. I require at least one hour of practice time per day total for my students. They will not get it by just being in class. Class time is the check up time, not the practice time for class prep. Thanks again, if we work together, he CW Bands will be a better place to be! Best! Andy, WB7DKZ
You're welcome, Andy! And thanks for being a CW Acadamy advisor! It sounds like sure your students get a lot from your class! I am appreciative of all the hard work that goes into CWA. My best regards to you and your family during these difficult times! 73 de AD0WE
@@KurtZoglmann Thanks Kurt !
Extremely good video. Thanks for all your hard work Kurt !!
Good advice Andy. Unfortunately I am in the group that learned the code by using visual dots and dashes 45 years ago as a novice. I am retired now and my goal is to get to 25 wpm. I’m pretty well stuck at 13 wpm. With hard work I may be able to disconnect the “ look up table” stuck in my head. But how? Any ideas how to accelerate this process? I am trying to copy in my head without writing individual letters down. (Except call sign, etc.)
I’m using Kurt’s 15 wpm videos exclusively now.
Mr Zoglmann,
This is immensely helpful. Cannot thank you enough.
You have gone beyond Morse. You have taken us on a journey into the various levels of human perception and linguistic cognition, and even beyond.
This is a rare gem of a video.
I stumbled upon it after a several month struggle with Morse, spent in just sitting and copying. The transition to listening and ‘head copying’ came as an unpleasant surprise when attempted after so much time and effort copying on paper. The realization quickly struck home - muscle memory is different from intuitive recognition of characters and words as part of a language.
This video must be made the very first one any aspiring Morser or CWer should be seeing. Hopefully others will see this earlier in their Morse journey than I.
Many thanks. You have a rare gift of deep understanding combined with the good nature to share your knowledge, and the skill and ability to present it in a short, beautiful video lecture.
Sincerely,
KD2KWH.
You're welcome, Kulan. Thank you for the kindest of words. The foundation for this video is built on my learning experience and on the shoulders of giants - those who have made great contributions to learning Morse code.
If you haven't discovered my Morse Code Ninja website, I have a vast library of incrementally more advanced practice content - morsecode.ninja/practice/index.html . It is geared to those working on head-copy. The audio is available on RUclips and available as a direct download.
I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
I stop at this video as a guidepost, sort of a "see where I am at now" ruler. Unfortunately, I am still slogging along under 20, and I keep trying every resource available to jump the next level. I am very grateful you are here doing this, as I might have said the hell with it by now otherwise. I had mentioned before, my late Wife (N2SKZ) could head copy 30, 40+ while reading a book. All that She did without very much formal training. Well, maybe my study habits have gotten lazy, but I never give up. Thanks Kurt.
I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. I can only imagine the loss that you feel. I'm glad that you are a part of our CW community. It is a place of welcome and support for all.
Congratulations on reaching 20wpm proficiency! That is no small achievement. I'm delighted that you have set your sights higher and continue to practice.
I wish you all the very best on your Morse Code journey! 73s my friend. 73 de AD0WE dit dit
This video is very insightful. I just started my CW journey at my retirement. Your training videos are very helpful. Thank you!
I'm delighted you found this overview insightful and the other Morse Code Ninja practice helpful. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Going into the next semester with CW Academy in a few days I found this video to be very helpful in clearly laying out the path ahead. Thanks Kurt!
I wish you all the best in your next CW Academy class! And all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Hello, Kurt. I had intended to write you about how you have been a major factor in my feeble attempts to learn CW. But, after reading all of the people that have already written, the only thing I can do is agree with them. You are the BEST! Thank you for your time and effort that you do for all of us. 73 KG5OBD
You're welcome, Claiborne. I appreciate your kind words and feedback. It has been my pleasure to give back to the amateur radio community, especially the CW community. I have had nothing but positive experiences.
I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! If there is anything that I don't have that you would like to hear, let me know, and I will see what I can do. 73 de AD0WE
15 months in kurt and I’m just now learning iwr. Focusing on the meaning of the sentence. So for anyone that has a hard time getting ICR. Time and patience is a virtue. Most importantly is practicing. A regiment daily for the mind.
As I progress in my CW learning journey, I find that the levels you describe are not necessary separate as you stated regarding call recognition, numerical info and etc compared to standard QSO exchanges. There are some "gems" to be found in your responses to the comments. I also struggle with "identifying and then instantly forgetting" and am using the set of words to overcome that. I am also using those same sets of word exercises at higher speeds to work on IWR. With IWR, you either "know" or you don't. However, with IWR, it brings the enjoyment of CW to a different level. I find it very relaxing. Lots of things to work on the different levels for sure and thanks for providing us the materials to help us "get there". 73! KG5OWB
Greetings Terry! I'm glad that you found the responses helpful. If you are having difficulty with "instantly forgetting" words, you might want to try the Sets of 2 Words and then Sets of 3 Words. They are the first sets under the "Sentences" filter on the Morse Code Ninja Practice page.
It can be difficult transitioning from copying individual words to entire sentences. I located the most frequent 2, 3, 4, and 5-word combinations in contemporary English. These sentence fragments are known as N-grams and should seem familiar and common to any English speaker. I have selected the top 500 N-grams for each set.
To my knowledge, this is an innovative idea that has not been done before! I have found this particularly helpful in learning to head-copy entire sentences.
I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Nice explanation of the different modes of Mose code recognition.
I enjoy listening to practice videos as I'm in bed, trying to sleep. A perfect soporific - takes enough concentration so you can't think about your obsessions. But boring enough so you aren't kept awake.
Thank's Bart! I'm glad that you find the practice enjoyable and helpful! I have only listened to Morse code in bed once. It was when I was very sick with the flu a couple of years ago. It helped pass the time and take my mind off of things.
I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
@@KurtZoglmann , thanks for the nice reply. I realize that I often use your videos and have spent hours with them. I get a kick when the little girl (your daughter? ) occasionally speaks the word transmitted in Morse.
@@BartAnderson_writer I'm happy to hear that you enjoy the young girl's voice! Some people dislike the jarring jump from one voice to another. All of the voiced components are computer-generated using Amazon's Polly service. When I first started creating the practice sets it was new and occasionally the pronunciation was so bad that I had to switch to a different voice so that it would be understood. All of my latest videos use the second generation "neural engine" for text-to-speech.
I've noticed that after listening to the 18 wpm bulletins on W1AW I'm able to pick up some words, letters and numbers without writing it down.
Awesome, Joe! That is a great achievement. The W1AW broadcasts are a great resource for copying Morse code in real-world conditions. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
This describes things very accurately I think
I have found your methodology of learning code to be the best! I’ve been a ham for 57 years. CW wasn’t my mode initially! But then I learned that I’d I wanted a chance at rare DX, I had a better chance on CW. Now, it is my mode of choice. I little to no SSB. I’ve had my big DX days with big power and beams. The challenge has past! Now the challenge of CW is still alive!!! I’ve sent your videos to a few good friends! Keep up the good work! 72-73 De NØPL!
Greetings, Paul! Thank you for the kindest of words. I'm delighted you found the Morse Code Ninja practice helpful. I have poured my heart into giving back to the amateur radio community and those interested in learning Morse code. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! Long live CW. 73 de AD0WE dit dit
P.S. If you can believe it, I have quite a bit more content that I plan on releasing. :)
@@KurtZoglmann I’ll be watching for more!! Dit-Dit!!
Many thanks for this broad based & comprehensive overview 👍. Exactly what I've been looking for such a thing for quite a while! 73s from the UK.
Thanks for the kind words. I'm delighted that you found it helpful. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dti
I want to copy accurate, why race through with multiple request to "Say again!"
Good point. Accuracy over speed. With practice and time, good band conditions, and another proficient operator, accuracy and higher speeds are not mutually exclusive. I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
I am a scientist and very analytical therefore struggling at lower speed copying. I will try to tap into the unconscious part of the brain. Easier said than done I’m assuming but will give it a shot.
Thank you for this video.
Thanks, Mike! I'm delighted you found this video helpful. If you haven't discovered my Morse Code Ninja website, which provides a wealth of additional information and allows you to find the practice content you are looking for much more easily, I encourage you to check it out - morsecode.ninja.
Regarding learning, you may want to read two articles I wrote - Defining ICR and Beyond - morsecode.ninja#DefiningICRAndBeyond . And a second article, Conquering ICR - morsecode.ninja#ConqueringICR .
You may also want to check out my Ninja Advice Page ( morsecode.ninja/advice/index.html ), which contains additional advice and food for thought.
I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Kurt, thank you so much for the incredible resource that you have put together and generously shared with the ham community!! I can copy call signs (with occasional repeats) up to about 32 WPM. I am comfortable doing a CW POTA activation but I still can't really rag chew. I am now entering the phase of instant word recognition and your videos will be the main tool I use going forward. Once again, thank you very much for everything you have done. 🙂
Greetings, Lyndon. I'm delighted you find the Morse Code Ninja practice content helpful in reaching your proficiency goals. And I'm excited to hear of your progress! I have two relevant practice sets that you may want to check out: 2023 SOTA Activator Callsigns and 2023 SOTA Chaser Callsigns. You can quickly get to them from the Morse Code Ninja Practice page - morsecode.ninja/practice/index.html . Then choose the Call Signs filter. The practice sets you are looking for are toward the bottom. Select the relevant one and a speed and it will take you directly to that RUclips video.
I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Yup, still dragging through step 1. Some days I can do single letters at 40wpm, others I'm lucky to break 25. String them into words, and I have to cut that in half or worse. Need to flash recognize the sound without thinking about what they're made of.
Greetings Jim. Congratulations on all of the hard-earned Morse code proficiency that you have achieved thus far. Off days can be frustrating. In my experience, I have noted exceptional days of above-average Morse code proficiency and other days where it is a struggle. I have found that consistent practice is the quickest way to improve regardless of good or bad days. 73 de AD0WE
Thank you so much, a masterpiece of work and a useful material and advice. 73
You're welcome, Serge. I appreciate the kind words. And I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
And THANK YOU for YOUR time and effort! I've sent this video to my fiance, Sarah who at present is a "hopeful ham". In just getting back into it after a several year absentee. I'm presently working with your 30 wpm character recognition. I never really liked slow characters anyway. So I started working with the 30-word a minute character recognition and it's a little uncomfortable so I'm figuring that's exactly where I need to be right now! And so far I've not picked up a pencil.
You're welcome, George. It is my pleasure to give back to the amateur radio community. It sounds like you are off to a good start! I started my journey of learning at a character speed of 30wpm. There are pros and cons to it. The biggest pro is that it likely helps to pick up speed after reaching standard timing at a lower speed. And kudos to you for learning to head-copy from the start. I was very headstrong and resisted it until I realize that I could go no faster than 30wpm keyboard-copying. I am in debt to Joe, KK5NA, for his patience in gentle and persistent nudging me to learn to head copy. Joe is an excellent CW Academy instructor!
I wish you and your fiance all the best on your Morse code journeys. If there is anything that you would like to hear that I don't already have, let me know, and I will see what I can do! 73 de AD0WE
Very nice discussion. And very helpful.
I've only been learning for a couple days, but I'm starting to recognize the words "and" and "the". The character speed I'm practicing at is 15 wpm, with a Farnsworth speed of 10 wpm. I made a sample of the classic "quick red fox" sentence so that I can learn all the letters, and I made up my own nonsense sentence based on a list of the most common words, so that I can recognize words.
It's funny that everyone recommends learning Morse code "at speed", because as a musician, you get the opposite advice: "practice slow to play fast". That way you can put the conscious effort into really internalizing rhythms. (And melodies, but that's not relevant to Morse.) I started with listening at 5 wpm, but not so that I could count the dits and dahs. I just wanted to hear wanted to hear how the letters sounded with a strong "enunciation".
Also, I do it all as head copy, because having to write things down is just one more thing for me to think about, and I don't want to have to deal with that. I don't need anything but myself for learning how to head copy.
I welcome all paths to success! It can be challenging to avoid counting dits and days at lower speeds, which is why learning at a character speed of 5 to 13wpm is discouraged. If I were to hazard a guess, you are focusing on developing precise and accurate muscle memory when you practice a musical instrument at a slower speed. As you go faster, you are using the same neural circuits.
However, with Morse code, this is different. There are four main types of thought processes and associated neural circuits. 1) Counting of dits and dahs with a mental lookup table 2) Ear to finger muscle memory association 3) ICR (Instant Character Recognition), and 4) IWR (Instant Word Recognition). At 5wpm, you are using the first thought process of counting dits and dahs. It will get you to 13wpm, and then you are stuck. To go faster, it requires developing a different kind of thought process to progress in your proficiency.
I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Hi Kurt, I just wanted to thank you for all your CW practice videos, they have been a real blessing to me on my journey. I can easily head copy and send 20wpm on the air and send at the same speed with a straight key. The past six months I have been practicing head copying at 25 wpm but now I have to practice using a paddle in order to try and send at a matching speed. In my case 18 - 20 wpm seems to be a cut off point between using a straight key and a paddle in order to send good code, and btw I find using a paddle much more challenging as its so easy to make a mistake. 73 DE John VA7JCF
Greetings John! Thanks for the kind words. I'm delighted that you found the practice videos helpful in reaching your Morse code proficiency goals. If you can imagine, I have quite a few more videos in the queue to create and release, including an innovative Taste of IWR (Instant Word Recognition) Course. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thought provoking, very helpful and inspirational. Understanding this is going to help me learn Morse. Very interesting and much appreciation for your hard work.
Thanks! I'm delighted to hear that you found this video helpful in better understanding the progress in proficiency and how that tends to change with time. (If you haven't already discovered it, please check out my Morse Code Ninja website - morsecode.ninja .) I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thanks for the video Kurt. As a new-ish CW student, and nowhere near entering the unconscious word recognition zone, I don’t understand how you handle a word that you don’t know if you aren’t keeping track of the letters. Even fast readers of the written word have to sound words out occasionally (at least I do!). Thanks again. 73.
You're welcome, Lawrence. If someone uses IWR (Instant Word Recognition) to copy at high speed and encounters a word they don't already know, they are unlikely to recognize it. Often the missed-word can be guessed based on the context of what is being sent. This is why I refer to learning IWR (Instant Word Recognition) as building up a vocabulary of sound patterns.
I have found it helpful to learn 100 word sound patterns at a time. That is why I have created a series of practice sets - Sentences from the Top X Words. I currently have practice up to the Top 1,500 Words. I am actively working on additional practice sets.
I have found that I have to hear the word in a sentence about 20 times before learning the sound pattern. So the practice is very extensive! There are many many hours to enjoy. :)
I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Great overview! Now I understand why I got to about 30wpm back in the late 80's when I took a break from my hobbies because my career took my time. Now retired, I am trying to get my CW speed back up. I have now maxed out at about the 28wpm you suggest, and trying to move into word recognition. Beyond that, your tips will be quite helpful, I am certain. Thank you once again. --Mark, KE6BB
Thanks, Mark! I'm glad you found this helpful. I'm also excited to hear that you are interested in improving your Morse Code proficiency now that you have more time with retirement.
If you haven't discovered the Morse Code Ninja website, you may want to check it out - morsecode.ninja . On the front page, if you scroll down a little to the Defining ICR and Beyond ( morsecode.ninja#DefiningICRAndBeyond ), you may find this deeper dive explanation helpful.
I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Your comment about learning ICW at higher speeds is very true. I was getting frustrated around the 300-words (and 180 qso phrases) section, trying to learn it at 20wpm. Out of frustration, I bumped the speed up to 25wpm and suddenly I'm hearing words, or parts of words, instead of a bunch of characters I have to assemble into a word.
20wpm is surprisingly hard for me, because it's too slow to hear all of a word unless it's short, but too fast to have the time to merge characters together into words...
Greetings George. It can surprise many students, but sometimes going faster is easier and the path to success. I find anything slower than 17wpm much more challenging because of how much time is needed to hold onto characters to form words and statements/sentences.
I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thanks Kurt,
Your code videos are great! I am sure they are a great help to many. They sure have helped me.
You're welcome, Steve. I'm happy to hear that you have found them helpful! I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
25 wpm is the magical number! "Words" begin to appear. Then 30 is the next milestone! 30 is easier to key than 25 and takes less time. I'm working on getting comfortable with 35, and it seems this is the threshold between "Morse code" and QRQ. At 35 wpm the sound begins to change from CW to something resembling more like "patterns of sound" and brrrt brrt-type sounds. 35 is not the Morse code 25 is and requires learning these sounds independently of earlier studies. I'm working on it!
Greetings Jason! I'm delighted to hear that you have discovered IWR (Instant Word Recognition). For most people that tends to happen somewhere between 25 and 30wpm.
With consistent higher-speed practice and goosing the speed a bit during practice sessions, I'm positive that you will find 35wpm very similar to 25wpm. You are at a magical time in your learning experience. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that you will have many personal breakthroughs in the next 6 to 12 months of practice.
I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
I tried to focus on this, but my eyes kept drifting to your OP-1.. thank goodness I can replay this again ;)
That's funny. I doubt too many people have noticed that!
I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Excellent overview! Thanks so much for taking the time to make this video. I'm just starting my "journey." I just completed the CWA Beginners class, and I'm registered for the Basic class that starts in a month. So, I'm dedicating myself to working on ICR over the next 30 days or so. It is a journey! On one hand, I do get frustrated from time to time, but on the other hand, considering all that I knew 8 weeks ago was SOS, I'm really amazed at the progress. The CWA classes are terrific. One small nit-picky point...I think the better description is that ICR takes place more in the "subconscious" mind, as compared to the "unconscious" mind. You definitely aren't in a coma, I hope! ;) I'm finding that you are correct that if I try to keyboard, it's slowing me down. I've been using CW_Player, and at a certain point, it becomes more of a typing practice than an ICR practice. So, I've been just saying the letter out loud without bothering to type it in, even though it's hard to accept my score of 0% correct! Luckily, I found you and this video through the Morse Code Ninja, and it's been a huge help. Thanks again for helping us all on our journey!
Greetings, Clay! Congratulations on completing your CWA Beginners class and well on your way to acquiring ICW! That is a great achievement!
Hah! Thanks for the nomenclature correction. I haven't ever taken the time to think about the differences between the subconscious and unconscious mind.
"The subconscious is that part of consciousness that is not currently in focal awareness. The unconscious mind consists of the processes in the mind that occur automatically and are not available to introspection, and include thought processes, memory, affect, and motivation."
Although based on those definitions, it looks like "unconscious mind" is the correct usage. (I'm happy to stand corrected though.) ICR and ICW are automatic, and I can't tell you how it works precisely. The characters and words pop into my conscious mind.
I'm happy to hear that you are working on head-copy! I was resistant to give the keyboard up until I hit the wall at 30wpm and couldn't go any faster. My CWA advisor was gentle and persistent. I eventually switched at the end of my Level 3 class! In my experience, saying the answer out loud reinforces the decoding. It's great to hear you do that too!
And thanks for your kind words. I'm happy to give back to the amateur radio community. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey!
73 de AD0WE
@@KurtZoglmann Thanks for the reply! You know, I think I was thinking about the definition of "unconscious" in the vernacular, as in "comatose", as opposed to the neurological definition! That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it! 9,000 hours of total content! Holy cow, the mind boggles! Luckily for you, I know that it's possible to write a short piece of programming to convert text to code. Otherwise, I'd be stunned by the image of you spending 9,000 hours hunched over your J-38! Lol! Oh, the carpal tunnel!
On a more relevant note, my CWA instructor had created audio files similar to yours, but going in the opposite direction. In other words, starting a lower speed and then going up with each repetition. However, now that I've listened to yours, I find it much better for learning. I'm doing the single letters from 38-25 wpm, and the fun/challenge is trying to nail the letter the first time I hear it. I'm getting better! The amazing thing is that sometimes I have no clue how many dits or dahs I just heard, but I know it's a Q. Progress! My brain is getting automatic!
Seriously, Kurt, thanks for all the work you've done for those of us on this journey. Most appreciated!
Clay NF7X
@@claynicolsen5401 Indeed! I have put 100s of hours into providing content, but not 1,000s! :)
Ik zag onlangs een video en enkele woorden waren door elkaar geschud alleen de eerste en de laatste letter stonden op de juiste plaats, iemand die de taal meester was kon de woorden ontcijferen ik denk dat dit ook het geval is bij morse code, als ik een gemakkelijk Engels woord hoor en ik ken de eerste en de laatste letter is het alsof de ontbrekende letters ik terug door mijn hoofd herinner
Dat zou het geval kunnen zijn met Morsecode. Er wordt onderzoek gedaan naar de verschijnselen die u beschrijft. - www.treehugger.com/why-your-brain-can-read-jumbled-letters-4864305 . Ik wens je het allerbeste op je Morse Code-reis! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thank you. This video is very helpful in understanding the learning process. I listen to code such that I’m at about 60% proficiency now, but I’m improving with practice. I don’t write anything. I wasn’t sure this was correct, but you have clarified that! Again, most helpful and much appreciated.
Awesome. I'm happy to hear that you are making progress towards your Morse code proficiency goals. I find head-copy so much more enjoyable.
I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
This is good stuff. I had an old friend, in his 80's, who could copy over 40 wpm, and write it all down, but he had no idea what he had written down until he looked at the paper and read it, which just looked like scribbles to me, worse than a doctors prescription. He could even talk to me while he was doing it, using entirely muscle memory, which amazed me. He had been using Morse and copying it like that nearly every day since he was a teen.
Wow! Transcribing at 40wpm! That's amazing. I wonder if he was using shorthand?
I don't know. I could never read much of his copy. He once showed half a page of it to me from a 24 hour CW contest he'd been in. It was completely illegible. I now wish I'd gotten a page of it when he passed away. I'd frame it. In fact, the reason he showed me that partial page at the time was because he had written it late at night during a CW contest, and he was amused because, as he explained, he had been so tired that there was not a single thing on the page that was intelligible even to him. It was gibberish. He had been copying noise, not code. I think that's referred to as being 'in the zone'.
But he left me his old, one-owner, high-mileage, used Vibroplex Zephyr with the weight all the way back to the stop at the high-speed end, where it had clearly been sitting for many years. Yes, I sat and just stared at it for a long time, learning from it. I still haven't disassembled and cleaned it yet. I want the time to do it right.
I'll need to learn to use it with the weight out at the slow end, and with a clothespin or 2 on it. But learn I will.
@@johnwest7993 Wow. That is an amazing story! It's fantastic you have his key to honor and cherish his memory.
@@KurtZoglmann the high speed ops at 40 to 45 use shorthand or their own method
Thanks for this very helpful video. I'm really enjoying your word and phrase videos to help with head copy. It's really working to improve my speed and comprehension.
You're welcome, Aaron. I'm happy to hear that you are finding my Morse code practice helpful in reaching your proficiency goals. If there is anything else you would like to hear that I don't already have, let me know, and I will see what I can do! I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Very helpful. Thx. In my observations, as with anything involving speed, error rates go up. This will be argued, but. In my CW/Morse journey, another dimension came into play; shortcuts/abbreviations/syntax. So, I found there are 3 dimensions to be learned; morse/abbreviations/sentence structure. Cheers! Pursue Perfection To Achieve Excellence
Great point. On the air, Morse Code is like a pidgin. Some standard phrases and abbreviations convey complex ideas with very few characters. But occasionally, rag chews will turn Morse Code into an encoding where anything can be stated.
I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
@@KurtZoglmann TY!
Thanks, very good insight.
You're welcome, Rich! I'm happy to hear that you found it helpful. I wish you all the best on your More code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Friend. I learned to so much. I'm at about 5 wpm. This was very useful.
Learning Morse Code at any speed is a wonderful start to your Morse Code journey! I wish you all the best. dit dit
Thanks!
Thank you for your generosity, Steve! I appreciate it. (I am happy to send you one or more Morse Code Ninja stickers! If you send me an email with how many you'd like and your mailing address, I'll send them out. You can find my contact info on the Morse Code Ninja website - morsecode.ninja/contact/index.html )
If you want to hear anything I don’t already have, please let me know, and I will see what I can do! Quite a bit of my practice content has come from the suggestions of others. Even the request for a podcast I released in December came from others. :)
I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
WOW! The best I ever read or heard about learning morse code! I was quite active in the 80's but never used CW, Now I'm 73 years old and my goal is to learn CW at a speed of about 30 WPM. After this video I'm optimistic to achieve this goal!...and the positive side of being retired: more time to practice! Hi, hi! Many thanks, Kurt! 73 de HB9DCZ/HS0ZPR
Thanks for the kind words, Peter! Depending on where you are in your proficiency, you may find the Taste of IWR Course helpful. I just released it a couple of days ago. You can find it at this URL - morsecode.ninja/learn/index.html#TasteofIWRCourse . I wish you all the best in retirement and your Morse journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
I started at about 6 w.p.m., then 8, 10 and 12 and then a bit beyond ready for the test at 12 w.p.m. Had an amateur helping me and also listening on air. I think that is needed to be able to listen through QRM, fading and other noises and get the correct abbreviations and run of a QSO. I did this learning in 12 weeks and passed the test first time. I thought the examiner was going a bit faster than 12 w.p.m. so was glad I had a bit in reserve. It worked for me.
Happy at 18 to 20 w.p.m. and can push myself to 25 and some of 30 w.p.m. Only a straight key so can't go too fast sending anyway. I can't type.
It's great sitting back and head reading to a couple of guys sending Morse about gardening, a trip out or even a visit to hospital.
G4GHB.
I'm delighted to hear of your success, Bill! And yep, even with mastery of QRQ, band conditions can easily require going slower. Learning Morse Code and practicing CW is a joy I hope more people discover! I wish you all the best on your continued Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
@@KurtZoglmann Thanks for the reply, Kurt. After learning it I wasn't going to let it go. I could never understand our G8 licensees not learning it to increase their distance on vhf/uhf. They used to say they were not interested in h.f. as we needed it for the h.f. licence then, yet when learning Morse was no longer required they suddenly appeared on h.f.
I've had some great c.w. QSO's on 10m recently with even one Watt out and attic dipole.
73 es HNY. G4GHB.
@@bill-2018 It is amazing one watt, and CW can do on the HF bands!
@@KurtZoglmann Yes, other bands too, I worked IT9PQO yesterday on 17m ssb and said I was using 5 Watts, only after the QSO I realised I was using ½ Watt which I had set the previous day for c.w.. Both on dipoles, mine in the attic, 5.5. report for me, 5.9. for his 400 Watts.
I'm still amazed at QRP even after 30+ years.
G4GHB.
excellent presentation. i wished i knew this when i first learned cw.
bravo!
Thanks, Chris! I'm delighted to hear that you found the explanation helpful. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Excellent!! Thanks for taking the time to make this video. 73, AI4FR
You're welcome, John. It has been my pleasure to give back to the amateur radio community. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Thanks for this. Very helpful! 😎👍🏻
Super useful. The ngrams and sentences have helped tremendously. The chart helps clarify what I've observed with headcopying at varying speeds and what to aim for and expect in the next tier up. I realize now what my elmer has been saying in that though I'm head copying in QSOs, I'm still in ICR space rather than IWR space. Do you find it better to get the endurance up first (3 words -> full sentence) before jumping up tiers? When you do push to the next level, are you starting back at single words or going straight into full sentences?
You have made significant progress, Joey! Congratulations! And those are great questions.
1) Is it better to become more proficient with ICR before focusing on IWR? IMO, that mostly depends on your short term goals. Becoming more proficient with ICR in the short term will allow you to work other stations more effectively. On the other hand, focusing on IWR will enable you to gain speed more quickly. In fact, you will likely need to practice at 30wpm or more to start building up your vocabulary of word sound patterns.
2) When you move from ICR to IWR, are you starting back at single words? Or going straight into sentences? If you have enough proficiency with ICR to copy somewhere between a handful of words to entire sentences, you likely won't need to start over with individual words. Copying multiple words to entire sentences mostly has to do with having enough mental space to keep track of it. Initially, moving from ICR to IWR can eat into that spare mental space, which is why I have created the easiest possible sentences to start with - "Sentences from the Top 100 Words" and "Sets of 2 Words".
I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey, Joey! 73 de AD0WE
@@KurtZoglmann Thanks for the advice and kind words! Best of luck to you too. 73 de KI5DDO
Great presentation thank you Kurt!
You're welcome, Arden! I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey. 73 de AD0WE
Kurt, first thanks for the effort you put into content. I think I have watched this particular video several times. Presently I am at 30wpm w/ at least 90% accuracy (~75% @ 35wpm). I struggle mightily though with 2 & 3 letter 30wpm videos, probably on 60-65% accuracy. I have been working on this aspect for a couple weeks and any progress has been very slow - admittedly some of the impediments are environmental, or lack of concentration, or plain old mental fatigue. All that aside, would it be advisable to drop down to 25wpm for the multiple character aspect? By the way, the Mind-Melt series is great fun!
Greetings Shawn, Congratulations on making it to 30wpm with 90% accuracy. That's a fantastic achievement and milestone. It is common to struggle moving up to the next level in copying two and three characters. The key is to focus on ICR (Instant Character Recognition) with a quick recognition time. To help reduce the recognition time and serve as a stepping stone, I created the Rapid-Fire and Mind-Melt series for Letters and Letter-Numbers. It's great you are already practicing with the Mind-Melt series. As far as dropping down in speed, that can also be a good idea. Temporarily decrease the speed and then increase it once you feel you have sufficiently mastered it at a lower speed. (Sorry for the delay.) I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thank you Kurt. Have you considered developing an app for google play store and iOS , that play your lessons while I may be at the dr office? Etc. etc. Just leaning into IWR. •••~•~
You're very welcome, Jay! It is a great idea, and I have thought about creating phone applications. Unfortunately, I don't have the necessary free time for such an undertaking, which is why I went distributing the practice content on RUclips and available for download on my Morse Code Ninja website.
Recently, I opened sourced the software used to create Morse code practice sets. And I am beginning to partner with others in LICW (Long Island CW Club) who are interested in taking this idea further. Perhaps someone will create a phone app. iOS and Android devices require entirely different software, so it requires writing the same software twice! Depending on the sophistication of the app, it could take 100s to 1000s of hours. And they would require periodic maintenance to ensure they continue to run and stay in their respective store fronts.
Perhaps downloading the audio from my website and putting a handful of the practice sets on your phone would meet your needs for the moment?
Good luck on IWR, Jay! I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey!
73 de AD0WE
Thanks for this Kurt and thanks for the exercises. What you had to say was very interesting and certainly rang true for this 68yr old who is finding that he can learn morse! I know what you say about conscious and automatic is true. My touch typing became so much quicker as soon as my brain stopped thinking and then telling my fingers to type. If that makes sense!
You're quite welcome. And I am happy to hear that you are having success learning Morse code! It is an awesome endeavor and a lot of fun! I had never given touch typing much thought, but I'm sure you are right. As soon as muscle memory and the unconscious mind take over moving the fingers, typing speed dramatically increases.
I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
@@KurtZoglmann Thanks Kurt! One of my problems is that as a photographer by trade, I'm visually orientated and I've found it fatal to look at printed dots and dashes.
My mind then looks at the visual library in my head in order to translate! I've been following your advice and learning the sound of the character and progress, slower at first is now much better. 73s de G6XIB
@@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE Unfortunately, it is easy to find "quick" methods for learning Morse code at 5wpm. They should come with a warning about how it will interfere with learning to copy code beyond 13wpm! I was fortunate and did quite a bit of reading before embarking on my own Morse code journey. The free book, The Art and Skill of Radio-Telegraphy by William Pierpont, is excellent and helped me avoid problems early on in my self-study.
I am happy to hear that you are having success overcoming this initial learning impediment. It can be frustrating overcoming it and achieving ICR!
73 de AD0WE
Thank you so much for this and all your lessons. I can confirm many effects that you describe here i.e. those I already experienced like instant char recognition to the keyboard but also head copying and instant word recognition. One thing I currently struggle with is words starting with 'ex'. That would be a very helpful topic 🙂
You're welcome! I'm happy to hear that you have made a lot of progress on your Morse code proficiency. Unfortunately, I don't have any specific advice regarding words starting with "ex." However, most people encounter certain letter combinations that sound awkward and are challenging to copy. In my experience, additional practice reduces the oddness of these awkward letter combinations.
I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
I wonder if you have another video in instant character/ word recognition. I am stuck writing the letters down and end up missing characters. So no I just listen to code. I have tried LICW and CW Academy and just fail fail it seems. It is the frustration wall I hit.. so I am curious if there is another video you have on learning at 20wpm or faster.
Greetings Chris! I'm delighted you haven't given up! I have written far more about learning Morse code on my Morse Code Ninja website than in creating RUclips videos. You may want to read through the Morse Code Ninja Advice page ( morsecode.ninja/advice/index.html ). It has all of the best advice in one spot and is relevant for beginners to those aspiring to achieve 50+ wpm. I am happy to provide more advice, but I'll need to know more about your struggles. You are also welcome to send me an email. You can find my contact details here - morsecode.ninja/contact/index.html . I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Great video... Can relate to my own journey. Thanks for all the wonderful tools you have provided 👍
You're welcome. If there is anything that you would like to hear that I don't already have, let me know, and I will see what I can do. A lot of the practice content has come from the suggestions of others.
I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Very helpful video. Thank you for gifting us your work Kurt. Morse Ninja is part of my daily routine and is helping me with my morse skills. Working on 17wpm, but enjoy learning cw this way just for its own sake :-)
You are quite welcome! It has been my pleasure to give back to the amateur radio community. I'm happy to hear that my practice is helping you work towards your Morse code proficiency goals. And I agree! Learning Morse code is fun! The journey has been just as much fun as getting to the destination. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! If there is something that you would like to hear that I don't already have, let me know, and I will see what I can do. 73 de AD0WE
Great video. The information on your website is fantastic. Your analysis of letter groups, their frequency, and the data extraction for the most common dx callsigns is unlike anything I've seen, and I've been a ham since 1977. You are a genius. (or, possibly, a space alien - either way...)
TNX de WB6VIC
Thank you Even for the very kind words. No alien DNA! I promise! But I did visit Roswell, NM once. hi hi. I have given a lot of thought to the process of learning Morse code. Most of my ideas are built off the existing work of others. But there are a handful of original ideas that have advanced the art of CW. And a special thank you goes to Daniel (KK4FOS) at Buckmaster International for making callsign information available to me, which has allowed me to create specialized callsign related practice! (I am working on some additional callsign practice at the moment! I'm not particularly happy with what I have made available so far.)
I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Thank you for all your hard work!!!
You are welcome! It has been my pleasure to give back to the amateur radio community. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Thank you for a very informative video even for an old HAM as me who learned morse code the old way more than 50 years ago and never became very sufficient in copying morse. But it is said that you are never to old to learn and I am now trying to speed up on the code by using some of your videos and I do also look upon it as a good brain exercise at old age 😀Best 73 es tu de LA5RP
Awesome, Oeystein! I'm delighted to hear that you are finding the practice videos helpful. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Wonderful advice! I enjoy your lessons very much, thank you.
You're welcome, Glenn. I'm happy to hear that you found this video and the practice sets helpful. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Interesting. My experience of learning Morse as a RO in the Royal Navy (at 16!). Was quite simple. Start slow, and hour or two a day, increase speed when you get 95% or whatever accuracy then increase speed. No one mentioned how you learned - I don't think you need to know. No one taught us instant character, or word recognition or head copy - all those things come with practice, whether you like it or not. And of course copying 5 letter code makes it impossible - so everything was normally written down or typed. Mostly around 20 wpm but often at 25wpm (Being young makes it easier). No commercial or military operator was taught instant word recognition or headcopy either. With practice some of became special operators and went up to copying 36wpm with almost no errors. Just practice. Simply. I'm not sure there are any fancy shortcuts - you can't learn faster morse without going faster!!
Fantastic experience, Dave! It is possible to go faster without cognition of the mental processes enabling it. Lots of people have done it that way. And yep. It requires lots of practice at higher speeds to go faster. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
@@KurtZoglmann "Journey"? Kurt, I'm not sure I've much journey left to do. I'm 72!! now. I became a ham 6 years ago. It was quite easy to pick up 30 wpm or more again, I discovered that whilst I could easily send 24/25wpm on a straight key with 100% accuracy, I can now only manage 18wpm. That will do me fine.
Hello Kurt! Thank you for all films. They are very helpfull for me . I am starting back after almost 50 years long break in activity on CW on the bands !And you gave me a new look on idea of CW decoding using by my brain of course hi!Thanks a lot!You make a good job! I am now 68 old and it is amazing for me to work on HF on CW . Sorry but my english is- in my mind- absolutly not correct , but I hope you do understand me :) .vy 73!- Matt SP3FYI
Greetings, Ijon! I'm delighted to hear that you have returned to CW after a long break. I'm glad that this video was helpful in thinking about Morse code proficiency. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
@@KurtZoglmann Thank you Kurt ! I will continue my CW -training with your help vy73 ! Matt
Hey Kurt. i’ve just started learning morse using G4FON. When learning should I not be writing down the characters for ICR? If not, how will I check my accuracy? Thanks for all your work, 73 Alan
Hello Alan. That's a good question. It's up to you. There are pros and cons to initially learning ICR with pencil- or keyboard-copy vs head-copy. It can be easier to initially learn copying with a pencil or keyboard, but it can be difficult or awkward for people to transition to head copy. I learned to keyboard copy and then transitioned to head copy with a bit of awkwardness. Many people find success learning to head copy from the start. If you choose to head copy, you won't know your exact accuracy, but that is okay. You'll have a general idea of your accuracy, which will be good enough to inform you when you are ready for the next step.
Whatever your decision, I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thanks Kurt. I'm on your 28WPM n-grams and 3 digit numbers now. I'm trying to push myself past character recognition and into work recognition. It's pretty frustrating, but there are those magic moments where you realize that you understood the word without having to stack all of the letters up in your short term memory, and those are very satisfying.
You're welcome. With continued practice, you will increasingly copy with IWR. Transitioning from ICR to IWR is one of the more difficult parts of the journey. I found it more difficult to gain proficiency moving from 20 to 30wpm than gaining proficiency from 30 to 40wpm. The latter was mostly putting in the time for practice. I know with persistence, you will get there. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Very helpful information. And inspiring on how >25-28 wpm might be experienced
Awesome, Bob. I'm delighted to hear that you found it helpful. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! Feel free to check out all of my advice on the Morse Code Ninja website -- morsecode.ninja/advice/index.html . 73 de AD0WE dit dit
I wonder if anyone has experimented with copying code with one ear vs. the other ear since they go to opposite sides of the auditory functions of the brain.
That's a great question, Richard! I'm unaware of any research investigating whether there are proficiency differences between copying with left, right, and both ears. If you run across any, let me know. 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thank you for all you are doing to help the CW fraternity. I have been using your program for 25 wpm and on a good day get 95% bad days? With an iambic key I practice at sending 20 wpm, but on the air reduce to 18-19 wpm and still make many mistakes. The problem seems to be, thinking what I want to say next, thinking how to spell some words, which is over taxing the brain. Poor timing with the keying sending an h instead of 5 and vice versa. Also my sending is not as smooth as it needs to be as I recall which letter comes next. when I got the full licence in 1987 the tutor said do not go on to use SSB until you are comfortable with morse. I am still working at it. Please Kurt do you have any suggestions? 73' Mike
Greetings Mike. I'm delighted you find the Morse code practice content helpful in reaching your Morse code proficiency goals. And congratulations on real-world CW proficiency of 18 to 19wpm!
As you indicate, sending is a different skill than copying. And it sounds like you may be like me and in the minority in finding it easier to copy at a given speed than send at a given speed.
Like learning to copy at higher speeds, there are several milestones in learning to send. One significant initial hurdle is transitioning from sending what is written down on paper to sending thoughts and ideas on the fly. Anything mental processes that are done with the conscious mind will be slow and impede sending at higher speeds on the fly. I'd first look to see if there is anything that needs to be worked out and moved to the unconscious mind. Having awareness is part of the answer.
My other recommendation is to practice sending on the fly daily at a given speed until you reach a reasonable proficiency. Note the errors but keep going.
You may also want to check out the Long Island CW Club and reach out to Terry Jackson (WB0JRH). He has a lot of expertise in mentoring students on sending.
I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
This is a great lesson, Kurt. Thank you SO much!!
You are welcome, Flip! I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey!! 73 de AD0WE
I've got a question... once you learn at the higher speeds, is there a problem then conversing at a much lower speed?
Great question, Patrick. As a general rule, that isn't a problem. Once we become proficient at a given speed, we will continue to be proficient so long as we practice or make QSOs at that speed. We can become rusty and struggle if we only practice at higher speeds and then months or years later have a QSO at a much slower speed than we are accustomed to. Again, as a general rule, if we do become rusty, it doesn't take a lot of work to regain our previous proficiency.
I notice your KRKs and arturia midi beatsteps? Any chance there's some EDM production going on? lol
My XYL is the creative one! I am lucky to manage an illustration in Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop! I'm proud of my Morse Code Ninja logo. It is a step above a stick figure. LoL
Great explanation of what I can expect as I try to learn to head copy. I look forward to practicing with your videos. Now I feel like I know what I have to do. Before, I just wondered how I could learn to head copy. Thank you so much for this great CW learning source!
You're welcome, Pat! And I'm glad you found it helpful! It has been my pleasure to give back to the amateur radio community. It has been great getting to know many people from around the world. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thank you for your lecture
You're welcome, Layth! I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Hear an R and then wait to make sure it's not an L before you consider what letter it could be.
While copying at slower speeds, it is not uncommon to carefully listen and count dits and dahs.
I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE
@KurtZoglmann Thanks DE AG7MW
Unfortunately you weren't around in my youth. This lecture is well done and everything fits with my experience. I'm working on my speed and get lost head copying at times - your tools are the best 73's. alex w5yb
Thanks, Alex! I try my best to help those learning Morse code. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
THANK YOU KURT
You're welcome, Lynda! I'm glad that you found it helpful. If you are just starting to embark on your learning journey, you may want to check out the Morse Code Ninja Advice page that I have put together - morsecode.ninja/advice/index.html . I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
THANKS !!!......VERY , VERY .
You're welcome, Виктор! I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Thank you for this video. I am currently at around 18 - 20 wpm. however, copying at these speeds seems like work and I actually feel relief when the qso is over. I would love to be able to copy at 20 -25 wpm comfortable so I could enjoy the exchange. So thank for you for sharing this information.
You're welcome. And awesome work! 20wpm is no small feat! In my experience, a particular speed becomes comfortable when I can copy 30% faster than that speed. So 25wpm became comfortable when I achieved proficiency at 30wpm.
My long term goal is to listen to a book in Morse code at 40wpm. But based on my experience, I know that I need to learn to copy at 50 to 55wpm.
I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
Very useful. Thanks.
You are welcome, Kevin! I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
I've used your code practice a lot to increase my speed. This video was a great help in understanding how I can go faster. I learned CW in the military. The army actually taught speed printing. It allows one to write quite quickly and I can print 20 words a minute but it's sometimes a struggle. I had a 30 plus year hiatus from CW and am back again learning and trying to head copy using your youtube videos on word recognition. Thanks for all your research and education on morse.
I found it.
ruclips.net/video/c8eVAb55OVo/видео.html
You're welcome. And thanks, Gene! I'm happy to know that I have played a small role in helping you continue your Morse code journey. I have never attempted to print at 20wpm, but I can imagine it being painful after a short while. My handwriting isn't particularly good or fast. And my hand tends to cramp up if I take notes by hand.
Learning to head copy can be difficult after learning to copy via writing or type code as you hear it. It took me a bit to get the hang of it. Learning to copy one word and then two words at a time is perhaps the most challenging part. It gets easier after that with practice.
If there is anything that you would like to hear that I don't already have, let me know, and I will see what I can do.
I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey, Gene! 73 de AD0WE
In the Army we had to copy - by printing - at 23 wpm to qualify for another school
Hey Gene, can you describe speed printing or provide a reference please! Thanks :)
@@defrabe1 well it was a long time ago. It’s simple writing letters using the least amount of strokes. I imagine the Army has a training video. Maybe not. I till write that way to this day.
Thanks for this.......
You're welcome, Luiz! I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE
I absolutely love hearing morse code! But, as you pointed out I am at the transition between recognizing words and characters. More than two or three words is as much as my RAM seems to be able to handle so far. Also, copying @ 22 WPM using your practice sessions (using 22 WPM to be able to copy 20 wpm better) I am doing about 80% but in a QSO I become quite stressed and have to write down the characters. 😟 My max printing speed is about 25 wpm if someone is dictating English to me... DE K8QLW / 4 / QRP
That's a fantastic achievement, Kent! If you would like to try your hand at increasing your vocabulary of sound patterns, I released an Instant QSO Element Recognition Course that you might be interested in. You can read more about it here - morsecode.ninja/learn/index.html#InstantQSOElementCourses . I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
I can instant word recogniion up to 45 Max, IF the words are no longer than 5characters long and are familiar. My problem is stringing the words together to form a phrase or sentence. , Rubber stamp QSO/s no problem but I want to copy ragchew with random conversation. What should I be practicing?
That's awesome, Denis. IWR at 45wpm is excellent! I have found longer words to be more challenging to learn. I'm still learning to master words like RESPONSIBILITY and PERSPECTIVE. As I mentioned in the video, I think a part of the problem is the amount of time taken to send such long words. If it takes too much time, I cannot process the complete sound pattern as a whole. I suspect that there is a natural limit to the length of a sound that we can easily associate with a word. (It would be interesting to know what the longest spoken word is in any language.) For these longer words, I have found that it is easier to learn them at a faster speed.
As far as copying with IWR and having difficulty stringing the words together to form a phrase or sentence, I understand that problem well! There are two parts to this problem.
1) When first learning to copy multiple words with ICW or IWR, you can suffer from what I call Word Dropping. It is characterized by successfully copying a word and then immediately throwing it away to focus on the next word. I had a bad case of this initially. To overcome this, I developed the "Sets of 2 Words." It is based on Google's research, which gave me the most common two-word combinations. These are so common that you can almost always guess the second word if you get the first word. It helps train the mind not to throw away words as you copy them! After you have success with this first practice set, you can move on to the Sets of 3 Words, Sets of 4 Words, and so on.
Once you have success copying at least a few words at a time with IWR, I would recommend trying the "Sentences from Top 100 Words." Given where you are, the words will be easy to copy with IWR, and it is the next step up from copying a few words at a time.
2) If the conscious mind is overly tasked with trying to recognize characters and words, then there is not enough "space" to keep track of the words to form coherent meaning. As your IWR recognition improves and there is less uncertainty about what is being copied, it will increase the amount of space that you have to focus more on the meaning of what is being sent.
Hopefully, that helps!
I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey, Denis! 73 de AD0WE
@@KurtZoglmann Many thanks for your reply Kurt, you do great work and a real service to the Art of CW. I really needed and was looking for this type of inspiration and practice maybe ten or fifteen years ago and it's been a struggle to get to where I am now. I'll certainly take your advice and continue my journey, there is always room for improvement, as in anything worthwhile. Another factor is the stress in a real QSO of missing some copy and getting flustered, but after all what does it matter, just try to get over it and move on...easier said than done :)) Thanks again for all your excellent work 73 F5VJC
hey Kurt! to get to muscle memory recognition from pneumonic copying, would you recommend sending via straight key or paddles? Or is there no difference?
thanks
Hello! That is a great question. And an age-old question. By starting with paddles, you don't have to worry much about developing a lousy fist and can focus more on learning to copy. The biggest advantage of learning Morse code with a straight key is that it allows you to feel the rhythm of the code and master copying Morse code faster. Which one is better? It depends on your situation and goals.
@@KurtZoglmann lousy fist meaning bad tempo? So maybe practice sending with a metronome on as well or just make sure to continue practicing copying while learning to send?
Thanks again elmer/*mentor Kurt. Are you a HAM btw?
@@smackymcproductions4443 Lousy fist means that a person's sending has irregular/non-standard timing, which makes it difficult for another person to copy. If learning to use a straight key, I recommend using software, a device, or a CW Elmer to provide feedback on the legibility of your code. If you scroll down to the Automated Decoding section of the Morse Code Ninja Misc page, you'll see several options -- morsecode.ninja/misc/index.html . And yep, I'm a ham. My callsign is AD0WE.
If you let me know your callsign, I'll send you a Ninja sticker. :)
Hello Kurt
I've read max writing speed is 30 wpm
I can copy code groups by hand at 30 wpm but of course it's sloppy penmanship
I can copy 50 wpm in my head but I can't send faster than 40 wpm an iambic key
Fingers just too slow
73 thanks for all your videos
Bob du7et
Wt3a ex0et ve5te g0wet
Nice, Baikush! Not many people are able to write at that speed! Sending above 40wpm accurately is very challenging. 73 de AD0WE. dit dit
Why aren't you wearing your Ninja suit? Is this a disguise?
Isn't it always best to hide in plain sight? :)
Can fast copy people understand when they hear slow (5wpm)?
Not without practice.
@KurtZoglmann Does slow speed harm the ability with fast, and how long until someone can regain fast speed?
@@greggweber9967 Learning Morse Code at 5 wpm can create problems later when trying to gain proficiency at higher speeds. Running into a speed barrier of around 10 to 13 wpm is common, but some people don't encounter this problem. This occurs because the mental processes used to copy code at 5 wpm aren't workable at higher speeds. A different approach must be used. It is much better to start at least with a 13wpm character speed. Many people start with a character speed of 20wpm. CW Ops is now recommending 25 and 30-wpm character speed as a starting point. You might consider reading through some of the Morse Code Ninja Advice I put together - morsecode.ninja/advice/index.html .
I wish you all the best on your Morse Code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thanks! RWB
You're welcome, Richard! I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
MANY, many thanks Kur,t sterling job: _ With my now ,damaged brain I am struggling at 30 WPM but I never give in ,,, Thanks again ,,,Trig ever onwards _._
You are very welcome, Trig! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I also have a write-up from this video on the Advice page of the Morse Code Ninja website - morsecode.ninja/advice/index.html . (Just have to scroll down a little bit.) 73 de AD0WE
Thank you so much Kurt for your YT Channel and all your work you do for who wants to learn CW.
Sorry for my poor English.
Tnx de F4FGM
You're welcome, Bottin! I'm happy you find it helpful in learning and improving your Morse Code proficiency! I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thank you Kurt, your insight is very helpful..de n2qfk
You're welcome, Thomas. I wish you all the very best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
Thanks!
Thanks, David! I appreciate the donation. Look for a Morse Code Ninja sticker in the mail. (They are waterproof and UV resistant, so you can use them inside or outside.) I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit
@@KurtZoglmann Really appreciate what you are doing for all amateurs to improve our CW copying proficiency.
@@DesN4IN You're welcome. It has been my pleasure to give back to the amateur radio community. :)