Here is a way of improving Morse Code proficiency at speeds above 25 wpm.
It involves the application of some files and tools in exercises
to get (1) to higher accuracy and (2) to higher speeds
in conversational QSOs.
The main idea is to
keep the exercises as close as possible to real–world conversational QSOs.
While sending, I am not reading my
message from a screen or from a sheet of paper.
While receiving, I don't write down a message sent to me.
Consequently the exercises are audio–only.
An audio stream of one or several spoken words is used when training sending.
A stream of Morse Code audio is used when training receiving.
Once an exercise is started, it will continue until stopped — there
is no need for any user interaction.
Lists of Words
To support the improvement in Morse Code (sending/receiving), the
Randomized Lists of Common English Words[2]
are provided.
The files "A...", "K..." and "T..." in the zip–archive are plain text files.
The lists are based on
the 2809 words of The New General Service List NGSL[1]
by Browne, C., Culligan, B. & Phillips, J.
The NGSL is a "...word list of the most important words of general
English and daily life for second language learners."NGSL[1].
The "A..." and "K..." files contain one word per line.
The "A..." files contain increasing
numbers (100, 200, 300, ..., 2809) of the most frequent words.
The "K..." files
only contain words of a certain minimum and maximum length (number of letters) as
reflected in their complete names.
The "T..." files form four different arrays of 2400 words of the NGSL[1].
The "T..." files are used only for training sending.
Training
Training sending is aimed at achieving accuracy and a
pleasant flow of the code. This involves maintaing a negligible error rate
and standard Morse Code timing.
Listening to lots of error–free
and perfectly timed code, gives a hint to what should be
achieved.
One part of training receiving Morse Code is vocabulary building.
To increase the range of recognized words, I first listened to a
file containing the 100 most frequent English
words "A01...".
After a while I felt that I would like
to increase the range of words, so I went
to the "A02..." file ...and so on.
From "A03..." on, the "all-inclusive" files "A..." of most frequent words
contain already some quite long words (like the 11–letters word information) —
the "K..." files allow to select the maximum length of words.
Another important part of training receiving
is to listen to continuous texts.
Morse Code audio books (E-books)
or CW QSOs are suitable for that part.
Training Companions[3] (example of use shown)
accompany me during training periods of up to eight weeks (WK).
In the top table the status at the start date of a training period;
in the lower table changes during the period are marked down.
For each day of a training period, the central table
contains three cells — a first to indicate a sending exercise,
a second to indicate a receiving exercise,
and a big one for a check mark.
A Training Companion is set up before the start date of a training
period. Challenging, but not frustrating
exercises and training speeds are chosen according to the present skills.
The main area of interest for the training period
— accuracy, vocabulary building or speed —
being considered as well.
Morse Code Training Companion (Example of Use)
A training session consists, first, of training sending and
then, second, of training receiving.
I begin with
a preparatory warm–up exercise
for sending.
I then continue with the sending exercise indicated in
the Training Companion for the present day.
I work on sending with
the indicated "T..." file
(converted to speech–file)
for about 15 minutes.
Then I train receiving. I begin with a preparatory exercise RX Training Prep.
This exercise is done for about three minutes and at a
speed of 5 to 15 wpm higher than the present speed for the (standard) RX Word Training.
An "A..." or "K..." file is chosen for this preparatory exercise, that allows, now and then,
to copy a word at the elevated speed.
Then I continue with one of the files "A..." or "K...", or by listening to a continuous
Morse Code audio book (EBK), according to the Training Companion,
for about 15 minutes.
For the exercises indicated by "EBK", plain text files (edited passages of books etc.)
are converted to Morse Code audio book files (mp3).
Programs like ebook2cw[8] by Fabian Kurz, DJ5CW,
are suitable for this conversion.
The archive DF7TV Morse Code Training Companion[3]
contains blank templates of various file formats and a sample
for the Training Companion.
A printout of my present Training Companion is placed
on my desk as "gentle reminder".
It's a daily pleasure, after having done the
planned exercises or after a number of
QSOs at the present speed limit, to insert a check mark.
Training Sending Morse Code
To prepare for the daily training,
a Sending Practice Warm–Up file[4]
is used. After a while, I knew all lines of
the Warm–Up file by heart.
Since then I do this exercise without looking at the document.
An improved sending of the sentence
"The quick brown fox..."
when it occurs for the second time
further down the document
— That's the main purpose
of this preparatory exercise.
Morse Code Sending Practice Warm–Up File
After the warm-up, I continue to train sending
Morse Code by listening to
a spoken word (or to a sequence of spoken words)
and then sending it.
Speech–files
DF7TV-T-2400-Words-NGSL-Spoken-MP3[5], based on the "T..." files,
are provided for that purpose.
The speech–files include long
pauses for training sending.
For playback of these speech–files, an audio player
saving the playback state (currently played track and position)
when closing and resuming on next start–up is advantageous (e.g. Audacious or foobar2000).
During a training session, I first listen completely to a
single word or to a sequence of up to four words. Then,
during the long pause (silence), I — once only — try to send it (or them) as accurately
as possible.
Here is a short sample speech–file (from "T01...") for
single–word training.
Words are separated by pauses of about 7 seconds:
This is is a short sample speech–file
(from "T02...")
for training sequences of two words.
Sequences are separated by pauses of about 11 seconds:
And here is a short sample speech–file
(from "T04...")
for training sequences of four words.
Sequences are separated by pauses of about 15 seconds:
The article Using a Dual–Lever Paddle[6] by Chuck Adams, K7QO
shows some techniques that can be used for sending the
International Morse Code with dual–lever paddles.
Training Receiving Morse Code
Ditto CW Player[7] by Billy Francisco,
WB1LLY is an
outstanding Android Morse Code player app
to train the receiving of Morse Code.
The "A..." and "K..." files of
Randomized Lists of Common English Words[2]
may be saved as ADDED files via Ditto CW's menu
Exercise selection - ADDED - ADD NEW FILE.
During a training session I listen to the code, try to recognize the word,
and then Ditto CW Player[7] will speak the word.
Here is a short recording of the output of Ditto CW Player[7].
Practice file is "A02-200-WORDS-NGSL.TXT" at a speed of 35 wpm:
Apart from the training of single words, listening to a
continuous and meaningful stream of
code (Morse Code audio books or QSOs)
is a very rewarding exercise.
A short text passage of the book The Art and Skill of Radio Telegraphy (ASRT)
by William G. Pierpont, N0HFF (2002) concerning overlearning has been edited
(e.g. replacement of most of the punctuation marks by appropriate numbers of spaces)
and then converted to Morse Code audio using ebook2cw[8].
This audio file is an example of a continuous and meaningful stream
of Morse Code at 28 wpm:
The same text passage — this time at 35 wpm:
Major parts of N0HFF's book
The Art and Skill of Radio Telegraphy (ASRT)
have been considerably edited (first by Chuck, W5UXH, then by myself) in a way that, when converted to
Morse Code audio by ebook2cw[8], the audio file provides a pleasant flow of Morse Code.
Just like in a real–world conversational QSO.
The according UTF-8 encoded txt–file is provided as archive N0HFF-ASRT-2002-edited-UTF-8.zip[9].
Finally...
There is no magic bullet for improvements in
Morse Code proficiency.
So I just enjoy having QSOs and doing
exercises.
I would like to express my deepest
appreciation to Keith Chambers, G0HKC
and Christian M Bravo, W4ALF for
being my advisors in CW Academy[10]
courses in 2020 and
to Christopher Mason, G4UZE for proofreading
of the August 2023 version of this page.
