Thomas Martin, DF7TV, Stuttgart, Germany

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Morse Code Training (25+ wpm)


Abstract

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.

DF7TV Dual Lever Paddle Handling

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].

TXT-Files of the archive DF7TV-Randomized-Lists-of-Common-English-Words.zip
  1. The "A..." and "K..." files contain one word per line.
  2. The "A..." files contain increasing numbers (100, 200, 300, ..., 2809) of the most frequent words.
  3. The "K..." files only contain words of a certain minimum and maximum length (number of letters) as reflected in their complete names.
  4. The "T..." files form four different arrays of 2400 words of the NGSL[1]. The "T..." files are used only for training sending.

Training

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
    Example of Use of the DF7TV Morse Code Training Companion
    Morse Code Training Companion (Example of Use)

  4. A training session consists of 15 minutes for training sending and then 15 minutes for training receiving. I begin with a preparatory warm–up exercise for sending for about 3 minutes. I then continue with exercises indicated in the Training Companion for the present day. I work on sending with one of the "T..." files (converted to speech–files) for about 12  minutes.

    Then I train receiving. I begin with a three-minutes long preparatory exercise "RX Training Prep" at a speed of 5 to 15 wpm higher than the present speed for the (standard) "RX Word Training". One of the easily degistible "K..." files ("K03..." to "K06...") is used during the preparatory exercise. Then I continue with one of the files "A..." or "K...", or by listening to a continuous Morse Code audio book (EBK) for about 12 minutes according to the Training Companion.

    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[7] by Fabian Kurz, DJ5CW, are suitable for this conversion.
  5. 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.
  6. Steve, WF3T is so kind to provide twice daily QSO Recordings of the CRSnet[8]. Listening to these recordings is a welcome change to standard exercises.

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.

DF7TV Morse Code Sending Practice Warm-Up File
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.

DF7TV Training Sending Setup: Android mp3 player foobar2000 playing the T02 file, Schurr Profi 2 Dual-Lever Paddle, Idiom Press Logikey K-5 Keyer (modified)

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, 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[10] 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[6] 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".

DF7TV Training Receiving Setup: Ditto CW Player Android App, Headphones

During a training session I listen to the code, try to recognize the word, and then Ditto CW Player[6] will speak the word.

Here is a short recording of the output of Ditto CW Player[6]. 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" 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[7]. 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:


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[9] courses in 2020 and to Christopher Mason, G4UZE for proofreading of the August 2023 version of this page.

CU 73
Tom


References

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