To be very honest, I have not used CW much. I used it a bit when I got
my first tech ticket in 1976 but not much since then. Now I find
myself teaching it to my students. I am finding this discussion on CW
mistakes to be WAY off-topic for this list but WAY useful too.
I do have the ARRL operating manual and I am using that to start to
guide the kids through proper procedures. On voice they have cue cards
with pieces of the QSO they can use; i.e. how to call CQ, how to
answer a call, how to give a signal report, how to "brag" the station,
how to clear, etc.; and that has helped them a lot. I bet that cue
cards for a CW QSO would be really helpful to noobs as well. Put the
most-used abbreviations and Q-sigs on there for reference.
My question concerns the use of Farnsworth sending on-the-air, i.e.
sending the letters at a much faster speed than the overall rate and
then inserting greater spacing between letters and words. Is that an
OK-practice for working new CW ops or should I have the kids slow down
the keyer so that all intra-element, intra-word, and inter-word
spacing is proper?
As soon as they can send/copy 5WPM I plan to push them to actually get
on-the-air to have some CW QSOs. I want to be sure I am giving them
good advice.
--
73 de Brian, WB6RQN
Brian Lloyd - brian HYPHEN wb6rqn AT lloyd DOT com
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