Greetings, Frank.
Before I get on the air. What are some of the most common
errors for beginning CW Operators. Thanks
When starting down the road to learn morse, I would toss any sheet that shows
the characters as a bunch of dots and dashes. You would be better off with a
sheet that shows the characters as a bunch of dits and dahs. It will help you
to learn the sound of characters rather than how many dots and dashes are in a
character (ie. you won't be building a translation table in your head from
sound to dots/dashes to the character.
An A isn't .- it is didah. A C isn't -.-. but dahdidahdit.
I learned about morse code long before I was interested in becoming a ham and
still find I "count" the dots and dashes at times. At least I can copy code
during contests in the 20 to 25 range (and 30 if I hear the exchange a few
times). I'm more comfortable around 15wpm but I wish I could learn to get rid
of the translation table in my head which still comes in to play at times.
Getting on the air helps but I found that even casual listening to CW on air
is useful. Tune around to find some code at a speed that you feel you can copy
and just listen to it even if you aren't in a position to write it down.
Casual copying of code (and head copy) can still improve ones speed. In my
early ham days, at a time when I wasn't on the air for a while it had brought
my code speed up from about 5wpm to around the 10wpm mark. Now, I have found
working contests has once again helped me to copy code at higher speeds.
There is some other useful information on CW operating at:
http://www.ac6v.com/morseaids.htm
--
Cheers!
Kevin.
http://www.ve3syb.ca/ |"What are we going to do today, Borg?"
Owner of Elecraft K2 #2172 |"Same thing we always do, Pinkutus:
| Try to assimilate the world!"
#include <disclaimer/favourite> | -Pinkutus & the Borg
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