CW Trainer

[gunnerdog]

Does anyone have a suggestion as to tools to help an old mind learn CW?
Favorite software or specialized code teaching hardware?
I have heard and started using the Koch trainer software at 20wpm as I have heard (no pun intended) that it is better to learn fast as you can always slowdown but learning 5 wpm is hard to speed-up.

[pkveazey]

There is no magic bullet for learning CW. However, there are things that help speed up the learning curve. I haven't operated any CW for quite a while but I remember the things that helped me. First: You are right about not trying to learn at 5 WPM. Its way to cumbersome and slow. I don't think 20 WPM is a good idea either. Pick a speed that allows you to feel the rhythm. 10 to 12 WPM should work pretty good. Also look at the characters and you will notice that many of them are backwards from each other. F is ..-. and L is .-.. R is .-. and K is -.- Q is --.- and Y is -.-- etc. If you can hear the rhythm of the characters you'll become a wiz at it. I loved CW and could copy about 80% at 20WPM and 100% at 18 WPM. My problem is the damn code put me to sleep all the time. After about 10 minutes I could hardly keep my eyes open. Good luck.

[Jackalope]

     The ARRL (www.arrl.org) has code practice MP3 files that can be used for learning purposes.  They also have other information about learning morse code, so they're a great resource.  PK is right about learning code at 10-12 WPM, as it's easier learn it at that speed.

     I used Ameco and 73 magazine code tapes, which were random groups of alphanumerics.  Today, there are multiple websites that offer more or less the same services for free, i.e., http://www.justlearnmorsecode.com/download.html      Once you have the basics down, if you have a license, make CW contacts and you'll be amazed at how quickly your speed will increase.  Unfortunately, in the old days, we were forced to prove code proficiency even for the most basic license, and of course, the extra license required 20 wpm proficiency.   In some ways I'm glad they dropped the code requirement.