EDUCATION — I have been working at learning Morse code as the next step on my road to being a successful Ham operator. The main problem is one of money. Yet while I am waiting for the proper equipment to CQ CW (call for any station using Morse code), I am learning the code.
It is true that there are computer programs that perform all manner of digital codes available—including CW. You need a computer to communciate using the other digital codes, but using one for CW is cheating. Unless, of course, it is an emergency situation requiring quicker communications. Like John Henry, however, there are probably some coders who might even beat the computer.
I am not an expert, mind you. I am just starting to learn. There are some interesting things that I noticed that I will share. Your personal CW learning experience might be much different.
I suspect that everyone has at least heard of Morse code. I am not going to get into frequencies and transmit restrictions, at this point, because I am still learning the technical points. You probably know that Morse code is a series of dots and dashes representing letters, numbers and punctuation. Coders usually use the words di for dots and dah for dashes. This is rhythmically representing the dots and dashes. For example the letter A is represented by a dot and a dash, (or .-). In code we would say di-dah.
What I have found helpful in my study is to correlate certain of the coded letters. For example .- represents A and -. represents the letter N. They are reversed and spell the word AN.
That is a simple one. Two other Morse code combinations that are similar are ..-. for F and .-.. for the letter L. Perhaps the word FLy might help to remember.
Q and Y is another combination—Q being – -.- and -.- – being Y. That one still confuses me, a bit, but I am getting better. The only thing I can think of to remember this is mind your Q’s and Y’s. That is taken from the old saying mind your P’s and Q’s.
When I refer to Morse code, or CW, I am referring to what is called International Morse Code in common use in amateur radio today. I understand that it is different than the code that Samuel Morse actually developed. Samuel Morse, when developing the code, was clever in designing it. He knew, for example, that the most common letter in the English language was the letter E. Therefore he used a simple di (.) to represent it. T, also being common, became dah (-). Studying the manner in which the code developed might also help you learn it. There are many videos and articles on the subject on something called the Internet.
There are a couple of good apps for your so-called “smart phone” or tablet that might help. I will be doing articles on two of these in the near future. This site also offers some videos that might help you sort things out and there are several sites online that offer Morse code training. I will try to link to resources that might be useful to you in your endeavor to learn Morse code. I am working on getting some QRP (Ham lingo for low power equipment) to transmit Morse code. As I learn, I will pass it on.