One of the best sources to copy live code on the air is to use the ARRL station W1AW, which transmits at set speeds and specific times. Copying code is harder than sending code, practice copying others' code more than you practice sending your own. There are several practice resources available on the web that will send you random letters or news headlines in Morse code. That is, it's easier to send letters when you know what they are it's another thing altogether to try to understand what another person is trying to tell you. Knowing the characters and having the recall ability are helpful, but you still need to try some "live" copy. So consider your personal schedule and think about when you might have time to idly study code. I wasn't bothering anyone else and I could pass the time by learning something. I listened to the CodeQuick training lessons when I was in the car by myself. It will take time to learn, there's no magic pill. There really is no substitute for the "sweat equity" you're going to need to put in to learning the code. Unless you enjoy learning it, the learning curve is almost insurmountable. Because most people because frustrated or quickly lose interest with other methods, I recommend CodeQuick in spite of the "plateau" effect you encounter when trying to speed up your copying skills. So it's all about where you want to put in the work, now or later. However, the hard work you put in up front pays off in the end as you are able to increase you speed with relative ease compared to the CodeQuick program.
You learn the code, but for most people it simply is not entertaining or enjoyable as CodeQuick. The Koch method, and most others, ram the code into your head seemingly through brute force.
The big plus is how quickly you'll learn the code in relatively enjoyable lessons compared to other methods.Īnother alternative to learning the code is one of dozens of Koch method trainers. Once you hit about 10wpm, the CodeQuick lessons that you've used as a crutch finally become a hindrance and make copying code faster more difficult. The downside of the CodeQuick method is not immediately known until you're trying to copy signals that are faster and faster. You just can't hurry the learning process. There are countless gimmicks and "5 Minute Ab"-type programs that try to rush you through the learning process as fast as humanly possible, but few are ever successful. It really is an easy way to learn and quickly remember the code. (duh.) While it may not be the universally agreed upon best way, I learned Morse Code through the Code Quick program. So, if you're a ham, you already have privileges to operate CW - you just need to learn where to start.įor starters, you will need to learn Morse Code, one way or another. Most commonly, Technicians can operate SSB in the 10m band, but can also operate CW, or Morse Code, in 80m, 40m, 15m, and 10m. Since the Morse code requirement for ham radio was lifted in 2007, the number of amateurs getting their HF privileges has grown substantially, but with the "repeal" of code, entry level Technicians are granted privileges in certain portions of the bands.
V1.1: Fixed bug in TRACKER.It's been a year since my post about Morse Code: Brief History, and I figure I might as well shed some light on how to get started operating with Morse Code. In the next version Oded will try to add it to the release.
You will probably find such TSR programs here. The only way to fix it is running a TSR program that slows the computer in DOS mode. The ORBIT program will not run on fast computers (somewhere around 300Mhz and above). There is still a known bug regarding fast Pentium computers. Several replies from test users, Oded send me a corrected versionv1.1 . Here is a example from a NOAA 14 picture decoded with WXSAT and added the country borders from the TRACKER program. The program is quite small but it comes with the world map so it is about 3.4 Mb in total. With it you can see country borders and sea/surface boundaries. I have test it successfully with NOAA images received with WXSAT and JVComm. Oded Regev 4Z5BS from Israel has written a small program called TRACKER that allows the creation of maps that can be combined with images taken from NOAA satellites.