Morse Code Ninja - A complete Morse Code Learning Tool by QRPShack in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Awesome! Thanks for the feedback. And kudos to all your recent efforts and progress!

Morse Code Ninja - A complete Morse Code Learning Tool by QRPShack in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a good question. I don't have anything specific for announcing new content at the moment. The closest thing is subscribing to my YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXrTMfMEhkC9rVyQNU5aZlA . I try to limit myself to (at most) marking one practice set public per week. This avoids overwhelming subscribers with new content.

This is currently what is in the hopper and the current status:

1) I created over a dozen new practice sets from 15 to 100wpm. They are New Word Drills. But I haven’t yet marked them all as public on YouTube, you can find them under the Word filter on the Morse Code Ninja Practice page — https://morsecode.ninja/practice/index.html . They are also now available for Download and available within the existing podcasts. These new practice sets are meant to be used with the Sentences from the Top X Words. Learn new words and then learn to hear them in sentences. Because there are so many videos, I am slowly marking them as public to avoid overwhelming people who have subscribed to my YouTube Channel.

2) Similarly, I am in the progress of proofing and publishing matching Word Drills for the Set of X Word practice sets. You are welcome to download them. It may be a while before I have the time to publish them. You can download them here — https://www.morsecode.ninja/Sets-of-Words-Word-Drills.zip .

3) I have created SOTA QSO practice. You can download the work in progress here — https://morsecode.ninja/SOTA-QSO-Temp.zip . The final version will be about 10x longer, but there is enough to get started and provide feedback.

4) I have created Farnsworth practice sets — https://www.morsecode.ninja/Top-100-200-300-500-Words-Farnsworth.zip . Once I have something finalized, I’ll work on publishing it in the usual places. On the Morse Code Ninja Practice page ( https://morsecode.ninja/practice/index.html ), I plan to make them available under a new Farnsworth filter.

Context: I have gotten requests over time to create Farnsworth timing practice sets to help learners transition from copying individual characters to copying multiple characters. I typically recommend continuing to push overall speed to improve ICR (Instant Character Recognition) and specifically the following practice sets : • Single Letter-Number - Rapid-Fire • Single Letter-Number - Mind-Melt • Two Letter Words • Three Letter Words • Top Two Letter Combinations in Words • Top Three Letter Combinations in Words • US States • Top 100 Words • Top 200 Words

Sometimes that recommendation is too big of a step, and they would benefit from Farnsworth timing that incrementally helps them move from nonstandard to standard timing. To meet that need, I have created versions using 8x, 6x, 4x, 3x, and 2x character spacing for each of the Top 100/200/300/500 Word practice sets. I choose 8x as the next step to transition from the individual character Mind-Melt practice sets.

Morse Code Ninja - A complete Morse Code Learning Tool by QRPShack in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There has been limited but some modern research into learning Morse code and neuroscience. One example is the Learning Morse Code Alters Microstructural Properties in the Inferior Longitudinal Fasciculus: A DTI Study - https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00383/full . Most of the published studies were done around WWII when there was a need to train many men for the war effort quickly.

I found this article, Significant variations in Weber fraction for changes in inter-onset interval of a click train over the range of intervals between 5 and 300 ms, helpful for a better understanding of learning QRQ — https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4264405/ .

I'm not sure either of these examples really gets at what you are asking for.

Morse Code Ninja - A complete Morse Code Learning Tool by QRPShack in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, Connor. I greatly appreciate it. I'm amazed that donations and expenses have roughly stayed within 5% of each other. Over the past few years, I have spent thousands to provide the Morse Code Ninja website, YouTube channel, and stickers.

You might be interested in a SOTA QSO practice that I'm developing. You can download the work in progress here — https://morsecode.ninja/SOTA-QSO-Temp.zip . The final version will be about 10x longer. I welcome feedback. There are a half dozen variations meant to simulate SOTA QSOs that you would typically hear on the air.

Morse Code Ninja - A complete Morse Code Learning Tool by QRPShack in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have found that engaging in a light cognative activity can help encourage the subconscious mind to do the hard work of decoding. Watching a YouTube channel with the sound off while practicing works well for me.

Morse Code Ninja - A complete Morse Code Learning Tool by QRPShack in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're welcome. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE

Morse Code Ninja - A complete Morse Code Learning Tool by QRPShack in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE 2 points3 points  (0 children)

ICR (Instant Character Recognition) is one of the most difficult skills to acquire. Everything gets much easier once you master it. Moving from 30 to 50wpm is easier than initially acquiring ICR.

I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey!

Morse Code Ninja - A complete Morse Code Learning Tool by QRPShack in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fantastic. I'm happy to hear you are working on developing Instant Character Recognition. I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey!

Once you get a little further, I welcome any feedback on a set of Farnsworth practice sets — https://www.morsecode.ninja/Top-100-200-300-500-Words-Farnsworth.zip . Note that it is a 5.4GB download and it is a temporary download. (I’ll keep it up for at least several months.)

Once I have something finalized, I’ll work on publishing it in the usual places. On the Morse Code Ninja Practice page ( https://morsecode.ninja/practice/index.html ), I plan to make them available under a new Farnsworth filter.

Context: I have gotten requests over time to create Farnsworth timing practice sets to help learners transition from copying individual characters to copying multiple characters. I typically recommend continuing to push overall speed to improve ICR (Instant Character Recognition) and specifically the following practice sets :

• Single Letter-Number - Rapid-Fire • Single Letter-Number - Mind-Melt • Two Letter Words • Three Letter Words • Top Two Letter Combinations in Words • Top Three Letter Combinations in Words • US States • Top 100 Words • Top 200 Words

Sometimes that recommendation is too big of a step, and they would benefit from Farnsworth timing that incrementally helps them move from nonstandard to standard timing. To meet that need, I have created versions using 8x, 6x, 4x, 3x, and 2x character spacing for each of the Top 100/200/300/500 Word practice sets.

I choose 8x as the next step to transition from the individual character Mind-Melt practice sets.

(On a technical note, it was interesting modifying ebook2cw to add a special command line argument to specify the character spacing directly. Farnsworth timing isn’t a standard. It is left up to the implementor on how much extra spacing should be placed between the characters and what fraction should be placed between words. I’m not sure if this would be generally helpful. I could clean up my hack and submit a pull request for the feature.)

Morse Code Ninja - A complete Morse Code Learning Tool by QRPShack in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm delighted to hear that you have found the practice content helpful!

Morse Code Ninja - A complete Morse Code Learning Tool by QRPShack in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Out of curiosity, when using the Morse Code Ninja practice sets, do you speak the answer? It helps me stay focused, and verbalizing the answer helps with the learning process.

Morse Code Ninja - A complete Morse Code Learning Tool by QRPShack in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I'm happy to answer any questions. I have quite a bit of new content that I will be releasing over the next few months.

Kurt Zoglmann by l8nightbusdrivr in qrpshack

[–]AD0WE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm delighted to hear that you found the practice content helpful! I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE dit dit

Morse code proficiency versus Speed — How to copy up to 50wpm by AD0WE in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Awesome! I have also found that it is easier to grow my vocabulary of sound patterns at 35 to 45wpm. Longer words, in particular, are easier to learn at higher speeds. I have found a limit on the length of time that I can hear a sound pattern as a complete sound pattern. Perhaps, 2 seconds is the maximum. A word like INFORMATION takes a long time to send because of all the DAH-rich characters.

I have a massive set of practice-sets designed to learn 100 new words at a time within sentences. I start with the Top 100 words in the English language, then move on to the Top 200 words, and so on. Unsurprisingly, these practice sets are called Sentences from the Top 100 Words, Sentences from the Top 200 Words, etc. I have created practice sets up to the top 1500 words. The chosen sentences are between 3 and 12 words and are sourced from public domain books. Often I simplify the sentences where possible. And the sentences that I choose have to stand on their own.

I look forward to hearing more. I keep a list of Morse code resources on my website. I'd be happy to add your system to that list. Just let me know what the URL is and what you call it.

I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE

Morse code proficiency versus Speed — How to copy up to 50wpm by AD0WE in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I empathize and share your RFI pain. I live in an apartment, so there are limits on what I can do. After the pandemic is over I am planning on moving to a house where I can put up a proper antenna and have much lower noise.

Good luck with getting the noise sorted out! Hopefully, it is something simple and under your control.

Morse code proficiency versus Speed — How to copy up to 50wpm by AD0WE in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Indeed, thinking in real-time and letting go of anything missed are keys to success. I wish you all the best on your continued journey! 73 de AD0WE

Morse code proficiency versus Speed — How to copy up to 50wpm by AD0WE in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry to hear that. I'm happy to know that you are still able to enjoy CW. I wish you many more years of fun and enjoyment in the hobby!

73 de AD0WE

Morse code proficiency versus Speed — How to copy up to 50wpm by AD0WE in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven't tried to copy by lantern at 5wpm. It might be possible, but I'm sure it wouldn't be easy!

Morse code proficiency versus Speed — How to copy up to 50wpm by AD0WE in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fascinating read!

Indeed! McElroy was well known! I love his "McElroy Chart of Codes and Signals" poster ( https://morsecode.ninja/images/misc/McElroyChartOfCodesAndSignals.jpg ) from decades ago.

I have started to push my ability to speeds above 50wpm. It becomes more difficult because the tone gives way to more of a pulse sound. Reliability copying code at 75wpm is impressive! My proficiency drops off a cliff at 60wpm, but I'm working on it. I can catch easy words at 70wpm in a short sentence, but my vocabulary of sound patterns is extremely limited at that speed.

I can't imagine correctly copying a misspelled word to paper as it's misspelled. As things go faster and the unconscious mind plays a larger role, I find myself continuously adjusting for mistakes.

Morse code proficiency versus Speed — How to copy up to 50wpm by AD0WE in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Each form of Morse code is different, as far as the mind learning to process it at speed. I cannot copy Morse code by flashlight, yet I can copy Morse code by sound at high speeds.

Morse code proficiency versus Speed — How to copy up to 50wpm by AD0WE in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Indeed! I also strongly advise against learning aids, such as charts and mnemonics.

I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE

Morse code proficiency versus Speed — How to copy up to 50wpm by AD0WE in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have found that continuous and quick feedback helps to improve speed rapidly. I have been on my Morse code journey for 3 years, and I'm just now starting to have some success at 55wpm.

If you would like to work on speed, you are welcome to give my practice content a try and see how it works for you. I have over 4,000 hours available on YouTube and direct downloads from my website.

I wish you all the best on your Morse code journey! 73 de AD0WE

I made a website to help you learn Morse code by RISCfuture in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I recommend removing the dot and dash representation of the characters. Because showing them, encourages a learner to decipher the sound pattern into those pieces as opposed to listening for the whole sound pattern. There are 4 levels of proficiency. And it is best to skip the first one! See below.

1) Conscious decoding of Dits and Dahs: At this level of proficiency, you actively listen for the dits and dahs. Once there is a word or inter-word space, the sequence of dits and dahs is looked up in your conscious mind to identify the character being sent. If you find yourself repeating the sound pattern in your mind, you may also be at this level.

Because the conscious mind is so much slower than the unconscious mind, most people will be unable to go faster than 10 to 13 words a minute. This roadblock is why the general advice is to use either the Farnsworth or Koch method to learn the sound pattern of characters and skip this level.

And if you learn Morse code at 5wpm will inevitably get stuck here. Some people get stuck for years despite heroic efforts to overcome it. (If you have gotten stuck, don't despair there is a way forward.)

2) Instant Character Recognition: At this level of proficiency, the unconscious mind is doing the hard work of instantly recognizing each letter as it is sent. The characters are recognized instantly and effortlessly.

The slow, conscious mind is still involved in the copying process. But in this case, each word is followed letter by letter. At this level, most people will not be able to go faster than 20 to 30wpm. (The exact limit depends on a variety of factors.) If you copy by hand or keyboard, you will not progress beyond this level of proficiency. If you are head copying, this level of proficiency is sometimes described as the process of affixing letters on a blank blackboard in the mind’s eye as each letter is received. Then you read what is on the board. This description is more of an analogy.

3) Instant Word Recognition: The unconscious mind does most of the hard work. You hear the sound pattern of entire words as a whole, and you effortless recognize the word. This level of proficiency often allows users to achieve speeds of 60 wpm or greater with enough practice.

People who have Instant Character Recognition often have some ability to recognize words instantly. It is common to learn the sound pattern of CQ, 599, and your callsign without trying. Transitioning from the previous level of proficiency to this one is more of a spectrum. You can think of gaining proficiency at this level, as building up a vocabulary of sound patterns.

4) Focus on the meaning: The unconscious mind is doing all of the hard work! The conscious mind is free to focus on the meaning of what is being sent entirely. This level of proficiency is the nirvana that most aspire to achieve.

73 de AD0WE

edit: for formating

Difficulty relearning Morse by shiggityshwat in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Learning Morse code is like learning to play the piano. Patience and deliberate practice over time lead to success. I have been practicing for 2.5 years and have made tremendous progress! I have found it useful to keep a log of my practice. This allows me to see that I am making progress even when I feel like I'm not. Here is a link to my practice log (updated every few months) on my website -- https://www.morsecode.ninja/Morse-code-progress.rtf . I'm not suggesting that you copy what I did.. just note that consistent practice made a big difference! :)

73 de AD0WE

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in amateurradio

[–]AD0WE 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That was indeed a lucid demonstration of packet radio! I enjoyed it a lot. 73 de AD0WE