Session Ø6, July 17 with Recording

New Characters introduced this session:

Q W        


Comprehensive list of all characters introduced so far:

E T A O N R I S D K Q W     Ø 5 



Prosigns:

Remember, most prosigns sent correctly have no space between the characters, but you will often hear many ham operators include a space between prosign characters anyway.  You should learn to comfortably copy and understand prosigns both with and without the space between characters, but learn to send with the characters correctly blended together as one big character.  

A good fist, and getting these little operating details correct will help you get noticed by experienced CW operators which will encourage them to want to make contact with you.  An inconsistent fist or being sloppy with your operating practices will tend to cause many good operators to turn the dial to find someone else.  Don't effectively attenuate your signal by being sloppy.  Having a clean fist that is easy to understand and using the proper techniques and procedures can act like a big amplifier on your signal, helping the contacts roll in.


New Prosign covered this session:

AS  (wait)

SK  (End of final transmission for this QSO.)  
KN  (Invitation to transmit for the specific station that was called ONLY.  Similar to saying, "Over" on voice, but more specific.  That little two letter prosign is the polite way to say, "Over to the one station whose callsign I just listed.  Everybody else shut up so I can hear them."  But is said in a nice way with a 2 letter prosign, so that makes it okay.)


Comprehensive list of prosigns covered so far:

AR (end of message)
K  Invitation for any station to respond.
KN ('over' to specific station)
SK (end of QSO)
AS (wait)



New Abbreviations and Q signals covered this session:

QRN (Static, or Natural Noise)
QNI  (Net Check-In Invitation. Usually sent by a Net Control station asking for stations to check-in to a CW net.)
QRS (Send Slower)  
QRT (Closing Station, similar to saying "Clear" over a repeater.)
QSO (A contact or a conversation)
QST ("Calling all Radio Amateurs",  most commonly used by W1AW when transmitting items such as news bulletins.

QSK (Break-in mode.  Indicating you are able to hear signals in some of the gaps as you are transmitting.   Semi QSK indicates you can hear signals between words, and sometimes between characters as you are transmitting.  Full QSK indicates you can hear signals in between individual dots and dashes.  QSK allows a station to get your attention and "break in" in the middle of your transmission.   Very useful in long conversations, during contests, in emergency operations, and various other times.  Makes operating CW very conversational, but also better able to adapt and respond rapidly to changing conditions and situations.  

I HIGHLY recommend eventually learning to operate Full QSK.
It takes practice to get used to hearing the the receiver make noise between dots and dashes as you are sending without allowing it to break your concentration or lose your train of thought about what you are transmitting.  IT IS WORTH IT.  When two skilled Full QSK CW operators are in a QSO, the conversation flips back and forth much like a full duplex voice conversation.  It's extraordinarily fun.  Good friends will complete each other's thoughts, laugh at a joke for 1 second and hand it back, and carry on very fluently.  CW truly becomes a second language in Full QSK mode.


Example structure of a common QSO transmitted during tonight's class:

CQ is called by KEØDRO   (I did not transmit this portion of the example.  We will introduce the character C in the next class.)

I answer his CQ by transmitting my callsign
NRØR

The CQing station responds:
NRØR DE KEØDRO KN

I might respond with a transmission similar to:
KEØDRO de NRØR RST 5NN ES QRN IS S5 AR KEØDRO DE NRØR KN


What does the above transmission mean?

It was a transmission directed at station KEØDRO from station NRØR.  NRØR reported that the Readability, Strength, and Tone, RST signal received from KEØDRO was 5NN.  The 5 means the signal was 100% readable.  The first N is a cut number representing the number 9 which corresponds to an S9 signal strength on the S meter on the Receiver.  The last N is another cut number representing the number 9 which represents the best possible tone quality for the signal.  It was a clear note that did not waver, had no clicks, no hash, no warbles, nor buzzing.  ES represents the word "and".  QRN is the Q signal for static which is being reported to have a reading on the S meter of the receiver at the NRØR location of S5.  AR means "end of message."  The trailing part of the message again indicates the transmission was directed at station KEØDRO and came from station NRØR.  The KN at the end of the transmission turns the conversation back to KEØDRO only.  All other stations that might be listening are requested to remain silent and allow KEØDRO to transmit in the clear.

Look at the length of the paragraph that I just typed to explain that one line of a morse code transmission.  It took much longer to type that explanation than it took to transmit the original morse code of that message at 6 words per minute and I can type type pretty fast.  That is the power of learning the lingo used in morse code.  The procedures, abbreviations, and Q signals are powerful tools, but the must be used correctly to be useful.


As we add more characters our simulations will become more and more realistic.

Try to include something similar to what you see above in your practice sessions, but change a few things around like the callsigns, and use a different message.  "Work downtown in rain was wet."  Get creative.  Have fun inventing messages using the character set available.  Start using the abbreviations and Q signals in messages.  Get used to them.


Scrabble List:

Nouns	Verbs	Other
radio	takedown	I
Iraq	skirted	and
downstairs	ordinates	a
knitwear	dread	to
networks	rationed	it
worker	darkens	in
twine	asteroid	so
kindest	teardown	its
wordiness	drink	on
twitter	drank	or
western	winked	not
wind	drown	one
aware	are	at
we	see	no
	eat	as
	ate	too
	do	into
	is	our
	dont	and
	did
	does
	know
	was
	were

Session Ø6, July 17 Recording





See Everyone Friday at 7pm

Mark
NRØR

Session Ø5, July 15, with Recording

New Characters Introduced this session:

D  K  5


 Comprehensive list of all characters introduced so far:

E T A O N R I S D K    Ø 5



Abbreviations covered this session:

DE   (From)
RST (Readability {1-5 scale}, Strength {1-9 scale}, Tone {1-9 scale})



Comprehensive list of all abbreviations, discussed so far:

ANT (Antenna)
R (Roger)
DE (From)
RST (Readability, Strength, Tone)


We can now expand our practice copying a few callsigns to include the numbers Ø as well as 5 call areas.
K calls, N calls, and A calls can now be used.

A few examples:

NØDOD
AAØEIR
K5RN
KEØNIK
AD5KRS

Go ahead and free form any suffix using any of the introduced characters.

I recommend practicing mostly with American prefixes for now.  Those are the ones new CW operators are most likely to work at first.  We will practice a few foreign callsigns later in the course.

Scrabble List:
(some sample practice words that can be formed from the characters introduced so far.)


 

Nouns	Verbs	Other
adorn	adorn	I
drone	skirted	and
kite	ordinates	a
skate	dread	to
trained	rationed	it
rook	darkens	in
store	asteroid	so
Kate	tired	its
Donna	drink	on
snake	drank	or
Ron	are	not
Stan	see	one
asteroid	eat	at
skein	ate	no
stinker	do	as
	is	too
	dont	into
	did	our
	does	and

KØDMT discovered some inexpensive 3d printed iambic paddles.
I've never used them, but Travis has one.  Contact him for his evaluation.  
 

Session Ø5, July 15 Recording


See Everyone Wednesday, 7pm

Mark,
NRØR

Session Ø4, July 13, Recording

July 13 Session 4

Saturday review session.

All material covered during the previous week was briefly touched on.

Plus an ECHO practice technique was introduced to help students refine their sending technique.

Session Ø4, July 13, Recording


Mark
NRØR

Session Ø3, July 12, Recording

New Characters Introduced this session:

S R I


 Comprehensive list of all characters introduced so far:

E T A O N R I S    Ø



Abbreviations covered this session:

R   (Roger)



Comprehensive list of all abbreviations, discussed so far:

ANT (Antenna)
R (Roger)


We can now begin to practice copying a few callsigns that use the number Ø,
a couple examples:

NØRIT
AAØON

Go ahead and free form any suffix using any of the introduced characters.

I recommend practicing mostly with American prefixes for now.  Those are the ones new CW operators are most likely to work at first.  We will practice a few foreign callsigns later in the course. 

Scrabble List:
(some sample practice words that can be formed from the characters introduced so far.)

Nouns	Verbs	Other
strait	stare	I
stress	roost	a
stain	store	to
nest	sire	it
test	raise	in
roost	earn	so
store	sear	is
Ann	tire	its
Nate	are	on
Otto	see	or
Ron		not
Stan		one
ear		at
tire		no
		as
		too
		into
		our

Concepts discussed:

It is absolutely critically important to practice, especially practicing on the Raytown 145.17 MHz repeater with other humans.  Remember, spending too much practice time listening to a computer program or a recording has the side effect of training your brain to ONLY copy one very regimented style of sending code.  Humans that use morse code over the radio will not do that.  We tend to vary from person to person slightly.   If you do not train yourself to copy those variations, you will struggle when you try to make contacts on the air.  It's best to train for that inevitable eventually from the beginning.  The best way to do that is by practicing with as many other human beings as reasonably possible.


That is where #LearnMorseKC shines.  Do not cheat yourself out of the most enjoyable part of this course.  Practice on the 145.17 repeater with your classmates.  You will NOT regret it.

Practicing on the repeater has the additional advantage that I may be able to monitor your practice session.  Having your practicing monitored will allow me to confirm that you are developing good habits and training those into your subconscious brain.  It is far easier to correct a small problem early, rather than allowing it to develop into a bad habit that is much more difficult to break.


Session Ø3, July 12 Recording.

See Everyone Saturday at 7pm.

Mark
NRØR

Session Ø2, July 1Ø, with recording.

Another fun morse code class.

I hope everyone learned a lot and enjoyed themselves.

Tonight we introduced the number:

Ø


Comprehensive list of all characters introduced so far:

E T A O N Ø


Tonight was a demonstration of the importance of practice.
 
To be able to learn new characters as they are introduced, the previous characters need to have been repeated enough times such that they are beginning the process of becoming automatic reactions in your subconscious brain. Insufficient practice will cause difficulty in absorbing new characters.

It's is absolutely CRITICAL to practice between classes.  Developing the habitual subconscious reactions to the code requires many repetitions.  Simply put, there is no getting around that.  Give your brain the repetitions it needs to develop the subconscious habits.



Dial up the 145.17MHz Raytown repeater, pick up your microphone, ID your station, and ask for a morse code practice partner.  Send a few characters with your code practice oscillator to get everyone's attention.

If nobody answers, leave your radio sitting on that frequency, turn up the volume, and tend to whatever needs to be done around the house.  When someone else gets on the repeater asking for a morse code practice partner, join them.

What times of day are best for code practice?  Anytime is good.

• Wake up in the morning and practice morse code for 15 minutes as you drink your morning coffee.
• Take 15 minutes out of your lunch hour, and use that to practice morse code.
• Spend 15-30 minutes practicing code as you get home from work and need to unwind.  Remember, you are supposed to relax when copying morse code.  Relaxing when you get home from work should be a natural activity.  Relax with morse code.
• Spend 15-30 minutes after dinner practicing morse code.
• Skip a TV program and practice morse code instead.
• Spend 15-30 minutes before going to bed as way to relax away the stresses of your day.
• Perhaps you can think of another time of day that's good for you?  Try it!

Session Ø2 recording, July 10



Mark,
NRØR

Session Ø1, July 8, Recording

Greetings:

July 8 Session 1 for LearnMorseKC is in the books.

I hope everyone found the class informative.

We discussed in detail the format of the course.

We introduced the the following characters:

E T A O N

Practicing with random character groups is acceptable, but for those that do not feel up to playing scrabble, here are a few words that can be formed.  Feel free to incorporate them into your practice texts.  They are grouped into nouns, verbs, and other to make it a bit easier to try to form some simplistic sentences if you choose.

Nouns

ANN
NATE
OTTO
TEA
ANT  (can be the insect, but most commonly is the typical abbreviation for ANTENNA)
NET
TEEN
TONE
TON
OAT

Verbs

EAT
ATE
TOOT
EATEN

Other

A
AT
TO
ONE
NOT
TOO
TEN
ONTO
NOON

TAO

NEAT

NEATO

I'm sure there are more words, but those should help get everyone started.

Do not hesitate to "reintroduce" the new characters to your study partner.  Transmit the rhythm for that character, then announce it with voice.  Do this several times.

The receiving student should be listening to the rhythm and REACT by writing down the character immediately.  Avoid overthinking.  Allow your brain develop an automatic reaction to the rhythm.  Avoid counting dots and dashes. Avoid trying to analyze what you heard.  Just hear it and react.  If you don't react right away, stay relaxed and react to the next character.  It is normal to miss a few characters especially new ones as you are learning.

Inform your study partner which characters you tend to miss, and have them feed a lot of that character to you in their next transmission.  You are a team that must work together to communicate, just as you will need to do to make QSOs on HF.  The more repetitions you get with the characters you struggle reacting to, the better you will be able to develop those quick subconscious reactions in your brain that we are looking for.

Further along in your practice sessions, start transmitting entire words, and even short phrases.  Then the receiving student can read back what they were able to copy.  Pay attention to which characters are getting missed, and feed more of those characters in the next transmission.  Don't hesitate to "reintroduce" the troublesome characters repeatedly as necessary.




The first class was well attended, but there were several students missing.  I realize that people have lives, and missing a class can happen.  I'm not here to scold anyone, point fingers, or dole out punishments.  That said, I cannot stress enough how important it is to attend class. 

MISSING CLASS IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA. 

It may be unavoidable from time to time, but it is your responsibility to make yourself available and show up.

Missing a class need not be the end of the world.  If you find yourself in a situation where you miss a class, it will be CRITICAL that that you MAKE extra time in your schedule for EXTRA PRACTICE.  Falling behind will make it more difficult to learn the code.  Do yourself a favor and put in the extra time immediately to catch up with everyone as quickly as possible.

Instead of the typical two or three 15 to 30 minute practice sessions per day between classes, you should at least double the length of your practice sessions and add more practice sessions for several days after missing a class.

I have structured the classes themselves to be as forgiving as I'm reasonably able to make them to accommodate those who are forced to miss a class once in a while.  There is only so much I'm able to do in order to accommodate someone who misses a class, yet still keep the rest of the class moving forward.

We are extremely blessed that a couple of hams were able to record class Session 1 and forward me the mp3 file.  I am publishing this file for everyone to use.

Learn Morse KC Session Ø1, July 8, 2Ø19 Recording

The quality of this recording may not be ideal, but it should be more than good enough.

I am hopeful we will get a lot more sessions recorded, and with improved quality, but there are no guarantees.  I could try to record, but I already have too many things to juggle during a class than to be worried about recording them too.  Having someone else record them helps me tremendously, and helps you because I'm better able to focus on teaching the class.

I will be posting links to this and any future recordings I receive on the course blog:

https://learnmorsekc.blogspot.com/

See everyone for Session 2.

I will be beginning tonight's class with a quick review of the material covered during Session 1.

73

Mark

NRØR

The importance of enrolling instead of just listening to #learnmorsekc

I would like to take a moment to express the importance of actually enrolling in the LearnMorseKC course, instead of just listening and lurking behind the scenes.

It is a given that each individual learns in slightly different ways.  While the overall lessons should provide a good foundation to work from.  That may not always be sufficient for every individual. 

As the instructor, I will not ONLY be presenting the lessons over the repeater 4 days per week, but I will also be monitoring as many over the air practice sessions between classes that students have with each other that I possibly can.   This will allow me to monitor how everyone is progressing and adjust the group's lesson plans accordingly, but it also will allow me to offer custom suggestions and creative special exercises tailored to the individual, often via email.

If someone is not enrolled I will not be able to track their progress and offer this kind of individualized custom assistance that often has made all the difference in the past when I have taught morse code classes.

I don't claim to be a magician or have any special superpowers.  Millions of people have learned morse code without my help, and millions more will do so.  If your choice is to learn on your own, I not only wish you well, but enthusiastically cheer for you from afar.  Anyone who learns morse code is a great Ham Operator in my book.

On the other hand, if the idea of receiving formal instruction with the group over the repeater, as well as gaining some custom lessons as may be appropriate in your case appeals to you.  Please make sure you enroll.  I will do my best to help you.

To enroll, please send an email to:

learnmorsekc at gmail dot com

Take it from a very wise man and CW operator, Bob Kimbrell, W0AO, who says:

"You are now starting on a great adventure.  If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right."

I don't think anyone has ever said it better.

See everyone Monday evening on the Raytown Repeater!

Mark,

NRØR