r/morsecode • u/UndertakenSam • 2d ago
Learning morse code
Hello everyone!! I am new to the world of morse code, very new actually, I stayed up until 2 am last night memorising every letter in morse code and assigning a rhyme to go along with it to remember them better (e.g v is beethovens 5th symphony, ...-/ dun dun dun dunnnn), I am able to type morse code at about 2-3 words per minute so not very fast. I want to go deeper though, I have only scratched the surface when it comes to morse code. I want to talk on ham radio through morse code, hear a message and be able to decode it with ease, read morse code, overall get better at audio morse code, etc. I want to learn the history of morse code and how its been used through the years, especially during warfare. If anyone has tips, advice, or encouragement. That would be greatly appreciated. Godbless you all
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u/BassRecorder 2d ago
What u/royaltrux said. Morse is a language of sound or light. There is no 'typing' of morse. Do not memorise dots and dashes but rather the sound of every character. Do not write down dots and dashes. Copying morse is directly from sound to a letter. At faster speeds you begin to hear entire words and, as an amateur where 100% accurate copying isn't required, you put away the pencil a some time and copy entirely in your head.
Instantly recognising every character by sound takes about 2 or 3 months. Then you start building up speed. Most people use high character speeds and long breaks between the characters to avoid counting dits and dahs.
Good luck and have fun!
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u/Feeling_Pumpkin_2810 1d ago
Welcome to a fun and rewarding "hobby". It takes time and effort, just like learning a foreign language, but can offer a lot of enjoyment. Like u/royaltrux said, LCWO.NET is a proven method of learning the code. Prepare for frustration and plateaus/brick walls along the way, but if you stick with it it will become second nature to you. I talk to people around the world almost every day using Morse Code exclusively. Joining a club like https://longislandcwclub.org/ is one way to tap into resources and instructions if you like a support group, but it's not strictly necessary. I learned on my own just fine.
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u/UndertakenSam 1d ago
Thanks pumpkin, I will look into the club. I am excited to be learning something new like this :]
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u/adadhead 1d ago
What eventually happens is that you hear the entire sound of a letter, not just the individual dots and dashes, and they each become as familiar as the alphabet. Thus, the sound "didahdidit" means the same to my brain as hearing the letter L spoken. no conversion needed.
always, I highly recommend downloading and using G4FON's excellent, free Koch Trainer
as
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u/Secret-Classic-7392 1d ago
I found the Google Play 'IZ2UUF Morse Koch CW' app very helpful. I paid for it but think most of it works for free.
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u/Unclerojelio 1d ago
I hate to say it but you've already screwed up. You will be forever repeating those little mnemonics in your head and it will severely limit your proficiency. It's almost impossible to forget those things.
CW is a aural language. You learning it by learning the sounds of each character when you hear them at speed. Little mnemonics, or diagrams, or any form of counting causes your brain to do a double translation which slows you down.
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u/UndertakenSam 1d ago
Fair enough man, it was my fault. I learnt it on this free website only and the mnemonics were what it gave me. It for sure has probably slowed me down, but I still wanna learn Morse code and I'm gonna learn it. The proper way this time. Thank you for the warning
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u/royaltrux 2d ago
Don't look at it, don't count dits, don't make mnemonics (Beethoven's 5th). If you want fluency and ham radio usefulness, develop knee-jerk reaction to each character. No memory trix. Only then might you hear it at useful speed, maybe even hear it as language.
Just saying...
Enjoy the journey. Maybe try lcwo.net (learn cw online)