 |
Are you trying to pickup your CW speed….here is some info.
8 July 2024 | by Giving it all you've got but you seem to be held at a CW speed between 10-13wpm....what's happening? First off there is nothing wrong and this is normal even better if you're ready to jump to the next step in learning CW. Here is the thing as you improve and your CW speed picks up the time it takes to recognize each letter speeds up as well. When you are in the the 10-13wpm bracket your time to acknowledge the letter collides with the next letter coming at you. This is what hampers you from getting to the next CW milestone. So what to do.....it's now time to move to the next level of CW and that is instant character recognition or ICR as it is called. Did you know most of you at this very point in time can have code sent to you at 38wpm and you can decode it!! WHAT you say.... have I been drinking, most of you if I sent "CQ" at 38wpm you would know what I was sending. How about "73" again most of you would understand at 38wpm what I was sending to you. When both CQ and 73 were sent at that speed you knew it because you were practising ICR. At that speed, you were not hearing C and then Q and putting it together but you knew the sound of CQ or 73. This is what ICR is all about. Knowing the sound of each letter (later you can dive into words and phrase sounds) It's important to not just skip to common CW QSO phrases and words, I say this because to instantly know the letters and number is important for copying call signs, QTH's and names. How does one start up the ICR ladder of code, well it's very fast and easy and I mean fast. You need to speed things up so you're only able to hear a sound and not dots and dashes. Just like CQ at 38wpm, you hear the sound, not each letter or the dots and dashes that represent each letter. At first, your brain is going to wonder what you are up to as it is used to only working at 10-13wpm and the method used to convert dots and dashes to letters or numbers. Now it's a rhythm your brain is being exposed to. I started by using a program where I could control the letters I wanted to know the rhythm of and start with easy ones to start tuning the grey matter. Look at a program such as MorseCode World that allows you to practice letters of your choice at the speed of your choice. At the website click on CW generator. Once there enter the letters/numbers you want to learn. Now click on Morse controls button and set your speed. The letters I started with were E, T, C, I, K, M, and O. I entered each letter 8 times and then on the next line 8 of the next letter. See below: E E E E E E E E
T T T T T T T T
C C C C C C C Set the speed at 18-20wpm and hear the rhythm of the letters and not dots and dashes. I enter about 3-5 letter groups and give it a go for a few days. Now don't write down what you hear but just go over it in your mind what letter it is. Then change it up by mixing these letters up and try again, don't look at the page of letters and don't write it down. Just listen to the sound and in your head say the letter.
Your brain will start to pick up the new challenge you are giving it and yes when you hit H,5, S or B and 6 your brain will reply "Say what" BUT your brain is very powerful and soon will pick up these letters and even when you send H, S B, 6, V and 4. As with anything you learn, it is a journey and just remember to always enjoy it and never forget how far you have come along. Enjoy your next adventure of ICR.
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].8 Responses to “Are you trying to pickup your CW speed….here is some info.”
Please support our generous sponsors who make AmateurRadio.com possible:
 Ham Radio Deluxe |
 Ham Radio Prep |
 Ham Radio School |
 KB3IFH QSL Cards  Hip Ham Shirts  HamRadioAuctions Reliance Antennas Enigma Shop |  morseDX  Ni4L Antennas  R&L Electronics antennas.us Ears to Our World |
- Matt W1MST, Managing Editor
This is what I’ve been looking for. I’m still learning the alphabet. This will help.
Good morning Phil, great to read your taking the plunge into the world of CW. Nice to hear the post will help you along your adventure.
73,
Mike
VE9KK
Interesting comments/observations Mike – I can definitely pull out certain characters at 35 wpm. I gave up on the pencil a long time ago. My typing speed is around 35-40wpm so I have been having pretty good success with the “Just Learn Morse Code” program. I am currently practicing CW around 10-12 wpm (I was at 7-8 wpm 2 months ago). However, when I try to increase the CW speed, my typing speed still collides with my CW copy at about 15 wpm. In other words, I make more errors typing than CW copy errors. I have tried listening only but I still seem to improve more when I type out the characters. I will try your ICR suggestions next. Definitely a journey. I appreciate your help.
73
Greg
Good afternoon Greg, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment. That is great progress from 7-8 wpm to 10-12 wpm! Yes, when you tried certain letters or letter combos (cq) at 35 wpm you were using ICR. It is very true that at a certain speed, you do have trouble with playing catch up with typing. When in a QSO I do not type but I ICR most and write down the name, QTH and maybe antenna. If you are into CW contesting and want to pick your speed up to 34-38 wpm then I would suggest learning how to do proper touch type. In other words not looking at the keyboard when typing. It takes practice but it will come very fast and will help a huge amount of contesting. If you are at 10-12 wpm try moving things up to 15- 20 wpm to move into the ICR world.
If you have any questions Greg please email and you can find the email address on my blog. Just type VE9KK blog into Goggle and you a good to go.
73 and have a great weekend,
Mike
VE9KK
Hi Mike, I can already touch type very well from a printed page, dictation or even my own thoughts. But not listening to morse code. Funny how the brain works. Maybe mine has hit the limit!
Good evening Greg, very true and I did forget the brain conditioning of hearing CW, converting it to a letter and then matching it to the keyboard letter. Trust me it will come in time. In contesting there are what is called cut numbers. N=9, T=0 and A=1 I remember brain training to hit a number when I heard a letter.
73,
Mike
VE9KK
Mike, VE9KK,
Thanks for a very informative article on ICR. I’ve head copied since back in the day studying for my 20WPM. I can head copy to over 40 wpm but at my older age have lost the coordination required to send much faster than 20 before I start making lots of mistakes. It’s OK as if I reply to someone faster than I am I can copy them. If they don’t want to waste time with a slow poke I’ll find someone else to talk to.
I think your ICR method will help lots of slower folks learn how to copy faster.
73,
Chuck, AA0RI
Good morning Chuck and very nice to hear from you. WOW head copying at 40 wpm is very impressive. I am happy to read you found the post helpful.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend,
73
Mike
VE9KK