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Vintage Amateur and Military Radio Amateur/military receivers and transmitters, morse, and any other related vintage comms equipment. |
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13th Apr 2017, 12:27 pm | #41 |
Dekatron
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Re: Morse key: new vs vintage
That's your ear-worm for today.
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13th Apr 2017, 12:35 pm | #42 |
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Re: Morse key: new vs vintage
Here's a thread I posted back in 2010 about the last Morse key I used, which I made from junk which cost me £2.00 at a rally.
Lovely key to use: http://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/s...ight=Morse+key
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13th Apr 2017, 9:42 pm | #43 |
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Re: Morse key: new vs vintage
I applaud Ottavio for the enthusiasm to learn Morse code, it is a very efficient mode that may use quite simple equipment.
There is some good advice in this thread, indeed, you really do not need a key until the receiving is mastered at a reasonable speed. (I too have one of those rather nice, old AM type D keys) I would also recommend the Koch method which you can find on the website of G4FON mentioned earlier and definitely set the speed around 15wpm and use a big thinking gap which you can reduce as the speed increases. There was none of this in 1969/70 when I did my G3 license but I had a very good friend, keen CW op and classical guitarist who could send excellent CW. However, some things have not been mentioned as far as I can see which I feel are quite important. Do not start out by printing the letters! Use long-hand because you cannot print capitals beyond some 5WPM! Doesn't matter if you have a wholly joined-up line, the words are obvious and the spaces will come in time. I also found a not too sharp pencil was better than a ball-point or similar, but your preference may vary. Don't dwell on a missed letter, move on; otherwise you'll miss the next five or more! Best to just make a short line or underscore to denote the missed character. It's demoralising perhaps, but if you are copying 50% or more, then you are not learning much, if anything, it should always be a struggle. This is the advantage of a good human tutor who pushes the pace when progress is becoming obvious, something which the computer cannot do. And certainly, expect to "stick" at two speed points for a while, it's a function of our own bio-chemical computers between the ears. . . . . . . . I wish you well in your endeavors! R. |
13th Apr 2017, 10:43 pm | #44 |
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Re: Morse key: new vs vintage
I tried something today. I had me ten minutes on 'CW Player' (F6DQM) set to 25WPM speed with a longer gap. There was no way I could print, or even write the letters down, but I got better at holding a few in my head (I was on random groups).
Then I turned to a computer keyboard and, using two fingers and 'Word', I managed to hit the appropriate keys more times than not! Far quicker than writing (I found). The very action of writing took longer than a peck at a key. I'm not a touch-typist by any means, but years of a vague familiarity of where the keys are meant I had a sporting chance of getting there.
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15th Apr 2017, 9:20 am | #45 |
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Re: Morse key: new vs vintage
First of all, thank you all for your contributions!
I just started with the Chuch Adams' course yesterday. Only the first two letters, A and B. I'm talking it easy. We'll see how it goes. All other courses are not tablet friendly. It's too early now, but projecting it a bit forward, Chuck Adams suggests ditching the straight key altogether and start with dual lever paddles. There's no course structure for sending. I think it'll all come together when one reaches fluency with copying code. The Sending.pdf file is here (I think it's public domain so there should be no problems with sharing it): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bx5...w?usp=drivesdk |
22nd Apr 2017, 7:45 pm | #46 | |
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Re: Morse key: new vs vintage
Quote:
However ... I've started with the Chuck Adams' method. I've already learned letters from A to J. I want to take easy and slow so I'm not bothered. I've also installed the app "Amateur Ham Radio Straight Key" You tap on the screen and it prints both the symbol and the morse code. My question is: if I manage to connect a straight key to the tablet and generate Morse code, would that help me in speeding up my learning process? |
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22nd Apr 2017, 8:19 pm | #47 |
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Re: Morse key: new vs vintage
No, don't send at all until you can read well at a fair speed. I would also say don't send anything until you need to. Your ear/brain will soon tell you if your sending is wrong if you know what it should sound like, the adjustment takes minutes.
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9th May 2017, 2:30 am | #48 | |
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Re: Morse key: new vs vintage
Quote:
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9th May 2017, 8:29 am | #49 |
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Re: Morse key: new vs vintage
One of my 'D'-keys (ex-RAF 'somewhere in Scotland') has an extended knob on it so it protrudes upwards another half-inch. There's a spacer fitted beneath the disc. Must've suited someone's elbow or wrist position better.
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9th May 2017, 8:52 am | #50 |
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Re: Morse key: new vs vintage
My type D key (currently plugged into the Icom) has a spacer under the disc. It needs it. The cover is high enough that without the spacer your fingers foul on the sharp edge of the hole in the cover around the sides and the back.
I wonder if there were two different heights of covers? David
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9th May 2017, 8:04 pm | #51 |
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Re: Morse key: new vs vintage
The covers are identical. The one I use is on the left and the one with the raised knob is on the right. I seem to have managed a modest 16 - 18WPM without any blood shed on sharp edges thus far...
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9th May 2017, 9:05 pm | #52 |
Heptode
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Re: Morse key: new vs vintage
Perhaps that's the reason why so many covers are missing - I tend to hook my third finger under the disc rather than under the knob - perhaps others do the same. Quite a few ships I worked on had the Marconi 365B key with the cover taken off and stowed in a drawer - the cover does make a bit of a 'clang'!
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9th May 2017, 11:45 pm | #53 |
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Re: Morse key: new vs vintage
Agreement all round!
My D has the same height cover. The disc is bigger in diameter than the key on the left, and the stem of the knob is a lot slimmer and parallel-sided up to a much flatter knob. Without the spacer, the disc sits lower then the cover hole at the front, and a lot lower at the back. What makes me think there might have been two covers is that the cover screw on mine is clearly too long, and that the shank bottoms on the key base leaving 1/4 inch of clearance between the bottom of the screw's knob and the boss on the cover... so my cover is still loose with the screw fully home. I find the 'clang' from the metal cover on the NATO5805-99-580-8558 to be very intrusive. That's the blue-grey naval key. I keep intending to put some absorber aterial inside the can. David
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Can't afford the volcanic island yet, but the plans for my monorail and the goons' uniforms are done |
10th May 2017, 7:02 am | #54 | |
Tetrode
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Re: Morse key: new vs vintage
Quote:
Richard |
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