Trying to learn morse . Anywhere to listen in? - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

martin4 · 9th Mar 2007, 4:45 pm

Dear all on the forum.
Am trying to learn morse . ( The Koch method )and I'm getting to the stage of wanting to listen in. Any one know where to find morse on the short wave at a reasonable speed.
I Only have my old steam radios to listen to.
Thanks all.
Martin.

maitiustandun · 9th Mar 2007, 5:20 pm

hi martin , used to be radio tass , the russian propiganda station , havent heard morse for years, not since my army days ,used to be able to receive 22 words a minute ,that was considered to be fairly good , some of the radio ham stations out on the shortwave migh be your best bet , but i think its fairly intermittent now a days , keep practising , is your only chance . regards maitiu,

HMV 1120 · 9th Mar 2007, 5:33 pm

Morse is regularly heard in both the 40 and 80 meter bands, and several beacons transmit Morse ID - although the beacons are very slow, usually two-three wpm.

Ian - G4JQT · 9th Mar 2007, 5:36 pm

I just put slow morse into Google and got:

http://www.southgatearc.org/news/jan2005/slow_morse.htm

Daily 12 WPM 1900 - 2000 GMT

The frequency is between 3562 and 3570 kHz, depending on interference.

There's still plenty around on the amateur bands. But your steam radios will need to be able to resolve CW with a BFO or SSB setting.

A bit crude but does work: place another receiver close by the one you're listening to and tune it until the local oscillator beats with the CW signal.

Ian

dsergeant · 9th Mar 2007, 7:05 pm

Morse is very much alive on the amateur bands.... if you are looking for relatively slow stuff then the G3ROO transmissions on 80m that G4JQT mentioned are a good place and around 3560 and 7030 kHz any time. Bottom 100kHz of any of the amateur bands are full of it during contest weekends. You will of course need to sort out a BFO or similar to copy it.

Dave

HMV 1120 · 9th Mar 2007, 8:17 pm

As far as I understand, My HMV 1120 is a conventional superhet, and yet it still manages to resolve good morse (although SSB eludes me). How can this be?

dsergeant · 10th Mar 2007, 8:27 am

If your receiver does not have a BFO etc you will still be able to copy morse by changes in the noise level when the signal is keying. However that is not the proper way of copying morse and will only confuse you if trying to learn. Also you will be able to copy it if it is beating with another carrier nearby. It would get very confusing though if two morse signals were beating with each other and it would probably be impossible to copy either...

If you are serious about receiving morse then look into adding a BFO to your set. You will also need a narrow IF filter, most amateurs use 400Hz or less, there will be many stations within a normal AM bandwidth filter.

Dave

martin4 · 10th Mar 2007, 7:11 pm

Dear all on the forum .
Many thanks for all your replies it is most helpfull. Take a look at this on u tube, a competition between young texters and morse

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkbyDvc3FQ

great fun.
Martin.

M0GHQ Max · 10th Mar 2007, 7:12 pm

Go to Google and type in 'Just learn Morse code' and it will bring up a very neat free programme to learn Morse, enjoy, 73 Max M0GHQ

Trish · 11th Mar 2007, 12:31 am

Martin - Here are a few links that might be of use

http://morsecode.scphillips.com/jtranslator.html

http://www.c2.com/morse/

http://www.mrx.com.au/

Trish

9th Mar 2007, 4:45 pm	#1
martin4 Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Devon, UK. Posts: 33	Trying to learn morse . Anywhere to listen in? Dear all on the forum. Am trying to learn morse . ( The Koch method )and I'm getting to the stage of wanting to listen in. Any one know where to find morse on the short wave at a reasonable speed. I Only have my old steam radios to listen to. Thanks all. Martin.

9th Mar 2007, 5:20 pm	#2
maitiustandun Pentode Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Dublin, Ireland. Posts: 157	Re: Trying to learn morse . Anywhere to listen in? hi martin , used to be radio tass , the russian propiganda station , havent heard morse for years, not since my army days ,used to be able to receive 22 words a minute ,that was considered to be fairly good , some of the radio ham stations out on the shortwave migh be your best bet , but i think its fairly intermittent now a days , keep practising , is your only chance . regards maitiu,

9th Mar 2007, 5:33 pm	#3
HMV 1120 Hexode Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Weeting, Norfolk. Posts: 465	Re: Trying to learn morse . Anywhere to listen in? Morse is regularly heard in both the 40 and 80 meter bands, and several beacons transmit Morse ID - although the beacons are very slow, usually two-three wpm. __________________ Real radios glow in the dark M6GLD

9th Mar 2007, 5:36 pm	#4
Ian - G4JQT Octode Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Reading/Fakenham, UK. Posts: 1,323	Re: Trying to learn morse . Anywhere to listen in? I just put slow morse into Google and got: http://www.southgatearc.org/news/jan2005/slow_morse.htm Daily 12 WPM 1900 - 2000 GMT The frequency is between 3562 and 3570 kHz, depending on interference. There's still plenty around on the amateur bands. But your steam radios will need to be able to resolve CW with a BFO or SSB setting. A bit crude but does work: place another receiver close by the one you're listening to and tune it until the local oscillator beats with the CW signal. Ian

9th Mar 2007, 7:05 pm	#5
dsergeant Octode Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bracknell, Berkshire,UK. Posts: 1,172	Re: Trying to learn morse . Anywhere to listen in? Morse is very much alive on the amateur bands.... if you are looking for relatively slow stuff then the G3ROO transmissions on 80m that G4JQT mentioned are a good place and around 3560 and 7030 kHz any time. Bottom 100kHz of any of the amateur bands are full of it during contest weekends. You will of course need to sort out a BFO or similar to copy it. Dave

9th Mar 2007, 8:17 pm	#6
HMV 1120 Hexode Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Weeting, Norfolk. Posts: 465	Re: Trying to learn morse . Anywhere to listen in? As far as I understand, My HMV 1120 is a conventional superhet, and yet it still manages to resolve good morse (although SSB eludes me). How can this be? __________________ Real radios glow in the dark M6GLD

10th Mar 2007, 8:27 am	#7
dsergeant Octode Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bracknell, Berkshire,UK. Posts: 1,172	Re: Trying to learn morse . Anywhere to listen in? If your receiver does not have a BFO etc you will still be able to copy morse by changes in the noise level when the signal is keying. However that is not the proper way of copying morse and will only confuse you if trying to learn. Also you will be able to copy it if it is beating with another carrier nearby. It would get very confusing though if two morse signals were beating with each other and it would probably be impossible to copy either... If you are serious about receiving morse then look into adding a BFO to your set. You will also need a narrow IF filter, most amateurs use 400Hz or less, there will be many stations within a normal AM bandwidth filter. Dave

10th Mar 2007, 7:11 pm	#8
martin4 Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Devon, UK. Posts: 33	Re: Trying to learn morse . Anywhere to listen in? Dear all on the forum . Many thanks for all your replies it is most helpfull. Take a look at this on u tube, a competition between young texters and morse http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zkbyDvc3FQ great fun. Martin.

10th Mar 2007, 7:12 pm	#9
M0GHQ Max Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bournemouth Posts: 2	Re: Trying to learn morse . Anywhere to listen in? Go to Google and type in 'Just learn Morse code' and it will bring up a very neat free programme to learn Morse, enjoy, 73 Max M0GHQ

11th Mar 2007, 12:31 am	#10
Trish Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Reading, Berkshire, UK. Posts: 95	Re: Trying to learn morse . Anywhere to listen in? Martin - Here are a few links that might be of use http://morsecode.scphillips.com/jtranslator.html http://www.c2.com/morse/ http://www.mrx.com.au/ Trish