hopefully i don't get smoked/get my brain fried.  starts Jan 5, 2015.  hopefully, will finally get me proficient in the sweet science.

any of the board members here go through a course?  sounds interesting.  i had signed up so many months back i had forgotten about it, to be honest, & then got an email yesterday.

for those who aren't aware, allow me to aware you:

CW Ops CW Academy


looks like there are 3 levels of class, depending on prior proficiency.


ETA:  i want to be like Frank_B when i grow up, & sit in my dotage next to the fire w/ my CW key in hand & headphones on, tapping away while the old lady is watching Notting Hill year 2056 .

I was just going to post this same message. I was on the waiting list and got an email the other day that they may have room for me so if you are in level II then I may be in your class. My goals are to increase my copy speed from 1.3wpm and work on head copy.

I was enrolled and my dad had some major health issues the first week and I dropped out. I knew I couldn't keep the schedule so I let someone take my spot. I did receive all the lesson plans and materials and followed through with them on my own time at my own pace. It'll definitely help if you are currently below 15 wpm.

edit.  PM sent

I started taking the level 3 class.

I did about three or four sessions and I ended up withdrawing from it because of my work schedule. I even did it a couple times from work, but I just couldn't pull it off.

I may be able to answer some questions, but I didn't get very far into it so then again, maybe not.

My problem is with sending. I can copy pretty well at maybe 30 wpm but I can't send much past 20 with any kind of accuracy.
I also have no problem with DX or contest QSOs where you send little more than signal reports but if someone wants to ragchew, I make all kinds of mistakes. I tried to just find someone to ragchew with at higher speeds (in lieu of the class)  but never did find anyone.

Wow I would love to be able to copy at 30wpm! I can send well enough to get my point across or send a quick signal report, but can't copy to save my life!

As it turns out, I am in generalissimo's class so it looks like we will be going through this together!

You can copy 30 wpm with a little work.
I will tell you what really helped me with head copy: A few years ago, I started listening to CNN Headline News in CW while I was driving to and from work on my iPhone. At first I was picking out letters, then words, then before I knew it I was copying enough that I could follow the story.

I curse the fact that I initally leaned CW by copying on paper. This is a huge mistake in my opinion. That is a carry over from the days of telegraph and from the military when you the stuff you were copying was not intended for you: you wrote it down and passed it along to the intended recipient. In ham radio you are having a conversation. YOU are the intended recipient. You make a few notes, but you don't need perfect 100% written copy any more than you do when you are operating on voice modes. This only provided increased difficulty and more mental processes to go through for no good reason.

HERE is another really outstanding resource for you to use.

I hope you get into this and we can get on the air and both improve.
My callsign is AB8KT and I live right on the other side of the Ohio River from WV

Thanks, all good info! Once I get into this a bit maybe we can schedule a few Arfcom CW get-togethers on the air.

One more thing: when you start listening to code at speeds faster than you are used to (and you should be listening to code that is faster than you are used to), obviously it sounds really super fast. You think to yourself that there is no way in hell anyone could make any sense out of it.
Don't panic.
Just let it play. Don't even try to do anything, ;just let it go.
Within no time you will get used to listening to it at that speed and like I said before, you will say to yourself..........that was an F. There is a T............ and it will just come to you. Just don't let the first minute worry you.

As that guy says in that book I linked in a previous post: he had some real fast CW playing in the car. He was day dreaming, thinking about something totally unrelated and all of the sudden he realized that he knew what the CW message was even though he wasn't making any conscious effort to listen to it.

Zen & the Art of Radiotelegraphy  indeed.  


good advice in both your posts, & also that link to the CNN Breaking News & NN9U streams looks pretty sweet.

looks like Raysheen & i have our work cut out for us.  

Keep something in mind;

Up until the relatively recent past, every ham in the world learned CW. As well as tens of thousands of military people.  

It isn't hard.

I get the impression in today's world that a lot of people think it is extremely difficult. But it isn't. It takes a little work, that's all.

Armed with that free book download, you can learn it the right way from the start; unlike most of the people that learned it 40 years ago.

Here is another invaluable resource ( free software download ).

again, sincerely appreciate the link to another interesting resource.

had the first online meeting for the group last night.  looks like i am clearly the student w/ the least impressive resume in the group.

i've my work cut out for me.  we'll see how it goes.

I think that would be me! I challenge yo to the title of "least competent"!

challenge will definitely be accepted, considering the mess i have been making on the straight key the past few days.