I got bored, so I'm trying to learn it.


I am starting at 12/18WPM and I'm doing good.


Although I'd like to be at a speed that people actually used to use.



So what number should I try to hit?
Also, what is the difference between the first and second numbers?

Quoted: Standard key or speed key?

Que?



I just have been listening to the beep, picturing the letter in my head, and holding it there until I can see the whole word.



Oooh, One more thing, what pitch should the beep be right now I'm listening to it at 400, as low as it can go.

Are you talking about:
straight key

and paddle?

-.-.     ---    ---    .-..

farnsworth??

No Koch.

And I'm doing it on a computer.

Just listening to beeps and understanding the words, not transmiting them or writing them down.

I need to know what speed I should be doing this at to be constiered good.

try a cell phone

My grandfather was a radio operator in the Air Corps in WW-II.  About 45-50 WPM with a straight key.  A little faster with a "bug."  His squadron signal officer told him he wasn't allowed to use a bug because it went faster than the relays in the radio were capable of keeping up.

My grandfather was pretty good, though.  He was the one radio op out of his squadron who sent in the bomb damage assessments (BDAs) after they hit a target.

Me, I'm comfy at 15 or so, given QRM/QRN/QSB, etc.

Cheers,

kk7sm

87 wpm




.....sorry, had to say it

Quoted: My grandfather was a radio operator in the Air Corps in WW-II.  About 45-50 WPM with a straight key.  A little faster with a "bug."  His squadron signal officer told him he wasn't allowed to use a bug because it went faster than the relays in the radio were capable of keeping up. My grandfather was pretty good, though.  He was the one radio op out of his squadron who sent in the bomb damage assessments (BDAs) after they hit a target. Me, I'm comfy at 15 or so, given QRM/QRN/QSB, etc. Cheers, kk7sm

I know a person that can do 50. It's kind of amazing to see him as he can carry on a conversation while commenting about the code in the background. I'm down to about 13 right now and trying to get it back up to snuff since I miss qrp. I was up to 20 when I was 14.Reminds me... I'll have to break out the hw-7 or 9 soon.

My uncle was a radioman on a boomer back in the 80s.  I think he was a 60+wpm range.

I never got above 12wpm.  And then not very accurately.  

Quoted: I know a person that can do 50. It's kind of amazing to see him as he can carry on a conversation while commenting about the code in the background. I'm down to about 13 right now and trying to get it back up to snuff since I miss qrp. I was up to 20 when I was 14.Reminds me... I'll have to break out the hw-7 or 9 soon.

Isn't that a beautiful sound?  I need to spend more time on the air, but live in a community with a CC&R which prevents any kind of decent antenna.  I figure, a few more years and I'm moving to the country!

Cheers,

kk7sm

Just a suggestion to the OP, but don't try to "visualize the letters in your mind".  CW is a spoken language, learn the sounds of the letters, not the way the dots and dashes look written down.  It's like the difference between heiroglyphs and spoken Egyptian.  It sounds like you're doing it the right way by sending the characters at 15-20 wpm, that really helps you learn the sounds so that you're not mentally counting them in your head.

I can copy CW at 50-60 wpm, used to be a hardcore HF contester for 20 years or so, and at that speed it's really amazing, it's just like someone sitting next to you talking.  You really no longer hear the morse code at all, but for me it takes total awareness, if my focus drifts it just turns into the sounds of crickets chirping and the meaning disappears.

CW can be very useful.  A cw rig can be incredibly simple, fit in your shirt pocket, and the signal to noise ratio is great.  For hams, if you want to work real DX over difficult paths, CW gets through a lot better than SSB.  Also, a nice 250 hertz filter in your rig will make it seem like you have the band to yourself, you don't have to listen to the splatter and crud on the SSB sections of the band.

Good luck with the project, remember, it's a spoken language, not a written language.