The Case for Code – pt.2
Easy to learn… Huh?
There really IS a good and often enjoyable way to learn The Code. There are many wrong ways to learn The Code & some of them came from authority figures, such as The Army and etc. were – for years- dead wrong. The Army eventually changed their ways and had MUCH higher percentages of people learning The Code and using it well. Let’s go to the beginning, The Morse Code is best learned as a language – really! When you hear a new word, like Enchilada, don’t count letters, or try to make some picture to match the sound:
Enchilada

All I know when I hear the sound of ‘enchilada’ is that I am conditioned that > it’s time to EAT!< It's the same with learning Morse Code, because you learn it by conditioning yourself to a series of sounds. Do NOT build-up a ‘look-up table’ or a picture or count dits and dahs or any OTHER nonsense. Rather, in your brain brain associate the sound bywriting down the letter. You just hear the sound of a “V” (di-di-di-daaah)and write it.
Enter The Koch Method, invented by German psychologist Ludwig Koch in the 1930′s and it is simply this: listen to the Morse characters at the speed you will likely hear them on the air: about 13-15 words per minute. However, to make it easier to learn, keep the spacing between these characters much longer than normal so that you are actually copying about 3 to 5 WPM when first learning. This makes sense. If you were learning to speak Spanish you would not slooooooow the individual words down to a crawl like:
eeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnnnccchcchchchchchchchciiiiiiiiiiilllllllllllllaaaaaaaaaddddddddaaaaa
Instead you might say:
enchilada……………….y………………………………cerveca,……………………………por………………..favor.
Enchilada……………….and……………………………beer………………………………..please!
By increasing the spacing between words, you get a little extra ‘processing time’ for your brain to understand what has been said: same-same for longer spacing between letters sent a normal speed in Morse code. In the Koch Method, characters are sent at a normal speed with longer spaces between, so that you LEARN HOW THEY REALLY SOUND! Not some slowed down version that is more difficult to understand than the normal sound of a single Morse character.
Fortunately for us, a fine program has been written by a fellow ham G4FON to teach the code using the Koch Method. You can go to his website and download his Morse training program for FREE at the following URL:
http://www.g4fon.net/CW%20Trainer.htm
Thirty minutes per day will have you learning the letters and numbers at greater than 5 WPM in about two weeks, plus or minus – everyone is different. Then you begin to build speed. I’ve had friends who went from no code to Know Code in less than one month – but they are fanatics! Then I dragged them on the air for thirty minutes per night of CW practice with me. (The poor blighters!) IF after a few QSOs with me, they then begin calling CQ and talking with other stations, their code speed and comfort level soar!
Sometimes FICTION Is a good display of Facts!
Please , if you have not done so already, get the book “Survivors” by James Wesley Rawles. IT’s not 100% to my tastes – why you know, he didn’t even send me the manuscript with box of red pencils to make corrections or ANYTHING! WUZZ-UP WI’DAT? //GRIN!// However, because HE is the famous writer and I am totally unknown to him, this may have something to do with his ignoring me (though both sailing and the tiny KX-1 transceiver are mentioned in his novel and I do both ;^) However, the ham radio portion of his book, as used by one of the central characters trying to get home all the way from Afghanistan to the USA, is quite acurate. Having him use the readily available Elecraft KX-1 transceiver, instead of something only a novelist could think-up, added tremendously to the books realism. So, buy it and read it. Because the ham portions are well researched it will serve as ‘fuel’ for your own imagination to consider how you would actually USE radio in a tight situation. I’ll give you a hint: if it’s too difficult to provide power and antennas for your radios, you will not use them. If it is EASY, then you will: plan ahead.
Morse is Quicker Than Computer Modes!
Huh? How is that so? Computer modes are the closest to Morse in the ability to cut through noise – some may even be better – they are surely a good bang-for-the-buck. They do however, have their weakness. For Example: Suppose that we have a referee standing by with his stop watch and as the starting gun sounds, we are to rush into the ham shack and —> from a cold start<— send a 25 word message to the station waiting at the other end of the link.
BANG! GO!!!
We rush in and you will use a great digital mode – Good Thinking! – However, I know that it's a Wednesday morning and that Microsoft Just downloaded their OS updates, so your computer will likely require 3 minutes or more to boot, then even MORE time to digest the updates and maybe require a re-boot before it's ready to use. On the other hand, I hit the switch on my transceiver and have my straight key ready to go – you get my point? Operator to operator I can flip the ON switch and start within one second of power-up. That's pretty fast. Then , if we have to pass a message, well remember:
A message received slowly in Morse Code is faster than walking a thousand miles to deliver it.
Economy and Portability:
By eliminating the PC – or using it only when necessary, you eliminate a lot of hassle and extra power requirement. Furthermore, I've packed laptops and other 'messaging devices' in my rucksack down through the years, and kept them alive in harsh environments as well as supplying their power – I was much back younger then and it was still a pain. These days, The idea of fast marching 25 miles in the Rockies with a rucksack that weighs as much as a yearling calf just doesn't sound like much fun, which is why as a civilian I tended to carry a Morse Only , low power radio transceiver similar to this.

Kits for these hover between $65 to $130 for single band kits, depending upon features and whether you provide the enclosure or they do.
Or you can buy an already assembled, multi-band QRP rig with built-in, general coverage receiver for under $300. (yes – you heard right) Look-up HB-1B at the following website:
http://www.youkits.com/
And remember – if you already have an HF ham rig, it is probably already capable of Morse code. Put it to use! Use the G4FON program and then get on the air. Slow CW is usually found between 7100 to 7125 KHz until well after sundown, so it’s a great place to practice.The “Q” signal that you need to know is “QRS” which means “PLEASE SEND MORE SLOWLY>” and yes- they generally will. IT’s not rude – it’s normal.
BTW – just so that you don’t think that I’m making all this up, here’s my well used QRP rig – and yes, that’s a ‘porthole’ behind me…

73 de Ray …_ ._
W7ASA