Bad at CW, new, or just need a refresher and practice?
You’re in the right place!
This will be a weekly group (maybe a net) for learning and practicing the basics of CW, its translation and operation. We’ll be roughly following the CWOps.org basic program, and you can find the most relevant learning resources below.
We’ll be learning CW at 15-25 words per minute(WPM).
DON’T FREAK OUT!
You can do this! All research says that in learning CW, if you learned slow, you will need to relearn it fast.
So, learn it fast to start with, and your road to CW fluency will be that much shorter. Read the article below on instant recognition for more info on this.
Take a look at the CWOps Online Morse Code Trainer. We’ll be making a lot of use of this in our daily practice.
That brings up the most important part. There’s no way around this! The most important thing you can do to learn CW is the three Ps. Practice! Practice! Practice!
Again, DON’T FREAK OUT! You do NOT need to spend hours each day. For best results, I found 2 or 3 sessions of 10-15 minutes each worked much better for me. I found I could focus on the drills for shorter periods, and it is in the focus that you will achieve effective practice. As you get better, you’ll end up spending longer anyway, just because it’s fun!
So, join us! Go to our facebook group page, and let me know you’re interested and are planning to join in.
Schedule
The first meeting will be face-to-face, then the rest will either be online or on our radios, as we decide at the meeting.
Next Meeting: Tentative is at 6 pm Wednesday, Feb 19.
Location: will be some restaurant in Flowood (TBA).
Resources
- CWOps.org-Their resources page has a LOT of great stuff for beginners. Here are a few that we’ll be focusing on.
- LIDSCW.org
- ARRL’s W1AW daily code bulletin schedule
Apps
I suggest sticking with the above Morse Code Trainer but here are a couple of worthy alternatives.
- Morse Runner (Win)(FREE). Great CW trainer with great features.
- KochTrainer (Mac & iOS)($0.99)