I also had this problem, and still do to some extent.
It is a normal human attribute to draw conclusions from content as it comes in, and is the reason that people learn by code groups.
Unfortunately, code groups are boring and random, something which in one way, appears pointless to the human brain.

The way to overcome both this problem, and to gain proficiency in reading in your head is simple.
Increase the speed and difficulty in reading morse, until you simply enter a state of mind where your conscious mind cannot calculate and think ahead.
In this state, at first you will receive almost nothing, but gradually your subconscious will take control and you will gradually hear it like a conversation.
In the end, you will not even think of morse at all, but just hear content, like when we listen to other people talking.

This is why CW ops who can read at 45wpm, sometimes find it more difficult to read 15wpm.
The reason is the 15wpm, for them, releases the conscious mind to interfere with the process.
What I do in this circumstance (slow morse reading) is to visualise the characters being written on a blackboard as they come in.
In this way, my conscious mind is sidelined as my imagination and right brain uses its imagery to read slower morse but still not write it down.

Anyone who does enough morse listening WILL achieve this state - the only variable is how long it takes.
Also, do listening online, to real conversations, with real static and fading - this will help you to learn even more.
It sounds counter-intuitive, but it works.

Then grasshopper (for those old kung fu fans), you will have achieved the zen state of morse mind.

73 - Rob

I agree Al - someone who is relentless in pursuing a goal is a force of nature.
For thousands of years the mantra of visualising a goal, and keeping it close to us, has been proven an effective ideology.

From Jesus saying that if we had faith as small as a mustard seed we could say to the mountain raise up and drop into the sea,
to Norman vincent Peale's power of positive thinking, we have been shown the way.
Most modern motivational books are simply variants of this truism, and work - but we have to be unflinching in our purpose.

An often quoted piece by the philosopher Wolfgang von Goethe says it better than I ever could:

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”  

–Wolfgang von Goethe

73 - Rob

Hi Mike,

Well I am glad you don't feel guilty about using useless morse - because that is exactly what I was communicating.
In today's world, people's minds have been hijacked by the cult of usefulness - a very sad thing.

If something is not considered useful, it is considered a waste of time and effort.
Consequently, there is a constant stream of apologists who give reasons as to why morse should still live today.
The fact is that digital modes can far exceed morse, in both signal to noise readability and speed.
So morse in a strictly technical sense is indeed useless - and that is it's great strength.
We can now revel in the challenge of excelling in something which is an art, and usefulness be reviled.

As regards language, we have to be careful not to be too narrow in our focus.
In english, groups of symbols (letters) are used phonetically to produce words, which are our basic unit of communication.
But in other languages, symbols are much more complex, and may have both phonetic and ideographic meaning.
For example, in Japanese, one Kanji character can be both a phoneme or a symbol for an entire word.
They can also be mixed together in sequences - so we should avoid the bias of parochialism.
There are many more examples, both in "dead" and current languages.

As to art, I agree that it is both inspirational, and for some, lucrative.
But apart from the old masters and some modernists, most new art is a sad travesty of a once noble occupation.
Modern art, and the associated economy, is a farcical conglomeration of black dots on a white canvas and piles of garbage touted as art.
Architecture these days is another embodiment of this corruption of true art.
You can starkly see the differences when you visit the churches of Venice or Florence, or walk through even small french churches.
Then visit the modern day equivalents - the juxtaposition could not be more revealing.

As to manners, this is always a regional cultural matter.
What I pointed out was that to spend a great deal of time in acquiring skills, which were not of intimate use in survival, is status seeking behaviour.
It is also a way of high status individuals identifying each other - otherwise, why learn something which provides no benefit.
The answer of course, is the benefit is to covertly form a group identity.
The same things are used in various societies, both secret and public, to identify individuals as belonging to a certain group.

Of course manners are distinct from being polite.
Politeness is the understanding of others customs and worth - and adjusting ones speech and behaviour to make them feel comfortable.
This is not to say we forgo our own customs and beliefs, but that we give respect to others as fellow travellers on this planet.

73 - Rob

Thanks for the good wishes Al - I send the same back to you with interest.

I agree with you about sending.
Once you have proficiency at even 5 WPM hand sending is ok.
The goal should be perfect sending - and never swap speed for accuracy in sending.
The greatest compliment a straight key user can receive is to be told by the other guy they thought he was using a PC to send.
Swings should be left on the childrens playground, not imported into CW sending.

One thing I have found particularly useful in both morse and other learning is to give the brain time to "stew".
I don't mean this in the vengeful sense, but in the sense of allowing time for knowledge to percolate through the neural network.
The subconscious mind, will work in the background, ordering and defragging our brain cells.
You will find that after a few days hiatus from morse practice - you are magically better at it than when you left the study.

This is not magic, but just a normal part of the learning process, similar to the effects of sleep and dreaming.
In fact, a little research will show that this process was used by many "geniuses" in history to aid them in their creativity.
For example Leonardo da Vinci took naps during the day with a spoon clutched in his hand.
When he dozed off, his hand would relax and the spoon would fall and wake him up.
He found that many ideas in his subconscious would now be available to him for a short while, which he duly wrote down.
Such is the power of the subconscious.

Our brains are designed to efficiently learn whatever we deem important enough.
Make morse important to us - and we cannot help but learn it.

73 - Rob

Listen first for a little while.
It may be that a DXpedition is working split and their is a temporary lull in the mayhem.
So tune up and down a few Khz and scout out the terrain.
I usually turn off my narrow CW filter at first, and can usually hear if something unusual is happening up or down from me.

Then, one QRL? and a 5 second wait should be enough to give someone a chance to send C or something else.
Of course what may not be busy now could be in a minute - that is just the price we pay for using the ionosphere for propagation.

73 - Rob

Hi Carlo,

I have downloaded your book and very much enjoyed reading it.
The section where you describe the speed hit you took on callsigns compared to your maximum speed was interesting.
It reminded me of a book I read on artificial intelligence where a computer neural network/genetic algorithm was allowed to seek an optimum path.
The implementation found by the neural network/G.A. was very very efficient for the particular path provided.
However, when another path was chosen the "ants" which represented the algorithms of the neural network and genetic makeup got lost.

In one way, it is like animals which evolve to a very specific environment - something very unique.
When conditions change in that environment, those species which previously thrived are sometimes stressed to extinction.
Since the brain is very much a neural network, this makes sense in this context too.

It is also very true that Morse is now an art - through its very uselessness.

It is a perverse facet of human nature that we value things which are useless, because it is seen as elevating our status.
So, men like to keep a skeletal frail woman on their arm, since she is useless for working the farm.
The same is true of the old monarchies, who kept legions of frilly dressed men employed, just to open doors for them or put on their shoes.

Learning dead languages, formal table manners and such, are all essentially useless - but indicate the person has time and money to waste.
Wrongly or rightly, this is also seen as an increase of status in society as a whole.

I mention this mainly to give some insight into the allure of the "useless" morse.
This is not intended to be in any way disrespectful to morse or its users - I am a very avid user myself.
I simply mention it to deter anyone from attempting to justify morse to others who may question its validity these days.

So to current and future morse enthusiasts - I say celebrate it's uselessness, and bask in the light of the hard earned skills you have won.

73 - Rob

Hello everyone, I am back after some remedial reworking on the bio-chassis.

Nice to see everyone still helping out new code ops.
As others have said - it really does not matter how you learn - just that you keep learning.
I learned myself from a book a few characters at a time, in the time honoured method open to geographically isolated enthusiasts.
Later when I did my commercial ticket, I learned from an ancient paper tape reader.
Koch was only the german word for cook in those days, and we slept deeply, as those ignorant of other methods always do.

I agree with Al (8AXW) about not worrying about head reading in the early stages.
It will come naturally when the speed gets high enough, and your rapid graphite pencil strokes set the paper on fire.

When you learn something new, writing it down as well as reading it works wonders with knowledge retention.
I guess it is something to do with the additional brain pathways that are needed to control muscles and so on, but it works.

So, my advice - forget the Koch and other methods - you need to learn in a natural setting, as you will hear it on the air.
Very few guys send conversational morse like a Koch speed sequence, and it will only make you have to adjust later.
Listen to the code from a computer generated "perfect" spacing model.

If you want to learn  a language, you do not normally pick an unusual dialect of the base language - but the "proper" implementation.
Once you have sufficient experience, you will be able to pick up dialects such as those spoken by mechanical bug users, and others.

So to summarise:

1. Learn a few characters at 5 wpm - then learn a few more until you have them all.
2. Use perfect morse spacing when learning the characters.
3. Write the characters down by pen or pencil - this will reinforce your learning and memory retention.
4. Gradually increase your speed of reading by 1 or 2 words per minute - you will hardly notice the increase.
5. Take a break of a day or two from time to time - the brain needs time to re-organise itself and you will be better when you resume.
6. At some speed, you will find yourself head reading naturally- but this will generally be from around 30WPM - let it come when it will.
7. Remember - this is a hobby - something we do for relaxation and fun - keep it that way.

73 - Rob

Thanks to everyone for the best wishes, I really appreciate them.

eHam is a community in the true sense of the word, where we sometimes disagree, but still respect each other.
Also, eHam contains some of the most knowledgeable and quirky characters on the net, and that is what makes it both useful and fun.
This is why it is the only forum I have ever joined, and will sure miss it.

With some luck and God's blessing I will be able to return to eHam sometime in the future (if the world does not end Dec 21st! hi).
Life is a great adventure, and we all reach chasms from time to time.
My latest chasm is one which I will be trying very hard to bridge, so thanks again everyone for your help and friendship.

Now qrt

73 - Rob

Due to changes in personal circumstances, I will soon not be able to post to eHam any further.
But rather than just disappear into the aether, I would like to sincerely thank the many hams who have provided me
with information and knowledge on this forum.

I am very grateful to be able to gain information from such knowledgeable people, and count myself to have grown in the process.
So, again thanks and best wishes for the future and particularly over Christmas.

73,

Rob

Bob,

Everyone needs to vent, and I am glad it was cathartic.

But, and this is difficult to put into words in many ways:
For your own sanity, just accept that there will always be jerks around - both in ham radio and other facets of life.

I have been at the receiving end of the same situation as you have found.
We have all been patiently waiting for our turn to work a DX station, and then comes the macro dumper from hell.
Ten minutes later, when his macro finally finishes, the conditions have changed and you can't work the DX station any more.

The reason I am pushing keeping your cool is that it is an effective way to win.
Japans famed swordsman Miyamoto Musashi went into the legend status by winning duel after duel.
One of his most used tactics was to get the other person angry by coming late to a duel or otherwise getting his opponent to lose his temper.
Old time japanese samurai also went into battle considering themselves already dead men, so they were not afraid of death in the field.
In this way they were able to concentrate on fighting and paradoxically this gave them a better chance of survival.

A poem by Rudyard Kipling says it all:

***
If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling

***


73 - Rob

Imagine you are on the bridge of a ship at sea in a large swell.
Another guy is a on a similar ship on the horizon at the same height above the sea.

Both of you are rolling around in the swell.

Sometimes you are both vertical and at the top of a wave, other times you are both in troughs.
But most of the time you are somewhere in between.

If you were signaling each other by lamp, then you would get intermittent copy as you "faded" in and out of each others view.
But if the sea were calm you would have consistent results, without the extreme fading.

The ionosphere is sometimes calm, and results could be consistent, but not necessarily identical like line of sight operation.
All of the aforementioned properties of radio waves: angle of incidence, skip distance, local changes in ionospheric height, polarisation mismatches and local multipath reception will affect the skywave link.

When the ionosphere is in turmoil, you are refracting from a moving target in both space and time parameters.
Unless you are both in NVIS skywave mode, the ionosphere is extremely variable over any DX paths.
The gray line is one example of why good propagation is possible, since the terminator produces similar ionization for the path.

Sure local noise conditions will have an effect, but it is just one aspect of a complex issue.
Like being on the deck of a rolling ship, sometimes we see water, sometimes sky, and sometimes the guy on the next deck hurling over the side.
No one is right or wrong, they all have pieces of the puzzle, which if everyone puts in their piece gives a complete picture.

73 - Rob

Well you now know that the carrier suppression figure on your transceiver is pretty good.
Get lemons, make lemonade.

Anyone who can admit mistakes is capable of learning from them.
Posting them online also shows you are able to laugh at yourself.

The next time I do the same thing I will toast your health!

73 - Rob

Congratulations on your QRP operating adventures Mike.

I can feel your excitement through your writing, and it is great to see you so motivated.
If I hear you, I will most certainly give you a call, although it will be DX for sure.

Happy birthday, and 73,

Rob

Hi Paul,

Sounds like you have a whole raft of different problems there.

As regards sending, you generally have two ways of generating CW with a P.C.

One is to generate a pure sine wave which will be injected into the transmitter audio line.
This generates a single frequency offset from the dial setting by the audio frequency.
It will be either above or below the dial setting depending on if you have USB or LSB mode set.

The other method is to turn on and off a keying line in the transmitter, like when you use a morse key.
This method needs some sort of interface from the computer to the radio CW keying line.
I use a custom designed opto-isolator fed from a USB to serial port "dongle" type converter.

Either method will produce CW, but not all digital programs support both methods.
Some CW programs such as Fldigi will only support the sine wave audio method, whereas CWtype supports the hard keying method.
Others such as HRD support both.

You can usually tell if a program will support the tone method if it has something in its options called "MCW"
MCW is not pure CW in the strictly technical sense, but it conveys the meaning that this is a sine wave tone method.

The clue to whether a program will support the "hard keying" method is if it has options for selecting output "ports".
The ports may be either serial (COM) or sometimes centronics parallel port (LPT).
Either way, you will need a custom interface when using COM or LPT ports, but there are many circuits available on the web.

Since you have a USB signalink, I can say that you will be using the sine wave method of producing CW.
So programs like HRD, FLdigi will certainly support that method, but I don't think CWtype does.

I hope that helps to explain some of the reasons that some programs will work on transmit with your setup and others don't.

As regards CWdecoder and your failed install, I removed CWdecoder from my system and registry and tried to crash it on install.
I stopped it in various places multiple times, but was unable to reproduce your problem.
It installed and worked fine unfortunately (or fortunately).

I have no doubt that you are having a problem, but I am at a loss to explain how to overcome it.
I am running a 32 bit version of windows, so if you are using a 64 bit version perhaps that may explain it.
Or perhaps you need to set certain privileges to install it properly.

Because I test a lot of different software programs, I have a system where I re-image my notebook after my experiments.
This re-installs the whole operating system to the point at which I took that image and gives me a fresh start.
I guess I could rollback windows to a know point as well, but I am not sure if that would remove registry entries and other detritus.

Perhaps it is time to remove all those CW programs, and have a think of how you wish to generate CW.
Then you can use either HRD, FLdigi or any other suitable program to produce CW, and then review the decoders.
Even the HRD CW decoder is not too bad on most signals, so I would get to a simple baseline and restart from there.

Having multiple CW decoders, all competing for the same ports (COM for example), can lead to peculiar problems.
Many CW programs will want to reserve a port for themselves, and scan the ports which are on the P.C.
You can end up with conflicts where different programs fight for the ports, like the grave scene in Hamlet.

Good luck, I am sure you will sort it out.

73 - Rob

Hi Paul,

I understand about playing with different ham software - we are kindred spirits in that pursuit.
That is why I played with many different types of CW decoder software side by side and tested them out.

I just downloaded the latest version of CWdecoder (look up eham reviews for the link).
It works great on windows 7, and even seems to select my USB signalink now.
My P.C. is a windows 7 notebook computer (circa 2009).
Previously, it seemed it would not work on anything except the default soundcard.
Now however, I could select both the USB-signalink or the default soundcard - so that is fantastic.

I tried it on some very weak in the noise, fading CW and it worked really well.
Not anywhere as good as by ear of course, but extremely good for a cw decoder.
Frankly, it just blows away the other decoders, and for receive works really well.
But, as I said earlier, the difference is really apparent in noisy, messy CW.
They all work ok on machine sent CW, well above the noise.

I would not use CWdecoder for sending CW though, since it is a bit rough in this area.
For sending consider CWtype (a free cousin of CWget), which is brilliant and free (thanks Alex).
There is nothing stopping you from using multiple programs for sending and receiving, so pick your preferred option.

Cwdecoder and CWtype are both free, and in my opinion, both excel at what they do.
CWskimmer is also brilliant, with a good cw decoder, but that is not it's primary design aim.
It is primarily designed as a contest/pileup bulk callsign decoder, and it is also a great program, although it is payware.

I am not against the other CW decoding programs in any way, more options is better for us all.
The best idea is to do your own side by side tests and see what results you obtain.
But remember, use real world signals which are messy, fading and noisy, and see where your tests take you.

73 - Rob