DX RXThe Doctor of DX prescribes the |  |
DX RXThe Doctor of DX prescribes the | |
Her callsign was WB7QME (now a Silent Key) and her name was Lois. She became interested in amateur radio at the age of 60 because one of her children was a ham, a career officer in the Armed Forces, and was everywhere in the world except within easy phone calling range. Over a two year period in the mid 1970s she progressed from Novice to Advanced Class. Lois had spent her entire life as a Registered Nurse and couldn’t even spell “Radio”, let alone think she could operate one. But operate she did. As a Novice she operated every night on 80 and 40 CW, and made QSOs all over the world. Her confidence grew and when she got her General Class License she said she was happier than when she had graduated from college. The 13 WPM code speed had been quite a chore for a lady who was totally deaf in her right ear, and 50% deaf in her left. To make matters worse, she had severe arthritis in her hands, which made grasping a pencil not only painful to do, but painful for others to watch. But she persisted. Yessir, she was an Advanced Class operator, proud of it, and followed the rules and regulations like clockwork. Her deafness was such that, while she could copy about 17-18 WPM, at 20 WPM she said she could only hear a blur. There was a ringing in her good ear when she copied that she never could compensate for. But she never gave up trying. Until she finally had to give up radio several years before she passed away due to increasing deafness and moving to a new home, she spent every single night, for at least 30 minutes, trying to copy code via W1AW to increase her code speed. She never gave up, even with a handicap. My mother, Lois Graham, WB7QME, was a real inspiration.
Now, perhaps I am being a bit prejudiced, and. But if that Nurse could persist, so can you. And I’m not suggesting that everyone persist in getting their Extra Class license so they can work the juicier DX. My mother could have cared less. It was the challenge to become the best that she could be. And I do not suggest that to be the BEST, you must be an Extra. Being the best is many things in our hobby, and none of them really require an Extra Class license. But having that “ticket” says you’ve persisted, you’ve worked, you’ve studied, you’ve improved.
OK, so now that you’re convinced you need to upgrade (see how easy that was!!), the hurdle of the code speed is next. There are several methodologies that you may use to increase your code proficiency. But first, several points must be made. Learning the Morse Code is the same thing as learning a new language. More Code is a language. When you learn a language, you learn to spell the words, but more importantly, you learn HOW THEY SOUND. The “spelling” part of More Code is the physical number of dots and dashes making up a letter/number/punctuation, and their order. The “sound” of the letter is just that…..HOW IT SOUNDS. The expert CW ops will tell you that they “hear” the letter or the word, and they pay no attention to the sequence of dots and dashes. Listen to the sound. And as speed progresses, you’ll actually “hear” entire words, just as you do in a spoken language. It’s also a fact that when folks don’t “speak” a language very often, they forget it. To be fluent, you must “speak” the language on a regular basis. Regular practice increases proficiency. So too when increasing your proficiency with Morse Code. Regular practice and “listening” to the sound of the letters are the keys to becoming a proficient CW operator. Proficiency means daily practice…..getting on the air, making QSOs, and copying other operators or code practice sessions at speeds which exceed your “100% copy” capability.
Push the envelope...
There are several recommended methodologies. The first method is used extensively by the military and government in training its CW operators. The CW speed copied is always about 4 WPM faster than “100% copy” speed. And most of the text is 5-letter code groups, or random number code groups, which do not spell real words. i.e. “RTNQP XYJFR WMNBV”, etc.
The biggest boon to copying code of this type is that you learn to not anticipate the next letter. If you copy “RICK”, you may anticipate the next letter to be “Y”, when in fact it might be “X”. The five-letter method can sometimes hinder you though, as you always know there are five letters. But yet, for years the Navy has taught its Radiomen and Communications Technicians that way.
Another good method is to use text from a magazine or other document source. The ARRL uses this method in its nightly code broadcasts. The advantage to copying code over the air is that you become accustomed to the noises, QRM and QRN which you encounter anyway. The single largest disadvantage to the ARRL code sessions is that duration of copy time at your “speed” is somewhat limited. Code tapes are good, but you generally memorize the text before you get proficient, and there is no noise.
A compromise of all of the above probably would work very well. But the real key is practice on a regular basis, preferably daily, and for at least 30 minutes at each session. If you can hack it, copy code for 30 minutes and then get on the air and QSO for 30 minutes to an hour each day. Try to make it a regular part of your routine. It is this persistence which will pay you rewards in increased code proficiency.
Good luck with it. 73 es best DX de NE1V