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Bob – I just recently joined the NARS, but your post hit close to home. I took up code about 10 years ago, after having my license for about 20 years. I will say, my dad was a life long ham and could do about 35 WPM send/ receive, using a “bug”. I played around with his keys and he gave me both a straight key and a Vibro-keyer.
When I got serious, my CW mentor Bill Sepulveda (K5LN) ran a CW class for our club. Bill is a hard core CW guy. Check him out on YouTube.
We used the G4FON code trainer program. No straight key – start with an iambic key. There’s two reasons for this. One is, the mechanics of sending with an iambic is totally different than a straight key. The second is, we were shooting for 20 WPM in a 12 week class that met once a week. You want to go fast, you need to be sending with an iambiac. And you need to hear code at that speed. Finally, some kind of electronic keyer to practice on. I personally used a Kent paddle and a cheap keyer/trainer.
I made it to 12 WPM, but forgot the most important lesson – practice, practice, practice! I hope it’s going well for you.
Dave – W9DPY
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