Morse code channel resources

OARC has a channel on the Discord server for those interested in telegraphy, with a focus on Morse code, commonly referred to as CW. There are CW operators of all levels, from absolute beginners to the very skilled within the OARC, with help and advice shared constantly to help everyone improve their ability.

This page is an a resource for those in the community to refer to, and drop useful snippets of information,

Morse code not only covers letters and numbers, but also punctuation, abbreviations, prosigns, and Q codes to enable communication.

One of the first questions that people ask on their CW journey is “Which CW key should I buy?”. There are generally two types of key, mechanical or electronic; mechanical don't use electronics to form their code but the others do.

Mechanical keys include the straight key, sideswiper, and bug keys. Timing of the Morse code elements, the dots, dashes and spaces are all down to the skill of the operator. Because of that these keys produce a distinct sound dependent on the operator, two operators using the same key will sound different.

Electronic keys, or paddles, have either one or two paddles and rely on electronics to produce the Morse code elements. This makes them very easy to use and they enable the operator to make well timed code. There are many electronic keyers available all with a whole list of parameters that can be changed but they generally boot up with parameters set correctly, and all the operator needs to do is set the speed.

There are two main stages to learning CW, learning the characters, then getting faster (both in sending a receiving) but everyone gets to the point when they realise that accuracy is more important than speed. Poorly spaced elements, letters, words can make it almost impossible for the operator to understand what is being sent; aiming for accuracy is more important than going faster.

There are a vast amount of resources available on the internet listed in the online learning section below. But characters, and pangrams are available here.

The following organisations have online learning systems

• Essex CW (UK) - Essex CW Amateur Radio Club is for anyone with a passion for Morse Code.
• CW Academy - The CW Academy offers classes for all levels of Morse code, with each course lasting 2 months. Student resources are available for all on their area of the CWOps website.
• Long Island CW Club
• CW Innovations - The 10 week Comprehensive ICR Course is not designed for complete beginners, but for those who are already on air making some basic QSOs, and wish to learn head copy and conversational morse code techniques.

Most online training systems suggest practising for 30-60 minutes per day, and the OARC Discord Morse channel is a useful place to talk about learning, Morse keys, paddles, keyers, speed, CW philosophy and pretty much anything that will get people on the air.

Like all audible (rather than visual) languages we must train our brains to hear a noise and understand what we've heard. When learning Morse code we generally learn the letters and numbers individually, often through learning the dits and dahs. But it's more important to learn the sound, and modern teaching encourages students to learn the sound of characters and words at speeds upwards of 25 words per minute. Initially this appears to be quite impossible, but it will have benefit in the long run. When learning dits and dahs it is very tempting to count them whilst working out what a character is; this will eventually have to be unlearned.

The aim of ICR is to hear a sound and just know what it is that you heard rather than going through an internal translation process. People are often asked whether they have to internally translate when they're learning another country's language, the same applies to Morse code. The best way to improve ICR is through practise, practise, and more practise. Short form contacts such as the Parks on The Air, Summits on the Air and other 'OTAs along with contests provide a great opportunity to hear known QSO formats repeated over and over again. These on air activities are excellent for anyone wanting to improve their ICR, and there isn't actually a need to send any CW.

There are a number of weekly sprint contests at progressively faster speed limits that can provide a weekly framework to ICR improvement. These include:

• K1USN Slow Speed conTest, on a Friday upto 20wpm
• ICWC Medium Speed conTest, on a Monday up to 25wpm
• CWOps CWT, on a Wednesday and Thursday, up to around 45wpm.
• OK1WC Contest, every Monday evening 1630 UTC to 1729 UTC, rountinely 30-40wpm

• Learn CW online and the OARC group there.
• Morse Code Ninja
• Morse Code World
• E-book to CW
• Precision Fist Check
• Daily CW quotes
• Morse Code reader for the GB2RS News
• Foundations of Amateur Radio Podcast espisodes (in CW at 25wpm)
• The ARRL W1AW Practice files in MP3 (from 5-40wpm)
• FISTS CW Club - supports the use, preservation and education of Morse code

• Morse-It for iOS
• CW Forever
• RufzXP
• Morse Runner
• QRQ - yet another CW trainer
• iCW Morse code over the internet
• Morsle - daily word quiz
• Vail online CW
• VBand online CW
• MorseCodeX
• Morse Invaders (CW Space Invaders game)
• Morsewalker - A POTA, CWT, SST and basic Contest simulator
• Morse Code Battleship Game
• Virtual CW practice bot
• Precision CW - an app for checking your CW timings, especially useful for bugs or straight key sending)

A few examples of keys you can make, from things lying around the house.

! You may need to check if the adapter will work with the website, game or program you want to use it for !

Examples where people have made their own morse adapters to connect to a computer or phone.

• Zen and the Art of Telegraphy - Carlo Consoli, IK0YGJ - English
• Zen and the Art of Telegraphy - Carlo Consoli, IK0YGJ - Italian
• Zen and the Art of Telegraphy - Carlo Consoli, IK0YGJ - Amazon Kindle (not free)
• The Secrets of Easy Morse Code Sending by Bill K5LN
• The CW way of life
• The Art and Skill of Radio Telegraphy, 3rd edition

There are different ways that people do a morse code contact It can be very short exchange just with signal report, or it can be a longer exchange.

The basic idea is a station calls CQ after sending QRL? The reply station replies. The CQ station will give a signal report, may give their name, location and pass it back to you. (If you miss things it doesn't matter) The reply station will give a signal report, may give name, location and pass it to CQ station. They can then carry on talking talking about setup or anything else with RIG, PWR, ANT, WX or say goodbye to each other.

An example of a QSO
CQ CQ DE M0QJC M0QJC K

M7QLF

M7QLF DE M0QJC GM TNX FER CALL UR RST 5NN 5NN NAME BOB BOB QTH LONDON LONDON HW CPI? M7QLF DE M0QJC KN

M0QJC DE M7QLF FB BOB TNX FER RPT UR RST 57N 579 BT NAME JOHN JOHN BT QTH NR CARDIFF CARDIFF HW? BK

M7QLF DE M0QJC ALL OK JOHN TU FER QSO CUAGN 73

DE M7QLF TU 73 E E

E E

POTA Exchange
https://chipmunk-arugula-dhfn.squarespace.com/s/POTA-CW-EXCHANGE-fill-in-the-blank.pdf

• Send QRL? to check if the frequency is clear before calling CQ.

• Call CQ or reply to a station calling.
• Most people will try to match your speed and spacing, so if you want people to send to you slowly with spaces do the same.
• If you want people to send slower send QRS. If you need to send QRS multiple times do so.
• If you are struggling to copy them, or need a rest, when it is your go, Say TU 73 e e
• If you want people to repeat themselves send AGN or ? to get them to repeat themselves.

• Have a script printed out. There is a standard exchange that people will tend to send.
• They will give their callsign and they give a signal report and pass it back to you.
• (They may say their name, location, rig, power). You don't need to remember these. I am often, not able to copy them. If you miss things it doesn't matter.

If you can only copy some of the conversation you can say this. You can say “cpi some” or “QSB” or no cpi.

• Send a 3 for readability
• If you want a second to rest or think you can send BT BT.
• If someone is too noisy, or too difficult to copy. Say “SRI noisy” and then carry on calling CQ, or change frequency to speak someone else.
• If you are Calling CQ, you are in control and you can control how much you want to talk and when to end the QSO.

• When replying to a station calling CQ, you may want to reply slightly off frequency 20kHz, 30kHz etc. using XIT on the radio. If multiple people reply on the exact frequency in morse code it can end up being one long dah.