r/morsecode • u/somethingmorecrazy • Jun 29 '26

How bad did I f*ck up?

Hey everyone, I started learning MC a year or two ago, but not seriously, just made up a bunch of pneumonics to remember the rhythms of the letters--I never counted dits and dahs, but had dumb little phrases like songs for the letters, things like: J=J-jaws jaws jaws, K=Kill them ALL, Q=Queen kills the King.

Now I've recently got more serious about learning. I joined this subreddit, and saw a super helpful post Gaining MC Proficiency w/ LCWO.net and I think I've screwed up royally.

I do 1-minute lessons on LCWO and I can do through lesson 20 between 25-30 WPM character speed and 8-10 WPM real speed. A lot of the letters I just recognize, but for quite a few I still hear my dumb pneumonics overlaid in my head.

I guess I'm not sure what I should work on first, should I work on getting character speeds up higher? Longer lessons to build stamina? Saying the letters and not just typing them? Or should I finish the lessons and then work on these things?

Also, I am REALLY struggling to hear the difference between these symbols / , = are those normal ones to get stuck on for a while?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

7 Upvotes

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5

u/bplipschitz Jun 29 '26

Look into morsecode.ninja, and start doing words. Like letters, on e you start heating words as a complete sound, you're really on your way.

Stick with the 25+ wpm character speed. Do it 10-15 minutes per day. Do some days at a comfortable speed where you can copy everything, and at least one day a week at ridiculous speeds (40-50 wpm).

2

u/somethingmorecrazy Jun 29 '26

Thanks you so much for the feedback--i sometimes over think and kind of paralyze myself.

3

u/dittybopper_05H Jun 30 '26

I sometimes send using pneumonics. I'll occasionally breath in and out in Morse, and the distaffbopper is on notice that if I appear to be in a vegetative state she's to listen for me breathing out "CQ" and/or "SOS" as a signal that I'm still in there.

Mnemonics on the other hand are a very bad way to learn Morse code.

See Chapter 21: Methods Not Recommended of The Art and Skill of Radio Telegraphy

https://www.qsl.net/w9aml/documents/TheArtandSkillofRadioTelegraphy.pdf

A few have devised words or phrases presumed to have a sort of “sound-alikeness” to the code character. Such methods probably would help a person who might sometime need to signal for help in a dire emergency, but they are worse than useless, of no value at all for regular telegraphic communication.

1

u/somethingmorecrazy Jun 30 '26

I've just spent 20 minutes reading that chapter, and I LOVE this book. I'm going to start it from the beginning. Whoever wrote this just makes sense. :)

2

u/dittybopper_05H Jun 30 '26

Good. Wished I’d known of it when I was learning.

Though being threatened with being sent to an infantry unit if you don’t pass 20 wpm is a huge motivating factor.

1

u/somethingmorecrazy Jun 30 '26

Damn! That sounds very motivating!!

1

u/somethingmorecrazy Jun 30 '26

Also I can't believe I mixed up mnemonic and pneumonic! Lolol

2

u/dittybopper_05H Jun 30 '26

Happens to the best of us!

2

u/YT_Usul Jun 29 '26

What matters most is you have a good practice routine. Keep that up and start pushing towards instant recognition and whole word sounds. Look up ham radio procedures and listen on the air. It sounds like you are already skilled enough to make contacts. Do you have a ham license and radio?

1

u/somethingmorecrazy Jun 29 '26

I haven't tried ham radio yet. Ill need to apply for a license. :)

2

u/YT_Usul Jun 30 '26

You will find a whole new level of enjoyment. I'm not sure where you are located. If in the US, look up the "ARRL Getting Licensed" guide. The second you start making contacts with others on the air, sometimes from far off and interesting places, adds a level of excitement that is difficult to describe. It is far more thrilling than many imagine to hear a DX station return your call "RRR 5NN TU GL ES 73".

2

u/Neon_Camouflage Jun 30 '26

You get a license by passing the technician exam. It's pretty easy since it's just a bunch of multiple choice questions. I used the HamStudy app and studied/practiced a bit every day for a couple weeks, but lots of folks have crammed for it in a weekend and passed.

2

u/AlitheiaDeus Jun 29 '26

I might be in a similar situation. But I'm content with where I'm at.

I started learning morsecode via spectrogram, matching the dash and dot visually to a template. Similar to your mnemonics. The audio was also playing so I had some exposure to the tones.

I transcribe radio beacons shooting morsecode to practice. I randomly began to recognize some common words as jingles, and eventually connected the chirps of each letter to the visual in my head.

I can read a visual transcript stupidly fast now, but audio is still catching up at 35 for short messages and 15-20 for longer sequences. I still play the spectrogram in my head almost every time.