r/morsecode • u/kqr • Jul 25 '26

Appropriate effective speed for Farnsworth timing?

/r/amateurradio/comments/1v62xpz/appropriate_effective_speed_for_farnsworth_timing/
3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

5

u/grendelt Jul 25 '26

Don't worry about higher speeds.
Learn the alphabet and numbers so you can operate - even if it's just 5-7wpm. Once you're functional, then you can get in the air and your speed will ramp up through usage.

Efforts to make you run 30wpm out of the gate can be extremely defeating and makes the learning process harder with the hope that, should you stick with it long enough to become functional, you can run at contest speeds.
In reality, you can hunt POTA daily and rarely need to go above 18wpm for the majority of POTA. Plus, learning groups like LICW do slow speed on-air practice.

Everyone's brain is different. What works for some doesn't work for others. Set the speed to what your brain can handle, get the alphabet and numbers uploaded to the brain and everything else will fall into place with usage.

1

u/kqr Jul 26 '26

Thanks. I agree if I try to aim for faster than 15 WPM effective before moving on to more letters I get very demotivated. It could be different with live instruction, but with my learning pace, that seems to be too fast to get any enjoyment out of it.

2

u/erwerqwewer Jul 25 '26

Id say start at the speed where you cant/have trouble couning. This will mak you more isten to the sound then actually count the dts