"Dee D. Flint" wrote in message
y.com...

"C" wrote in message
...

My only gripe with the code is the testing. It is stated as a 5 word
per minute test. When I challenged the test a few weeks ago I found that
it is actually anywhere from 13 to 18 words per minute, not 5 words per
minute. The 5 words per minute is a lie....


The test is given at 5 words per minute. They use a faster character
speed
but make the letters further apart. It is actually easier this way
because
the brain has more time to react to the character before it has to go on
to
the next one.

Why not tell it like it is.... Those giving the test do not want to make
it easy for anyone who has a learning disability or not. I have never
been able to memorize anything easily when in school, and was accused of
being from lazy to stupid. My father told me that I was ignorant because
I was partly colorblind. I do not want sympathy, just after studying for
almost a year to pass the 5 word per minute test for what it is suppose
to be not what someone who is more proficient with the code wants it to
be.....


If you were memorizing the code, that was the problem. That's not the
right
way to learn it. There's quite a bit of material out there on the
internet
on the right way to learn code. For starters, work towards a reflex
reaction. i.e. Hear the sound, write the letter. Don't think about the
dots and dashes. Practice every day for 30 mintues per day EVERY day or
almost everyday. There are lots of computer programs out there you can
download from the internet and every person has their favorite. Set it
for
an 18wpm character speed but 5wpm word speed. Try the G4FON program.
It's
available for free on the internet. I apologize for not posting the
website
but I don't happen to have it anymore.

Practicing once or twice a week won't get it. You fall too far backwards
between sessions. Memorizing dots and dashes and then trying to write the
letter slows you down so that you can't keep up.

Read "The Art and Skill of Radiotelegraphy". It's available for free on
the
internet. The author did extensive research on how code should be
studied.
The biggest problem is that too many people are told to use study methods
that hold a person back rather than move them forward. Another problem is
unrealistic expections. They see the whiz kids get it in a week and think
they should be able to do the same. They're the exception not the rule.

The code is far easier than most things that you have learned in life if
you
find the correct way to study it and put in the amount of time needed.


If my General CSCE expires again (this will be #2) I will never take it
again and will have lost desire in a hobby that I grew up working in for
the last 39 years.......

C.

Don't give up. Work with modern training methods and you can do it.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE


What you just described, about memorizing the code, happened to me. I
started to try to learn the code at 12 years old. My mom bought me a
record...yeah thats right A RECORD..hi. And I thought I was hot stuff...but
when I actually tried to receive CW off the air, at a very slow rate.
Listened in the Novice bands. I found I didn't know a thing.

A local ham told me I had memorized the record. And that is exactly what
happened. He then gave me the ARRL license manual with the proper method
and helped when he could.

I eventually RE-LEARNED Morse and got it right. I passed the Novice and in
3 months passed the 13WPM General in front of the FCC.

I am not solid at 40 or so.

So Dee's advice is right on target.

Dan/W4NTI