"Jack Schmidling" wrote in message
...
In spite of being a ham for 50 years, radio operator in the Coast Guard
and an Extra, I have never been able to copy code in my head. My brain
crashes after 3 or 4 characters. Take away my typewriter and I might as
well be a CB'er.

I see MFJ has a gadget they claim you can set next to the speaker and read
the text.

Seems like a great tool to assist the memory.

Do they work?

Yes it works if the code is well sent and the signal is reasonably strong.


I just downloaded a program called GetCW and glad I didn't have to pay for
it. If this works, I would like to talk to someone who can help me get it
going.


Yes this program works. Again the code must be well sent and the signal
reasonable strong. I personally think it works a little better than the MFJ
code reader as you can set the filtering level.

With the free version, you must go into the setup menu everytime you start
the program and specifically select the sound card. It doesn't "remember"
what you set the last time or what the default is and you cannot save the
setup in the free version.

From what I have read on "head copy", one needs to start hearing the group
of letters that form the words not try to string them together out of
individual letters. I can't do this yet myself as I don't work it enough.
However I do hear "CQ" as a group and instantly know what it means without
even having to think about the individual letters. And I do some
contesting, I hear the abbreviation "test" as a group and recognize it as a
"word" without having to think the individual letters.

Dee, N8UZE