I'm looking about to find some text files for my Morse Code program that are
of the current exam variety, that is, plain English. I can find a lot of
them that are of the "rrr fb cpy hr om rig is ysu 101dx es wx is rn"
instead of the current format with spelled out words and few, if any
abbreviations.

I'm not trying to cheat the exam, but I want my students to practice on
something that will resemble the real thing. Any pointers?


Jim
WX6RST
www.rstengineering.com/hamradio

Why not just make a couple of .txt files that suit your needs. Should take
all of about 10 minutes.

Should take all of about ten DAYS. Making sure all the letters and numerals
and prosigns are included, making sure that the message is within the limits
of the test time, making sure all the spellings are correct...and then doing
it for a hundred QSOs so that you don't get the same one every time is a
NONtrivial task.

Jim




"Topaz305RK" wrote in message
...
Why not just make a couple of .txt files that suit your needs. Should take
all of about 10 minutes.

RST Engineering wrote:

Should take all of about ten DAYS. Making sure all the letters and numerals
and prosigns are included, making sure that the message is within the limits
of the test time, making sure all the spellings are correct...and then doing
it for a hundred QSOs so that you don't get the same one every time is a
NONtrivial task.

And of course, you would know exactly what is in the QSO files. Kinda
defeats the purpose.

- Mike KB3EIA -

"Mike Coslo" wrote in message
news
RST Engineering wrote:

Should take all of about ten DAYS. Making sure all the letters and
numerals
and prosigns are included, making sure that the message is within the
limits
of the test time, making sure all the spellings are correct...and then
doing
it for a hundred QSOs so that you don't get the same one every time is a
NONtrivial task.

And of course, you would know exactly what is in the QSO files. Kinda
defeats the purpose.

Naw, he's the *teacher* so it's okay.

"Sal M. Onella" ) writes:
"Mike Coslo" wrote in message
news
RST Engineering wrote:

Should take all of about ten DAYS. Making sure all the letters and
numerals
and prosigns are included, making sure that the message is within the
limits
of the test time, making sure all the spellings are correct...and then
doing
it for a hundred QSOs so that you don't get the same one every time is a
NONtrivial task.

And of course, you would know exactly what is in the QSO files. Kinda
defeats the purpose.

Naw, he's the *teacher* so it's okay.


The ARRL has traditionally used QST articles for the code runs. Likely
it's not something someone will have memorized, yet if you were an ARRL
member you had the text to compare your copy with.

Nowadays, it's real easy to do something like this, since there are
code practice programs, and pretty much anything is available in
electronic form now.

It's not the same as actual QSOs, yet may be a better choice than code
groups. One advantage code groups traditionally had was that you weren't
likely to memorize them, so you only needed the one record to learn code.
Since resources aren't so limited nowadays, text is a better choice.

Given that the purpose is to get good at code, rather than get good
at knowing what a proper QSO is, one could meld the two. Take text
files almost at random, and edit them to include the exchange at
the beginning, and then the guy starts into a long rag chew, placing
his call into the transmission as required.

Micahel

"RST Engineering" wrote in message
...
Should take all of about ten DAYS. Making sure all the letters and
numerals and prosigns are included, making sure that the message is within
the limits of the test time, making sure all the spellings are
correct...and then doing it for a hundred QSOs so that you don't get the
same one every time is a NONtrivial task.

Jim


For the purposes of familiarizing students with the exam format, it doesn't
have to meet the rigorous requirement of the actual exam material. I made
some for my students and did not try to be sure that each one had all the
required letters, numerals, and pro-signs. I just made sure it had at least
one call sign with the "/" as that tends to throw students. They all passed
the exam.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

Dee...

Thanks for the tip. I actually found a website over in Hawaii that had ten
sample .wav and .html files that were just what I was looking for. All I
needed was a single current format to see what was spelled out and what was
abbrvtd. What I am making up for my students will be done out of an Excel
file that has all the variables in a table, then a randomizing function to
pick different combinations of letters, numbers, rigs, power, weather, and
then jam all that into a Word mailmerge file, thence to a text file. Sounds
like a lot of work, but it is really rather trivial. Took me all of two
hours to generate a hundred random QSOs, and I could generate another
hundred in ten minutes.

Question -- Which of the prosigns and punctuations are currently being used?
I suspect . and ? and / are among them, but anything else I need to throw
in?

Jim




"Dee Flint" wrote in message
...

For the purposes of familiarizing students with the exam format, it
doesn't have to meet the rigorous requirement of the actual exam material.
I made some for my students and did not try to be sure that each one had
all the required letters, numerals, and pro-signs. I just made sure it
had at least one call sign with the "/" as that tends to throw students.
They all passed the exam.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

"RST Engineering" wrote in message
...
Dee...

Thanks for the tip. I actually found a website over in Hawaii that had
ten sample .wav and .html files that were just what I was looking for.
All I needed was a single current format to see what was spelled out and
what was abbrvtd. What I am making up for my students will be done out of
an Excel file that has all the variables in a table, then a randomizing
function to pick different combinations of letters, numbers, rigs, power,
weather, and then jam all that into a Word mailmerge file, thence to a
text file. Sounds like a lot of work, but it is really rather trivial.
Took me all of two hours to generate a hundred random QSOs, and I could
generate another hundred in ten minutes.

Question -- Which of the prosigns and punctuations are currently being
used? I suspect . and ? and / are among them, but anything else I need to
throw in?

Jim

I know that BT (same as = ) is included. I think that AR (same as +) is
included also. The K and KN prosigns are included also. Punctuation
includes the period and comma as well as the two you mention. There may be
others but am not sure. You should be able to find this info somewhere on
the ARRL site or in the study guides.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

RST Engineering wrote:
I'm looking about to find some text files for my Morse Code program that are
of the current exam variety, that is, plain English. I can find a lot of
them that are of the "rrr fb cpy hr om rig is ysu 101dx es wx is rn"
instead of the current format with spelled out words and few, if any
abbreviations.

I'm not trying to cheat the exam, but I want my students to practice on
something that will resemble the real thing. Any pointers?

Eric S. Raymond, of gnu software fame, has been working on a replace-
ment for the venerable "morse" program for unix (and for Windows
systems with Cygwin installed, I think). He has cleaned up morse
a _lot, and added some very nice features which make it a great
Morse code trainer, and has added an entirely new program, QSO, which
generates text files such as one would get from the distant end of a
Morse contact.

Examples, in which "+ %" are shorthand for the AR and SK prosigns:

$ ./QSO
W0PBV de G0GWA
QTH is College Pass, Rhode Island.
UR RST 126=126.
My rig runs 270 watts into a rhombic up 250 meters.
Do you listen to Radio Peace Peoples Republic of Korea?
Name is Peter.
I live at 1010 Springwood.
My age is 18.
I am a systems analyst.
I am a General class ham.
Hows my signal?
WX is partly cloudy and 53 degrees.
I sometimes monitor ulf for earthquake precursors.
+ %
W0PBV de G0GWA

$ ./QSO
WB7EEL de IK5AAX
QTH is Quebec, North Carolina.
UR RST 555=555.
The rig is a Drake T=4XB running 40 watts.
Antenna is a half wave dipole up 10 m.
8y67fvgb oops cat on keyboard.
My name is Phil.
Did you attend ORU?
I am 23 years old.
I am a doctor.
I have been a Novice class ham for 11 years.
Can you pick kryptonite locks?
The WX is hot and windy and the temp is 31 degrees.
Do u understand English?
+ %
WB7EEL de IK5AAX

$ ./QSO
K9ALD de WA7VYJ
QTH is Tinker, Wisconsin.
UR RST 589=589.
My transceiver is a Heathkit HR=10.
It runs 20 watts into a doublet zepp.
Jacob here.
I am a clown.
Age is 31.
Tnx for ur call.
I have been licensed 2 years as Extra class.
It is smoggy.
How copy?
+ %
K9ALD de WA7VYJ

--
Mike Andrews, KE5DMQ

Tired old sysadmin