WB4SON

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MORSERINO Home Run with "Echo Test"

Posted: 09 Sep 2020 11:18 AM PDT
https://wb4son.com/wpblog/?p=4182


In addition to my usual Technician Classes (a new set starting in a week),
Ive been spending a few hours a week teaching Morse Code to a neighbor of
mine, who passed his General this June (Ryan KC1KUF).Â* Because of the
pandemic, weve been doing our practice sessions via cell phone.

We started in July.Â* By the end end of August, we had 16 hours into it, and
Ryan was copying the alphabet at 18 WPM with a 5 WPM Farnsworth rate.Â* Our
sessions eventually alternated between me sending words to him, and Ryan
sending them back to me to build his paddle skills.Â* In another month or
two he will be ready for on-air tests.

Im always on the lookout for interesting tools to use.Â* There is lots of
online stuff out there (personal favorite Just Learn Morse Code), fairly
good for learning to copy the code, but not usable for sending code.Â* Enter
MORSERINO, an Arduino-based Morse Code Tutor and Keyer designed by Willi
Kaml OE1WKL

I learned about the MORSERINO from friends who were using it themselves.Â*
Lots of bells and whistles, including the ability for two MORSERINO users
to make a contact via the Internet, or via a 433 MHz LoRa 100 mW
transceiver.Â* But the thing that really caught my attention was the ECHO
TRAINER.Â* The MORSERINO sends a word (or callsign, or random characters
your choice) at the speed you select.Â* You copy the word in your head, then
send it back using your paddle.Â* Â*Two different tones let you know if you
got it right or wrong.Â* Even after 50 years of CW work, I find that an
amazing effective tool to help exercise my paddle skills and sharpen my
receiving skills.

The software is all open source which means you could easily substitute
your own list of words or callsigns, and tinker with features.Â* You can
find the open source software here, and you use the standard Arduino tools
to make your own version.Â* Willi has been quite good about keeping the
software current and bug fixes.

It isnt cheap at about $100 including shipping from the EU, but honestly,
what keyer is these days?Â* Mine took a couple of weeks to be produced and
another 10 days or so for shipping.Â* It is a pseudo kit, but only thru-hole
soldering is required as all the surface mount parts are already mounted on
the PCB.Â* The kit took well under an hour to put together and worked with
no issues.Â* My only minor nit is that the LiPo battery they built it around
uses a MOLEX connector, which is quite rare in the US, rather than the
vastly more common JT connectors.Â* That said, you can easily substitute a
cable with the correct connector at build time, or even have two cables so
either connector can be used.Â* You can order a 600 mAh LiPo from Amazon
with the MOLEX connector if you want.Â* That said, you can always power it
using the micro USB connector on the Heltec module.