On Jan 6, 8:13 am, Jeff Davis wrote:

Morse has transitioned from being the lingua franca of amateur radio to a
n
exclusive club.

And folks marvel at its decline...

And that worries me.

I'll almost certainly never be qualified to become a member of that
CWops club due to physical limitations, but I realize that Morse code
and it's use in Ham radio is a skill that should never go away. The
concept of working the world with a rudimentary radio and no
infrastructure is pretty powerful. The features of the mode make it
possible, the small bandwidth, the human powered DSP, that's all great
stuff. It absolutely needs to be encouraged. It just takes some work.
And we must be honest, it takes more work for some of us (like me)
than others. But that's okay, I considered the months I put in to get
to a paltry 8 wpm well worth it.

To me it's hard to call a club that has a lower limit of 25 wpm not
exclusive. They are promoting themselves to people who have already
made the grade. But enough about them - I don't begrudge them their
status, just that I think they are not going to achieve one of their
stated goals.

Do we want to promote OOK Morse? How about this idea......

Given that there is now a rather large divide between competent Morse
operators, and those starting out, there is some serious catching up
to do.

I would propose that a web based method of learning OOK Morse might
just do the trick. People have a tendency to be pretty fearful of
learning on the radio, the person on the other end might not be
terribly patient, and there are some people who just get bored
listening to slow Morse.

This system would give feedback on the copy and sending, practice
sessions, and testing.

This so far is kind of like the canned software. But where this
departs is that the student can send back and forth to other students.
Conversations can be made at really slow speeds, and with people of
like skill level. Text messaging can be incorporated to compare notes.
And another feature is a mentor can be added to the system. A
volunteer could work with the students to increase their proficiency.

The "hooks" of such a system are the web based interface, the semi-
chat room atmosphere, and the lack of pressure if no pressure is
desired.

It isn't breaking any technological ground either. The biggest issue
is who would host such a thing? My best guess is that the ARRL would
be a likely candidate.

I believe that would be a much better way to promote OOK Morse.

- 73 de Mike N3LI -

On 1/6/2010 12:16 PM, Michael J. Coslo wrote:
On Jan 6, 8:13 am, Jeff wrote:

Morse has transitioned from being the lingua franca of amateur radio to a
n
exclusive club.

And folks marvel at its decline...

And that worries me.

(snip)

I would propose that a web based method of learning OOK Morse might
just do the trick. People have a tendency to be pretty fearful of
learning on the radio, the person on the other end might not be
terribly patient, and there are some people who just get bored
listening to slow Morse.

This system would give feedback on the copy and sending, practice
sessions, and testing.

Such a system already exists, and it's in use by members of the Morse
Telegraph Club, and others who use American Morse. I suggest you contact
Les Kerr, N7RZ, or check the "MorseKOB" website at
http://home.comcast.net/~morsekob/ for more information.

HTH.

Bill, W1AC
(Filter QRM for direct replies)

On Jan 6, 5:28 pm, Bill Horne wrote:
On 1/6/2010 12:16 PM, Michael J. Coslo wrote: On Jan 6, 8:13 am, Jeff Da
wrote:

Morse has transitioned from being the lingua franca of amateur radio t
o a
n
exclusive club.

And folks marvel at its decline...

And that worries me.

(snip)


I would propose that a web based method of learning OOK Morse might
just do the trick. People have a tendency to be pretty fearful of
learning on the radio, the person on the other end might not be
terribly patient, and there are some people who just get bored
listening to slow Morse.

This system would give feedback on the copy and sending, practice
sessions, and testing.

Such a system already exists, and it's in use by members of the Morse
Telegraph Club, and others who use American Morse. I suggest you contact
Les Kerr, N7RZ, or check the "MorseKOB" website athttp://home.comcast.net
/~morsekob/for more information.


Hi Bill, I looked at the site, and unless I'm missing something, it
isn't what I was proposing. That looks pretty much like the standard
Morse code learning program. I want a place where people can talk to
each other, to bootstrap themselves to competency, as well as having
the standard learning tools. Hang out with their peers for a while.
Morse needs a nursery system, and it might just be easier to get them
involved and up to a speed where they don't make proficient Ops fall
asleep.

Another part is that it isn't just copying Morse that is an issue. The
abbreviations that Morse Ops use can be a little confusing. They know
what they mean, but so many use slightly different ones that a new guy
can get really confused. I remember when I first started listening to
live CW, I could copy the ARRL practice code okay, but listening to
Actual QSO's, I'd copy it down, and think "this has to be wrong, And
as a student of Morse who tends to "fly behind the plane", I'd get
stuck. So it would be good to slowly work the abbreviations in after a
while.

- 73 de Mike N3LI -

On 1/7/2010 11:17 AM, Michael J. Coslo wrote:
On Jan 6, 5:28 pm, Bill Horne wrote:
On 1/6/2010 12:16 PM, Michael J. Coslo wrote: On Jan 6, 8:13 am, Jeff Da

I would propose that a web based method of learning OOK Morse might
just do the trick. People have a tendency to be pretty fearful of
learning on the radio, the person on the other end might not be
terribly patient, and there are some people who just get bored
listening to slow Morse.

This system would give feedback on the copy and sending, practice
sessions, and testing.

Such a system already exists, and it's in use by members of the Morse
Telegraph Club, and others who use American Morse. I suggest you contact
Les Kerr, N7RZ, or check the "MorseKOB" website athttp://home.comcast.net
/~morsekob/for more information.


Hi Bill, I looked at the site, and unless I'm missing something, it
isn't what I was proposing. That looks pretty much like the standard
Morse code learning program. I want a place where people can talk to
each other, to bootstrap themselves to competency, as well as having
the standard learning tools. Hang out with their peers for a while.
Morse needs a nursery system, and it might just be easier to get them
involved and up to a speed where they don't make proficient Ops fall
asleep.

I've used the "MorseKOB" system, and it _does_ provide "wires" where
users may use Morse in real time. It requires a central server, and the
code might need modification for Continental code (talk to N7RZ), but
the basics are all there.

HTH.

Bill, W1AC