Practicing Morse Code Head-Copy.

[gil]

It has been almost a year since I started using Morse code. I went from 7wpm to 15wpm with the Koch method, but I still need to write down each letter. I am starting to visualize some words, mostly short or commonly used ones. The threshold for head-copy is at about 13wpm. Rings a bell? Yep, that was the speed used for the General license when the requirement still existed. At 15wpm or faster, writing becomes difficult, for me at least. Not only that, but losing my notepad on a camping trip would make radio contacts quite difficult. So, how do you practice head-copy?

Head-copy is not a code related issue. By the time you reach that threshold, you know all the characters well. The problem is short-term memory. Our short term memory, for most people, can only hold four to six separate characters. Longer words are a problem because by the time you hear the last letters, you have forgotten the first ones.. Sometimes four of five letters is enough to guess a word in context. I often confirm the guessed word by checking the last letter. I haven't looked into exercises to increase short term memory yet, but I started to listen every day to faster code than I can copy. It works...

A great app to do this, if you have an iPod, iPhone or iPad is Ham Morse: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ham-morse/id315980140?mt=8
I used it to learn code by the Koch method, but it has a great feature for head-copy practice. You can use the "News" mode to download and play news briefs in code! I set it to 20wpm. The more I use it, the more words I get. Once I copy 100% at 20wpm, I will increase speed to 25wpm.

BTW, Increasing your short term memory capacity will also undoubtedly be useful in other areas...

My advise to anyone stuck at 15wpm is: Don't stop there! You are already well on your way... If you don't know Morse code, well, what are you waiting for?  ;)

Gil.

[KK0G]

I have the same problem Gil and I think you're right, it's not a copy problem it's remembering what the first characters that were sent by the time I'm copying the last characters of a word. Other than nightly skeds I haven't sat down to actively work at increasing my code speed, I really need to get back into practice mode.

[RadioRay]

It has been my experience that it's much easier to head copy from about 18 WPM upward.  Fast CW is very much easier, because you do not need to hold characters in your short term memory for long periods of time.  If I hear 5 WPM, I prefer to write it down so that I do not forget what has been sent before.  At 35 wpm It's easy - yes really.  Which is easier?

W                                       H                                  E                            R                                E                            A                           R                                E                   Y                          O                                     U                                                   ?

OR

WHERE ARE YOU?



Speed helps.


de RadioRay ..._ ._

[gil]

Good point Ray. I am sure once the ability is acquired, say about 20wpm, going faster isn't much harder... I do hear some short words at 35wpm, but very few. Things like "RST, fer, test" and the likes... My problem now is once I decode a word, to not miss the beginning of the next word.. If words were spaced more, I would decode much more... I do seem to be more successful as days go by, and that is encouraging...

Gil.