Chapter 15
Contents Chapter
17
PERSONAL COMPUTERS AND KEYBOARDS
FOR SELF-LEARNING
For self-learning nothing is superior
to a Personal Computer (PC) or a keyboard where the student can push a
key and hear each character (and see it in print if there is a screen),
as often as he wishes or needs to get the feel of its rhythm. The
PC especially has become such a valuable tool that some teachers (as Gary
Bold) consider it to be superior to private or classroom learning.
One of the important features for rapid learning is the degree of adaptability to the student and the amount of interaction with him that is provided. How flexible are they? Do they provide checks on skill and accuracy? One example of an interactive computer program (Gary Bold's) starts the new student out by having him hear the character, then keying in his identification of it. If his identification is correct, the character is then displayed on the screen. But if he is wrong, his answer is ignored, and the character is repeated until he correctly identifies it. The same character is then presented several more times for his correct response before taking up the next one. If he delays too long in responding, the character is repeated (and may be displayed simultaneously) until he gets it.
After a number (per student's request)
of new characters have been introduced, they are repeated in random order,
and if one is misidentified, it is repeated until the student correctly
identifies it. This program then ingeniously ratios the next series
of random characters in proportion to the number of times any of them have
been misidentified, until the student reduces this ratio significantly.
Many PC programs provide a considerable variety of practice material beyond
the initial learning and recognition stage. Computer programs can be versatile
tools for rapid advancement, tailored to individual needs. Keyboards
may provide for some of these various factors, depending on how they have
been designed and programmed. There are some smaller pocket sized
"computers" which are limited to hearing practice only.
GROWING UP WITH HEARING IT
Old timer George Hart W1NJM
is one who learned the code originally, as he says, by "osmosis" from an
older brother who was a ham -- just by listening, with no intention of
learning it or getting a license. This way he learned frequent letters
and operating procedures until one day he discovered he could communicate
by code. From then on he was hooked! He later wrote: "[I
was] practically born with a key in my hand, so cw [was] as natural to
me as talking."
LEARNING BY LISTENING TO HIGH
SPEED CODE
A few hams in years gone by have
said that they initially "learned the code" by listening to fast commercial
press dispatches (probably 35 - 45 wpm), which were then available day
and night. (Did they mean starting out, or advancing? Just
how they actually began is not clear.) They claim that they found they
could identify a letter here and there, then short words, and within a
couple of months were reading it all. However, this approach may
not have been very efficient -- for most of us it might prove discouraging
-- and probably depended greatly upon the mental makeup of the learner
as well as his enthusiasm. We mention it here only to show what can be
done if one is determined enough.
FURTHER COMMENTS ON GAINING SPEED
With many modern computer code programs
available, programmable keyboards and keyers, as well as tapes, etc., there
are several attractive alternates available. With these, material
can be better tailored for our individual needs. The Farnsworth method
suggests itself here in the high speed range, too, to allow the mind time
to digest and identify characters and words. Using this, some have
found that to set up a character speed in the 50 - 60 wpm range and then
widening the inter-letter and inter-word spaces initially, gradually reducing
them as desired, can speed up the recognition process.
SLEEP LEARNING (??)
A number of operators in the past
who desperately wanted to increase their receiving skills deliberately
tried sleeping beside their receivers or playback recording equipment (or
their line telegraph sounders in the case of landline operators) with fast
code signals coming through for several hours or all night. They claimed
that within a surprisingly short time they had great increases in receiving
speed. This procedure has been challenged, but apparently works for
some people.
One ham, who says he can copy at
70 wpm and still wants to increase above that, has for years been listening
this way every night. Maybe it works for some people, but I wonder
if it is actually effective, and also whether they got any restful sleep
that way. It is interesting that in the early 1920's a group of doctors
were being trained to use Morse code. Their teachers tried sleep-learning
with them, and found that if the word "doctor" was sent while they were
sound asleep during the night, it would nearly always wake them immediately
-- showing that there is some kind of unconscious receptivity and response.
ANOTHER SUGGESTION THAT HAS WORKED
When someone comes to me and asks
how to make the 13 wpm requirement for General class, I give them the following
plan of working:-
"You need to listen every day to good sending, and I suggest the W1AW CW bulletins. They are at 18 wpm. Start out the first few days and just listen for no more than one minute. Then turn it off. As you listen, pick out the characters you recognize. Don't write anything down at all the first few days like this. After a few days, increase your listening time to two minutes and continue to pick out as many characters as you can in your head-- and don't write anything down yet. Then turn it off, as before. After eight to ten days of this practice, go back to the one minute period of listening, but this time write down everything you can recognize. Try to leave blank spaces where you miss out. Write down every letter you can catch for that one minute period, then turn it off. Repeat this practice for several days, then extend the time to two minutes, writing down everything you can recognize. After several days or a week or so this way you will find your comprehension coming up fairly rapidly because your concentration is improving and you will be surprised how much you can copy in just this short period of time. From here on gradually increase your listening time to 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 minutes. When you can copy somewhere around 60% of the bulletin materials you will find that you can copy 13 wpm, the test speed, with flying colors. This scheme has worked well for a number of people who had reached speeds between 5 and 10 wpm, but had difficulty in advancing. This general pattern should prove of help to others aiming for the 20 wpm test or higher."
McElroy's Course and His Claims
For It
Although this does not fall into
the above categories, here is what was said:-
In the Nov. 1945 QST, p 115, was
an ad in which Ted McElroy's Company offered to "send you this complete
course of instruction (McElroy's 'Morse' Code Course) free so you can see
for yourself what it'll do for you. It was said to contain
"everything he has learned in 30 years of operating experience."
"Assuming that the average person will practice several hours the first
day, we can tell you ... that you'll be copying THAT VERY FIRST DAY,
words and sentences at the rate of 20 wpm. The thing is that ingenious!
Ted has taken one-half the alphabet which appears on his chart No.
1, prepared a practice tape which runs for at least one full hour without
attention at the rate of 20 wpm. You won't copy 20 full words in
one minute. But each letter you write will hit your ears at a full 20 wpm
and the space between letters becomes progressively shorter as the rolls
go along." Since Ted's receiving speed records were tops in almost
every official speed contest, it would be very interesting to see
this document. At present, the above is all that seems to be available.