As everything in this world becomes more "fast and furious" why on earth should anyone today want to deal with something as basic and slow as morse code?
Well, for some it might be just a fun thing to know a little about, something to brag about at a party, and for others it is something which gives a great deal of pleassure to life.
How come, you may ask. How could that be possible..??
Well, even if morse code is well out of date and not so commonly used there are still a lot of radio amateurs using it. Even though no-one really needs to learn this for the radio amateur license exam there are still a lot of people who really enjoy this way of communicating.
The real joy of the morse code is how well it can break its way through a heavy level of noise or be readable even as a very weak signal somewhere in a radio's natural background noise.
This, combined with a very well trained listener, makes morse code operation very possible even at times when other signals are barely heard at all.
There is also an extra level of pleasure associated with this way of communicating, something not at all easy to explain. There is a special kind of joy when you make something so basic, plain and awkward become the best working method of your communication with the rest of the world. This, I guess, is something you would have to experience by yourself to really know what I mean.
As you are practising your morse code, also learn how to be generating morse code in your mind. When you look at the number plates of the car driving in front of you, do try to say the code for its letters and numbers;
DBF-137-XZ = Da-Di-Dit Da-Di-Di-Dit Da-Di-Di-Di-Di-Dah Di-Da-Da-Da-Dah Di-Di-Di-Da-Dah and so on. Use things like car plates, names of shops, items in your surroundings, what's on your plate while eating and anything else you can think of. This way your learning time will be shortened.
When you are able to receive morse code at about 60 to 70 WPM it's time to start practicing on your transmission skills. Make sure to sit correctly with your elbow at a 90 degree angle and in a very relaxed position so that you are holding your morse code keyer firmly but not too hard with the far inside of your thumb and two first fingers.
Do not bend the tip of your hand down to generate the code, but let your lower arm go down in such a way that the tip of your hand is actually twisted upwards. Make this way of rocking your hand, like the neck of an eating swan, the way of producing your code.
There are also morse keyers where you only use the tip of your fingers to generate the code. For more information on this, try a search on the internet for PADDLE KEYER and MORSE KEYING PRACTISE.
To get to use your new skill, please take a look at the wonderful radio amateur hobby which includes full access to a lot of frequencies over a wide spectrum, computer communication, antenna experimentation, electro knowledge, slow scan TV transmissions, collection of contacts made at different frequensies in different ways to different places on earth, exchange of self created postcards with full contact information and so on.
I would suggest a search for RADIO AMATEUR HOBBY on the internet. You will get lots of hits from such a search.
Lastly I want to congratulate you on your new skill of knowing morse code. I hope that one day I also will meet you on the amateur radio. Please send any comments you might have on my way of teaching morse code.
Good Luck from LA1HHA - Kjell E. Svendsen, Norway - kjelles@start.no
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