Monster Media 1994 #1/monster.zip/monster/HAM/HOD001.ZIP/FILE2.001

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                       **** TIPS FOR LEARNING CW ****
                                    by
                       Richard K Leah VE3ANB / G0TZD

        If you have an electronic keyer or manual key, take it to your wife
 or girlfriend and carefully hand it to her asking her to LOCK it away
 somewhere for you. Until you know what morse code is supposed to sound like,
 you will surely not be able to send it properly. I've heard some guys that
 appear to be sending code using a loose toggle switch as a key. (A good
 musician always learns how an instrument should sound prior to playing it).
 There will be plenty of time to send later.

        The secret of learning the code, is to LISTEN, LISTEN, and LISTEN!
 By listening to code that is sent well, you will get a feel for the rhythm
 (consistent speed PLUS consistent gapping between each character). Morse
 code consists of a series of dits and dahs (NEVER dots and dashes) that
 make up the alphabet and, for the purposes of your examination (Canada),
 you will need to know the alphabet, the numbers 0 - 9, comma, period, slash
 and question mark.

        Learn the sound of each character clearly in your mind. Try to learn
 each character at a CHARACTER speed of 13 wpm leaving big gaps in between
 each character. This way, as you progress, you can narrow the gaps between
 each character WITHOUT changing the character speed, thus, increasing your
 WORD speed. To try and learn the code at 5 wpm and then increase it to 10
 wpm, and then to 13 wpm will result in frustration and in all likelihood,
 having to re-learn the sound of each character all over again at the new
 speed.

        Try to get into the habit of writing down on paper each character in
 LOWER CASE letters rather than writing in upper case. You will save a lot
 of time doing it this way. Think about it... It takes more pen strokes to
 write a capital letter E than a lower case e (as an example of what I
 mean). DO NOT translate the sound on paper to dits and dahs and THEN to
 the character. This is like double translation and you will end up
 extremely frustrated. Also if you miss a character, DON"T WORRY ABOUT IT!
 just train your mind to go on to the next character. If you dwell too much
 on the character that you missed, you will surely miss the next two or
 three coming at you. Also do not try to anticipate the next character or
 word. Second guessing is a NO NO.

       Take full advantage of the W1AW morse code practice sessions. They are
 an excellent tool of assistance. The quality of code is perfect and error
 free and they have a variety of different speeds to cater to your particular
 level of progress. The times and frequencies of the W1AW code practice
 sessions are usually available on packet, QST and the ARRL and RAC. When
 listening to W1AW, try to listen FIRSTLY to the code session at 15 wpm.
 YES! 15 wpm, I know your probably saying to yourself, this VE3ANB fellow is
 fellow is a little nuts, but believe me, although you may only be able to
 pick out two letters from two words sent, when you then listen to 10 wpm,
 you will maybe pick out 2 letters to EACH word and at 7.5 wpm, you will no
 doubt pick out MOST of the letters from EACH word. The point being, this
 leaves you with a sense of ACCOMPLISHMENT!! and you will also feel good
 about yourself and the progress you made on each session. Most people give
 up out of sheer frustration, so it's very important to end a practice
 session having that positive feeling that you DID accomplish something.

        Do not spend more than 1 hour at a time, as it will result in you
 having to over-absorb and hence,like a sponge when it is saturated, you
 will not be able to grasp the new stuff being thrown at you. If you find
 that you are not grasping it, WALK AWAY and try later. (We all have off
 days). Once you have a fair grasp for each of the characters and their
 sound, send the code to yourself in your mind. eg: When you are walking
 down the street, sound out the street sign in code to yourself. YIELD
 (da di dah dah, di dit, dit, di dah di dit, dah di dit). etc. Yes you
 might get some strange looks from passersby, but, what the heck! That's OK.
 There's a lot more stranger people out there than you and I.

        You should be prepared to spend at least 30 - 45 MINUTES PER DAY just
 listening. Set yourself a schedule!! If you are not prepared to do this,
 you have obviously decided that you don't really want to learn and your
 just kidding yourself and everyone else. Don't create excuses!! I've heard
 them all. (The dog's sick, I'm tired, my xyl wants to go shopping) There are
 few excuses if you have the true desire to learn. I never passed an
 examination with good marks without doing my homework.

           **ALL THE ABOVE DOES NOT REQUIRE THE USE OF A KEY**

        Now that you have all the characters and what they are supposed to
 sound like impressed in your mind, you are now ready to start a little
 sending. Now is the time to ask for the secret location of you key (the
 one you asked to be locked up somewhere). Don't worry about the speed at
 this point, remember, what counts is the quality, good spacing and clear
 dit and dahs. Adjust your key to a comfortable position and check the
 gapping on the contacts. Don't set it so wide a Sherman tank could fit
 between the contacts!! A small gap will result in a lot less work and more
 ease of sending.

        If you feel that you might get into some contesting later,
 (Field day, CQWW etc), you might want to use your NON WRITING hand to
 do the sending with. Sounds odd but, if you keep your writing hand free,
 it will benefit you greatly! This is not overly important at this stage,
 just a suggestion that any avid CW operator will endorse.

        Adjust you key, get comfortable and relax. Send code to yourself or
 to a  friend. You might wish to send text from a newspaper or magazine but
 remember, pay special attention to the spacing between your characters.
 CW operating can be and is a very enjoyable mode. IT IS NOT A LOST ART!!!
 It is merely another mode to which thousands and thousands of Amateurs
 across the world choose to employ out of their CHOICE. I know guys that
 operate CW and nothing else, despite their ability to work other modes.
 Many QSO's I have had could never have taken place on SSB due to bad QRN
 and QRM or QSB. CW has a way of "punching" through all of that. I have
 managed to pass traffic using CW on a number of occasions when SSB simply
 would not have allowed it.

        Remember, don't rush, be relaxed, and always use International Morse
 Code. For further information on how you can begin to learn international
 morse code, or upgrade your speed, contact your local Amateur Radio Club or
 check on your local BBS boards to see if they have any Morse Tutors in their
 files section.

  Very best 73 to you and Good Luck (vy 73 to u es gl) de Rich VE3ANB@VE3DTV

                       This article was published in
                    "The Canadian Amateur" January 1992
                                   and
                   "Hagal" in Israel shortly thereafter

        *       *       *       *       *       *       *       *       *

From: N2IGO@WB2ZTK
To: ALL

The Story of Digipeter Rabbit -- a No Code Fable
By Frank Terranella, N2IGO

        Once upon a time, in the far-away kingdom of Radio, there was a
peaceful valley called Hamville, inhabited by a group of rabbits.  Hamville
was originally settled by the Whiskey family, and the patriarch of that
family was an old hare called Charlie Whiskey.

        Charlie Whiskey was a farmer by trade.  He came to the beautiful
valley of Hamville when it was all open meadows.  He saw the potential for
farming the vacant land and over time he developed a thriving carrot
plantation.  Charlie Whiskey's carrot plantation was the envy of all the
inhabitants of the kingdom of Radio.  He succeeded year after year in
producing a bumper crop of carrots.  All the other residents of the king-
dom came to Charlie for advice on planting carrots.  Charlie would always
tell them, "The secret's in developing a good ear."  No, Charlie didn't
have superior hearing, but he had developed a very special skill.  You see,
Charlie picked his carrots with his ears.

        In fact, Charlie had worked hard at perfecting this skill and was
able to harvest at better than 20 carrots a minute.  All of Charlie's family
learned to pick carrots with their ears.  Soon they were all picking at
better than 20 carrots a minute.  Charlie was so proud of his special skill
that he insisted that everyone who came to work at Hamville first show
that he could pick carrots with his ears.  Charlie would not give new
settlers any land unless they could demonstrate to his foreman, Victor
Echo, that they could pick at least 5 carrots a minute with their ears.
When they could pick 13 carrots a minute, Charlie gave them more land to
work.  When they were able to pick carrots by ear at the rate of 20 a
minute, Charlie made them full citizens of Hamville.

        This process of learning to pick carrots with your ears went on for
some time.  In other parts of the kingdom of Radio, other rabbits began to
pick carrots by ear.  However, there were some noisy ducks, known as the
Quackers, who lived in the community of Good Buddy.  They used their
mouths to pick their crops instead of their ears.  They had much larger
mouths than the rabbits and saw no need to use their ears.  The rabbits all
looked down on the Quackers.  "We must always require ear harvesting
skills for entry into Hamville," they said.  "That way we will keep out
those noisy Quackers."   So everyone who came to Hamville had to learn
how to pick carrots by ear if they wanted to stay.  Charlie Whiskey was
adamant about that.  "If you don't want to learn the skill of ear harvesting
then go work in Good Buddy with the Quackers," he would say.

        And so the years passed, and new methods of farming were devel-
oped.  These new methods were easier to learn than ear harvesting,
especially for the animals who didn't have the big ears that the rabbits
had.  What's more, the new methods were just as efficient as ear harvest-
ing.  As time went by, fewer and fewer of the young animals were willing
to learn the skill of ear harvesting.  The population of Hamville began to
dwindle.  All the residents of Hamville were getting on in years.  To make
matters worse, there were new neighbors nearby who coveted the beautiful
open farmland of Hamville.  They wanted to come in and turn it into
commercial uses like shopping centers.  And worst of all, the pollution
from the Quackers, the other Rabbits, and the Mice (known in Hamville as
the QRM group) was having an adverse effect on farming in Hamville.  The
future looked bleak indeed.

        Then, one day, a stranger called Digipeter Rabbit came to Hamville.
He was an educated rabbit who had studied at the School for Scientific
Bunnies (SSB).  He had majored in Farm Mechanics and knew all of the
latest scientific agricultural methods.  But for all his education and
know-how, there was one thing that Digipeter could not do.  He could not
master the skill of picking carrots with his ears.  And since he already
knew how to pick carrots more efficiently with new scientific methods, he
was not interested in learning.

        Charlie Whiskey was outraged.  "What do you mean you won't learn
to pick carrots with your ears?  Why, we in Hamville have been picking
carrots that way for 75 years.  It's a tradition here.  It shows that we're
special and that we're better than the Quackers.  If you don't have the
desire to develop a good ear, then we don't want you here in Hamville."

        But Digipeter was adamant.  He saw no reason to learn an obsolete
skill just to stay in Hamville and he refused to even try.  Charlie Whiskey
took the matter to the Ancient Royal Rabbit League, which he had found-
ed.  The ARRL decreed that everyone in Hamville must learn to pick
carrots with his ears or be banished.  And so Digipeter Rabbit left Ham-
ville and founded his own village called Techietown.

        Soon, all the young animals in the land of Radio were flocking to
Techietown.  But Digipeter had his own entrance requirement.  A good ear
and a good memory were not enough for him.  No one could stay in Techie-
town unless he could demonstrate technical knowledge, understanding  and
ability, and the desire to contribute to the advancement of Techietown.

        Digipeter encouraged all the residents of Techietown to experiment
in the cultivation of new unexplored lands, never before farmed.  Digi-
peter showed them how to overcome pollution problems.  He showed them
how to use the land they had more efficiently. Digipeter even perfected a
method of farming which allowed a number of rabbits to farm the same land
at the same time.  And while the residents of Hamville were picking 30
carrots a minute on a good day, in Techietown, harvests of 300 carrots a
minute were possible.  Using Digipeter's methods, and those developed by
the other bright, young residents, Techietown soon became the most
prosperous village in the kingdom of Radio.  This did not escape the notice
of the Field Carrot Council, which governed the kingdom of radio.  To
reward the residents of Techietown for their contributions to the kingdom,
the Field Carrot Council gave Techietown more and more land to work,
until its borders touched those of Hamville.

        Meanwhile, Hamville was still plodding along as it always had,
oblivious to the revolution in farming occurring around it.  The old hares
still picked carrots by ear.  The Ancient Royal Rabbit League complained
bitterly to the Field Carrot Council about all the new land it was giving to
Techietown, but the population of Hamville continued to drop.  When the
Field Carrot Council gave 2 acres of Hamville property to Techietown, the
residents of Hamville began, for the first time, to be genuinely concerned
about their plight.  Some even dared to ask the Ancient Royal Rabbit
League to change its mind about the need to learn to pick carrots by ear to
live in Hamville. "We need new blood here to fight off the Field Carrot
Council," they said.  Charlie Whiskey, now in his nineties, was furious.
"We have to maintain our standards.  We don't need those smart young
bunnies, we need rabbits skilled in our time-honored harvesting tech-
niques.  We need rabbits who are dedicated enough to the principles of
Hamville to want to learn our methods.  If a rabbit really wants to live
here, he'll learn our ways.  If he doesn't, we don't want him.  You don't
want those Quackers to move here, do you?"

        But by now the residents of Hamville had seen the writing on the
wall.  Although they genuinely enjoyed picking carrots with their ears,
they realized that there were now other ways which yielded just as many
carrots.  And though they would probably continue to pick carrots by ear
as they always had, they could no longer shun those bright young rabbits
who chose a more modern method.  A group of rabbits, led by an elder
statesman rabbit named Elmer, who had once served in the government of
the kingdom of Radio, asked the Ancient Royal Rabbit League to change
its policy.  The League agreed and issued a decree that henceforth ear
harvesting skills would not be required to become a resident of Hamville.

        When Digipeter Rabbit heard of the decree, he sent envoys to
Hamville with all the latest scientific discoveries, which he shared freely
with the residents.  The residents of Hamville seized upon the new know-
ledge and soon Hamville became revitalized.  Its population began to
increase as young rabbits were attracted to its bountiful open farmland.
The Field Carrot Council, impressed by the renaissance in Hamville, did
not take away any more of its land, but actually gave some new territory
to Hamville.  Everyone was amazed at the new vibrancy of Hamville.

        Charlie Whiskey, though sad that his beloved harvesting method was
no longer in vogue, saw that his people were prospering and was glad.  And
to show that there were no hard feelings, Charlie Whiskey sent Digipeter
Rabbit a packet of 73 carrots which he had picked himself -- with his ears.

        The residents of Hamville rejoiced and declared a festival to cele-
brate their new prosperity.  And over the front door of the Hamville
Festival they put a banner, which read: "A bunny's worth is measured not
by the skill of his ears, but by what lies between them."  The residents of
Hamville had learned an important lesson.

                                         -THE END-