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CWTUTOR USER'S GUIDE Version 1 Copyright 1991 by Swamp Creek Enterprises P.O. Box 6056 Lynnwood WA 98036 TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION PAGE WHAT IS CWTUTOR? ................................ 1 DISTRIBUTION OF CWTUTOR ......................... 1 INTRODUCTION .................................... 1 Navigating CWTutor ..................... 1 Two Practice Categories ................ 2 Typical Application of CWTutor ......... 2 OVERVIEW OF USER OPTIONS ........................ 3 GENERAL RECEIVING PRACTICE ...................... 3 Settings ............................... 6 Automatic Mode ......................... 6 Keyboard Mode .......................... 7 File Mode .............................. 10 GENERAL TRANSMITTING PRACTICE ................... 11 Solo ................................... 11 Letter Groups .......................... 11 LEARNING GROUP RECEIVING PRACTICE ............... 12 Choose Groups to Use ................... 12 Display Basic Groups ................... 15 Introductory Single Group .............. 15 Single Group, Random ................... 15 Multiple Groups, Random ................ 16 Words, Standard Group .................. 16 LIMITED WARRANTY ................................ 17 REFERENCES ...................................... 18 CWTUTOR USER'S GUIDE WHAT IS CWTUTOR CWTutor is a program for learning and practicing the international Morse code. Beginners can learn Morse from scratch, and those already familiar with it can improve their receiving speed and accuracy. CWTutor has a number of features that make it useful for both the beginner and the experienced "brass pounder". DISTRIBUTION OF CWTUTOR CWTutor is copyrighted software that is distributed as shareware. This diskette may be freely copied and distributed (only intact, unaltered, and free of charge other than a nominal distribution fee) for evaluation purposes only. If you decide to use CWTutor, you must register by completing the Register.doc form included on the distribution diskette. You will receive your own diskette with the latest version. You will also be notified of upgrades, which will be available to registered users at a reduced cost. INTRODUCTION Before describing detailed operation of CWTutor, some general remarks are in order. Navigating CWTutor CWTutor has several operating "modes" that can be selected from choices presented by a "nested" menu system. Upon program start- up, a main menu appears from which the user selects an option. Sub- menus will appear in turn as appropriate, from which the user may select a desired action or "mode" of operation. In each case, selections are made by moving the colored selection bar over the desired choice, and pressing ENTER; the selection bar is moved using the up and down arrow keys. An alternate method of selection is to type the short-cut "key" letter (the one that is capitalized in the selection description). - 1 - When first entering a sub-menu, or on returning to it after completion of an action or operation, the user may either make a further selection (as described above), or return to the previous menu by pressing ESC. Similarly, while many user-selected operations are in progress, one may terminate the operation and return to the activating menu by pressing ESC. In some instances an in-progress user input operation may need to be completed first. If in doubt, watch the on-screen messages to determine when the "escape-out" option is available. Two Practice Categories The CWTutor main menu is divided into two categories: receiving practice and sending practice. The user may practice sending using the ALT key on the computer keyboard; the sending hand can be positioned as it would with a telegraph key. Sending with the ALT key is difficult at high speeds (no gap or tension adjustments are possible), however, so the sending mode will be most useful to a beginner just learning code. Typical Application of CWTutor The user interested in learning Morse code, or improving existing skills, may already have a preferred learning approach; CWTutor has many operating modes, one of which probably fits the bill. Those not already "set" on a specific approach may want to experiment with the various features of CWTutor. Each user may choose to follow a slightly different study program; try to develop a learning/practice program that is comfortable, yet offers variety and challenge. The following suggestions may be helpful to beginners: 1.) Consider using CWTutor in conjunction with one of the good books on learning Morse code that are available. 2.) Consider learning the code with someone else: a friend, an associate, or even in a class. 3.) Learn the code in groups of associated characters (letters, numbers, and punctuation). When one group is learned, go on to the next. Practice the new group, then practice using all the characters learned to date. Then go on to learn a new group, etc. 4.) Practice both receiving and sending of each group in turn. - 2 - 5.) First learn each new group by repeated combinations of a.) send/receive each character in the group several times before going on to the next, and b.) Send/receive each letter in the group once in sequence, repeating the sequence many times. 6.) For variety, practice receiving/sending random letters, random 5-letter code groups, random words, and plain-text messages using the letters of the new group, then using letters of all the groups learned to date. 7.) Start learning at low speed (say 4 words per minute), occasionally increasing speed to "push" yourself. 8.) Whenever possible, practice with someone who already knows Morse code; they can offer helpful suggestions and encouragement, type in messages for CWTutor to send ("keyboard" mode), or create data files for you to practice with later ("file" mode). 9.) Remember, practice makes perfect! OVERVIEW OF USER OPTIONS Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating CWTutor operating modes and user options. To practice receiving, the user can select Automatic, Keyboard, or File mode of operation. To practice sending, the user can select Solo sending or programmed Letter Group learning. Beginners learning Morse code in basic letter Learning Groups have the options illustrated in Figure 2. GENERAL RECEIVING PRACTICE CWTutor's main menu offers the following receiving practice options: 1.) SETTINGS, 2.) AUTOMATIC MODE, 3.) KEYBOARD MODE, and 4.) FILE MODE. - 3 - FIGURE 1. DIAGRAM OF CWTUTOR USER OPTIONS. +-- Adjust Speed | |-- Adjust Tone +--- Settings --| | |-- Adjust "Weight" | | | +-- Save All Settings | | | | +-- Letter Learning Groups ** | | | |-- 5-Letter Packets |-- Automatic --| | Mode |-- Random Letters | | | +-- Random Words | Receiving ---| Practice | | | +-- Send While Typing | | |-- Keyboard --| +-- Send | Mode | | | +-- Type All First --|-- Save to File | | | +-- Do Both | | | | +-- Display File Contents | | +---- File ----|-- Send File Mode | +-- Do Both +--- User Solo | Sending ---| Practice | +--- Letter Learning Group ** See Figure 2 for details - 4 - FIGURE 2. DIAGRAM OF OPTIONS FOR LETTER LEARNING GROUP PRACTICE +-- Built-In | +--- Select Groups to Use --|-- User-Defined | | Save | +-- Define Groups -- to | File? | |--- Display Selected Groups | | | +-- Letters | | Repeated |--- Introduction to Single Group --| | | Letter | +-- Group ** Learning --| Repeated Groups | | |--- Practice Single Group, Random Letters | | | | |--- Practice Multiple Groups, Random Letters | | | | +--- Standard Group, Random Words (Built-in, AMECO, or ARRL Groups Only) ** Continued from Figure 1. - 5 - Settings SETTINGS allows the user to select a sending speed (in words per minute), tone (in Hertz), and weight (i.e., dashlength relative to dot length. Beginners use 1.0 x nominal dash length). Select SETTINGS, which brings up the settings menu. Select the parameter to adjust. CWTutor will send a series of V's (...-) at the current speed, tone and weight; the current parameter value will show on the upper right screen. The user may press the up-arrow key to increase the parameter value, the down arrow to decrease the value; these user inputs are reflected in the V's CWTutor is sending, and on the parameter value readout. Press the ESC key to accept the current values and return to the settings menu. Settings for speed, tone and weight can successively be made in this manner. These settings will be used in all of CWTutor's sending until changed (speed can be changed in the Settings Mode, the File Mode, or the Keyboard Mode). The settings may be saved to a file, Settings.dat, which will then be used as start-up values the next time CWTutor is used. Automatic Mode AUTOMATIC MODE provides receiving practice by a choice of 1.) Letter Learning Groups (for beginners), 2.) 5-Letter Packets, 3.) Random Letters or, 4.) Random Words. The "Letter Learning Groups" choice is intended for beginners just learning Morse code, and is discussed in a separate section below. All other AUTOMATIC MODE choices are intended for those who already know Morse code (i.e., those who have already completed the "Letter Learning Groups" course) and need further practice to improve receiving accuracy and/or speed. In the "5-Letter Packets" choice CWTutor sends random characters in groups of 5, each group separated from the next by a space. The spaces give one the "feel" of separate words, but the random characters force one to hear and interpret each one (at times one can tell from the beginning of a word what the remainder of the word is likely to be; this tempts one to fill in the remaining characters rather than receive what is being sent!). In the "Random Letters" choice CWTutor sends random characters with no breaks. - 6 - In the random "Words" choice CWTutor sends words, randomly selected from a list of over 8000 (stored in the text file Words.dat). This words list was extracted from a huge data base compiled by Public Brand Software (P.O. Box 51315, Indianapolis, IN 46251; 1-800-426- DISK) and provided on their copyrighted disks Words 1, 2, and 3, catalog numbers RD1a.3-RD1c.3. The random "Words" choice allows receiving practice with words (of which, after all, amateur radio transmissions will consist), but due to the fact that many of the words are uncommon (foreign, exotic, or just plain strange), one is encouraged to listen to all the letters and avoid projecting word endings based on their beginnings. Keyboard Mode KEYBOARD MODE allows sending of keyboard-entered text. The two choices available are "Send While Typing" and "Type All First". The KEYBOARD MODE allows others (even those not familiar with Morse code) to send (via CWTutor) code practice in the form of random characters, code groups, words, or plain text messages. The "Send While Typing" choice provides real-time sending of keyboard-entered characters. In addition to message characters (letters of the alphabet, numbers, and some punctuation), CWTutor also allows use of special "speed control" characters. The standard CWTutor message characters (along with their Morse code representations) are listed in Table 1; Table 2 lists the special "speed control" characters. Pressing keys will result in the following actions: A.) Table 1 characters: the corresponding Morse code representation will be sent; B.) Table 2 characters set the sending speed (do not forget to set it back to the baseline setting!) and C.) Other keyboard characters will be treated as spaces, i.e. produce a delay of 7 dot lengths. The "Type All First" choice allows entry of a large number of characters before Morse transmission begins. The message is retained for re-transmission, editing, and/or can be saved to a file. When the "save" option is selected, the message is automatically written to the next file in the sequence TYPED1.TXT, TYPED2.TXT, ...,TYPED*.TXT (in the default path) for future use (via FILE MODE, discussed below). Any combination of the "message" and "speed control" characters in Tables 1 and 2 may be used. On exiting this option, CWTutor will reset its speed to the baseline setting (unlike "Send While Typing"). - 7 - TABLE 1. CWTUTOR MESSAGE CHARACTERS Character Morse Representation A .- B -... C -.-. D -.. E . F ..-. G --. H .... I .. J .--- K -.- L .-.. M -- N -. O --- P .--. Q --.- R .-. S ... T - U ..- V ...- W .-- X -..- Y -.-- Z --.. 1 .---- 2 ..--- 3 ...-- 4 ....- 5 ..... 6 -.... 7 --... 8 ---.. 9 ----. 0 ----- . .-.-.- , --..-- ? ..--.. / -..-. - 8 - TABLE 2. CWTUTOR SPEED CONTROL CHARACTERS Character Speed Setting, wpm < 3 [ 5 ( 7 & 10 # 13 ) 15 ] 20 > 25 ^ 30 + Current + 1 * Current - 1 % Current + 5 Note: Speed control characters may be used alone, or strung together in combinations to obtain any speed setting (for example, both ]++ and >*** will set the speed to 22 wpm). - 9 - The typed messages may consist of up to 8 lines of text, each line having up to 75 characters each. Type each line one character at a time; when a line is completed press ENTER to advance to the next line. If a message consists of fewer than 8 lines, the user must still press ENTER on each of the "unused" lines as CWTutor presents them for possible input. After completing or passing over (by pressing ENTER on a blank line) line 8, CWTutor will then ask if "All OK?". Answering "N" (no) will allow the user to go back and edit or re-enter any of the 8 lines. File Mode FILE MODE allows sending of text file contents; three choices are available: "Send File", "Display File" and "Both". If "Send File" is chosen, the user will be prompted for the path to search. The current path is default, and may be selected by pressing ENTER; otherwise the desired path must be entered. A directory listing of all the files in the search path having DOS names TYPED*.TXT is displayed; the SPACE bar toggles between two different display modes. In either mode a file may be selected by moving the selection bar (using arrow keys) over the file name and pressing ENTER. A help menu, which explains how further searching/sorting can be accomplished, is displayed by pressing F1. Among the alternatives listed is ALT-C, which allows one to edit the search mask (from the default TYPED*.TXT to *.TXT, for example). Once a file is selected, CWTutor will proceed to send its contents until an end-of-file is encountered, or until the user presses ESC. This "send only" mode may be useful for tests, quizzes, or challenges where display of the sent message may encourage cheating. If "Display File" is chosen, the contents of the selected file will be displayed; no sending of Morse code will occur. Only 14 lines are displayed at one time, but one may scroll through the entire file. This mode is useful for finding a file if the name has been forgotten, or for viewing file contents after a receiving test, quiz, or challenge is completed. If "Both" is chosen, then the contents of the selected file will be both displayed and sent. Only the first 14 lines will be displayed, and no scrolling is allowed. This choice is useful when the user can avoid looking at the contents until after the entire message has been sent. Files may be created and saved by a word processor or by CWTutor (see KEYBOARD MODE, above). Files can consist of any number of lines of text; only the first 255 characters of each line will be sent, and only the first 78 characters of each line will be displayed. It is recommended that line lengths be less than 79 characters (including spaces). Remember that each space and each character not defined in Tables 1 and 2 will produce a delay of 7 dot lengths. - 10 - Note that on exiting "File Mode", CWTutor will reset its sending speed to the baseline setting. GENERAL TRANSMITTING PRACTICE CWTutor's main menu offers the following transmitting practice options: 1.) SOLO and 2.) LETTER GROUPS. It should be noted that sending practice is done using the keyboard ALT key. But unlike a telegraph key, it has no tension or gap spacing adjustments. As a result, the CWTutor sending features will likely only be useful to beginners sending at low speed. Solo The SOLO choice allows sending letters, words, or messages of the user's own choice and at the user's own pace. Pressing the ALT key causes a tone, releasing the ALT key causes the tone to quit. When finished, press ESC to return to the main menu. Letter Groups The LETTER GROUPS choice provides programmed sending practice of "current" (See discussion below on letter Learning Group Receiving Practice) letter learning groups. After specifying the number of the group which is to be practiced, the user is prompted to send the code for each of the letters in that group in turn. CWTutor sends a character, and the user echoes back the letter (sending with the ALT key) trying to duplicate the sound of the code sent by CWTutor. This is repeated several times for each letter in the group, and the group is repeated over and over until the user presses the ESC key. Note that after sending a character, CWTutor will listen only a short time for a user response before sending the character again; however, it will not send another character as long as the user is sending. - 11 - LEARNING GROUP RECEIVING PRACTICE One of CWTutor's Receiving Practice AUTOMATIC MODE options is "Letter Groups". This option is for beginners who wish to learn Morse code from scratch. It has always been common for beginners to learn Morse in groups of associated letters, and there are several sets of such groups in common usage. Claims and counter-claims have been made that certain Groupings are easier to learn with than others; but the fact is that people manage to learn Morse using almost any of them. The learning groups people use are often selected because they were 1.) whatever groups appear in the book they were able to find at the bookstore, or 2.) whatever groups are being used in the class they are taking. CWTutor was designed to accomodate whatever learning groups the user elects to use, and to provide a variety of practice "modes" using them. If "Letter Groups" is selected, then the following options are available: "Choose Groups to Use" (includes option for user- definition of learning groups), "Display Basic Groups", "Introductory Single Group", "Single Group, Random", "Multiple Groups, Random", and "Words, Standard Group". Choose Groups to Use The user can elect to use the learning groups built into CWTutor by default. These groups, shown in Tables 3 and 4, are based on English language plain-text letter frequencies; the most frequently used letters are learned first, and so on. The idea is to maximize the number of word and plain-text practice possibilities early in the lessons. The user may elect to define any learning groups desired (using CWTutor-allowed characters, shown in Table 1.) instead. These user-defined groups can come from anywhere, but most likely will be based on those in a book on learning Morse code. We recommend Reference 1, published by the Ameco Publishing Corporation, and Reference 2, published by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). If using the built-in groups, no user action is required to select them. If using the Ameco, ARRL, or other user-defined groups, one must first enter the groups into CWTutor, and save them to a permanent disk file (Groups.dat) for later use. Then, before each practice session, one must instruct CWTutor that "user-defined" groups are to be used. - 12 - TABLE 3. LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET, ARRANGED BY FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE IN PLAIN-TEXT ENGLISH. frequency <=== more less ===> ETAOINSRHLDCUMFPGWYBVKXJQZ [ 1 ][ 2 ][ 3 ][ 4 ][5 ] <---- Groups TABLE 4. CWTUTOR BUILT-IN LEARNING GROUPS BASED ON LETTER FREQUENCIES. Group 1: E I T A O Group 2: S H N D R L Group 3: U F C M G P Group 4: K Y B V W Group 5: J X Z Q Group 6: 1 2 3 4 5 Group 7: 6 7 8 9 0 Group 8: . ? , / - 13 - Define Groups User groups are defined by selecting AUTOMATIC MODE from the main menu, then "Letter Groups", "Choose Groups to Use", and "Define Groups" from the sub-menus. The user may then input the desired groups; up to 8 groups of up to 8 characters each are allowed (DO NOT use spaces between the characters). CWTutor then asks if the user would like to "repeat"; a "Y" (yes) answer allows the user to go back and edit or re-enter any or all of the groups. When finished editing, ENTER accepts the group as it appears. After the groups are all entered correctly (using Table 1 characters), answer "N" (no) to "repeat?". CWTutor then asks if the user would like to "Keep?" these groups in memory for further use; if the user responds "Y" (yes), then CWTutor asks if these groups should also be saved to a file. Respond "Y" (yes) to save these groups to the file Groups.dat for later use. User-Defined After user-defined groups have been saved to the file Groups.dat, it will not be necessary to re-enter the groups for each practice session. Merely select AUTOMATIC MODE from the main menu, then "Letter Groups", "Choose Groups to Use" and "User-Defined" from the sub-menus. CWTutor will read the groups from Groups.dat, and define them as the "current" groups. Built-in The built-in groups are "current" at program start-up by default. Selecting "User-Defined", as discussed above, makes the user groups "current". Having selected "User-Groups", one may (for whatever reason) wish to again make the built-in groups "current". This is done by by selecting AUTOMATIC MODE from the main menu, then "Choose Groups to Use" and "Built-in" from the sub-menus. These changes in "current" groups can be verified by displaying the "current" groups. - 14 - Display Basic Groups All charcters in all the "current" learning groups can be displayed on the screen simultaneously. This is done to verify correct selection of the desired "current" groups, to remind the user of the group number to be learned next, or etc. After selecting AUTOMATIC MODE from the main menu, select "Letter Groups", and then "Display Basic Groups" from the sub-menus. Introductory Single Group As stated above, a beginner will normally learn Morse code in groups of associated characters, assimilating one group at a time until all the groups are learned. A group is learned by learning all the characters in the group. To study a single learning group, select AUTOMATIC MODE from the main menu, select "Letter Groups", and then "Introductory Single Group" from the sub-menus. The user is then presented another sub-menu, from which options of "Letters Repeated" and "Group Repeated" are presented. A new group should be started by selecting "Letters Repeated". Later, after some familiarity with the group is gained, the user will wish to go back and select "Group Repeated" for practice variety. If "Letters Repeated" is selected then all characters in the group are first displayed on the screen. CWTutor will then proceed to send each letter in the group 6 times: an arrow will point to the character being sent. Concentrate on the sound, and write the letter down. This will be repeated for each character in the group; then, after completing the last character in the group, CWTutor will return to the first character. This will be repeated over and over until the user presses ESC. Single Group, Random The letter group introductory lessons send characters in the same order each time. After completing the basic introductory lessons (as above) for characters in a learning group, the user should also practice these charcters in random order. This option is exercised by selecting AUTOMATIC MODE from the main menu, then "Learning Groups" and "Single Group, Random" from the sub-menus. The user is prompted for the group number; CWTutor then sends characters from that group in random order, continuing until the user presses ESC. - 15 - Multiple Groups, Random After learning 2 or more letter groups (i.e., after completing the introductory lessons for 2 or more groups, and after practicing each individual group in random order) the user should also practice receiving all the characters learned to date, all mixed together in random order. This option is exercised by selecting AUTOMATIC MODE from the main menu, then "Learning Groups" and "Multiple Groups, Random" from the sub-menus. The user is prompted for the group number most recently learned; CWTutor then sends characters from all the groups learned to date, in random order, continuing until the user presses ESC. Words, Standard Group If using a standard learning group (either built-in, AMECO, or ARRL; see references 1 and 2) the user can elect to practice receiving random words comprised only of letters in groups learned to date. This option is exercised by selecting AUTOMATIC MODE from the main menu, then "Learning Groups" and "Words, Standard Group" from the sub-menus. The user is prompted for the standard used (built-in, ARRL, or AMECO), and the group number most recently learned containing letters of the alphabet (1 to 5; other groups contain numbers, punctuation, etc., which are not parts of words). CWTutor then sends, and displays on screen, a set of 42 randomly chosen words. The user should write down the words as CWTutor sends them, without looking at the screen. When the set has been completed, the user-copied words can be compared to those on the screen. - 16 - LIMITED WARRANTY CWTutor is distributed as shareware. Those who decide that CWTutor meets their needs and wish to continue to use it must register. Registered CWTutor users will receive their own 5-1/4" 360-kB program diskette with the latest version, and a Certificate of Registration. Each Registration licenses installation of CWTutor on one computer only; however, backup copies for archival purposes are allowed and encouraged. The program diskette is warranted for a period of 45 days after Registration. In the event of notification of defects within the warranty period, the only responsibility of Swamp Creek Enterprises, its owners, officers, employees and associates will be to provide to the Registered user a replacement for the defective diskette. Diskette failure due to accident, abuse, or misapplication is not covered by this warranty. Swamp Creek Enterprises specifically disclaims all other warranties, express or implied. Swamp Creek Enterprises, its owners, officers, employees, associates, and distributors, shall not be responsible for any damages, including but not limited to direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of use, loss of profit, or any other damage claims. No warranty as to merchantability or fitness for any particular use is made. The entire risk as to result and performance of CWTutor is assumed by the user. - 17 - REFERENCES 1.) Martin Schwartz, "Mastering the Morse Code", Ameco Publishing Corporation, 220 East Jericho Turnpike, Mineola, NY 11501. 2.) L. Peter Carron, Jr., "Morse Code: The Essential Language", American Radio Relay League, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111. - 18 -