Morse Code
Join Date: Aug 2010
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for learning methods try Morse Keys from Mauritron
Join Date: May 2006
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Ohh i remember those days....Ozzy navy comms school.
Tape after tape after tape. Eventually got up to 36wpm, throw in some indonesian language "dengen imasu shimashiita" to top that off what ever that means and whella morse code imbedded somewhere in my cortex
Tape after tape after tape. Eventually got up to 36wpm, throw in some indonesian language "dengen imasu shimashiita" to top that off what ever that means and whella morse code imbedded somewhere in my cortex
Join Date: Dec 2008
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zlin77....the lady was Nancy Ellis Leebold (dunno why she put out a morse code record)....anyhoo,being poor pilots,most transferred the record onto cassette tape borrowed from mates. Mine was leant to someone & I never got it back. Being young & impressionable,someone told me about subliminal learning. So,I made my own tape (said the letter,then made the sound verbally). The first bit of the tape was music before the morse. I'd put it on as I was drifting off to sleep. After a few weeks of forced morse I sat the test at DCA Tempe in Sydney & passed!!!! Can still remember the letters even though haven't heard morse in years..... Now,where did I put my keys????
Learned my Morse from a set of tapes made for amateur radio operators, got to about 10-12 wpm off them, then went to Lonnie in 1980-81 and got my speed up at the AMC using the "Datong Morse Tutor" machines (little grey boxes that sent random groups, letters only or mixed, at speeds up to about 35wpm), also copied Ships press from Sydneyradio on 8.841Mhz to get up to speed. Taped a lot of the press on 8Mhz as a training-aid for the AMC, they probably still have the cassettes somewhere. As it was addressed "CQ" I figured it was public domain so taping it wasn't an indictable offence.
Got to about 28wpm as my fastest receive speed, but at sea we usually worked 16-18 wpm on a good circuit, error-free so no need for repeats. Got us off the circuit quick so someone else could have a go. Good mode of comms at sea because it cut through bad static and was flexible since operators could slow down if the circuit was poor.
About the only thing that really killed it was bad fading (QSB). I got a bollicking off Sydneyradio (VIS26) one evening when I called up for a telegram about sunset and was turn number 6 on HF. By the time it was my turn the band had died and I had to get a QSP via Thursday Island (VII) on MF.
Copied the last transmission from Perthradio (VIP) when maritime Morse finally shut down. Some Morse still can be heard on the HF bands (apart from the ham-bands) around 8Mhz at night, usually from mainland Chinese stations.
Practicing by mentally sending the number-plates of cars etc is good practice. The amateurs at the bottom end of 20 metres (14 Mhz) are also very useful, although a lot of them I suspect are using keyboards and computers to read and send. Really well-formed Morse can be read in your head at quite high speeds...you start hearing entire sentences in your head, not just words-at-a-time. Trying to write it down slows you down - try to read it in your head. When writing it down, lag the code by a couple of letters so you are not tempted to "journalise".
Morse is also a lot like music. It has a rhythm, a beat and a cadence. Certain passages of Morse (such as the beginning of a Sydneyradio traffic list on MF) are as familiar to me as the opening bars of my favourite music. If you can carry a tune you can probably learn Morse.
Got to about 28wpm as my fastest receive speed, but at sea we usually worked 16-18 wpm on a good circuit, error-free so no need for repeats. Got us off the circuit quick so someone else could have a go. Good mode of comms at sea because it cut through bad static and was flexible since operators could slow down if the circuit was poor.
About the only thing that really killed it was bad fading (QSB). I got a bollicking off Sydneyradio (VIS26) one evening when I called up for a telegram about sunset and was turn number 6 on HF. By the time it was my turn the band had died and I had to get a QSP via Thursday Island (VII) on MF.
Copied the last transmission from Perthradio (VIP) when maritime Morse finally shut down. Some Morse still can be heard on the HF bands (apart from the ham-bands) around 8Mhz at night, usually from mainland Chinese stations.
Practicing by mentally sending the number-plates of cars etc is good practice. The amateurs at the bottom end of 20 metres (14 Mhz) are also very useful, although a lot of them I suspect are using keyboards and computers to read and send. Really well-formed Morse can be read in your head at quite high speeds...you start hearing entire sentences in your head, not just words-at-a-time. Trying to write it down slows you down - try to read it in your head. When writing it down, lag the code by a couple of letters so you are not tempted to "journalise".
Morse is also a lot like music. It has a rhythm, a beat and a cadence. Certain passages of Morse (such as the beginning of a Sydneyradio traffic list on MF) are as familiar to me as the opening bars of my favourite music. If you can carry a tune you can probably learn Morse.
Join Date: Dec 2008
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To By George,
I learnt to fly many decades ago & when we were told about the 'Q' codes ie QNH,QFE,QDM and so forth,no one asked how those letters referred to what they mean. My son who recently studied CPL subjects asked the lecturer why 'Q' codes. The answer is in the real old days aviators transmitted just 3 letters via morse to the ground station. QNH= Query Nil Height ie what's the sea level air pressure at your field. QFE= Query Field Elevation. QDM=Query Direction Magnetic (must have been to ask the ground station for a radio bearing).
Anyhoo, I was amazed that I'd been using the 'Q' words for years & never knew the history behind them....never too old to learn.
I learnt to fly many decades ago & when we were told about the 'Q' codes ie QNH,QFE,QDM and so forth,no one asked how those letters referred to what they mean. My son who recently studied CPL subjects asked the lecturer why 'Q' codes. The answer is in the real old days aviators transmitted just 3 letters via morse to the ground station. QNH= Query Nil Height ie what's the sea level air pressure at your field. QFE= Query Field Elevation. QDM=Query Direction Magnetic (must have been to ask the ground station for a radio bearing).
Anyhoo, I was amazed that I'd been using the 'Q' words for years & never knew the history behind them....never too old to learn.
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Learning morse was one of life's great drags. Just old fashioned, hard, repetitive, boring slog. I had a couple of long play records - or was it one - and just did it all over and over again until magically the old brain started just hearing letters as the code beeped out. Slowly but surely I got them all. The test was, I think, 10 groups (2 or 3 letters) per minute. And I think you got each group twice which was just as well. This was for an instrument rating in the mid 70s. I remember about half of them.
QNH - I thought this was Question Nautical Height.
QNH - I thought this was Question Nautical Height.
What's dah, twenty three dits, and a dah?
"This is s
t" 
For the geeks, Google "Morse code ringtone generator".
And no, I haven't got the above phrase on my phone. Actually - maybe I might load it
"This is s
t" For the geeks, Google "Morse code ringtone generator".
And no, I haven't got the above phrase on my phone. Actually - maybe I might load it
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By George,
Another that springs to mind is QNE which is ICAO standard atmospheric pressure 1013.25 hpa. Tap QFE into Wiki and it brings up a heap more.
DF
Another that springs to mind is QNE which is ICAO standard atmospheric pressure 1013.25 hpa. Tap QFE into Wiki and it brings up a heap more.
DF
Sorry Bloke.......don't know Dave F.
Could be that my memory is fading or he was not where I was at the same time....if ya know wot I mean....
Could be that my memory is fading or he was not where I was at the same time....if ya know wot I mean....
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Got a loan of a reel to reel mini tape recording machine and the old man dragged a morse key from his big box of good aeroplane stuff that lived under the house and banged away at ten WPM for me to learn.
He had used Morse in the war years and into the fifties in Dragons and Drovers out west and was reputed to be GOOD.
A job hinged on my getting the ten WPM in less than a week. Bloody dreamed Morse after a couple of days.
When I rolled up to DCA to do the test I kept getting stonkered by the tiny click of the spark jumping across the contacts as the key was released on the record's version. It sounded like a dot.
I'd go back out under a tree and listen to the tape and write some more and front up againafter half an hour. Did that two days or so for a couple of hours each.
Hec Cooma was the DCA man and he knew the pressure was on as the week approached and I kept failing. I was regularly down to one too many mistakes I think we were allowed ten.
Finally Hec counted ten mistakes while I counted eleven and he announced, "Congratulations ya passed at last" and snaffled the exam out of sight.
SO! I've been a fraud all me career and now it's too bad, CASA. I can't be bothered flying now so ya can't pull me license. Ha Ha!
He had used Morse in the war years and into the fifties in Dragons and Drovers out west and was reputed to be GOOD.
A job hinged on my getting the ten WPM in less than a week. Bloody dreamed Morse after a couple of days.
When I rolled up to DCA to do the test I kept getting stonkered by the tiny click of the spark jumping across the contacts as the key was released on the record's version. It sounded like a dot.
I'd go back out under a tree and listen to the tape and write some more and front up againafter half an hour. Did that two days or so for a couple of hours each.
Hec Cooma was the DCA man and he knew the pressure was on as the week approached and I kept failing. I was regularly down to one too many mistakes I think we were allowed ten.
Finally Hec counted ten mistakes while I counted eleven and he announced, "Congratulations ya passed at last" and snaffled the exam out of sight.
SO! I've been a fraud all me career and now it's too bad, CASA. I can't be bothered flying now so ya can't pull me license. Ha Ha!
In the last war the Lancaster WOp/AGs used to set up the T1154/R1155 HF radios on the ground by sending 'Best Bent Wire'
dah di di dit, dit, di di dit, dah,
dah di di dit, dit, dah dit, dah,
di dah dah, di dit, di dah dit, dit.
[I've had to put commas in as this site won't let me double space]
I seem to recall Len Deighton mentions this in his book 'Bomber'
dah di di dit, dit, di di dit, dah,
dah di di dit, dit, dah dit, dah,
di dah dah, di dit, di dah dit, dit.
[I've had to put commas in as this site won't let me double space]
I seem to recall Len Deighton mentions this in his book 'Bomber'
"BEEF ESSENCE" has a nice cadence - apparently.
No use writing the dots here, but if you 'sing' it you'll get the idea.
A colleague used to 'drive us nuts' with it............He was Ex RAN from Harmon (?) spelling?.....
Cheers
No use writing the dots here, but if you 'sing' it you'll get the idea.
A colleague used to 'drive us nuts' with it............He was Ex RAN from Harmon (?) spelling?.....
Cheers
Join Date: Mar 2009
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I was taught the Morse Code as a young man as part of my schooling at a Navy College. The method used then was to group each of the letters according to its composition i.e.
E One Dot
I Two Dot
S Three Dot
H Four Dot
T One Dash
M Two Dash
]O Three Dash
A One Dot Dash
U Two Dot Dash
V Three Dot Dash
N Dash One Dot
D Dash Two Dot
B Dash Three Dot
and so on through the alphabet. Once the groups are put together we chanted them over and over again. i.e.
E I S H One Dot,Two Dot, Three Dot
T M O One Dash, Two Dash, Three Dash
A U V Dash One Dot, Dash Two Dot, Dash Three Dot,and so on.
It must have been an effective method because at 70 years of age there are many things that I have forgotten but the Morse Code still ingrained in my memory.
E One Dot
I Two Dot
S Three Dot
H Four Dot
T One Dash
M Two Dash
]O Three Dash
A One Dot Dash
U Two Dot Dash
V Three Dot Dash
N Dash One Dot
D Dash Two Dot
B Dash Three Dot
and so on through the alphabet. Once the groups are put together we chanted them over and over again. i.e.
E I S H One Dot,Two Dot, Three Dot
T M O One Dash, Two Dash, Three Dash
A U V Dash One Dot, Dash Two Dot, Dash Three Dot,and so on.
It must have been an effective method because at 70 years of age there are many things that I have forgotten but the Morse Code still ingrained in my memory.
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Exaviator
I bet that was effective and I wish I would have known about it or been taught that way.
My father and his mate did their Morse with a lady in Sydney during the fifties, blond and quite attractive he mentioned once. By coincidence I named my first born the same name.
I bet that was effective and I wish I would have known about it or been taught that way.
My father and his mate did their Morse with a lady in Sydney during the fifties, blond and quite attractive he mentioned once. By coincidence I named my first born the same name.
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Morse Code
I learnt from the record by Nancy Leopold and sat the exam at DCA Waverton North Shore Sydney.
It was one of the hardest exams I had done and thankfully, passed.
Tmb
It was one of the hardest exams I had done and thankfully, passed.
Tmb