Philosophy

11/03/2001

The philosophy of each of the 5 one-minute run time frames

  1. The original audio tape had these code groups delivered with each code group in 5 divisions of 1 minute blocks. The first minute repeated the given character 5 times, with the second 1 minute repeating the given character only 4 times. This was continued on 1 minute intervals, with the diminishing of the number of repeats until finally on the last minute of the 5, each character is given only once. The breaks between the characters shown here in the html file should be removed when placed into a data file for loading into the Morse Code Software you use.
  2. Each character was given at a character speed and spacing of 15WPM, but the individual was to only slowly write the character when it was first given. This at the beginning represents an actual 3WPM, but the individual is being pummeled with the characters as they continue to come.
  3. There is a very important philosophy here, in that I have found that to begin with when folks get up tight or start to fall behind that they immediately fall to pieces. This method helps them overcome that remarkably well in a very short period of time.
  4. By these character repetitions becoming less and less as the moments tick by, they are required to copy the given characters in a slightly shorter time span. Remember that the actual characters are consistently presented at the same speed and duration, but when the individual is to copy when the first character change occurs, there is an equivalent WPM increase.
  5. During the second minute the equivalent character WPM is now 15/4, and during the 3rd minute the equivalent character speed in WPM is now 15/3, which is still only 5 WPM.
  6. During the 4th minute, we now see a change every 2 characters, giving us the equivalent of only 15/2, which is only 7.5 WPM. Most folks, with only a little bit of practice, will soon make it through this 4th minute, but seem to really get walked on in that 5th minute. I have always encouraged folks to only try to get through the 1st 4 minutes of each run, and it works well for them to do this.

The philosophy of the way the code groups are laid out

  1. Most folks immediately have problems with recognizing the number of dits, and as a result they somehow try to count them, rather than listening to the way they simply sound. A number of folks also need to have some degree of initial consistency in the characters they hear so that they can avoid that degree of initial confusion.
  2. In the 1st block therefore we have only dits, and in the 2nd block we have the dull sets of dahs.
  3. In the 3rd set of "sounds", we have the opportunity to emphasize that there are "balanced sounds" that start and end the same. This opportunity helps to enforce listening to the sounds as "individual personalities", rather than just dits & dahs.
  4. The 4th block of sounds we have some "accents" that we can emphasize, like where "F" is accented at the "first", and "L" is accented at the "last". In teaching morse code to newcomers, I have found that for the first two hours, no one even knows a single character, because I have spent all this time illustrating the "personality" of various characters. They will listen for the accents of the "F" and the "L", and identify them as "First" & "Last", without actually knowing that they are in reality F & L. It is my opinion that the character "C" can be presented as the "swinging-est" letter there is, because of the accent.
  5. Note: The @ or + symbol that is shown at the conclusion of each run is used as "AR" for "end of message", and the ! symbol is recognized as "AS" for "wait", and there are long pauses for the "REST". Depending on the Morse Code Software you use, these "AR" and "AS" may be different.