Morse Code and CW
Category: 🌱 Seedlings
Tags: Morse Code, CW
Learning Resources #
Tips For Learning Morse Code #
- Do not count the dits and dahs! Listen to the entire sound pattern of the characters. Avoid having a lookup table of dits and dahs in your head, and avoid repeating the sound pattern in your head.
- If you can easily count the dits and dahs, you need to increase the rate at which characters are sent.
- Learn to head copy. You will only be able to copy about 20 wpm if you write everything down.
Measuring Callsign Weight #
The “weight” of a callsign can be expressed as the time required to send a callsign using conventional spacing. Each “dot” represents one unit of time and each “dash” represents three units of time. A space between characters is also considered three units of time. To calculate the weight of a callsign, you would count the number of dots and dashes in each character along with each space between characters and multiple them by their respective time units and sum the results. An additional space is included at the end of the callsign in this calculation as well. This can be expressed in the following formula.
Callsign Weight = ((dot * 1) + (dash * 3) + ((space +1) 3))*
Callsign Weight Examples #
| Callsign | Character Breakdown | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| KI4OVI | -.- .. …- — …- .. | 64 |
| KE7ZEA | -.- . –… –.. . .- | 58 |
| KJ7NZL | -.- .— –… -. –.. .-.. | 78 |
| AE7II | .- . –… .. .. | 40 |
Examples are of callsigns I’ve held at one time.