[CQ-Contest] Learning Morse

[James Duffey]

Rick - You asked:

      -- Since the Koch technique has you learning at full-speed from  
the
      beginning, what's a reasonable speed to aim for?  What's the  
range that you
      might see in a typical contest?

The 22 wpm you started at is pretty good. Most CW contesters run at 25  
wpm to 35 wpm, depending on the contest. You can contest very wella t  
22 wpm, but you will probably not be competitive with the big boys. If  
you can do 22 wpm it is pretty straight forward to boost your speed to  
contest level. Use MorseRunner after you have mastered the G4FON Koch  
learning.

      -- I've started at 22 wpm, and find that the speed of my  
handwriting is
      often not fast enough to keep up, and keyboarding is even  
worse.  The only
      way I could imagine going faster is to copy entirely in my  
head.  How did do
      you get past that hurdle?

As others have said, cursive will be much faster than printing.  
Writing small is faster than writing large. That is what I did. But  
keyboarding is what you will do to copy in a contest, so you may as  
well learn to do that while you are learning the code. You might also  
try a touch typing course, like Mavis Beacon, to help your typing.  
Without too much study you should be able to get your typing up to 30  
- 35 wpm, which should be plenty good for learning the code. Your  
typing will improve as your CW does. If you insist on hand copying,  
fold an 8.5" x 11" paper in half length wise to get 4.25" x 11". Copy  
the code on that. That way you don't have to go back so far at t he  
end of a line. It helps, no kidding.


      -- Are there any other approaches to learning that I should  
consider, or
      perhaps better implementations of the Koch technique?

I don't know of any. Practice is the key of course. Consistent  
practice. Commit to at least 15 minutes everyday and make it longer if  
you have the time. But do it everyday. No matter what. That is the  
key. Sometimes twice a day. You should be up to snuff in a couple of  
months.

Having said all this, it has been over 45 years since I learned the  
code to pass my First Class Badge for Boy Scouts. and almost that long  
since I passed my novice test. - Duffey
--
KK6MC
James Duffey
Cedar Crest NM