Morse Code

The following = article appeared=20 in World Radio, February Issue, 1998

Catch it-Catch it dead-end or=20 Godsend?

By Dr. Jerry = Wheeler=20 W6TJP

In the August 1997 issue of World Radio an article by = Dave=20 Kelley, AI7R (see his article below) astonished us with his = un-hedged=20 condemnation of the Code Quick method. Although well meant, his = comments=20 NEVER use crutches and THIS IS A VERY BAD way to learn the code,=20 demonstrated, we believe, a misleading and serious = misunderstanding of the=20 code learning process. We were left to wonder just what scientific = research provided justification for Mr. Kelley's dazzling = assertions? The=20 Editors of this magazine are to be congratulated for their = willingness, in=20 this debate, to air both sides. This article will demonstrate why = Acetate=20 it-Catch it and other such Crutches enable fledgling amateurs to = become=20 truly code proficient in a fraction of time compared to = traditional or=20 even Farnsworth approaches.

ZERO TO 5 WPM IN ONLY A = YEAR! =20
When in 1950 Mr. Tom Thorpe taught the author Morse Code at = West=20 Phoenix High School, he played the code on a military surplus = machine. A=20 long tape with holes whirled around, producing the code while the = RPM of=20 the spool set a 5 wpm speed. Painfully and fruitlessly in front of = that=20 ancient device, our class assembled for countless hours. In this = method=20 the student was told to associate the sound of the character being = sent in=20 Morse with the elusive letter. While this method could be praised = for=20 keeping a group of high schoolers off the streets, the endless = parade of=20 dahs and dits produced few amateurs! In retrospect, I remember = that=20 although I never seemed to make much progress, I was among the = best and=20 after a year, I successfully passed my Novice tests. But code = never came=20 easily and like Mr. Kelley says, it wasn't much fun. =

PAY DAY=20 TODAY AND OTHER CATCHY PHRASES
Then one day, Mr. = Thorpe=20 walked through the classroom while the CQ was sounding and = playfully=20 exclaimed, Hey guys, listen to the Q it says pay day today! You'll = never=20 forget your pay day will you? From that instant I never again = struggled=20 with the letter Q, it was always there instantly. However, all the = other=20 characters continued to conceal their identities from me. Practice = as I=20 would, it took another ten years before I gained enough = proficiency to=20 squeak through the 13 wpm test. But working CW was always a white = knuckle=20 experience. Tense and rigid, my body seemed intent on flexing = every sinew=20 and popping every ligament. Even this maximum exertion rarely = provided a=20 satisfactory QSO, so I mainly stuck to phone.

AND THEN = THERE WAS=20 ONE!
In the late 1970 at Huntington School in San Marino, = Calif.,=20 fifty-seven enthusiastic students agreed to sacrifice six weeks of = their=20 summer, all morning long, to the establishment of a school radio = club and=20 station. Excitement and anticipation filled the air. The eager = troop began=20 stringing dipoles, obtaining gear and pounding the books. While = with usual=20 speed the theory fell into place, the code began to take its toll. = One by=20 one discouraged and frustrated kids disappeared from the roster = until at=20 last only seven starters completed the requirements for Novice. = Sadly,=20 when the tickets arrived two months later, one lone fledgling knew = enough=20 code to man the radio club station! What made the learning of code = so=20 nearly impossible for so many? His negative experiences launched = your=20 author's life quest and doctoral level research to solve that = puzzle. The=20 following conclusions represent his answer.

WHY CODE STOPS = SO MANY=20 COLD
Our brains demonstrate the amazing work of a = master=20 creator. They are designed to handle thousands of tasks = simultaneously,=20 each part functioning independently and co-dependently. In order = to=20 receive code, the sound needs to be noticed, determined important = and=20 processed for meaning. When we first hear code the mind asks = itself what=20 manner of audio information is this? Not recognizing it as = language, the=20 sounds are mistakenly routed to the non-language auditory area as = though=20 they were environmental noises. The "grey matter" in this region = is=20 extremely efficient for recognizing, thuds, clunks, screeches, and = squeals, but quite inadequate for processing language. The = functioning of=20 this section of the brain appears to be sound specific. It is = looking for=20 exact matches with stored experiential information. Scanning the=20 environment and searching for potential hostile noises it locates = a sound=20 it deems worthy of notice, notifies the visual part of the brain = that=20 trouble might be brewing, collects data and quickly determines its = importance, hopefully in time to get you out of the way of the = approaching=20 truck. Literally hundreds of thousands of messages pass through = this=20 portion of the brain every day. Most are ignored as=20 irrelevant.

WHAT IS A "3 WPM WINDOW?"
If we try to copy = code in=20 this non-language portion of our minds as environmental noises, = symbols=20 must be learned EXACTLY the way they are to be received. As many = of us=20 have discovered, the process is arduous and often exasperating. = This area=20 of the brain does not appear to possess the ability to learn at = one speed=20 or frequency and then decipher at another. Consequently, we learn = code at=20 one speed, say 20wpm but are out to sea when someone sends us code = at 5 or=20 13wpm. If we learn code by listening to the sound of the = characters and=20 then attempt to associate the letter with those sounds, we are = locked into=20 a dismal three word per minute window. (hams often refer to these = windows=20 as plateaus) If we speed up or slow down, we no longer recognize = the=20 characters. Thus, we might get through an exam if our code window = matches=20 the test oscillator, but we don't become CW proficient unless we = set out=20 on the grueling course to learn six or more complete sets of code. = As so=20 many of us know by personal experience, this is just too painful = and most=20 who try it give up in disgust. Who wants to spend the rest of his = life=20 studying code?

SPEECH - MAN'S MOST AMAZING = ABILITY  =20
Now compare that scenario with what happens in the amazing = language=20 part of our brain. One aspect of man which makes him unique from = all the=20 animal kingdom is his ability to receive and process speech = information.=20 Scientists tell us that language functions are strung all over our = skulls=20 where thousands of circuits connect and constantly communicate = with each=20 other. As a result, this most powerful part of our mental function = is able=20 to hear and decipher meaning from a child's high pitch whine, the = thick=20 accent of a Jamaican fisherman, the bass roar of a Marine drill = sergeant,=20 or the slow drawl of a Louisiana river boat captain. No one ever = needs to=20 teach the difference between fast language and slow language, high = pitch=20 or low, our brain just fills in the differences. It can process = speech=20 equally well at an agonizingly slow 25 words per minute or from a = traffic=20 controller's 500 WPM machine gun like spiel.

30+ WPM - HOW = DOES HE=20 DO IT?
The old ham who sits by his radio while code = flows at 30=20 words per minute, no doubt receives and processes code in his = mental=20 language center. Some can even carry on two conversations at once, = one=20 with you, the awestruck ham shack visitor, the other with a CW = friend=20 through the transceiver. Somehow for him, the code language became = fluency, as easy as English. He feels no struggle, hesitation or = tension;=20 how did he do it? It remains a mystery to us how for a small = minority of=20 hams the non-language he learned connects to his brain's language = center.=20 We don't know how he developed his skill while so many others = flounder.=20 But we are delighted to report that since 1979, Code Quick has = launched=20 tens of thousands of men and women into his world of CW language = with the=20 unique sound-alike process. Hundreds of students continue to = succeed by=20 following the simple steps found in the Wheeler Applied Research = courses=20 and computer programs.

HOW DOES CW BECOME LANGUAGE? To = acquire any=20 foreign language, say Spanish, we learn a set of sounds (noises if = you=20 will) to represent an idea. Take the sounds, Mi boca as an = example.=20 If we are older than 9 years old we will most likely have to go = through=20 the process of saying to ourselves, Mi boca means my mouth. Every = time we=20 hear mi boca, we think, my mouth. Those of us who learned a = foreign=20 language are familiar with this translation process. If we stick = with it,=20 eventually we jump right from the Spanish word to the imaged = thought and=20 the English equivalent then drops away. Wallah, we arrive at the = point of=20 fluency.
WHY DO "SOUND-ALIKES" ELIMINATE PLATEAUS? =
If we=20 learn code by way of sound-alikes, very much the same process = emerges.=20 Using Mr. Kelley's example, Catch it- catch it is first learned as = a=20 sound-alike to represent the letter C. In the beginning, the = student will=20 hear the code say catch it catch it, and will go through some = rapid mental=20 gymnastics to remember that those sounds represent C. Just like = the sounds=20 Mi boca represented my mouth in the example above, translation was = necessary. With practice, the catchy phrase disappears into the=20 subconscious and the brain deals with the sound as it would with = any other=20 language bit. Once a sound becomes fluent language, it can soon be = deciphered at almost any speed. A minimum of processing time, = freedom from=20 speed or frequency dependency, long term retention, and instant=20 comprehension mark our language abilities. Getting all this power = working=20 helps us to become code fluent quickly while avoiding failure. = That's why=20 so many Code Quick students come to us after a lifetime of = struggle to=20 learn that CW can be both fun and rewarding.=20