8 ms·

I'd like to learn Morse, but I'm concerned that my skills would quickly atrophy if I stopped practicing.

falcolas 7y ago
Thankfully, there’s lots of practice options, including a number of apps. Here’s the one I’ve used for years now: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/morse-it/id284942940 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/morse-it/id284942940
- HenryKissinger 7y ago
  I'm on Android. Morse Mania looks decent.
jimhefferon 7y ago
Learing is not too hard. It took me about a month of drilling while I was walking to work to learn the letters and digits well enough to do 5 wpm (which basically means that you have memorized them). Are you interested in keeping them up? Morse on the air can be fun, and a not too expensive hobby.
- wglb 7y ago
  My experience as well. And one hour on the air each day led to a 5 wpm increase each month for several months.
Stratoscope 7y ago
You may already know this, but for anyone else reading, Morse code is no longer a requirement for any amateur license in the US. (I don't know about other countries.) It still can be a useful skill - and fun when you get into it - but there is a lot you can do in ham radio without Morse.
parvenu74 7y ago
Is there such a thing as a straight key or paddle (iambic?) key that connects to a USB interface? The amount of bandwidth required to conduct a CW QSO via the internet would be far less than a VoIP call. A Morse code chat program would make for an interesting Show HN project.
- gh02t 7y ago
  Yes. https://hackaday.com/2017/10/03/a-vintage-morse-key-turned-into-usb-keyboard/ https://hackaday.com/2017/10/03/a-vintage-morse-key-turned-i... There are others. Making one to your own spec is actually pretty easy with an Arduino.
- dsd 7y ago
  https://hamprojects.info/mortty/ https://hamprojects.info/mortty/
Johnny555 7y ago
You probably already know this, but for the information for anyone else interested in becoming a Ham, you don't need to learn Morse to get an amateur radio license - that requirement was dropped in 2007. In all of the disaster drills or other ham volunteer events I've participated in (like providing radio support for a race in an area with little cell phone coverage), Morse was not even a part of it -- it was all VHF/UHF voice communication. That's not to say that morse is useless or completely unused, but don't feel that you have to learn it to become a ham.
- missosoup 7y ago
  Also there are morse modem apps you can get on the smartphone and just put it next to your radio. It's a non-issue these days.
  - jjeaff 7y ago
    I think if you are in a situation requiring Morse code, you likely don't have access to a smart phone.
    - freepor 7y ago
      Not true at all. Infrastructure can go down leaving a lot of compute at the nodes. If you can power a radio you can power a smartphone.
- HenryKissinger 7y ago
  I don't really care if it's not a formal requirement. At least I can flex on my friends :)
- melling 7y ago
  I think Morse code was dropped in the 1990s. I got a license without Morse code back then. Never really use it though. I always thought packet radio might be interesting, but no one in my local group was interested. Did it ever become popular.
splintercell 7y ago
- install Google keyboard - use the Morse code Tasker plugin to read your messages to you using morse code vibrations
ChuckMcM 7y ago
Use a Morse code email reader :-). I started implementing an Android "Morse" keyboard widget but gave up realizing how deeply into Android I was going to have to go to make it do what I wanted. My plan was to use the accelorometer to read the finger taps so that I could send texts by tapping my phone while it was upside down on the table next to me.
- lonelappde 7y ago
  Gmail Tap gmail.com/mail/help/promos/tap/
  - ChuckMcM 7y ago
    Okay, that is just hilarious.
- rmason 7y ago
  When I was in the ham club at Michigan State knew a student who built a code reader for his Masters. He wrote the code for the university's IBM 360, inputting it with punch cards. My memory is that it worked quite well. Now you can get one that runs on your cell phone, that's progress!
  - ChuckMcM 7y ago
    I've got a Morse code decoder and encoder running on a Rasberry Pi, it both sends the ident for my WSPR beacon and records contacts of other beacons. It does better on non-human encoded Morse which is more consistent than a human but still does pretty well.
kawfey 7y ago
I'm learning morse code, and I stream my lessons daily on Youtube [0] and twitch [1] using LCWO [2]. It just takes 10 minutes a day, and if you leave it it's incredibly easy to pick up again, just like riding a bike. [0] https://youtube.com/c/n0ssc https://youtube.com/c/n0ssc [1] https://twitch.tv/kawfey https://twitch.tv/kawfey [2] https://lcwo.net/ https://lcwo.net/

Thankfully, there’s lots of practice options, including a number of apps. Here’s the one I’ve used for years now: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/morse-it/id284942940 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/morse-it/id284942940

HenryKissinger 7y ago
I'm on Android. Morse Mania looks decent.

jimhefferon 7y ago

Learing is not too hard. It took me about a month of drilling while I was walking to work to learn the letters and digits well enough to do 5 wpm (which basically means that you have memorized them). Are you interested in keeping them up? Morse on the air can be fun, and a not too expensive hobby.

wglb 7y ago
My experience as well. And one hour on the air each day led to a 5 wpm increase each month for several months.

Stratoscope 7y ago

You may already know this, but for anyone else reading, Morse code is no longer a requirement for any amateur license in the US. (I don't know about other countries.) It still can be a useful skill - and fun when you get into it - but there is a lot you can do in ham radio without Morse.

parvenu74 7y ago

Is there such a thing as a straight key or paddle (iambic?) key that connects to a USB interface? The amount of bandwidth required to conduct a CW QSO via the internet would be far less than a VoIP call. A Morse code chat program would make for an interesting Show HN project.

gh02t 7y ago
Yes. https://hackaday.com/2017/10/03/a-vintage-morse-key-turned-into-usb-keyboard/ https://hackaday.com/2017/10/03/a-vintage-morse-key-turned-i... There are others. Making one to your own spec is actually pretty easy with an Arduino.
dsd 7y ago
https://hamprojects.info/mortty/ https://hamprojects.info/mortty/

Johnny555 7y ago

You probably already know this, but for the information for anyone else interested in becoming a Ham, you don't need to learn Morse to get an amateur radio license - that requirement was dropped in 2007. In all of the disaster drills or other ham volunteer events I've participated in (like providing radio support for a race in an area with little cell phone coverage), Morse was not even a part of it -- it was all VHF/UHF voice communication. That's not to say that morse is useless or completely unused, but don't feel that you have to learn it to become a ham.

missosoup 7y ago
Also there are morse modem apps you can get on the smartphone and just put it next to your radio. It's a non-issue these days.
- jjeaff 7y ago
  I think if you are in a situation requiring Morse code, you likely don't have access to a smart phone.
  - freepor 7y ago
    Not true at all. Infrastructure can go down leaving a lot of compute at the nodes. If you can power a radio you can power a smartphone.
HenryKissinger 7y ago
I don't really care if it's not a formal requirement. At least I can flex on my friends :)
melling 7y ago
I think Morse code was dropped in the 1990s. I got a license without Morse code back then. Never really use it though. I always thought packet radio might be interesting, but no one in my local group was interested. Did it ever become popular.

splintercell 7y ago

- install Google keyboard - use the Morse code Tasker plugin to read your messages to you using morse code vibrations

ChuckMcM 7y ago

Use a Morse code email reader :-). I started implementing an Android "Morse" keyboard widget but gave up realizing how deeply into Android I was going to have to go to make it do what I wanted. My plan was to use the accelorometer to read the finger taps so that I could send texts by tapping my phone while it was upside down on the table next to me.

lonelappde 7y ago
Gmail Tap gmail.com/mail/help/promos/tap/
- ChuckMcM 7y ago
  Okay, that is just hilarious.
rmason 7y ago
When I was in the ham club at Michigan State knew a student who built a code reader for his Masters. He wrote the code for the university's IBM 360, inputting it with punch cards. My memory is that it worked quite well. Now you can get one that runs on your cell phone, that's progress!
- ChuckMcM 7y ago
  I've got a Morse code decoder and encoder running on a Rasberry Pi, it both sends the ident for my WSPR beacon and records contacts of other beacons. It does better on non-human encoded Morse which is more consistent than a human but still does pretty well.

kawfey 7y ago

I'm learning morse code, and I stream my lessons daily on Youtube [0] and twitch [1] using LCWO [2]. It just takes 10 minutes a day, and if you leave it it's incredibly easy to pick up again, just like riding a bike. [0] https://youtube.com/c/n0ssc https://youtube.com/c/n0ssc [1] https://twitch.tv/kawfey https://twitch.tv/kawfey [2] https://lcwo.net/ https://lcwo.net/