The philosophy of each of the 5 one-minute run time frames:
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.
Each character was given at a character speed and spacing
of 15WPM, but the individual was to onlyslowly
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.
There is a very important philosphy 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.
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 consistantly presented at the same speed and duration, but
when the individual is to copy when the first character
change occurs, there is an equivelant WPM increase.
During the second minute the equivelant character WPM is
now 15/4, and during the 3rd minute the equivelant character
speed in WPM is now 15/3, which is still only 5 WPM.
During the 4th minute, we now see a change every 2 characters,
giving us the equivelant 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:
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 consistancy
in the characters they hear so that they can avoid that degree
of initial confusion.
In the 1st block therefore we have only dits, and in the
2nd block we have the dull sets of dahs.
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 litening to the sounds as "individual
personalities", rather than just dits & dahs.
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 charcter "C" can be presented
as the "swinging-est" letter there is, because of the
accent.
Note:The @ or + symbol that is shown at the conclusion
of each run is used as 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.
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