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Which group of letters should I use?

Feb 13th 2018, 15:08

kc1ivw

Joined: Feb 2nd 2017, 13:24
Total Topics: 0
Total Posts: 0
Hi,

First of all, I'm new here and to cw as well.

I've done some research (read a few articles, blogs and a book) so this makes me an expert now ;-)

I've read Dave Finley's book "breaking the barrier", G4FON's articles, and am in the process of looking at "Zen and the art of CW"

I plan to use the Koch method, and I plan to use GF4ON's software on my pc, as it seems to have a good reputation and is respected by many folks.

All set there, I have a "pretty good" feel of how I should go about it. I'm cautious as to not make mistakes, I don't want to learn things wrong and then live to regret them.

By looking at the thread above on "what effective speed should I learn at" I get the idea that I should start around 15-20 wpm, any other recommendations about that?

I have a few questions.

1). The authors that I've mentioned have different ideas of the order of which characters to learn. (I can publish these here if it'll help you to answer this).

Is there a recommended protocol that is most effective? I don't want to reinvent the wheel, and really - really respect the wisdom and experience you all, as well as well as the authors.

2). I'm sure the answer is obvious, but what is meant by ie: 20/5? I figure the 20 is copying, is the /5 sending speed?

Thanks in advance,

Greg
kc1ivw
Feb 16th 2018, 12:46

AI4BJ

Joined: Sep 2nd 2003, 12:14
Total Topics: 0
Total Posts: 0
Hi Greg,

I used G4FON myself to learn CW, and highly recommend it. I learned the letters in the order that the program presents them. (I think it starts with K and M). I don't think the particular order matters too much, as it shouldn't take you more than a week or two to work up to the full alphabet.

"20/5" means that the program is generating characters for 20 WPM, but is spacing them out so that the EFFECTIVE WPM is only 5 WPM. This sounds like a good starting point. As your copying skill improves, you can slowly increase the Effective WPM.

Good luck!
Mark AI4BJ
Mar 4th 2018, 13:08

kc1ivw

Joined: Feb 2nd 2017, 13:24
Total Topics: 0
Total Posts: 0
Hi Mark,

Thanks for getting back to me. I'm sorry i took so long getting back to you. I guess that I don't get notifications of when replies are posted.

I guess I'm going to go with lcwo.net. It spaces the characters 5 each with a space so I can see my percentages.

Maybe g4fon will do this, but I can't see how to configure it.
Anyhoo, onward and upward.

Thanks again for answering,
Greg

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