Copying CW at high speeds (OT to Elecraft)

[Richard Stutsman]

I've spent many an hour observing my subjective thought processes as I copy
CW. And I have to admit that after 60 years of operating CW (with a head
copy cruising speed of 25-30 wpm and a hard copy speed transcribing
radiograms of about 22 wpm using pencil), I do not actually hear entire
words, except maybe for a few 2-, 3- and 4-letter words sent very
frequently. I do what your smart phones do, which is to guess each word
from the first few characters as they're being sent, based also on context
and experience, and usually get the right word before the next one is sent.

I'm able to keep the actual sounds of several characters worth of code in
mind for a few seconds and to "replay" that "recording", in case I guess
wrong or miss one or two characters, and I can remember the past few words
sent so that I can make sense of each sentence, without having to write
anything down. It's like my brain has a sound buffer, a character buffer,
and a word buffer. In fact, writing stuff down often interferes with my
ability to focus my attention on what is being sent, so I tend to take
really quick notes. (I'm poor at multi-tasking.)

When I'm copying radiograms which often contain addresses and phone number
or net reports with lots of numbers, call signs and abbreviations, I copy
about one or two characters behind so that I don't have to erase when the
sender makes an error.

While I do not count dits and dahs within each character, I immediately
discriminate any character from any other, based on its rhythm, no matter
the speed. Perhaps those not exposed to music education at an early age
might not enjoy that advantage.

Again let me reiterate that I learned code from a dot-dash chart in the Boy
Scout Handbook, which I used as shorthand for mouthing the code using the
dididahdit method which tends to force proper timing of each character. I
don't remember ever having so-called "plateaus", other than having to
switch from printing block upper case letters to using lowercase script,
once I got beyond 20 wpm, and finally realizing that I didn't really have
to write everything down to follow what somebody was sending. I could have
gone beyond 22 wpm for radiograms had I switched to using a "mill"
(typewriter) or computer terminal, but that has never been necessary for
casual rag-chewing or handling radiogram traffic on the section and
regional nets.

I was able to smoothly increase my copying speed to about 25 wpm over about
two years of engaging in CW QSOs and checking into CW traffic nets. I also
did sometimes listen to and either head copy or write down W1AW code
bulletins and code practice sessions. And I also would sometimes just "read
the mail" between two CW operators having a rag chew.

I will say that if you don't challenge yourself to copy at ever higher
speeds, you will remain pretty much stuck at whatever speed you normally
operate. Traffic nets and actual QSOs with faster operators or during
contests are good ways to push yourself to higher speeds. I'm content to
remain at or below 30 wpm for my enjoyment.

Rick N6IET
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