Farnsworth Method

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Farnsworth Method

WILLIS COOKE
The ARRL has been using the Farnsworth Method for at
least 40 years and probably has been using it longer
than that.  The US Army used the Farnsworth Method
during WWII.  I have not been able to find out who old
Farnsworth was, but my guess is he was an operator
about 1910 when the Bug got popular and he needed to
train someone and wanted to use his bug.  But that is
just a guess.  I have been a ham since 1956, but I
don't remember getting interested in the Farnsworth
Method until about 1975 when I was studying for my
Extra and teaching code classes.  It was the generally
accepted method in 1975 and I as far as I can find out
still has very few that differ in opinion.



Willis 'Cookie' Cooke
K5EWJ
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RE: Farnsworth Method

Gregg W6IZT
Farnsworth timing
Traditionally, reducing the speed of Morse code has been done by making
everything take longer, i.e. both the sounds and the silent periods between
them.

Using Farnsworth timing, characters are sent at the same speed as at higher
speeds, while extra spacing is inserted between characters and words to slow
the transmission down. The advantage of this is that you get used to
recognizing characters at a higher speed, and thus it will be easier to
increase the speed later on.

Using Farnsworth timing is optional in Just Learn Morse Code.

The ARRL uses Farnsworth timing for transmissions, practice and test tapes
up to 18 WPM (90 CPM).

Farnsworth timing was invented by Donald R. Farnsworth (W6TTB) in the late
1950s.

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of WILLIS COOKE
Sent: Sunday, March 23, 2008 4:30 PM
To: Elecraft Reflector
Subject: [Elecraft] Farnsworth Method

The ARRL has been using the Farnsworth Method for at
least 40 years and probably has been using it longer
than that.  The US Army used the Farnsworth Method
during WWII.  I have not been able to find out who old
Farnsworth was, but my guess is he was an operator
about 1910 when the Bug got popular and he needed to
train someone and wanted to use his bug.  But that is
just a guess.  I have been a ham since 1956, but I
don't remember getting interested in the Farnsworth
Method until about 1975 when I was studying for my
Extra and teaching code classes.  It was the generally
accepted method in 1975 and I as far as I can find out
still has very few that differ in opinion.



Willis 'Cookie' Cooke
K5EWJ
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Re: Farnsworth Method

Phil Kane-2
In reply to this post by WILLIS COOKE
WILLIS COOKE wrote:

> I have not been able to find out who old
> Farnsworth was, but my guess is he was an operator
> about 1910 when the Bug got popular and he needed to
> train someone and wanted to use his bug.

B'Gosh and B'Golly!  Don't know who "old Farnsworth" was?

Philo T. Farnsworth was a Utah native who in 1927 got the first patent
for the "image dissector" video camera tube which enabled television as
we know it.  RCA's Sarnoff stole it and the designation of "Inventor of
TV" from him just as he - Sarnoff - stole FM radio from Major Edwin
Armstrong but that's a different rant.  Some of the FM and TV
transmitters serving Salt Lake City are located on a mountaintop named
Farnsworth Peak in his honor.

He was born in 1906, entered Brigham Young University in 1920, and there
is no indication in his biography that he was a radio operator, ham or
otherwise.  His electronic genius extended to other areas, primarily
development of electronic devices.

Just like Major Armstrong, his battle with Sarnoff's RCA took its toll
on him, but it's been only the past few decades that his honor and
achievements have been recognized for what they were.

73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane
Elecraft K2/100   s/n 5402

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Re: Farnsworth Method

Bill VanAlstyne W5WVO
Phil Kane wrote:

> Philo T. Farnsworth was a Utah native who in 1927 got the first patent
> for the "image dissector" video camera tube which enabled television
> as we know it.  RCA's Sarnoff stole it and the designation of
> "Inventor of TV" from him just as he - Sarnoff - stole FM radio from
> Major Edwin Armstrong...

An interesting sidenote -- Sarnoff started making people call him "General
Sarnoff" after WWII, during the final years of his legal battles with
Armstrong, because he felt Armstrong being addressed as "Major Armstrong"
imbued him with an unfair aura of honor and credibility. (Sarnoff had been
granted a special commission as a Brigadier General during the war so he could
serve as a communications consultant to General Eisenhower.)

Bill W5WVO

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Re: Farnsworth Method

Jack Smith-6
In reply to this post by Phil Kane-2

>
> B'Gosh and B'Golly!  Don't know who "old Farnsworth" was?
>
>
<delete material about Philo Farnsworth>


Quite true, but Wikipedia says the Morse code Farnsworth is not the same
guy:

    People learning Morse code using the *Farnsworth method*, named for
    Donald R. "Russ" Farnsworth, also known by his call sign
    <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_sign>, W6TTB, are taught to send
    and receive letters and other symbols at their full target speed,
    that is with normal relative timing of the dots, dashes and spaces
    within each symbol for that speed.

Being Wikipedia, I don't know if it's true or not, of course.

Jack K8ZOA
www.cliftonlaboratories.com

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