Amen, Jim.
You’re doing it the right way.
Text decode should be used primarily for monitoring sending. Far too many ops who copy well think they can also send well when in fact they are running words together, running characters together, putting spaces in the middle of words (because they can’t spell), and exhibiting choppiness because there is no consistency in either character formation, spacing, or speed (a space at 30 wpm is different than a space at 20 wpm).
Better, even, than text decoding is recording your sending one night and playing it back the next night. You’ll find yourself muttering, “I can’t be THAT bad, can I?” Yup, you are, and it is in that moment of revelation that you have taken the first step toward developing an excellent fist.
I used to encourage monitoring NTS nets as a way of learning what good (live) code sounds like. But, sadly, many of the really good fists are now silent-keys and you hear much more of the above named sins (even among net control stations) than you should.
Keep at it, Jim!
73 ES CU SKN OM ...
Kent K9ZTV
> On Dec 29, 2017, at 12:25 PM, Jim Ewing <
[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> FWIW, I started back into CW at start of 2015, and agree getting on the air
> is essential. But, I have also found that if I use a code reader to read
> out what I send with straight key or bug in particular, in addition to
> getting on the air, it really helps with weighting and rhythm. I find that
> if I just send without paying attention to that, I have no idea what I am
> sounding like, even if I try to listen. Could be just me. I use a reader
> on my Android phone called Morse Code Agent - just put the phone near the
> speaker and it reads out what I am trying to send - or does not read it out
> if my weighting or rhytim is off. Useful feedback, especially when you are
> just getting into it, in order not to develop habits that can hurt later.
> Or so it has seemed to me. 73, Jim Ewing N4TMM
>
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