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Learning Morse code
Koch, Farnsworth and daily practice.
Koch, Farnsworth and daily practice.
Operators do not read dots and dashes. They hear each letter as a rhythm, the way you recognise a word without spelling it. So the goal is a reflex: a sound goes in, a letter comes out, with no counting. Learning from a chart of dits and dahs builds the wrong habit, because you then have to translate, and translation is too slow at speed. For the code itself see The Morse alphabet and timing.
Speed has two parts: how fast each character is sent, and how much total time you get between them. Slowing everything down makes each letter sound different from how it will sound at normal speed, so learners then have to unlearn it. The Farnsworth method keeps the character speed high (commonly 15 to 20 WPM or more) and stretches only the gaps, so the effective speed is low.
The arithmetic: one PARIS word at an effective speed of s WPM takes 60 ÷ s seconds. The letters themselves take 37.2 ÷ c seconds at character speed c, and the leftover goes into the gaps. As your copy improves, you close the gaps and the effective speed rises toward the character speed.
The Koch method also starts at full character speed, but with only two characters, for example K and M. You copy random groups of just those until you are right about 90% of the time, then a new character is added, and so on. You never meet a slow, wrong-sounding version of a letter, and each new sound is learned against ones you already know. The order varies between courses; the principle is the same.
| Farnsworth | Koch | |
|---|---|---|
| Idea | fast characters, stretched spacing | fast characters, few at a time |
| What grows | effective speed | character set |
| Pitfall | too long a gap invites counting | no early words, so it can feel abstract |
They combine well: Koch for the alphabet, Farnsworth spacing while you speed up.
Computers can generate practice text at any speed, and Decoding CW by ear and by computer covers when to use a decoder and when it becomes a crutch.