Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Koch method to learn Morse

stendec.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 80 posts

Re: Koch method to learn Morse

#11

Post by fsiefken »

akerl_ wrote: post #7
roenxi wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why rule out a survival situation? While nuclear missiles would probably just end all life, there are a broad spectrum of other things that can go wrong in the next decade that just take out power grids. It would be good to be ready with more robust technology than GPS-aware microchips, I can see how it could come in handy. I'm seeing a lot of energy security issues out there, and there are extreme economic pressures…

Sure, but how does knowing Morse help in those scenarios.

listen to long distance news updates and survival tips for you and your loved ones through your wind-up AM radio in morse during nuclear winter.

Re: Koch method to learn Morse

#12

Post by aussiegeek »

Combination of Koch and Farnsworth is how I've learnt morse code in the last year. Has been a challenge at times, but keeping the speed up makes a huge difference. The struggle I still have is catching words my just listening.

Also worth pointing out CWops https://cwops.org/cw-academy/ and the Long Island Club (it's all online) as a classed based way of learning. CWops is intensive but very effective

Re: Koch method to learn Morse

#13

Post by swalberg »

arjvik wrote: post #2

Is there a good reason to learn Morse in modern day besides just for kicks? Some sort of survival situation in which your only form of communication would be Morse, and you can't get out of it by sending ASCII binary? Not knocking on anybody's learning for fun, just curious.

It is more power efficient than voice. You put the same power into roughly 50Hz of bandwidth vs 2.2k for voice, so you can work the world on a modest station. Its also easier to pick out in the noise than voice.

Amateur radio is more than just "have a conversation with a random person". There are contests, challenges where you try and contact some number of states, countries, etc, and events.

One popular event is Parks on the Air where people go to a designated park and set up a temporary station then try and make contacts. It has a sibling event called summits on the Air where you do the same thing on top of a summit. Using CW lets you do that with less gear and in more adverse conditions.

Finally, its a brain workout. If you like the feeling of being " in the zone" then getting into a Morse conversation or participating in a contest is just the ticket.

Re: Koch method to learn Morse

#15

Post by giantg2 »

akerl_ wrote: post #7
roenxi wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why rule out a survival situation? While nuclear missiles would probably just end all life, there are a broad spectrum of other things that can go wrong in the next decade that just take out power grids. It would be good to be ready with more robust technology than GPS-aware microchips, I can see how it could come in handy. I'm seeing a lot of energy security issues out there, and there are extreme economic pressures…

Sure, but how does knowing Morse help in those scenarios.

Generally CW mode (morse) can be transmitted farther on less power than most other modes, and can be sent and recieved without sophisticated electronics (build your own QRP rig for like $10).

But yeah, there's not a lot of utility, even in rare or hypothetical emergencies. Many other things one could focus on.

Re: Koch method to learn Morse

#16

Post by wl »

arjvik wrote: post #2

Is there a good reason to learn Morse in modern day besides just for kicks? Some sort of survival situation in which your only form of communication would be Morse, and you can't get out of it by sending ASCII binary? Not knocking on anybody's learning for fun, just curious.

It's useful in any situation where you're trying to make the most efficient use of the power available to you. The classic example is communicating with the other side of the world with minimal power, but it's also useful in any situation where there's a lot of path loss, like when HF propagation conditions to your desired station are terrible or if you're bouncing radio signals off the moon.

There are computer-based digital modes these days that accomplish the same or similar things like FT8 in terms of bandwidth efficiency allowing communication in situations where voice modes would not work. There's still a lot of stations still working in Morse code. If you're chasing DX (long range contacts), it is still very useful.

From a social perspective, using morse code instead of voice modes tends to filter out most of the political and health talk I try to avoid.

Re: Koch method to learn Morse

#17

Post by giantg2 »

swalberg wrote: post #13
arjvik wrote: post #2

Is there a good reason to learn Morse in modern day besides just for kicks? Some sort of survival situation in which your only form of communication would be Morse, and you can't get out of it by sending ASCII binary? Not knocking on anybody's learning for fun, just curious.

It is more power efficient than voice. You put the same power into roughly 50Hz of bandwidth vs 2.2k for voice, so you can work the world on a modest station. Its also easier to pick out in the noise than voice. Amateur radio is more than just "have a conversation with a random person". There are contests, challenges where you try and contact some number of states, countries, etc, and events. One popular event is Par…

"Amateur radio is more than just "have a conversation with a random person". There are contests, challenges where you try and contact some number of states, countries, etc, and events."

For me the technical learning and building projects was the most fun (although I never could get that damn ubitx to work well).

Re: Koch method to learn Morse

#18

Post by aeonik »

qwerty456127 wrote: post #14

Wow this is interesting, I probably am going to learn this way. But I've read the Morse code is deprecated and isn't used anywhere IRL anymore. Isn't it?

Ham radio operators still use it, it's just required for licenses in United States anymore.

I believe radiobeacons still use them as part of their identification protocol in aviation as well.

Re: Koch method to learn Morse

#19

Post by lupire »

wl wrote: post #16
arjvik wrote: post #2

Is there a good reason to learn Morse in modern day besides just for kicks? Some sort of survival situation in which your only form of communication would be Morse, and you can't get out of it by sending ASCII binary? Not knocking on anybody's learning for fun, just curious.

It's useful in any situation where you're trying to make the most efficient use of the power available to you. The classic example is communicating with the other side of the world with minimal power, but it's also useful in any situation where there's a lot of path loss, like when HF propagation conditions to your desired station are terrible or if you're bouncing radio signals off the moon. There are computer-based…

Do you listen/read/write in Morse, or use a computer to translate?

Re: Koch method to learn Morse

#20

Post by lupire »

deaddabe wrote: post #4
arjvik wrote: post #2

Is there a good reason to learn Morse in modern day besides just for kicks? Some sort of survival situation in which your only form of communication would be Morse, and you can't get out of it by sending ASCII binary? Not knocking on anybody's learning for fun, just curious.

Initially, I learned it for fun and ham radio emitting. But I find it fascinating that you can use it with anything that can be turned on and off with a rythm. I used a flashlight to say "hello" while waiting for a fireworks event, but the other person far away just blinked their flashlight randomly in response. I guess it could be used for worst scenario speech, like blinking eyes for examples if I ever have a terri…

Use double tones/knocks if you don't have long.
Post reply on HN