------- MORSE TEACHING PROGRAM -----------
Copyright G0MDO 1991
This programme teaches Morse Code in simple steps. It is useful both
for learning Morse and for those who wish to increase their speed.
There are seven basic lessons, four
lessons each teach a new group
of letters from the alphabet. The fifth lesson teach numbers. A sixth
lesson allows practice of letters and numbers mixed. The seventh
lesson teaches punctuation.
Speed can be selected from 1 to 40 words per minute, spaces between
words can be selected and the sound frequency can set.
Additional facilities are provided to send any typed message, typical
QSO phrases, a 40 word test and a text file from disc.
By connecting a Morse key to
a Com port the program will decode your
Morse. There is also a facility for a Paddle key, either a single or
dual paddle. Iambic keying is provided for the dual paddle.
The program uses the PC speaker or a sound card to produce the tone.
To select the sound card run DMORSE /SC from the prompt. If you have
a Mono monitor run DMORSE /M. From Windows 98 the sound card is not
available
DMORSE is a MSDOS program but will run fine under Windows.
1. Lessons 1 to 6
1.1 Lesson 1
This teaches letters EHIMOST.
There are three stages to the lesson. In Stage one the pupil types a
letter from the group and the
computer sends that letter. Once the
sounds of the letters are committed to memory then the next stage of
the lesson is selected.
Stage two, letters are now sent in random order from the group one at
a time. When the letter is recognised the appropriate key is pressed,
the speed of sending therefore is dependent on the speed of
recognition, typing the wrong key gets a raspberry and the letter is
sent again. When you can achieve a reasonable speed then pass on to
the next stage.
Stage three, twenty groups
of random letters will now be sent. The
number of letters in a group is selectable. It is best to start with
three and increase it to five
or six as proficiency increases. The
spaces between words should be set to two or three initially to give
more thinking time and then reduced to
one when ready. You can
write the groups down as they are sent and compare your result with
those displayed at the end of the test.
1.2 Lesson 2
This lesson teaches letters AUVBDN.
Stages one and two as lesson 1 for this new group of letters.
Stage three sends groups from all letters learned so far.
1.3 Lesson 3
This lesson teaches letters JWCGKP.
Stages as previous lessons.
1.4 Lesson 4
This lesson teaches letters LQRZFXY.
Stages as previous lessons.
1.5 Lesson 5
This lesson teaches numbers 0 to 9.
Stages as previous lessons.
1.6 Lesson 6
This lesson practices the alphabet plus the numbers and is more
difficult than you would expect but don't despair!.
There are three stages as before but you will not need stage one so
pass it by.
1.7 Lesson 7
This lesson teaches the punctuation codes AR, BT, CT, VA (or SK) and
Full Stop, Comma, Slash (oblique stroke) and Question mark (?). You
should refer to a Morse Code manual for an explanation of these codes
and other forms of punctuation.
2. Send a Message.
This routine allows you to type a message, as many lines as you like
up to 32000 characters. The message is terminated by pressing ENTER on
a new line. You can use Full Stops, Commas, Slash, Question mark
(Interrogation) and special
characters as below.
= is
BT, the Break signal
+ is
CT, the start of message signal
@ is
AR, the end of message signal
! is
VA, the end of transmission signal (SK if you prefer)
A space is inserted between the end of one line and the start of the
next automatically.
If you wish to leave a message set up for later use, type it, send it
then Exit to the menu. To send it again select this option again from
the menu and type ENTER when asked for the text. The message has been
saved and will be sent again. The
message is not saved on exit from
DMORSE.
3. Send 40 Word TEST.
This will send 40 random words from the DMORSE.WRD file at your chosen
speed. The random sequence will, for all intents and purposes, never
be the same even from one start up to the next. The test starts with
the CT signal (dah di dah di dah) and ends with the AR signal (di dah
di dah dit). You should write the words as they are sent and compare
your results with those displayed at the end of the test.
4. Send Phrases.
This exercise sends typical phrases from a QSO and will carry on
sending until told to stop. The phrases are contained in the DMORSE.PHR
file, you may add to these if you wish.
5. Spaces between Words
This facility is to allow a
delay to be inserted between words or
groups.
6. Reselect Speed
You may select any speed between 1 and 40 words per minute.
7. Audio Frequency.
Any tone between 50HZ and 32KHZ can be selected.
8. Send a Disc File.
You may send a text file from disc, so various exercises may be set
up in advance.
9. Read Morse.
By connecting a key to Com port 1 or 2 your morse can be decoded and
displayed. Sidetone is provided.
To start send any characters, the receive speed is preset to 12wpm and
the program may require a couple of characters before synchronisation
is achieved. The program can track slow changes of speed.
On completion of sending press ESC, the speed for characters and the
overall word rate is given. The word rate is calculated from the
number of elements in the message and the overall time. The character
rate is calculated from the average dot and dash time.
To quit the test press ESCAPE.
The key must be connected between pins 4 and 5 on a 25 way D connector
or pins 7 and 8 of a 9 way D connector.
CT, AR and SK (VA if you prefer) are
decoded to the same characters
as used in the Send Message routine. Punctuation recognised is BT (=),
comma, full stop, question mark and
slash.
Any unrecognised character is shown as underline. The BT sign selects a
new line. After 24 lines have been completed the decoded message is erased.
10. Iambic Keyer
By connecting a paddle key to ports 1 or 2 you can practice electronic
keyer sending. A single paddle will produce dots or dashes, a dual
paddle will send Iambic.
The connections are:
9 pin D 25 pin D
Dot Paddle 8 5
Dash Paddle 6
6
Common 7
4
Dot dash speeds are those set from the main menu, decoding is as
for the Read Morse Test.
FILES
Word and phrases are contained in the files DMORSE.WRD and DMORSE.PHR
You can add to these with a word processor. The maximum number of words
allowed is 2,000 and the maximum
number of phrases is 1,000.
Words in DMORSE.WRD on the same line must be separated by a comma.
Phrases in DMORSE.PHR may contain punctuation marks.
The Morse code is contained in the file DMORSE.CDE. It consists of the
ASCII code in decimal followed by a comma then the code in full stops
and dashes. These can be added to or changed. The maximum number of
elements allowed is 7. Continental character codes can be added with
this capability. ASCII values 0 to 255 are allowed.
The groups of letters used in lessons 1 to 6 are contained in the file
DMORSE.GRP and you may change these if you wish. This should only
be
done by an experienced instructor who may
prefer to teach a in an
alternative sequence. Each line constitutes one lesson, the number
of lines and their content may be changed. The menu choice and lesson
description is adjusted accordingly.
Continental characters can be added to the groups.
At least one group should contain all the letters and numbers.
The punctuation group may be reduced but only the dash (-) may be added.
The maximum number of groups allowed is 9.
I hope you get some help and enjoyment from this programme. If you are
a learner, I wish you the best of luck. This programme taught me and I
was lucky enough to pass first time.
This program is free and may be copied and passed to friends.
Pass any comments to Don, G0MDO, QTHR. 73
