NlImber 31 on you, FfHHi"'c~ CII,g

Keys to Good CodeUnlocking the secrets ofsending precise Morse code.

Bob Shrader W6BNB1191 1 Barnett Valley Road

Sebastopol CA 95472[w6bnb@aol.com]

Have you not iced ho....v some op­erators send CW (MorseCode) so that eve ry letter and

word is unmistakable. whi le otherssend so many words that a re ha rdlyreada ble? There are good reasons forthe latte r di ffi culty and some simp leremedies. But fi rst, there are s ix de­vices to discuss, all of which havebeen or are being used to send C WoThese arc the:

(1) stra ight key. or hand key;(2) sideswipcr key, cootie key. or

double key;(3) semiautomatic key, or bug;(4) electronic kcyer;(5) Boehme-head type machines; and(6) keyboards and computer circuitry.All of these can be used to send per-

fect or nearly perfect code. but inmany cases the code docs not come outall that well . I've spent many yearsteaching hundreds of operators how tosend both the Internationa l and theAmerican Morse codes. and I hope theinformation in this article will he lp ev­ery reader improve his or her sending.

T he straight key

The original and simplest key is thestra ight key, also known as a hand key.

It is used to send at slowe r speeds. usu­all y in the five to 18 word-pe r-minute(wpm) range. With skilled operators. itcan put out very good 20 to 25 wpmcode . There were some very skilledoperators in the past who cou ld vibratetheir hand and fingers in such a way asto send at 35 wpm ! However, there a refew people- if anyone- who can doth is anymore. A speed o f 25 wpm is re­ally pushing it with a straight key formost operators. A side view of a basicstraight key is shown in Fig. I. Push­ing the knob down closes the keyingcontacts that are normall v connected•to the keying circuit in a transmitter. orpossibly to a practice oscillator. Thecontact gap should bc about I millime­tc r (mm], a little less than 1/ I 6 of aninch. This is the key for anyone, begin­ner or old-timer. who wants to learn tosend code correctly. It was widely usedby professional shipboard radio opera­tors because it produced the easiest tocopy CW through QR.r\' or over longdistances and because it provided no dif­ficulty when the ship was rolling. Itshould be the fi rst key to be mastered byanyone, because it is the best one withwhich to learn to hear and understandthe extremely important requirement

of proper spacing between dots anddashes. letters and words .

Spacing

If there is any onc most importantthing to lea rn about sending C W, it isproper spacing. There is probably onlyone chance in perhaps 10 that opera­tors (you?) space properly. If theproper spac ing is not used. a receivingoperator may not be able to guess wha tis be ing tran smitted . There is nothingmore discouraging to hear than a stringof wel l-made letters, wi th no spac ingto indicate where one word stops andanother sta rts !

The theory of the timing of dots anddashes is simple enough. The length ofa "dot" is the basic time element or"un if' of code sending, A "dash" isthree uni ts long. neve r two. althoughfour or even more is quite readable tothe human ear (long dashes can givethe code its well-touted and interesting"swing." but computers hate it). Thespacing between a dot and a dash in aword is one unit long. The spacing be­tween any two letters in a word is threeunits long. The spacing between anytwo words is seven units. Between theend of a word and a comma or period

73 Amateur Radio toaov » March 1999 31

This is a very old but sim ple fonn ofa speed key, fi rst used by AmericanMorse rai lroad telegraphers, probabl ysometime around the mid- 1800s . It isfar easier to operate than a stra ight keyand w ith it the code can be sent abo ut50% fas ter. It is also ca lled a "cootiekey," and sometimes a "double key,"because it works like two stra ight keysfastened bottom to botto m. The originof the term cootie key seems to be un­known, but very possibly had some tie­in with the " bug" first used as asymbol on early-day Vibroplex" semi­a utomatic keys.

A double key can be co ns tructed byusing two stra ight keys, fastened baseto base, and mounted at 90° from theirno rma l posit ion. Another way to makea sidcswipcr key is to mount a three­inch piece of hacksaw blade so lid ly atone end, so the free end can swingback and forth between two fixed con­tacts at its ncar end . An insulating-ma­teria l paddle should be fa stened to thefree end of the hacksaw blade. A topview of a basic sideswiper key issho wn in Fig. 2. If a metal base isused, the right-hand and left-hand con­tacts m ust be insu lated from it. Thegaps between both fixed contacts andthe flexible arrn sho uld each be aboutone m illimeter wi th the arm in itsresting position.

To operate a sidesw iper key, the firstfinger presses the paddle to ward thethumb to make the flexible arm hit thestat ionary left contact . (Explanat ionsare for right-handed operators. Leftiesw ill know what they should do.) Aquick motion in that d irection makes adot. If the contact is held at least threet imes longer, a dash is made. An ap­preciation of the differenc e in t ime

a straight key! With a beginner thespeed may be onl y fi ve or six wpm .With pract ice, the speed sho uld comeup to well o ver 10 wpm. and eventu­a lly to perhaps 16 to 20 wpm. To com­pute code speed , fi ve normal lettersplus a space is considered one word. Ifthe standa rd word PA RI S can be sent10 times in 60 seconds, with properspacing between w ords , the sendingspeed is 10 wpm.

T he sldeswlpcr key

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key and open it aga in as the fingerswing back upward . Note that the wristvill push upw ard as the fin gers go

down. This is a correct way to make adot. If the wrist goes down when thekey goes down it is the arm that is do­ng the keying. Fingers arc so muchcss tiring to use ! (I once sent mes­

sages with a straight key for five hourswith no stopping, from the Yangtzeciver to San Francisco, after my ship

was bombed-but that's another story.)Flip the fi ngers downward twice rapidlyfor two dots. Three times for threedots. etc . Pract ice making some eight­dot groups. All dots sho uld come o ut\vith equal timing. Note the wrist: Makesure it goes up when the fin gers godown .

To make dashes, fl ip the fingersdownward farther and hold the ' knobdown for at least three times as long aswith dots. Pract ice making dashes ing roups of eight o r more. Note the wri staction with dashes-it sho uld movefarther upward than when making dots.

Practice making a string of 10 dot­dash (- - - - • - ) groups strung to ­gether. Then practice making a stringof 10 dash-dot (- - - - - -) groupsstrung together. The next practice is 10• • - • - - groups strung together. Then10 - - - - - • groups . This exercisewill provide practice in start ing andmaking most letters and numbers.

I assume that you al ready kno w theInternational Morse code. Here aresome practice exercises for learning tosend letters, words, sentences, andnumbers. Concentra te particularly onspacing properly.

These two lines conta in all of theEngl ish letters and numbers, pl us com­mas and periods. When you can sendthese correctly with proper spacing be­tween letters and words, with no hesi ­tation anywhere (which takes quite awhi le), try sending them backward.When th is can be done both fo rwardand backvvard without any errors, youshoul d be able to send fairly well with

PUSH UP CONTACTSS

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BASE I

IFig. I. Essentials ofa sl raixhl kcy.

there should be th ree units, not seve n I

units. Punctuatio n marks sho uld bespaced as they would be when typingthem on a keyboard.

A good pract ice to develop a feel ingfor spacing for anyone trying to learn ,or to impro ve sending , is to make a let-ter and then with your little fi nger tap •

the desktop before send ing the nextlertcr o f that word. Between any twowords, tap the fi nger twice on thedesktop. Later, a fte r yo u develop rea-sonablc speed and ability, only tap thedesktop between words. Eventuallythe sense of proper spac ing wil l be in-grained In the subconscious and nomore desk top ta pping should be nec es -sary, By that time, each letter shouldbe made as nne sim ple or complexsound. A l Il-letter word should beheard as 10 simple or com plex sounds,all forming one tied-together complexgroup of sounds, with no audible long(or lack of) spacing anywhere .

Using the straight key

A desirable way of using a stra igh tkey is to place the t ip of the firs t fingeron the key knob at a posit ion of about12 o'clock , w ith the thumb lightlytouching the unders ide of the knob atabout seven o 'clock. Flip the threeother fingers downward about ha lfwayto the desktop . This should close the

HACKSAWBLADE CONTACT

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BASE

Fig. 2. Essentials ofa sideswiper key.

32 73 Amateur Radio Today - March 1999

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the semiautomatic key, or bug, was de­veloped. It has been made in manyforms by many people and companies .Most of these keys are made to operatehorizontally, but some operate verti­cally. Basically, a bug, which seems tobe a generic term used today for semi­automatic keys, is somewhat like a

The semiautomatic key

Around the tum of the 20th century,

between a dot and a dash learned witha straight key is important. The fingercould be used to key dots and dashesthe same way as is done with a straightkey, but with a sideways instead ofup-and-down motion.

Now comes the interesting part ! Thethumb can press toward the first finger,moving the paddle to the right againstthe right-hand contact. If it makes onlya quick movement, it will produce adot. If the contact is held three times aslong it will make a dash. Code can alsobe sent horizontally with the thumbthis way. To send the letter "A," whichis dot-dash , the first finger can makethe dot and the thumb can immediatelybe pressed in the opposite direction tomake the dash. However, if the thumbis used to make the dot, the first fingermust immediately be pushed to the leftto make the dash! Every letter or num­ber can be started by either the thumbor the finger! It is up to the operator tobe able to make the proper length dotsand dashes whether the y are beingmade by thumb or finger. Care must betaken to maintain all spacings prop­erly. These are tricky keys to use. Thestraight key should be mastered fir st toensure properly-learned spacings .Sideswiper keys usually produceheavy dots. If you like challenges,make yourself a sideswiper and trysending with it!

Fig. J . Essentials ofa semiautomatic key.

WEIGHT

VIBRATINGROD DAMPER

VIBRATINGROD

BASE

DAMPERSTOP PIVOT

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SPRING

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DASHCONTACTS

Morse Tutor Gold trom G.G.T.E. is theanswer tor beginners and experts alike.

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Fig. 4. (a ) "ENTER " punched Of/lo a Boehme-head rape. (b) "ENTER" inked onto a sliprape.34 73 Amateur Radio Today. March 1999

To improve on the vibrating dots ofbugs, which usually have some varia­tion between the first and last dots inletters like H or the numeral 5. therewere many magnetic vibrator-type bugsbuilt in the early decades that wo rkedfairly we ll. Around the 1950s. it wasfound that vac uum tube vibratory cir­cuits cou ld be used to produce perfectdots. spaces, and dashes . Then thesmall size and low voltages needed tooperate transistors a llowed them totake over the modern types of elec­tronic keyers . There are a va riety ofthese devices avai lable today. Basicelectronic kcyers are improved semi­automatic keys. They use a square­wave electronic oscillator to produceperfect, constant-speed dots and spaceswhen the paddle is pushed by thethumb. They usc the same oscillatorwith di vide-down counter ci rcuits toproduce perfect. constant one-th ird­speed dashes (three times longer). Theoperator of th is type of key does nothave to worry about the length of dotsor dashes- just the spacing betweendots and dashes in letters. the spacingbetween letters, and the spacing be­tween words. When the contro l is ad ­vanced to increase the osc illator frc­qucncy, it makes dots. spaces. anddashes faster.

An electronic keyer is basically twodevices. One is the keyer paddle unit.and the other is the electronic circ uitsun it, with its oscillator, dividers, andother circui try. The basic keyer paddleunit is essentially the same as asideswipcr, except that it uses twoseparate contact leads plus the paddle­arm lead (us ually at ground potential),all of which are fed to the electroniccircuits in the device. (Some of theelectronic keyer paddle units can beconnected to work a sideswiper key.)Again. I recommend that an electronickeyer not be used before learning tooperate a straight key properly. An

T he electro nic keyer

correctly at these higher speeds, but ifchecked with "slip tape" (explainedlater), most will find that the ir spacingis a lmost always rather poor. If theywere using an e lectronic kcycr the irletter spacings might be much better.

FIRST FINGERHOlE

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right, should both be about one milli­meter. Th e thumb and finger shouldtravel reasonable distances and strikethe paddle fairly hard. (This was ve ryimportant when bugs were used onships during times when the seas wereheavy and the ship was rolling. )

Where the movable weight is placedon the vibrating rod determines thespeed of the rod vibrations and there­fore the speed of the dots. The fa rtherthe weights are out toward the far endof the vibrating rod. the slower the vi­bratio ns . . . and the slower the dots .You will find that if the sta tionary dotcontact is moved up against the vibrat­ing contact so that only about 10 to 12dots are made befo re the dot contactssettle into a constant contact. the dotswill be made at a desirab le hearinglength. Theoretica lly, the space be­tween dots should equal the dot length.However. for the receiving operator itis better if the dots arc a little longerthan the space between them. Theseare known as "heavy dots." As men­tioned before. " light dots" mean thatthe space is longer than the dots. re­sulti ng III poor-sounding code thatmay also be hard to read at a distanceor under poor conditions, and may notbe read properly by computer key­boards. I recommended that a bug notbe tried before learning to space prop­erly with a straight key first.

Most good bug operators send andreceive in the 20 to 35 wpm range.High-speed bug operators may get upinto the 40 to 50 wpm range . Somemay think they are operating their bugs

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sideswiper key, but is much better thanthe simple old cootie key. A top viewof a basic bug is shown in Fig. 3.When the first fi nger is pressed again stthe paddle, it can be worked the sameas the first finger on a sidcswiper keyto make dashes. A horizonta l form ofstraight key sending can a lso be pro­duced with the first finger as with acootie key.

When the thumb is pressed aga instthe paddle. it moves the near end of themain pivoted bar or shaft to the right.The far end of the bar moves to the leftbecause of the pivot. Attached to themain bar on the far side of the pivot isa short piece of spring steel; attachedto the end of that is the weighted vi­brating rod . As the weighted rod vi­brates from side to side, it makes andbreaks a connect ion as its springedcontact hits and rebounds fro m thefi xed dot contact, thereby producing aseries of dots. So, the thumb deter­mines how many dots are made andthe first finger must make all of thedashes . It is up to the operator to deter­mine how long to make the dashes sothat they are at least three times thelength of the dots . It takes a trai ned earto do this. an ear that is us ually deve l­oped by properly-learned straight keyoperating.

As long as recei ving operators arccopying by car, longe r-than-normaldashes will sound OK. but short dasheswill produce a poor-sounding code. Thespacing between the dash contac ts, andthe travel between the bar to the dot­stop when the paddle is pushed to the

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being sent. Fig. 4(a) shows a five-letterword punched onto a Boehme-headtape.

Tapes were usually punched and fedinto a tall box. They were then eitherwound on a spool or were fed backinto a second box so that the firstpunched material was available to feedinto the Boehme-head machine. Whenslower-speed transmissions were to bemade, the tapes could be punched bythe operator and fed directly into theBoehme-head, although with a coupleof feet of sag in the tape so that theBoehme-head machine would not getahead of the tape puncher.

Slip-tape machines

Dot and dash tones received on radioreceivers could be rectified, and thecurrent developed by them could mag­netically pull an inked pen up anddown on a moving unwaxed paper"slip-tape" machine. With no signalbeing received, a straight line wouldbe drawn by the pen along the bottomof the tape. When a dot was received,the ink pen was pulled up and then felldown at the end of the received dot,producing a narrow vertical pulse onthe slip-tape, as shown in Fig. 4(b).When a dash was received. the linewas pulled up but was held there forthe duration of the received dash be­fore dropping back down. Operatorsran the sli p-tape along the front oftheir typewriter at a speed controlledby a foot pedal, usually at greater thana 4O-wpm reading speed. The receivedletters and spaces were visually recog­nized and typed as letters and wordson the typewriter keyboard.

Using a slip-tape device is probablythe best way to check radio code send­ing. Any dot, dash, letter, or spacingmade improperly is shown visuallyand permanently, allowing scrutinyand analysis . I have used such a deviceto graphically illustrate to studentswhat they were doing wrong with theirsending (but I also had to demonstrateto them what proper sending shouldlook like).

Before computer-programmed key­boards were developed in the late 19705.some Boehme-head machines were usedon the amateur bands. Boehme-heads

electronic keyer can produce the per­fect sending once produced only bythe old-time conunercial Boehme-headcode machines.

The Boehme-head-type machines

The Boehme-head and other similarmachines were used from the 1920s tothe 1960s to transmit perfect high­speed radio code. They were nicelymachined little units about six inchessquare and two inches thick, driven byan adjustable-speed electric motor.Their punched waxed-paper tapeswere produced on a special typewriter­like keyboard tape-punching "perfora­tor" machine. The le tters punched intothese transmitting tapes came out asproperly spaced holes. Boehme-headmachines sent their perfect code atspeeds determined by the drivingmotor's speed. Code at well over 100wpm was easily produced.

The tapes they used had three sets ofholes punched into them by the perfo­rator. The center perforations weredrive holes used to pull the tape alongover two little pins that were alter­nately pushed up and pulled downagainst the moving tape from under­neath. One pin was on one side of thecenter holes; the second was directlyacross the tape on the other side of thedriving holes. When the first pin cameto a punched hole , it would move upthrough its hole, starti ng an electricalconnection. When the first pin wentback down and the second pin pushedup, if this pin also found a hole in thetape it would move up through it,which shut the electric connection off,thereby keying a dot for the transmit­ter. If the first pin went up through ahole and started an electric connection,but the second pin found no hole, therewas nothing to shut off the keying cir­cuit. When the first pin came up again,it could do nothing since the electricconnection was still made. However, ifthe second pin came up again andfound a hole to go through, it shut offthe electric circuit. In this case, sincethere were three pin motions betweenthe start and the stopping of the elec­tric circuit. it would key an electric cir­cu it duration three times as long aswas keyed for a dot, resulting in a dash

73 Amateur Radio Today· March 1999 35

produced perfect code. but they usedup an awful lot of paper tape!

T he computer keyboard

When a computer keyboard (KB )operates with a Morse Code softwareprogram. plus a data controller unit tokey the transmitter. it is capable of pro­ducing code transm issions as perfectas that from a Boehme-head machine.Besides not requi ring the handling ofdozens of ya rds of paper tape in onebusy evening, a computer keyboardsystem has no moving parts other thanthe KB itself. and is soundless. Themon itor screen of the computer showsthe letter and words being typed andtransmitted. The program can be ad­j usted to transmit Morse code at anyspeed desired. from very slow to veryfast. With such systems in commonuse , amateurs can easily produce per­fect code practi ce transmissions athigh speed. As a result. some amateurshave learned to copy in their heads upto-and even above- IOO wpm! Atsuch speeds they are probably learni ngto recognize man y whole words, suchas " the:' as complex sounds instead ofhearing their sepa ra te letters. T heycopy in their heads because trying totype out copy at speeds ncar 100 wpmis quite difficul t.

I highly recommended that a ll CWoperators learn to copy in their headsas soon as they find they can writedown most of what they hear. It is re­ally the on ly way to enjoy C W com­municating. Those who talk downMorse code operating have probablynever learned how much fun it can bewhen Morse code is copied properly.Commercia l operators copy in theirheads but a lways type seve ral lettersbehind those being sent. This way, ifthe sending operator makes a mistakein sending, the error sign that is sentstops the receiving operator and theimproper letter(s ) is not typed onto themessage blank. Copying behi nd byseve ra l lette rs is the s ign of a goodradio operator.

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36 73 Amateur Radio Today · March 1999

With a proper software program,computers can a lso be used to copycode off-the-a ir and di splay it on thescreen. But the code must be sent a l­most pe rfectly. There is a litt le latitudein the length of dots. spaces. anddashes. but not alot. If hand sending isnot nearly perfect, the di splayed copymay not be very good. With computer­ized transmission and reception, as­suming no QRM or QRN. thedi splayed copy of previously typed in­formation held in memory can be per­fect to well over 100 wpm. Printoutsmay a lso be made of what is shown onthe screen.

Few amateurs can handle a KU wellenough to put out proper code at 50 to100 wpm, so real-time transmissionsmade at such high speeds usuallysound broken up to listeners. The over­all transmi ssion speed will be only thetypist's typing speed . For a hunt-and­peck keyboard typi st, 25 wpm is not anuncommon overall sending speed, al­though the letters might be set to trans­mit at 50 wpm or more. Th is wou ld notbe considered good communicationstransm itting- the result sounds jerkyto any operator listening and try ing tocopy the transmission.

Very readable computer monitor dis­plays can be produced hy an electronickcycr, provided the trans mitted dot,dash and inter-word spac ings arc good.

Keyboard transmissions are expectedto sound perfect, but if words arcmistyped, are m isspe lled, or if they arcbroken up with unwanted spaces whiledesired keys are being looked for, poorcopy will result for radio operatorswho are trying to copy by car or intheir heads. To prod uce proper-sound­ing code, KB systems should not be setto transmit at a speed faster than thetypist can type \..'e ll.

If KB transmission circuitry involvesmagnetic relays, there is the possibilitythat the transmitted dots will tum outto be quite light, resulting in less-than­desirable emissions. Some keyboardcircuits have built-in "weight" controlsby wh ich the length o f dot s anddashes can be adjusted to reduce lightdot transmissions.

Simi lar KB and computer equipmentcan be used to transmit and receive ra­dio teletype information on the ham

bands. However, many old-timers waxnosta lgic for the clatter of the old ma ­chines and the yards of ye llow paper,or printed tape, that spewed out of themachi nes.

Some very new amateur transceive rshave been de veloped that arc operatedby the keys on a KB coupled into thetransceiver. There are no dial s to rotateto select frequencies. All of the func­tions o f send ing and rece iving CWoRTTY, packet, etc., a rc controlled ei ­the r with the KB keys or wi th a mouse.CW can be sent by using the keys onthe KB. or by plugging in any type ofkey desired into the transceiver.Phone'? Just plug a microphone intothe transceiver.

Punctuation

Regular amateur C W communica­tions usc very few punctuation marks.The exceptions to this are KR commu­nications. Since a ll of the punctuationmarks are available on all keyboards.they are becoming mere common.

In general. amateurs usc BT as anend of a thought, or to indicate that thesending operator is thinking abou twhat is go ing to be sent next. (T heovcrfining of the 8 T is used here tomean that 8 and T are sent together asone character with no spacing betweenthem, to so und like dahdidididah. )Some of the CW punc tuat ion and oper­ating signs heard on the bands arc:

Period AAAComma-MI\1Question mark-1M IFract ion-bar or slash- Di'IQuotat ion marks-AF- -Parenthesis-left KN, right KKDollar sign-SXApostrophe-c-WGError sign-II I!End of a messagc- AREnd of a QSO- SKWait- ASStan your transmitt ing-KReceived OK-R

T he kev to the kev• •

Regardless of the type of device anamateur uses to produce C W, sendingit correctly will a lways be a cha llenge.One rule never changes. though: Practicemakes perfect! flJ