CW (Morse Code) Latest Topicshttps://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/forum/12-cw-morse-code/CW (Morse Code) Latest Topicsenfinally getting into CW after putting it off for years — some questions about keyershttps://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/5000-finally-getting-into-cw-after-putting-it-off-for-years-some-questions-about-keyers/so i've been licensed for about 6 years now mostly doing SSB and some digital modes but i always told myself id eventually learn CW and just kept putting it off. anyway this winter i actually committed and ive been doing the lcwo.net lessons for a couple months now and im getting close to 10wpm which honestly feels like a huge deal for me.

my question is about keyers and paddles. right now im just using the built-in keyer in my IC-7300 with a cheap amazon straight key to practice, but i keep reading that paddles are better for anything above like 8wpm or so. is that actually true or is it more personal preference? also is there a big difference between a single lever paddle and a dual lever (iambic)? ive seen people get pretty passionate about this topic online and im not sure what to make of it all.

i dont want to spend a ton of money but also dont want to buy garbage. any thoughts appreciated, even if its just what you personally use.

]]>5000Mon, 06 Jul 2026 01:03:57 +0000finally starting to learn CW and my sending sounds terrible — any tips?https://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/4965-finally-starting-to-learn-cw-and-my-sending-sounds-terrible-any-tips/so ive been a tech for about two years and just upgraded to general last month, and i always told myself id learn morse even though its not required anymore. been using the G4FON trainer for a few weeks now and my copying is getting ok i guess, maybe 8-10wpm on a good day. but when i actually try to send with my paddle its a mess. i borrowed an old straight key from a guy in my club to start but someone told me i should just go straight to a paddle which i did, got a cheap MFJ paddle off ebay.

the problem is my dits and dahs come out all uneven and sometimes i get these weird extra dits squeezed in when im not trying to. my keyer is the built in one on my ic-7300. is this a timing thing i need to adjust or is my paddle just bad or am i holding it wrong or what. honestly a bit frustrated because it sounds nothing like the CW i hear on the air

]]>4965Sun, 05 Jul 2026 15:01:34 +0000struggling with my keyer timing — everything sounds mushyhttps://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/4955-struggling-with-my-keyer-timing-everything-sounds-mushy/so ive been trying to get back into CW after a long break, probably 15 years off, and something is just not clicking. im using an old Bencher paddle into a Winkeyer USB and the dits and dahs just sound... off? like mushy or uneven. i know my fist was never great but this feels mechanical, not like a me problem.

i've messed with the weight setting in the Winkeyer software a little but honestly i dont fully understand what that does. like does increasing weight make the dits longer or does it affect the spaces, i genuinely cant tell by ear. ive been practicing at around 15 wpm but maybe i should slow way down and rebuild from scratch. anyone else come back to CW after a long break and had to basically relearn everything?

]]>4955Sun, 05 Jul 2026 01:02:26 +0000finally getting into CW after putting it off for years — where do I even start with paddleshttps://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/4943-finally-getting-into-cw-after-putting-it-off-for-years-where-do-i-even-start-with-paddles/so i passed my general a while back and kept telling myself id learn morse code eventually and eventually is apparently now. i've been doing the lcwo.net lessons for about three weeks and im starting to recognize letters at like 15wpm but sending is a whole other animal.

i borrowed a cheap single lever paddle from a guy in my club and i honestly cant figure out if my timing is off or if the paddle itself is garbage. everything sounds mushy when i record myself back and listen. the dots run together or theres too much space between things, its hard to describe. the keyer in my radio is a yaesu ft-991a and i think i have it set to iambic mode A but i might be on B, honestly not sure which one is supposed to feel more natural.

do i need to buy a better paddle to learn properly or should i stick it out with the loaner and just practice more. i dont want to throw money at gear before i know if im even going to stick with this but i also wonder if fighting bad equipment is slowing me down. any thoughts from people whove been through this would be really appreciated.

]]>4943Sat, 04 Jul 2026 21:01:26 +0000finally trying to learn CW properly — keyer questionhttps://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/4888-finally-trying-to-learn-cw-properly-keyer-question/so ive been putting off learning CW for probably three years now and i finally just ordered a cheap dual paddle and a MFJ keyer to go with my old FT-817. got it all hooked up last night and i was messing around with the iambic mode and honestly im a bit confused. like i get the concept, squeeze both paddles and it alternates dits and dahs, but when i actually try to use it my letters come out completely garbled. does it just take a ton of practice or am i missing something with the timing? i set the speed to like 12 wpm thinking that was slow enough to learn on but maybe that's still too fast. also someone told me to learn with the keyer in mode A vs mode B but i have no idea what the difference even matters at this stage. any advice from folks who went through this would be really appreciated, im kind of starting from zero here

]]>4888Fri, 03 Jul 2026 19:01:47 +0000finally trying to learn CW after 10 years of just doing phone — where do I even start with paddleshttps://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/4807-finally-trying-to-learn-cw-after-10-years-of-just-doing-phone-where-do-i-even-start-with-paddles/so i got my general back in 2014 and honestly just never bothered with CW since it wasnt required anymore. but ive been watching some videos lately and something about it just looks really satisfying, like there's guys making contacts all over the world with like 5 watts and a wire and i want in on that.

problem is i have zero idea where to start with the actual keying side of things. i borrowed a straight key from a buddy at the club and i've been practicing a bit but my wrist gets tired fast and i know everyone says to eventually move to paddles but i dont even understand how paddles work with a keyer vs just a straight key. is the keyer a separate box thing or is it built into the radio? my ic-7300 might already have one i guess? i honestly dont know what im doing here lol

also any tips on just learning to receive are welcome, i can copy maybe 5-6 characters and then my brain just turns off

]]>4807Thu, 02 Jul 2026 08:37:56 +0000struggling with my keyer timing, sending sounds like garbagehttps://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/4769-struggling-with-my-keyer-timing-sending-sounds-like-garbage/so ive been at this for a few months now and my sending is just... not great. im using a cheap paddle i picked up off ebay and a MFJ keyer, the 494 i think. i set the speed to around 15 wpm because thats where i feel comfortable copying but my dits and dahs sound all mushy to me when i play back recordings. like the ratio just seems off even though i havent touched the weight setting.

i dont know if its the paddle itself or if im just squeezing it wrong. my elmer back in the day told me to just practice practice practice but im starting to wonder if the paddle tension is the issue. ive messed with the gap adjustment a little but honestly i dont really know what im doing there. anyone gone through something like this and figured it out?

]]>4769Thu, 02 Jul 2026 08:06:10 +0000struggling with iambic keying - am i doing this wrong?https://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/4757-struggling-with-iambic-keying-am-i-doing-this-wrong/so ive been at this for about three months now and i just cannot get iambic mode to feel natural. im using a Begali Traveler paddle into a keyer built into my radio (Elecraft K3) and i keep getting extra dits or dahs squeezed in where i dont want them. like ill try to send a letter and get half of the next one tagged on automatically.

i know theres mode A and mode B and ive tried both and honestly cant tell the difference in practice. my sending speed is somewhere around 15 wpm which is probably not fast enough for iambic to really shine i guess? i watched a bunch of youtube videos and everyone makes it look so effortless. my elmers all learned on straight keys so they just tell me to go back to basics which i get but i feel like im so close to figuring this out.

does anyone have tips for getting the muscle memory right or is this just a thing where you have to put in hundreds of hours before it clicks? also how much does paddle tension and gap setting actually matter - mine are still basically at factory defaults

]]>4757Thu, 02 Jul 2026 07:52:42 +0000struggling with my keyer timing, everything sounds mushyhttps://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/3282-struggling-with-my-keyer-timing-everything-sounds-mushy/so ive been trying to get back into CW after a long break (like 10 years) and i picked up a used Bencher paddle a few months ago and hooked it up to the keyer built into my radio (IC-7300). the problem is everything i send just sounds... off? like the dots and dashes are running together, especially when i try to go faster than maybe 12 wpm or so. i know my fist is rusty but i dont think its entirely me because even when i slow way down and try to be deliberate about it the spacing feels wrong.

ive messed with the weight and ratio settings a bit but honestly i dont fully understand what all of them do. i thought weight was just dot to dash ratio but then i read somewhere its actually the overall on/off time ratio? not sure. also wondering if maybe the paddle itself needs adjustment, the contacts feel a little sticky or stiff maybe. anyone dealt with this before or know where i should start

]]>3282Tue, 30 Jun 2026 15:35:57 +0000struggling with my keyer timing, everything sounds mushyhttps://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/4092-struggling-with-my-keyer-timing-everything-sounds-mushy/so ive been trying to get back into CW after maybe a 15 year break and i picked up a used Bencher paddle and hooked it to my K3 internal keyer and honestly the dits and dahs just sound... off? like not crisp. i know my fist was never great but this sounds worse than i remember. been practicing with the built in sidetone and something about the spacing between characters feels wrong but i cant put my finger on it exactly. been running around 15-16 wpm which is slower than i used to operate but i figured id work back up gradually.

is this a keyer weight setting thing? i messed with the weight adjustment a little but honestly i dont fully understand what that does. or could it be the paddle tension/gap? the paddle feels a little loose maybe, the previous owner might have had it set different from what im used to. just wondering if anyone else went through this kind of re-learning thing and what helped

]]>4092Wed, 01 Jul 2026 06:09:19 +0000struggling with my iambic keyer timing — is this normal at first?https://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/3852-struggling-with-my-iambic-keyer-timing-is-this-normal-at-first/so ive been trying to learn CW for about 3 months now and i finally got myself a set of paddles (cheap Bencher clone off ebay) and a MFJ keyer to go with the radio. practiced a lot on the software and thought i was doing ok but when i actually try to use the paddle setup in real life my sending sounds like garbage. like i squeeze for a dit and get a dah, or i try to send a letter and the timing is completely off and it sounds like noise.

i think part of it is i keep accidentally squeezing both sides at the same time which sets off that iambic mode thing where it alternates dits and dahs and i dont want that. is there a way to turn off iambic mode or do i just have to practice until my fingers stop doing weird things? also my keyer speed is set around 13 wpm which i thought was reasonable but maybe thats part of the problem too

anyone else go through this phase or did i just buy the wrong setup to start

]]>3852Tue, 30 Jun 2026 20:19:44 +0000finally getting into CW after putting it off for years — some questionshttps://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/1949-finally-getting-into-cw-after-putting-it-off-for-years-some-questions/so i've been licensed for almost 4 years now and i kept telling myself i'd learn morse code eventually and just never did. finally sat down this winter and started going through the Koch method on lcwo.net and im actually making progress, got up to maybe 15 wpm copying on a good day though sending is way behind that still.

my main question is about paddles vs a straight key. i started on a straight key because everyone said to learn the rhythm that way first but now im looking at getting a paddle and a keyer and i honestly dont know where to start. theres so many options and the price range is insane, like you can spend $40 or $400 and i cant tell if the expensive ones are actually worth it or if im just paying for nice machining.

also — any tips for that gap between being able to copy at 15 wpm on a computer but completely falling apart when someone is actually calling you on the air? like my brain just freezes. feels like i know the code until i actually have to use it in real time with pressure

]]>1949Tue, 30 Jun 2026 19:04:24 +0000struggling with my keyer timing — dit dah ratio feels off?https://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/2428-struggling-with-my-keyer-timing-dit-dah-ratio-feels-off/so ive been practicing CW for about 3 months now, finally passed my extra and wanted to really get into morse code properly. i picked up a used Bencher BY-1 paddle and a Winkeyer USB and honestly its been a blast but something feels weird about my sending. like the spacing between elements feels slightly off to me, not sure if its the iambic mode or my squeeze timing or what.

i mess around with the dit/dah ratio in the software and it helps a little but when i record myself and play it back it still sounds a bit... clumpy? if that makes sense. my elmer says my fist is actually pretty decent for 3 months but i can tell something isnt quite right. is this just a muscle memory thing that goes away with time or is there something i should actually be adjusting. running it around 15 wpm right now trying to build up from there. any advice from folks who went through this phase would be great

]]>2428Tue, 30 Jun 2026 14:53:05 +0000finally trying to learn CW after years of putting it off — paddle questionhttps://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/2984-finally-trying-to-learn-cw-after-years-of-putting-it-off-paddle-question/so i've been licensed for about 6 years now and have always kind of avoided CW even though part of me really wanted to learn it. finally pulled the trigger and started doing the lcwo.net lessons a few weeks ago and im actually making some progress, up to about 8wpm copying which feels slow but whatever.

anyway my question is about paddles vs a straight key. i started on a cheap straight key and its fine for practice but i keep reading that most people move to a paddle with a keyer pretty quickly. i picked up a used MFJ-564 iambic paddle at a hamfest last weekend and im trying to figure out how to even hold my hand on it correctly. like do you squeeze both sides at once for the iambic stuff or what? i watched a few youtube videos and they all seem to show something slightly different.

also wondering if the keyer built into my radio (ic-7300) is decent enough or if i should be looking at a standalone keyer. dont want to spend a lot of money on this until i know i'm actually going to stick with it which feels like a fair approach i think

]]>2984Tue, 30 Jun 2026 07:49:38 +0000struggling with keyer timing — everything sounds mushyhttps://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/1279-struggling-with-keyer-timing-everything-sounds-mushy/so ive been at this for about three months now, finally got my general and decided CW was something i actually wanted to learn for real, not just pass a test or anything. picked up a used Bencher BY-1 paddle and been using the built-in keyer in my IC-7300 and honestly i feel like my sending is just... mush. like i listen back to recordings i make and i cant tell where one letter ends and the next begins.

im running the speed around 18 wpm which maybe is too fast for where i am, i dunno. a buddy told me the iambic mode B on the keyer might be part of the problem since im squeezing when i shouldnt be but i dont fully understand what that even means. do i just slow down? mess with the weight settings? im not even sure what to practice at this point, just going through the alphabet over and over feels pointless

]]>1279Tue, 30 Jun 2026 05:40:42 +0000finally trying to learn CW properly — keyer questionhttps://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/3437-finally-trying-to-learn-cw-properly-keyer-question/so ive been putting off learning morse code for probably two years now and i finally just bought a cheap iambic paddle off amazon to get started. got it hooked up to my radio's keyer and i can make dits and dahs which is progress i guess but i have no idea if im actually doing this right.

the main thing confusing me is the iambic mode stuff — my radio has mode A and mode B and i honestly dont know which one to use or if it even matters at this point when im only sending like 8-10 wpm. ive been watching some youtube videos and everybody seems to have a strong opinion about it but nobody really explains it for beginners.

also my paddle feels kind of stiff and i keep accidentally sending extra dits when i dont mean to. is that a tension adjustment thing or just me not being used to it yet? the little screws on the side i assume are for tension but i dont want to mess something up.

just trying to figure out if im on the right track before i build any bad habits. ive been using the lcwo.net site to practice receiving which seems to work pretty well so far

]]>3437Mon, 29 Jun 2026 19:37:04 +0000straight key vs paddle - what am i missing here?https://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/719-straight-key-vs-paddle-what-am-i-missing-here/been doing cw for about 6 months now with my old vibroplex bug and honestly im getting frustrated. everyone keeps telling me to get a paddle and keyer but i dont really understand what the big deal is. isnt morse code supposed to be about developing good timing and rhythm? feels like using a keyer is kind of cheating or something. maybe im just old fashioned but my granddad worked the world with a straight key back in the day

anyway just curious what you guys think, am i missing something obvious here or should i stick with what im doing

]]>719Mon, 29 Jun 2026 13:05:04 +0000CW learning plateau at 15 WPM - tips for pushing through?https://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/290-cw-learning-plateau-at-15-wpm-tips-for-pushing-through/I've been working on CW for about 6 months now and I'm solidly comfortable at 15 WPM, but I just can't seem to break through to higher speeds. I keep hearing that to get beyond 15 WPM you need to switch to head copy instead of writing everything down. I'm using G4FON and LCWO for practice, but I feel stuck. I know progress can be up and down with plateaus, but this one feels longer than usual. Has anyone else hit this same wall? What finally helped you break through to 20+ WPM?

]]>290Mon, 29 Jun 2026 06:20:41 +0000Finally got a paddle but my dits and dahs sound terrible — what am i doing wronghttps://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/3415-finally-got-a-paddle-but-my-dits-and-dahs-sound-terrible-what-am-i-doing-wrong/Okay so ive been wanting to learn CW for probably two years now and i finally broke down and bought a cheap dual-lever paddle off ebay, nothing fancy. Got it hooked up to my keyer (the one built into my FT-891) and im just... not getting it. Like the spacing is all wrong and sometimes i get these runaway dits that just keep going and it sounds like complete garbage. I practiced on a straight key for a few months before this so i thought i knew the rhythm but the paddle is a whole different animal.

Is this a tension adjustment thing? The paddles feel pretty mushy when i squeeze them. Or am i just expecting too fast of a learning curve here. Would really appreciate any advice from people who made this transition because im getting frustrated enough to go back to the straight key honestly.

]]>3415Sun, 28 Jun 2026 19:47:39 +0000CW learning plateau at 12 WPM - how to break through?https://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/605-cw-learning-plateau-at-12-wpm-how-to-break-through/I've been working on CW for about 4 months now using LCWO and can comfortably copy at 12 WPM, but I'm completely stuck. Every time I try 15 WPM my brain just freezes up and I miss entire words. I'm using the Koch method with 20 WPM character speed and gradually reducing spacing.

Should I stick with more practice at 12 WPM or push through the discomfort? Also considering joining CW Academy but not sure if I'm ready. Any suggestions from those who've been through this?

]]>605Sun, 28 Jun 2026 08:03:48 +0000finally getting into CW — struggling with my timing on the paddlehttps://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/2378-finally-getting-into-cw-struggling-with-my-timing-on-the-paddle/so ive been a tech for about 3 years and just got my general last month, and everyone keeps telling me i need to learn CW even though its not required anymore. i kind of resisted it for a while but honestly after listening to the low end of 40m late at night i kind of get it now. there's something about it that just sounds cool.

anyway i picked up a cheap single lever paddle off ebay, nothing fancy, and i'm running it into an old MFJ keyer i borrowed from a guy at my club. the keyer works fine i think but my dits and dahs are coming out really uneven. like sometimes ill squeeze a character and it comes out perfect and then the next one is all mushy. i've been practicing with the keyer set around 12 wpm which someone told me was a good starting speed but i honestly cant tell if the problem is the paddle tension, my technique, or just that im new and my hands dont know what theyre doing yet.

is there like a common beginner mistake with iambic paddles im probably making? i tried watching some youtube videos but most of them either go too fast or assume you already kind of know what youre doing. any advice appreciated, even if its just 'keep practicing dummy'

]]>2378Sun, 28 Jun 2026 06:49:54 +0000struggling with my keyer timing, everything sounds mushyhttps://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/3929-struggling-with-my-keyer-timing-everything-sounds-mushy/so ive been trying to get into CW for about three months now and i finally feel like im copying at maybe 10-12 wpm on a good day which feels like a huge win honestly. but the problem is when i transmit it sounds... off. like my dits and dahs dont sound crisp. a buddy of mine listened on the air and said it sounded mushy which is a pretty accurate description i think.

im using a cheap set of iambic paddles i got off ebay and my radio is a Yaesu FT-891 with the built in keyer. ive been messing with the weight setting but i cant really tell if im making it better or worse. is this a paddle tension issue or a keyer setting issue or honestly am i just squeezing the paddles wrong. i really cant tell where the problem starts. any advice from people who have been through this would be great

]]>3929Sun, 28 Jun 2026 03:56:58 +0000finally picking up CW again after 20 years away — keyer questionhttps://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/2603-finally-picking-up-cw-again-after-20-years-away-keyer-question/So i got my ticket back in the early 2000s and did a little CW back then but life happened and i basically dropped the hobby entirely. Just got back into it a few months ago and im trying to relearn the code. Im at maybe 8-10 wpm on a good day receiving, sending is probably worse honestly.

My old straight key still works fine but i picked up a used Bencher BY-1 paddle at a hamfest and im struggling with it. I dont know if its the keyer in my radio (its an IC-7300) or my technique but my dits keep running together in a weird way. Like i send what i think is an A and it comes out sounding more like a dit-dit-dit or something. I watched some youtube videos on paddle technique but i feel like im gripping it too tight or something. Does anyone have tips on how to actually get comfortable with paddles cause the straight key feels more natural to me still.

Also is there a good way to practice receiving that isnt just listening to W1AW? I find their transmissions kind of stressful for some reason, like i freeze up when i miss a letter and then i miss the next three trying to figure out the first one.

]]>2603Sat, 27 Jun 2026 20:58:58 +0000struggling to get my keyer timing to feel right — any tips?https://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/1333-struggling-to-get-my-keyer-timing-to-feel-right-any-tips/so ive been working on my CW for about 6 months now and i finally feel like im copying okay at around 12-13 wpm but my sending is honestly a mess. im using a cheap set of single-lever paddles i picked up off ebay and an MFJ keyer built into my radio (ts-590sg) and something just feels off. like the dots and dashes dont feel evenly spaced to me when i listen back to a recording of myself and its really frustrating because i can hear the difference between clean code and mine.

ive been messing with the weight setting on the keyer but i dont really understand what that does exactly — does it affect the ratio of dot to dash length or is it more about the spacing between elements? i honestly have no idea if the problem is the paddles, my technique, or the keyer settings. the paddles feel a little wobbly too, not sure if thats normal for cheaper ones.

anyway if anyone has been through this id love to know how you sorted it out. or if theres a better way to practice sending. i do use the Koch method on the computer for receiving but havent found anything that really focuses on the sending side.

]]>1333Sat, 27 Jun 2026 00:35:41 +0000First paddle setup - looking for advice on keyer settingshttps://www.hamradiobase.com/forums/topic/289-first-paddle-setup-looking-for-advice-on-keyer-settings/Just picked up my first dual-lever paddle (a nice used Bencher BY-1) and I'm struggling with the iambic settings on my FT-991A. The radio has both Iambic Mode A and B options, and I'm trying to understand which one is better for learning. I've been practicing slow to feel the rhythm of each character, but I'm wondering if I should start with Mode A or jump right into Mode B. Any suggestions from experienced CW ops would be much appreciated!

]]>289Fri, 26 Jun 2026 22:15:48 +0000