Finally upgrading from my Technician and need to get comfortable with CW again after getting 5WPM decades ago. I keep hearing about the Koch method versus traditional slow-speed building. Those of you who made the jump from 5WPM to 20WPM - which approach actually worked? The G4FON software looks promising but I'm curious about real-world experiences.

Also wondering about practice time - how many hours per week did it take you to build solid copy speed?

Koch method hands down! I wasted months trying to build up from slow speeds. Once I switched to Koch at 18WPM character speed, everything clicked in about 6 weeks of daily practice. The key is hearing characters as sounds, not counting dots and dashes.

I'm using IZ2UUF Morse Koch app on my phone during commutes - great for building those reflexes. Started at lesson 1 three months ago, now solid on 15 characters at 20WPM.

Don't skip the fundamentals though - prosigns and numbers are just as important as letters!

The psychological aspect is huge. Koch gives you constant positive reinforcement because you're succeeding at full speed from day one, just with fewer characters. When I tried building from 5WPM I got frustrated and quit twice. This time I'm sticking with it!