so ive been a tech for about 8 months now and i keep hearing people talk about CW and how its this whole other world and i kind of want to try it but i genuinely have no idea where to begin. like do i just memorize the dots and dashes on a chart or is there a better way? i tried printing out one of those alphabet charts and staring at it but that doesnt seem to be how people actually learn it. someone at my club mentioned the Koch method but i dont really understand how that works either. is there an app or website that walks you through it step by step or do i need to find a real person to help me. also how long does it take to get to like 5 wpm because thats what people say you need for HF stuff right, or is that not even a thing anymore since they dropped the requirement

okay so the chart thing almost never works, you end up just translating in your head and that slows you way down once speeds get higher. the Koch method is honestly the way to go and it sounds more complicated than it is -- basically you start with just two characters at full speed, like 20wpm, and you dont add a new one until you can copy the current set at like 90% accuracy. the reason for sending at full speed even as a beginner is so your brain learns the sound of the whole character instead of counting dots and dashes. LCWO.net is free and does Koch training right in the browser, thats what most people point newcomers to. Just Lean CW is another one, its an android app and its pretty good. the 5wpm thing yeah that requirement is gone but you still need some code to really work CW on the air, and honestly once you get past the initial frustration hump it starts to click. give it a few weeks of consistent practice, even 15 minutes a day beats an hour once a week.

i was in the same spot maybe two years ago. i messed around with a few different methods and wasted probably a month before someone told me about morse.ninja, that site kind of changed things for me. also honestly just listening to actual CW on the air even when you cant copy any of it helps your ear get used to it. i tuned around 40m a lot late at night and at first it was just noise but eventually i started picking out letters here and there. takes longer than people say it will but its not as hard as it sounds when youre starting out