so i passed my general back in 2019 and always told myself id eventually learn morse code even though its not required anymore. well i finally started a few months ago using the Koch method with an app and im up to about 15 words per minute copying, which honestly surprised me. sending is a whole other story though.

i picked up a cheap single lever paddle off ebay and im using an old MFJ keyer i found at a hamfest. the keyer works fine i think but i keep getting little extra dits or dahs i didnt intend to send, especially when im nervous or going too fast. i dont know if its my paddle tension, the keyer settings, or just my technique being bad. probably all three honestly.

also when im actually in a QSO my copying just falls apart compared to when im doing practice. like i can copy a recording fine but then a real signal comes on and i lose half of it. is that just something that gets better with time or is there something specific i should be doing differently

the extra dits and dahs thing is almost certainly a combination of paddle tension being too light and your squeeze timing. most beginners set the tension way too loose because it feels easier at first but then your fingers bounce and you get garbage characters. try tightening it up more than feels comfortable and slow the keyer speed down maybe 20% below where you think you can operate, then build back up gradually. the MFJ keyers have adjustable weight and ratio settings too if yours has a front panel trim pot - worth fiddling with.

as for copying falling apart in a real QSO, yeah thats 100% normal and it happens to pretty much everyone at first. the problem is your brain is doing three things at once - copying, thinking about what to say next, and dealing with the anxiety of a live contact. the only real fix is just more live QSOs. parks on the Air and slow speed nets like the ARRL code practice are good because the ops there expect and tolerate newer CW folks. after a few months of regular on-air time it starts to click, i promise.

im kind of in the same boat as you, been at it about six months now. one thing that really helped my sending was just recording myself with an audio recorder and then listening back. you hear all the sloppy characters and it tells you exactly where your timing is off way better than just trying to feel it in the moment. also i switched to a different paddle - nothing fancy, just a different geometry that fit my hand better - and that alone cleaned up a lot of my sending problems. dont assume the cheap ebay paddle is the issue but dont rule it out either lol