so ive been a tech for about a year and a half and i keep hearing people talk about cw and how rewarding it is and i want to try learning but i honestly dont even know where to begin. like do you just memorize the dots and dashes for each letter? i tried doing that with a chart i found online and it felt completely hopeless after like 20 minutes. is there some method that actually works for normal people or is this one of those things where you either have the ear for it or you dont

i have no musical background if that matters and im not sure if i should get a straight key first or one of those paddle things. also how long did it take you guys realistically, not like the "i learned in 2 weeks" stories but actual average people

okay so the chart method is basically the worst way to do it, dont feel bad that it didnt click. your brain ends up translating dit-dah into a letter instead of just hearing the sound AS the letter, and that mental detour kills you at any real speed.

what actually works for most people is the Koch method or just using something like the LCWO website which is free. it starts you with just two characters at full speed and adds more as you get them right. the key thing is you learn the sound of each letter not the pattern of dots. like K should just sound like K, you know? after a while it clicks and you stop counting dits in your head.

for a key i'd say just get a cheap straight key to start, something like the Begali or even a no-name off amazon honestly. paddles are great but theres more to think about with iambic keying and you dont need that confusion right now. as for time, realistically getting to 5 wpm where you can have a slow QSO took me probably 4 or 5 months of practicing maybe 15 minutes a day. some people faster some slower. consistency matters way more than long sessions.

yeah lcwo dot net is what i used, also there's an app called Morse Mania that's pretty decent for phone practice when you're just sitting around. i'm still slow, like maybe 8 wpm on a good day, but i can actually make contacts now on 40m which i never thought i'd say

one thing nobody told me is that copying by hand slows you down a lot once you get past beginner stuff. try just listening and not writing anything, let the words form in your head. took me forever to trust that but it actually helps