In reply to M0YDH:
Went hunting for the Thursday night slow morse transmission allegedly no 145.250 here, and stayed tuned for the best part of an hour, but heard only static… 
In reply to K2FR: An interesting question. I learned morse the wrong way 60 years ago and ran into a wall at 18 wpm when I got back into ham radio over 30 years ago, barely passing the 20 wpm test at the FCC. SOTA has reenergized me and I am much more comfortable at higher speeds now. If I were starting to learn now I would probably use the Koch method at 20 wpm. As NE1SJ, the SOTA Jerks have been doing dx with EU nicely – with the New England advantage. There are some mighty eager QRPers overseas! We also have done a little SSB but the European Chasers on HF seem to be on cw. SSB brought out US hams who weren’t Chasers and liked to rag chew. (Egad!)
73, Frandy, N1FJ, President SOTA Jerks
In reply to K2FR:
Andrew,
Whatever method you use to learn morse, I would certainly recommend learning it with a friend. I tried twice - 1971 and 1976 - and failed to get up to speed, finding my “wall” at 10 wpm both times. Then in 1980 when a friend suggested we learn morse together, the competition was well and truly on. One week he would be ahead of me, then I would pass him, then he’d pass me in the race for 100% copy at a higher speed. It certainly worked for both of us and we passed our tests without a hitch.
All the best for the learning phase - keep thinking about those activations to come.
73, Gerald G4OIG
It is much more sensible now that a CW test is not necessary to get access to the HF bands. People used to learn CW so that they could operate HF SSB. Now people learn CW so that they can operate HF CW. Much more logical!!! 
Tom M1EYP
Don’t forget about W1AW. They have regular on the air code transmissions at varying speeds. The schedule is on the ARRL website and in QST magazine. You can also download past code practice sessions at various speeds for copy practice.
Practice every day. I find the only regular time I seem to be able to make is my work lunch half hour. I eat my sandwich then practice CW for 10 minutes using ‘Just Learn Morse Code’.
Adrian N6vdR
It was a long time ago that I learned Morse code. BC, in fact (before computers!). Whilst there is no doubt at all these computer-based learning programs are useful, it is also true that it is possible to learn Morse code quickly and properly without total reliance on technology. They key to learning Morse code is to practice whenever you possibly can, so other opportunities to learn should be sought.
An example, that could be adapted to more modern lifestyles with a little ingenuity:
I used to walk to school at around the time I was learning Morse. As cars went past me I would try to hum the registration numbers to myself (and occasionally to startled passers by!). The random numbers and letters meant that I got good practice with mixed groups, which, of course, are commonplace in amateur radio. As I got closer to school, the number of cars increased and so I had to up my CW speed. Day by day I could see real improvement as I was able to handle more and more “traffic”.
This could be adapted to any random signage that you might come across in everyday life. It certainly worked for me - I went from zero to about 20wpm in just a few weeks and in my heyday could cope with 40+ wpm, though these days I tend to bimble along at a more stately 30wpm!
73, John
G3WGV, N3GV
In reply to M1EYP:
Thanks Tom
No problem with the delay, the good things in life are always worth waiting for.
Helen
GW7AAU
In reply to K2FR:
Hi Andrew,
I have yet to venture into CW as I am studying for my advance license at the moment.
The RSGB have a MP3 file that sounds interesting especially if you have a musical background
http://www.rsgb.org/newcomers/musicalcw/CW-Kassette.mp3
hope it helps??
73
Tony
In reply to K2FR:
Hi Andrew
Try them all! Find out what method rattles the grey matter into absorbing code, For me it was the ARRL morse course that worked best.
Once you know all the character’s and some bits like / BK etc its time to go live!
Sean M0GIA
In reply to M0GIA:
Right. Much easier than learning any of the spoken languages in the world (including Finnish).
73, Jaakko OH7BF/F5VGL
In reply to G3WGV:
Agreed, John.
As an ex professional, I cannot comment on learning the code from scratch as a hobby achievement, but, at the Colwyn Bay Radio College in the 1950’s, we were also taught to translate all signage into morse as we were walking around. It was a great help. We also used to sit at long tables with one key. The usual format was to send the news from The Times and it was quite normal to complete the whole newspaper in the course of a long day over several sessions. Practice makes perfect! We were also taught to send the alphabet from A to Z, which is a technique which requires intense concentration, in one string onto a paper tape machine which printed out the dots and dashes. The length and spacing was then checked and adjustments suggested. It should be remembered that ones receiving speed will increase faster than ones sending speed.
I admire hams who learn the code from scratch, although paddles are a great improvement on the heavy Marconi straight keys of the old days.
73
David/G4CMQ
In reply to 2E0LAE:
That Rhythm of the code MP3 will probably not help. I was given a copy years ago and it drove me nuts before I got halfway through. I tried but the more I listened the more annoyed I got. I just wanted to strangle the guy who put it together. It is almost as bad as those idiots singing while hanging off a tower, both of them made me embarrassed to be a ham.
In reply to 2E0LAE:
Boy is that song… Um… interesting! ha…
Di dah dah dah… Chorus… Oh man Sigh…
its worth a listen, but I dont think i could put that on repeat untill it melds with my brain…
In reply to GW7AAV:
It is almost as bad as those idiots singing while hanging off a tower, both of them made me embarrassed to be a ham.
Maybe, but as a musician I found the track to be competantly performed and the song quite sophisticated, YMMV!
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to VA2SG:
That may be musical and rhythmical, but for me, too many of the letters had odd spacing. I’m trying to improve my CW by listening on-air, and if I had to try copying someone sending with that weird cadence, I’d go batty.
“di-daah…dah-dah” (J)
“di-daah…di-dit” (L)
Nelson
VE7FTL
The problem I tend to face when I try to practice receiving morse is that I cannot write what I am decoding as fast as I am hearing it - at least, not such that I can read what I have written.
Generally speaking, is it better to try to write in capitals, in separate lower case letters, or “joined-up”?
Ian
G6ENU
(Time has conspired against me actually doing anything SOTA-wise - YET!)
In reply to G6ENU:
Generally speaking, is it better to try to write in capitals, in
separate lower case letters, or “joined-up”?
I suggest you devote all your attention to listening. If listening to an on-air QSO, use the pen sparingly to record (remember) important details.
73 de Mike, Ei2CL
In reply to G6ENU:
I’m (still using) the G4FON Koch trainer with all its added facilities. I remember reading somewhere that, using capitals, you reach a speed plateau due to the time it takes to write (legible) capital characters. Using ‘smalls’ is quicker and lends itself to joining the letters up as you get more proficient (he says, HI).
What I have found is that I can deal with much higher speeds with perfect cw from the computer, even with the QSB and QRM switched on, than I can off-air.
So far as understanding without writing it down has anyone got any pointers?
I’ve not found much cw at a speed I can read in the evenings, but I’m hoping to get a lot more practice in over Christmas with the weather seeming to preclude activations for all but the most hardy. I might even consider putting fist to key with the Tx working into an antenna instead of a dummy load.
Seasons Greeting to all
73s de Dave (–. -… -… - -.)
In reply to EI2CL:
I’ve been at enough meetings (and, before that, lessons and lectures) to understand about not writing everything verbatim, but the moment I am at the somewhat early stage of taking down random letter groups, where you do need to write it down, so your accuracy can be checked.
Ian
G6ENU