Not sure if anyone has come across this one yet, but I think that Morse Walker could potentially be the best CW practice tool available, and it’s still in Beta.
I think next to practicing live on the air, this is possibly the next best thing. Just with the authentic sounds, the options for QSB and different activation types. I’d like to see more added though e.g. SOTA, BOTA, MOTA etc. Perhaps that will come in time.
URL if anyone wants to try it:
As Roy would say, say what you see - or in this case what you hear. Needs to have Mr. Chips in it though I think. That would make Morse Walker perfect!
I second this recomendation. I use it (with the Morserino echo mode) to get back to speed after a 4 year hiatus. Morse Walker also works nicely on a mobile phone (usefull when having to spend time in waiting room).
I tried it on the POTA activator mode and after it hit me with a three call pile-up, I learned how useless I am at morse. I think my brains processor speed is just too slow.
In theory you really only need to copy part of a call and then ask for the station with that run of letters. All other callers should stand-by. However, in practice you need to be able to copy through the ensuing QRM caused by those that ignore your request for them to stand-by and persist in continuing to call. Happens sometimes in SOTA, frequently in POTA / WWFF.
Oh don’t I just love getting ratty on the air using morse. The problem is, lots of the callers can’t copy morse very well and haven’t got an idea what I’m on about.
I’m going to give you an LLD bonus point for highlighting this website. It’s very much like MorseRunner, a contest simulator with variable number of calls, QRN, QRM and QRLOONIES etc. MoreRunner is Windows only so no use to me any more. But this web page seems to do all the same stuff and of course, is OS agnostic.
Thanks! I’m expecting to have any points docked when I finish building the Adiemod Turbo 6000: Executive Edition Ghia though!
Same. Viva Linux!
Yep this is basically a Web version of Morse Runner. I found out about it via the excellent SOTA+ YouTube channel recently.
My head copy is already improving. The QSB simulation is magnificent, though some calls are so hard to hear it would be nice to have an option to press a skip button, or send negative copy.
I like to do bunches of 4 and 10 QSO’s so it helps me get confidence when I go live. CW is just so good!
Just contemplating the sheer efficiency of CW to bag 10 POTA contacts vs the time it may take via SSB (all HF of course, naturally if it was 270 CW it would be even quicker - as in no sod would respond to your CQ so after 5 seconds you can pack up and go home ).
Bagged 10 Morse Walker QSO’s with QSB while on a train ride today as follows:
#
Callsign
WPM
Attempts
Total Time (s)
10
WI0PJK
13
2
18.74
9
W6YF
19
2
12.19
8
LA5CND
18
5
56.38
7
YT9XC
19
3
23.75
6
SM6P
19
3
29.22
5
W2BYN
16
4
38.99
4
N7AV
19
2
12.19
3
HB4FF
15
3
22.79
2
EI0R
20
2
11.18
1
AA4SGZ
19
3
26.67
Sum of Total Time = 252.10 s = 4.20 minutes = 4 minutes 12.10 seconds
Average WPM = 17.7 WPM
That’s of course, QSB aside, with ripe conditions e.g. one QSO after the other, good propagation and so forth. But still, 10 contacts in under 5 minutes is handy enough. Even if gave yourself a time limit of 30 minutes on a summit or in a park, you could potentially bag some number of contacts versus all the yappin’ on SSB.
I am definitely noticing my head copy improving thanks to Morse Walker. I would love to be able to hook up a paddle of straight key to my blower or computer to enter my head copy though!
You may find that head copy improves by actively using your key to send under (slightly) stressful conditions. Good fun is Morseinvaders.com; and you can hook up your paddle to the computer, tablet or phone with a little adapter such as an Ali Vband type CW adapter. The one in the link works on all my devices (Linux, Mac, Android tablet and phone).
Thats the adapter I have. It works really well. I’d love to use it with Morse Walker, particularly under QSB and pileup conditions.
I’d love to get to the stage where I can just rock up somewhere, punt a wire up a tree or stick a whip in the ground and just bash out a couple of QRP QSO’s and have a park/summit activated before I’ve even finished my flask of tea!
…thanks for the links. The morse invader link didn’t work but the ali express did. Hadn’t look at ali express before; astounded by the range of everything they sell,
You can buy pretty much anything on it. I find it really useful for finding obscure parts or odd, niche bits that you just know you would have a hard time finding anywhere else, and if you do it won’t be anywhere near as cheap.
Just be very mindful of what you are looking at and read the descriptions thoroughly and check if the item(s) you want are not one of multiple options in one listing.
It looks very useful for discount 3D filament, I am not brave enough to buy any though I just use Bambu. I do have one roll of gold Amazon Basics PLA which worked well to print a giant World Cup trophy model so there is other filament out there besides Bambu!
I have a metric tonne of stuff on the way from Ali Express for the Adiemod Turbo 6000 Executive Edition Ghia project. Some stuff I didn’t think I would find as I didn’t think such items would exist for what I want to achieve.
That little V Band adapter is great and has two different modes you can enable by the on-board PCB. Hopefully Morse Walker will enable it as an option in future.
I don’t play now without QSB, I find it helps prepare me for the real world. Not tried a pileup yet though!
You can filter searches for goods not shipped from China. Not sure about Oceania but you can filter to EU, usually dropshippers, bonded warehouses etc.
Some sellers will use the Kazakhstan railway loophole to get larger goods through e.g. electric scooters, ebikes etc. Basically there is a superhugegreatbigmassive rail line that runs through China up to the Kazakhstan border. Goods cross there under some sort of open trade agreement - i forget what the legalese is now that forms the loophole, a trans-Eurasia goods agreement possibly.
Once over the border they can divert to the EU, usually in to the Netherlands or Germany via rail - the goods must not leave the railway line until their destination. It can take months but goods do come through safely.
Outside of all this, the majority of stuff is usually just shipped from China direct. A lot of the sellers are likely just buying components, products etc in such huge volumes direct from the actual main source that is why it is so cheap.
There’s a lot of tat and landfill on there as well as Temu, Wish and Banggood etc so do your due diligence before punching in your card details for a purchase. Returns on Ali Express are a nightmare too aka not worth the paper they are written on, so consider that too.
I’ve used it for years and only had a couple of issues.
More here:
The rail line links up with Russia (no idea if that is a loophole for any alledged sanctions trade avoidance), Uzbekistan and this fella in Turkmenistan
Geoff, I have had several purchases posted to me from Brisbane, where I think the seller has an agent they ship to in bulk, then they can afford to send to you at the cheapest available Austpost rate. Some small components come in envelopes with a bit of cardboard as packing, by keeping it to letter size it is pretty cheap. But I’ve bought some connectors and adaptors at good rates too. How long the plating lasts is the question. So far so good.
