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Chapter 8
Contents Chapter
9 - Part II
Quality Of Sending
RULE ONE: Never send faster than
you can send accurately.
Quality must always come first,
and speed second. Stated another way -- It is more blessed to send
good code than to receive it. Aim to make your sending as nearly
perfect as possible. Smooth, uniform characters and
spacing penetrate static and interference far better than individual
sending styles. We should learn to send so clearly and accurately
that the receiving operator gets perfect copy every time. (Most of
the difficulty in reading and copying code is due to irregularities in
spacing between letters and words. See Chapter
15 Timing.)
"Over 50 years ago as a trainee" said one commercial operator, "I was told that it is better to send at 20 wpm, and be received 100% the first time, than to send at 28 wpm and waste time with repeats."
RULE TWO: Never send faster
than you can receive properly.
Break either rule, and you may end
up sending poorly formed characters or a choppy, jerky style that
is hard to copy, and establish a habit that will be very difficult to overcome
later. Bad sending is not cured by changing keys, but by correcting
wrong mental impressions.
KEYING and WHAT IT MEANS
The genius of the Morse code lies
in its simple modulation requirements -- only two "states" are needed:
0 and 1 (binary code). These two states may be any sort of distinct differences
in condition or quality of the modulation: ON\OFF, and for electrical
and audio signals may include pitch and quality, as well. This
greatly simplifies the equipment required for transmission and reception.
Any form of two-position switch which can be operated at a satisfactory
rate of speed by a human operator or mechanical or electrical device will
serve the purpose. For electrical and radio telegraphic communication
the switch may simply control the "on" and "off" conditions (single-pole-single-throw
switch).
This opens a wide range of possibilities
for mechanical designs, the simplest being just touching two wires together
and separating them (which has served in emergencies), to electronic
"switches" which have no mechanically moving parts, but rather control
their conductivity between very high and low values by electronic means.
For code transmission we generally call such switches "keys", "keyers",
or "keying devices". In this chapter we are primarily concerned with
hand keying, that is, using the simple up-and-down hand key "straight
key". (See Chapter 10 for other types and their
use.)
THE FIRST MORSE KEY
Alfred Vail designed the first "straight"
key and called it a "correspondent". It consisted of a board on which
was mounted a simple flat metal strap spring attached to the board at one
end and on the other end having a small knob on its top side and an electrical
contact on its bottom side. This contact was arranged so that when
the knob was depressed it would make connection with a second contact mounted
directly below it on the board, thus permitting the closing and opening
of a circuit. When the pressure was released the spring caused the circuit
to open again. It had no stops or adjustments of any kind.
This "classic" pattern of up-and-down
movement has governed the design of all "standard" keys ever since..
Later models have simply been "improvements", variations and elaborations
of this basic concept.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE BEGINNER
Sending with any kind of hand-operated
key is an art that takes some time and practice to develop properly.
For this reason some teachers today recommend that, if possible, the beginner
start out sending preferably with a keyboard (or code-programmed computer).
With a keyboard it is impossible to send poorly-formed characters.
A keyboard is a typewriter-like device which produces the code character
corresponding to the key pressed. There is no way you can misform a character
with a keyboard -- you can only push the wrong button.
(See Chapter 10.)
A keyer (see Chapter 10) always produces perfectly timed signal elements and inter-element spacings. However, the operator must control the sequence of the spacing of letters and words. This requires considerable skill and may discourage the beginner. It is easy to send well-formed characters, but unintended or even non-existent ones may also be created. Therefore it seems wisest to begin learning to send with either a straight key or a keyboard. (A straight key does help to reinforce the rhythm patterns of the characters more effectively.) In any event, it is well for the beginner to heed the advice of a wise teacher who said:- "Do not touch a hand-key at any time until I tell you that you may."
This advice has a two-fold purpose:
1) to make sure that the student
has an accurate mental impression of the correct sound and rhythm of the
code characters before trying to send them, and
2) listening to one's own poor sending
may actually hinder learning (as noted in Chapter 3).
So the best way is not to touch a key until you have developed a good feel for the proper rhythm of the letters. This usually means by the time you can receive at about 10 -12 wpm or more. When you begin with a straight key you must have a good feel for timing -- that is, the three building blocks of code: the dit, the dah and the several lengths of spaces. (Those who have poor hand control should avoid the use of any handkeys, at least while they are gaining in receiving skill.)
After you have learned the proper
rhythms, sending with a straight-key, whether for practice or in actual
use, sending with it is quite beneficial for building up your receiving
ability in all its aspects. In addition it develops muscular
memories which further strengthen our perception and recognition
of characters and words. Constant practice in sending this way does
help build our copying ability. Sending practice also
prepares the hand and arm for transmitting over long periods of time without
fatigue. Finger and arm exercises may also be devised to help gain
needed flexibility and strength.
THE "STRAIGHT" KEY
A standard "straight" key is one
having a simple up-and-down movement. In American usage the key should
be aligned so that key lever is in a straight line with the forearm.
To control it, the operator moves the knob by a pivoting up-and-down wrist
motion. (The hand and arm muscles do not favor the very small
movements needed to control key motion.) The design of a key, its
location on the operating table and manipulation tend to vary from country
to country, and its adjustments in the final analysis depend almost entirely
on the references of the individual operator. Here we can only give
the generalities and some instructions by experienced users.
THE AMERICAN STRAIGHT KEY AND
ITS USE
The key lever is generally relatively
thin and typically pivoted so that its front section is longer than the
back section, and often droops downward toward the knob end. Its
control knob is flat on top and may have an underskirt (originally designed
to protect the operator from high voltages on the key lever). The
top of the knob should be about 1-1/2 to 2 inches above the table, and
have firm adjustments for up-and-down movement (nominally about 1/16 inch
movement at the knob, but adjusted to whatever suits the operator best).
The key should be located far enough back from the edge of the operating table (about 18 inches) that the elbow is just off the edge of the table. The operator's arm rests lightly on the table with his wrist off the table and more or less "flat". His first finger rests on the top of the key knob and his second finger generally on top near the edge. His thumb may rest lightly against the other edge of the knob, or not touch it at all. (The student should find his own most comfortable way.) Downward movement of the knob to close the key and upward movement to open it are by rocking the hand, pivoting it from the wrist: the finger end moving down while the wrist moves slightly upward, and vice-versa, without any accompanying independent finger motion. The upward key knob movement is produced by the built-in spring in the key, but may be helped by the thumb.
Walter Candler's advice to professional telegraphers in training (to avoid developing a painful "glass arm") was:-
Gaining Skill, Errors, and Automaticity
For the skilled telegrapher the
characters and words flow without conscious thought as to their details.
Proper and adequate practice has made the action habitual, automatic and
virtually effortless -- almost like just talking. However, if something
interferes, the conscious mind jumps in and tries to make the correction
and take over control. If this conscious interference continues,
it may displace the habitual coordination, resulting in expending more
effort than needed to send accurately. This in turn produces
strain, and soon one finds he working against himself, and (with a straight
key) if he sends for long periods of time this may develop into "glass
arm". (See Walter Candler's advice)
The master operator does not send a single needless dit or dah.
What About Mistakes Made During
Sending? If you make a mistake while sending, just correct it,
if necessary, then forget it and calmly continue on. Don't let ourself
get all tensed up and start to worry about making more mistakes (such as:
"Now I mustn't do that again!"). If this keeps bothering you, focus
your attention for a just few moments on sending each word (or maybe
even each letter) as it comes along, sending evenly and with proper spacing,
and then go on normally as if nothing happened. This will help create
a positive, constructive attitude rather than a negative one. As
for correcting mistakes, general practice varies:-- eight dits (like
HH sent without space between the letters) is the official standard,
but it is more common to use the question mark and then send the word (or
with the preceding word also) again correctly. If you are chewing
the rag, you may just a pause a moment and then repeat what was sent wrongly
and go on. On the other hand, since it is usually the beginnings
of words that are most important, if enough of the word has been correctly
sent to be recognizable it may be best just to pause a moment and then
proceed without comment. We wouldn't do this, of course, in the midst
of a formal message.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS - FISTS
All sending with any kind of a handkey
will show little personal quirks, or characteristics collectively called
one's "fist", which unconsciously develop as one's skill and experience
grows, no matter how precise an operator may try to be. This
is why a receiving operator may immediately recognize a sender and
say: "I know that fist," even before he identifies himself.. Our
fist may also betray our mood or state of mind -- excitement, fatigue,
boredom or laziness -- much as our tone of voice often does.
Someone said of one operator: "his code almost seems to yawn". But there is more to it than that. The type of hand-key being used which may also affect the sending. This does not mean that high quality code cannot be made on any of these types of keys, but rather that their particular construction and use tend to produce certain characteristics.
With a straight key, side-swiper
or bug it is easy to send a jerky or "choppy" sort of code, as well as
to make inconsistently longer or shorter dits or dahs overall or in certain
characters. A common fault with using a bug is to make the dits too
fast as compared with the dahs. Sideswipers tend to encourage to
some very oddly timed characters, inconsistent formations. The type
of key in use may greatly influence one's fist as it sounds to the receiving
operator.
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