When Aaron Parks KC8FQD was having trouble learning Morse code, he complained about some of his frustrations to his wife, Dr. Jessica Parks. As an expert in memory and cognition with a PhD in experimental psychology, she immediately recognized a few ways he could dramatically improve his learning speed and retention.

Working together they created Skilman Introduction to Morse Code with a companion program called Morse Code Speed Builder: 5 to 12 Words Per Minute.

Based on the Farnsworth method, they designed it from the ground up to be different than other programs on the market. “The course is structured to walk you through the learning process step by step so you don’t get lost along the way. The individual exercises are designed to encourage engagement and participation,” he says.

Since launching the program this spring, they’ve already managed to create quite a buzz. “We’re pleased to have more than 150 happy customers so far and sales continue to accelerate,” he says. “So far, the feedback has been strongly positive.”

The program comes on 6 compact discs and the files can be loaded into an MP3 player for convenient playback. When you buy the program, you also get the digital files to use immediately if you don’t want to wait for your CDs to arrive.

Whether you decide to use their program or study on your own, they’ve put together a few tips to help you learn Morse code more effectively:

1) Divide your study into chunks that will fit into short-term memory

Eventually you’ll want to commit Morse code to your long-term memory, but before that it’ll have to go through your short-term memory. Work on 3-4 characters at a time. Once you think you have those committed to long-term memory, go on to the next group.

2) Practice meaningful rehearsal

This may sound obvious, but you won’t get far by putting a code tape on in the background and hoping to learn by osmosis. You’ve got to be an active participant in learning. Meaningful rehearsal is what moves those characters from short-term memory to long-term memory. So favor interactive exercises over passive ones.

3) Stay engaged by using a variety of exercises

If you do the same thing over and over, it’ll get boring and your eyes will glaze over. At the very least, mix up sending and receiving practice. They’re both important if you plan to get on the air and they’ll reinforce each other. If you zone out, you’re wasting your time.

4) Commit to a couple of short study sessions every day

A short study session is about 20-30 minutes. It may seem crazy, but it’s well known that human attention only holds up about that long. Once your attention falls off, you’re not getting a good return on the time you’re investing. Cramming works in the short-term, but for long-term retention, it’s better to space out your learning evenly over time. If you make it a part of your routine and work on it a little every day, you’ll get a little better every day — but one or two daily sessions is enough.

5) Don’t get discouraged by the interference effect

When you start out learning Morse code, the first several characters you learn will come pretty easy, but all of a sudden it changes. Everything slows down like it’s a struggle just to learn a single additional character. And what’s worse, it may seem like the ones you already know are getting harder to recall. Lots of people give up at this point.

Surprisingly, this sudden drop-off in apparent learning is actually good news. The reason why the new characters don’t come as easy is because the ones you already know are interfering with learning them. You have to have really learned those characters to have them interfere with learning more so you know that you must have already made significant progress.

Interference effect goes both ways, though. The new characters you’re learning interfere with the old ones. While it seems like all progress has ceased, you really must be learning the new characters to be experiencing this type of interference. This is the point where having a good attitude, a solid routine, and engaging exercises will really help.

Editor’s note:
Aaron and Jessica have graciously allowed AmateurRadio.com to give away the first hour of their Introduction to Morse Code course to our readers at no charge to help you get started. Good luck!

Skilman Introduction to Morse Code – Lesson 1 (24:02) Download
[sc_embed_player_template1 fileurl=”http://static.skilman.com/learn-1.mp3″]

Skilman Introduction to Morse Code – Lesson 2 (24:32) Download
[sc_embed_player_template1 fileurl=”http://static.skilman.com/learn-2.mp3″]

Matt Thomas, W1MST, is the managing editor of AmateurRadio.com. Contact him at [email protected].

Although sunspot data has been recorded in one form or another for over 400 years, there have been few changes in the counting system since the introduction of the 'Wolf Number' in 1849. Recording of the sunspot 'Group Number' came into existence in 1998. It seems there were some strong differences in the two parallel series of systems and in 2011 a group of 40 experts undertook a full examination and revision of both systems in order to identify and fix the defects.


The new system, which became effective on July 1st, has brought both systems into alignment, with the most notable correction being in the lowering, by about 18%, of all numbers after 1947. The new Group Number has been corrected for a large underestimate of all values before the 20th century and has resulted in a fully reconstructed series of Group Numbers.

courtesy: http://www.sidc.be/

Viewed graphically, through my non-expert eyes, most of the earlier cycles up until 1947 appear to show slightly stronger peaks than before while those after 1947, including monster Cycle 19, show smaller peaks.

The graphic of Group Numbers shows significant increases for cycles up until the 1900's.

courtesy: http://www.sidc.be/

The new system brings the correlation of Group Numbers and Sunspot Numbers into harmony, unlike before.

courtesy: http://www.sidc.be/

Although these changes became effective on July 1st, the work is far from complete. According to the folks at SILSO (Sunspot Index and Long-term Solar Observations):

Still, as can be seen, significant deviations remain, mainly before 1825, when the observations become scarce and in periods of activity minima (low counts). So, more work definitely remains to be done for many years to come, but given the major improvements harvested at this stage, the WDC - SILSO is now going to proceed with the public release of this new version.
 

The preparation of this major operation is now almost completed. It required a huge organizational and programming work from the small SILSO team. Indeed, the release of the new past Sunspot series is just a starting point for the WDC-SILSO. Indeed, it requires a deep reworking of the operational software that will process the data from our worldwide network on July 1st and in the future. Indeed, various data products must be made seamlessly compatible with the new base total Sunspot Number series: the hemispheric Sunspot Numbers, the daily Estimated Sunspot Number, the 12-month solar-cycle forecasts, all data plots and the derivation of personal k coefficients for all stations of the network.


After a rather uneventful life over the past 166 years, the Sunspot Number will thus be reborn in a new incarnation on Wednesday July 1st. We hope that the science community will welcome this revived data set and will appreciate the considerable community effort accomplished over the past four years to produce a better reference for long-term solar and Sun-Earth studies.
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

I got a tip the other day that there is an interesting circuit over at the RadioBoards Forum where an LM386 IC is used as a regen receiver for the medium wave band. It is the user ‘Selenium’ who has come up with that circuit. I think it is quite an amazing application of this IC – so here it is:

LM386 as a medium wave regen receiver by user Selenium on RadioBoards Forum

Interestingly, both the + and – inputs are tied together (pins 2 and 3). It is also quite unusual to connect pin 7 to anything but capacitors (for bypass or extra input as I have done), so that may change the bias of the input stage. Further, the smaller the impedance from pin 1 to ground, the larger the gain (here 10 uF in series with 1k for low frequencies and 100 pF for high frequencies).

If you want to read more about the regen circuit, go to the RadioBoards Forum here.

Sverre Holm, LA3ZA, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Norway. Contact him at [email protected].

I got a tip the other day that there is an interesting circuit over at the RadioBoards Forum where an LM386 IC is used as a regen receiver for the medium wave band. It is the user ‘Selenium’ who has come up with that circuit. I think it is quite an amazing application of this IC – so here it is:

LM386 as a medium wave regen receiver by user Selenium on RadioBoards Forum

Interestingly, both the + and – inputs are tied together (pins 2 and 3). It is also quite unusual to connect pin 7 to anything but capacitors (for bypass or extra input as I have done), so that may change the bias of the input stage. Further, the smaller the impedance from pin 1 to ground, the larger the gain (here 10 uF in series with 1k).

If you want to read more about the regen circuit, go to the RadioBoards Forum here.

Sverre Holm, LA3ZA, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Norway. Contact him at [email protected].

Amateur Radio Weekly is curated by Cale Mooth K4HCK. Sign up free to receive ham radio's most relevant news, projects, technology and events by e-mail each week at http://www.hamweekly.com.

 

• Amateur Radio Newsline returns; welcomes KD2GUT to the team.
• Heightened recognition comes for radio amateurs in the days before Field Day.
• Some new QSOs make their mark aboard the International Space Station.
• Changes are coming on 160 meters.
• In Europe, young hams are packing for a one-week radio camp in Italy for amateurs
• And the FCC seeks additional comments for new usage on lower and medium frequency bands.

    CLICK THE LINKS BELOW FOR THIS WEEK'S NEWSCAST:

  Script

  Audio

IC202

For me, 2m SSB began with the purchase of a 10W pep Belcom Liner 2, which opened up 2m SSB to the masses. Before then, people used homebrew transverters and HF rigs to get on VHF SSB.

After that I owned the IC202 from ICOM which had a very good VXO but less power (3W pep).  Later, the first digital synthesised rigs appeared and 2m SSB really took off.

In the last 20 years or so, certainly here in the UK, VHF/UHF SSB took a nosedive and what little VHF/UHF activity there is is mainly using FM. Here in the UK there is good SSB activity in contests and in good lifts, but little casual use of the SSB/CW modes, which is a pity. Ranges on SSB can be much greater than FM for similar power levels.

When I first used my Liner 2 I was amazed how far I could reach in flat conditions, even with 10W and a small indoor antenna.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/ic202 .

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.