home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
HAM Radio 3
/
hamradioversion3.0examsandprograms1992.iso
/
cw
/
morse26b
/
morse.doc
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1990-02-15
|
17KB
|
534 lines
Operation Manual
Copyright (C) 1987,88,89,90 Jerome Jay Duthler
Written By: Jerome J. Duthler N0IAI
RR #2 Box 675AA
Harrisonville, MO. 64701 USA
816.887.2708
Genie J.DUTHLER
Compuserve 71655,1057
Copyright 1987,88,89,90 Jerome Jay Duthler 12/Feb/87
____________ Registration
Morse Tutor is ShareWare if you use Morse Tutor please
register yourself as a user. The single user registration
fee is a very modest fifteen dollars ($15) US currency.
Please send your registration payable in check, money order,
NO CASH PLEASE to:
Jay Duthler
RR#2 Box 675AA
Harrisonville, MO. 64701 USA
Please supply the following information:
Name
Address (street, city, state, county is other than USA,
postal code: ZIP etc)
Amateur Radio call sign if you have one.
Any comments or enhancment request you would like to make.
User groups, radio clubs, others can contact me regarding
volume pricing, site licenses.
_____________ Introduction.
Congratulations you are using what I think and hopefully
you will also find, is the best Morse code learning system
available. The most important thing to remember when
learning Morse code is that it is a language. And like any
language to become proficient you must practice, and this is
where Morse Tutor comes in. Morse Tutor is an effective
tool for teaching or learning Morse Code because unlike
practice tape's, off the air, or hand sent code Morse Tutor
generates accurate code that is not possible to memorize.
___________________________ Morse Tutor Program History
I began writing Morse Tutor back on Feburary 12, 1987 when
I was unable to locate a program suitable for my own uses.
So some three years later Morse Tutor has gone through many
revisions and has grown in size to 200k of source, nearly
double the original release. All the will I have taken
great effort to assure that Morse Tutor is a stable
professional package.
Copyright 1987,88,89,90 Jerome Jay Duthler 13/Feb/90
Replaces 24/Feb/90 Page 2 of 9
Since the version 2.6b release I have changed to a
Microsoft development enviroment (from Lattice 'C') and have
incorperated many changes requested from all over the world
into the current development version. I expect to release
this enhanced version by the third quarter of 1990. Look for
it in the HAM Radio SIG on Compuserve and in the IBM forum
on Genie.
_________________ Program Operation
Start Morse Tutor by typing:
MORSE
This will start Morse Tutor in the default configuration
which is B/W video, character strip on, internal keying and
Vari-speed off. If you wish to see Morse Tutor in color, and
load the configuration file append the command -c or /c and
-f or /f to the end of MORSE. Example Morse /c /f will
enable color and will then read the configuration file.
Optional commands are.
/f or -f Read configuration file Morse.cfg
The file morse.cfg contains.
1st line Send Speed
2nd line Char Speed
3rd line Tone Freq
4th line Program Variables
0 = No effect.
1 = Enable Vari-Speed.
2 = Alternate introduction sequence.
3 = Alternate introduction sequence and enable
Vari-Speed.
Everything beyond line four is ignored and can be used for
comments.
Copyright 1987,88,89,90 Jerome Jay Duthler 13/Feb/90
Replaces 24/Feb/90 Page 3 of 9
_____________________________ Example contents of morse.cfg
7
13
500
3
; Faster novice practice using older learning sequence and
Vari-Speed.
_________________ Valid Ranges are.
Character and send speed 5 to 50 WPM and the send speed
cannot exceed the character speed.
Tone 500 to 2000 Hz
Morse Tutor will look in the current directory for morse.cfg
unless MTDIR=path is found in the environment. For example
if morse.exe and its configuration files are in the ham
directory on your harddisk, place "set MTDIR=c:\ham\" in you
autoexec.bat file.
This will cause Morse Tutor to look into the c:\ham
directory for the morse.cfg file if the /f option is
specified on startup. This enables you to run Morse Tutor
from other directories or drives if the c:\ham directory is
in you path. If you would like more information on the DOS
environment see your DOS manual.
/c Switch to color screen
White letters on a blue background
/a Use alternate learning sequence.
/v Turns on Vari-Speed which creates code with a
variable character speed which sounds more like
hand sent code.
/s Disables space skip which is a feature that
removes multiple spaces when sending from a file.
Copyright 1987,88,89,90 Jerome Jay Duthler 13/Feb/90
Replaces 24/Feb/90 Page 4 of 9
At this point a small welcome window will pop up and stay
up for approximately ten seconds. During this time the
program is reading the configuration file (if "/f" was
present on the command line), calibrating itself and if
external keying was requested the address of the printer
port will be displayed to confirm this. NOTE!! if the
calibration sequence does not take the displayed amount of
time (i.e. goes so fast you can't see it) and the machine
you are using has a high clock rate 20-33mhz exit Morse
Tutor and reduce the machines clock rate with the
manufactures utilities and restart Morse Tutor. After a bit
of humor the main program screen will be displayed.
The whole premise of the type of user interface I am using
is that it is self explanatory, hopefully easy to use and
doesn't require command memorization. Therefore I will not
go into any discussion on the operation except for some
special keys.
You can select any function on any menu by pressing the
first letter of the command or by moving the cursor over the
command by using the up, down, left, right, space bar, home,
or end key and pressing enter to select your choice.
Escape Abort out of any selection
function or enter the
settings when in the
settings window.
Insert Toggle insert on and off in
setting window
Backspace Delete previous char during
message input
Special Characters, Valid during message input, read from
file, and quiz
- Procedural BT
+ "" AR
* "" SK
Normal sendable characters:
A Thru Z, 0 Thru 9 and .,/?
Copyright 1987,88,89,90 Jerome Jay Duthler 13/Feb/90
Replaces 24/Feb/90 Page 5 of 9
___________________________________________ A note about message entry and file reading
Morse Tutor will look in the current directory for the
specified file unless MTDIR is present in the environment.
Any char listed above can be used, lower case characters are
converted to upper case characters that are not sendable are
skipped.
_____________________ Comments in text file
If the character ';' is present the beginning of a line it
is not sent but is displayed as a comment line. The maximum
length of a comment line is 78 characters. If the line is
longer, the remainder will be sent in code. I thought this
would be useful for instructors wishing to display lesson
numbers etc.
__________________ Space skip feature
This feature removes multiple spaces when reading a text
file.
For example if the file contains "THIS IS A TEST"
Morse Tutor would send "THIS IS A TEST". You may disable
this feature via the /s command line option.
_______________ External keying
If /e is present on the command line internal keying via the
speaker is disabled and keying is accomplished via bit 0
(pin 2) on the parallel printer port.
_______________ Settings window
Valid character and send speeds are 5 to 50 WPM and the send
speed may not exceeded the character speed. Tone frequency
500 to 2000 hz. If you have trouble entering data into the
fields turn off insert by pressing the insert key.
Copyright 1987,88,89,90 Jerome Jay Duthler 13/Feb/90
Replaces 24/Feb/90 Page 6 of 9
___________________ Learning Morse code
I suggest you obtain a tape based learning system or attend
classes (for moral support) for use in conjunction with
Morse Tutor.
As stated earlier Morse code is a language and like any
language it is best learned by sound association not by
memorization. This technique is evident in many of todays
product commercials where a classical or catchy musical
sequence is associate with a product. To be able to
efficiently copy code one must be able to associate the
overall sound of the character with the character without
any voluntary thought. Although this sounds difficult, it
is not all it takes is personnel commitment and practice.
The following sequence is what I use when teaching class and
have had very good success with it.
<quiz> = Select the quiz function from the menu.
1. Select the first group in the learning function
and listen to the sound or rhythm of the characters not
the individual elements. Listen to the sequence a
couple of times before proceeding.
2. The quiz function will be used to begin creating a
relationship inside your brain between the rhythm and
the character. To do this it is important to type your
choice quickly whether it is right or wrong. This
quick action will begin to form a involuntary ear hand
connection. Begin by selecting <quiz> <groups>
<individual> <group A> and see how well you can do for
5 to 10 minutes.
3. Now that you have started to create a mind link we will
enter the practice function and see how well you can do
in real time. Do not expect to copy all of the
characters at this time in fact if you copy 50 percent
you are doing very well. If you find yourself peeking
at the screen during practice I suggest you hide it via
the Main screen hide under the utilities function.
Continue with this for 10 minutes then stop.
4. This completes the first day of practice. Repeat the
above sequence daily until you can copy the first
group without mental thought. Do not attempt to skip
ahead to other groups intending to return later, stay
with it until you have mastered each group.
Copyright 1987,88,89,90 Jerome Jay Duthler 13/Feb/90
Replaces 24/Feb/90 Page 7 of 9
5. After you have mastered the first group continue to the
next group and reduce the individual group practice to
5 minutes. Then practice cumulatively for 5 minutes.
Practice for 20 minutes a day and no more. Above all,
listen to the rhythm of the character. DO NOT attempt to
count the elements that make up the characters.
After you have learned all of the characters use the
practice QSO and practice words to sharpen your skills. Then
if you really what a challenge turn on Vari-speed and see
how well you do.
If you practice every day for 20 minutes you should be able
to pass the novice code test in as little as four weeks. If
however you have a mental block skip practice for a day it
helps sometimes.
____________________________ Problem or comment reporting
If you have any comments or find any bugs ( Argh !!) please
contact me at the above address of through Genie or
Compuserve with the following information.
Manufacturer of computer system, processor type and clock
speed.
Free memory at program startup (use CHKDSK to find this ).
Any memory resident programs that you are running.
Type of video card.
DOS Version.
If the problem can be duplicated please supply the command
sequence.
Error number if one was reported
Copyright 1987,88,89,90 Jerome Jay Duthler 13/Feb/90
Replaces 24/Feb/90 Page 8 of 9
If you desire more information about amateur radio contact
the ARRL at the address below they can put you in contact
with a club in your area.
American Radio Relay League
225 Main Street
Newington, Ct 06111
________________ Acknowledgements
_____________ My wife Julie
For putting up with DIT DAHS for months and the two o'clock
in the morning and all weekend coding sessions ( obsessed,
who me?).
__________ Pat Burke.
For his tutelage in 'C', for without his assistance Morse
Tutor would not exsist.
______________________________ The folks at Solution Systems.
For making Brief, a great programming editor.
Copyright 1987,88,89,90 Jerome Jay Duthler 13/Feb/90
Replaces 24/Feb/90 Page 9 of 9
