If you read my post from last month about my first month of learning CW, you know I was pretty frustrated. I was drilling away with the Koch method using the trainer software every single morning before work, usually 15 or 20 minutes, sometimes longer on weekends. I was stuck around 10 words per minute and the characters just weren't sticking the way I wanted them to. I'd hear a V and think "dit dit dit dah" and by the time I'd consciously worked through that in my head, I'd already missed the
I started with one of those popular computer programs that everyone recommends. You know the type - starts you off with individual letters at 5 WPM, builds up from there. Seemed logical enough. The first week went pretty well. I was feeling confident recognizing A, B, C, and the handful of other letters I'd learned. Dah-dit, dit-dah-dit, dah-dit-dit. Easy enough, right?
Reality Check Number One
Then I tried listening to actual CW on 40 meters during prime time. Holy cow. What I heard sounded
