The Role of Memory in Telegraphy

 

 

Why Learning Initially by Sight Doesn't Work Well
If you "memorized the code" (as I did) from a printed chart of dots and dashes, or from a clever printed diagram or picture which vividly impressed the mind, you felt you knew it. Maybe it only took you twenty minutes to "memorize" it, as some advertisers claimed - or perhaps it took a day or two. Then if you tried to send something in code with your key, it was easy: you had a vivid mental picture as to just how long to hold each element of a character, and this seemed to prove you knew the code.

 

But it was when you started to receive, to listen to the code, that the trouble began. The sounds you heard just didn't seem to match up with the dots and dashes you "knew" at all. Why should it be so hard to translate the code sounds into the dots and dashes and letters that you thought you knew so well? Those who have made a study of memory tell us that we have several separate memory banks: one for sight, one for sound, others for touch, taste and smell. (See, e.g., "Memory: Surprising New Insights Into How We Remember and Why We Forget" - Elizabeth Loftus, 1980)

 

Now we see why: the code sounds we heard couldn't make any direct connection at all with our vivid visual memory: they were two different kinds of sensations (sound and sight) -- they didn't relate. In order to cross that gap and relate them we had to give conscious thought to build a bridge between them: to convert the sound pattern into a pattern of visual dots and dashes so that our visual memory, where the "memory" was, could interpret them. That is why we stumbled and, under the pressure of time, often missed out or even failed completely. If we keep on this way we will have to form additional association links for each individual code character in order to connect them. This can be done, and has been done, but it takes a lot of time and also raises a new risk - the danger of interference between them (two possible pathways, one conscious, the other the new association formed) and possible hesitation as a result.

 

Our memories are complex mechanisms. To fill in the picture, experimental studies on memory have for many years shown that we have not only several kinds, but also several levels of memories. First are what may be called the "sensory registers", the very short times during which, after we see or hear something, its sight or sound persists in our consciousness as if we were still seeing or hearing it (persistence of vision or hearing) for a moment, then quickly vanishes. However, if we are paying attention and are conscious of a sight or sound, it will enter the appropriate "short-term memory" and stay there for maybe 15-20 seconds before it, too, fades out unless we deliberately try to remember it a bit longer, or make a real effort to put it into our "long-term memory" bank by intending to remember it (by reinforcing it).

 

Long term memory is what we usually think of as our "memory." Because for most of us it seems easier to remember things we have seen than things we have heard, the visual approach to learning seems more attractive. But obviously, since receiving the code is a matter of hearing, we should begin the right way, by training our auditory memory banks. Now we can see why learning the code initially by eye is really the hard way, and actually creates a serious roadblock to advancement.

 

Some Further Questions and Thoughts
The intricate interworking of the various parts of our minds and brains raises questions as to what is going on as we consider receiving in the telegraphic codes. Memory studies are usually concerned with things we are fully conscious of and desire either to remember or to forget. With the higher skills in code, however, it is the operation of the unconscious parts of the mind and its relations with the consciousness that is of primary interest, and how these tie together with the memory.

 

As our telegraphic skill level increases, the ABC's of the mechanics of language become more and more the actions of the subconscious mind, which in turn may or may not bring them to the attention of our consciousness. In the process of copying, the consciousness of content may be zero: you just mechanically copy (dictation) what is received, while you may be conscious only of thinking of something quite irrelevant. However, in reading the code we are first conscious of the words, and later conscious more of the thoughts conveyed than being precisely aware of the words. In both these higher skill levels, the words and thoughts are generally collected together into at least the "short-term" memories, and often carried over into the "long-term memories," so that we "make sense" out of it all and follow what is being said as we do in conversation.

 

Perhaps the only thing we are conscious of, if we stop to think about it at all is that we want to understand and recall some of the things said to us. Perhaps there is an analogy with driving a car. Here our eyes are receiving impressions from traffic, traffic signals, certain sounds, and our physical responses on steering wheel, accelerator, brakes are so automatic that if we are asked later about some particular detail, we just can't reply. These habitual physical responses to stimuli from specific events are especially strongly retained over long periods of time. The complete response once started carries itself out automatically and fully.

 

Another, less frequent occurrence is this: over the years it has been found that people sometimes have retained mental "pictures" or "sound recordings" of things in earlier life to which they had paid no attention or had any interest in. Under certain conditions they were able to recall them -- even things that made no sense at the time or later. One aged lady was able to recall verbatim long speeches (in a language foreign to her) she had heard many years previously. Another sang a song in the native language of her mother, a language the singer never understood at all. The experts tell us that "long term memory" does not mean either permanent memory or accurate memory. All memories tend to weaken or fade out with time, and further, that they can and usually are altered in various ways so that the recall is distorted, or sometimes even reversed from the original.

 

One exception is those memories associated with physically-related skills, such as playing a musical instrument, driving a vehicle, stenography, telegraphy, etc. People who have not practiced such skills for many years will generally show surprising agility after decades of non-use. A little practice will usually put them back to nearly their best performance, barring physical disability. This has been demonstrated over and over. There is certainly room here for further research into this fascinating subject as we look for specifically better ways to improve our telegraphic skills.

 

Those operators in commercial work who read the tapes by eye seldom if ever learned cw as we know it, but rather learned the visual appearance of words and letters on the tapes in groups. There is also another aspect to tape reading: it is more like reading print with each character in full context, not in sequential time. One operator accustomed to operating in the 35-40 wpm range was out of it for five years. When he sat down to listen he could copy only about 15 wpm: "I couldn't believe it!" By noon he was up to about 24-wpm and later in the afternoon was up to his old speeds again. Just a few hours of practice were needed. "One can indeed get awfully rusty," he said.

Chapter 14

The "Ear"

 

By "ear" we mean our total hearing and interpretive system, an intricate and ingenious complete system of perception and interpretation of what is heard: ears, nerves, and mind.

The ears themselves are sensitive over a very wide range of intensities, but have their maximum sensitivity and selectivity at low volume levels. Setting the sound volume level just high enough to be clearly readable, both protects the hearing and improves performance. The ear responds to what it hears first.

 

Pitch of CW Signal
The ear is sensitive to pitch. Few people can accurately remember pitch ("absolute pitch"), but most have no trouble detecting changes and differences in pitch. Not many seem actually to be "tone deaf." The usual pitch range used for CW is between 500 and 1000 Hz. Some find the best pitch for copying in interference is about 500 Hz.

 

Those with serious hearing losses -- who cannot hear certain pitches, or who cannot distinguish code signals in the usual pitch range because their ears "ring" where the spaces should be -- may find a lower pitch (e.g. 300 - 400 Hz) helps. Sometimes using a buzzer tone, or adding white noise to the tone may enable them to hear properly. (Note: Avoid the use of an actual buzzer in teaching as it has a delay in starting to sound. This distorts the timing.)

 

The usual narrow bandwidth of tone for CW is uncomfortable to some people and may become monotonous, uncomfortable or unpleasant. The narrower the pitch range the more frequent the complaint. They find a more complex tonal pattern far less tiring and even pleasant. However, when interference is present more complex tones become a hindrance.

 

Sensitivity to Duration of Sound
In the perception of rhythm the human ear will adapt itself within rather wide limits in the actual duration of sounds. Our judgment of the duration of a brief sound is poor, perhaps because of a persistence of sound (like persistence of vision), yet we can judge the relative length of brief silent intervals rather well. (This is probably why the telegraph sounder has worked so well for receiving American Morse, where rhythm patterns are complex.) Thus, "If we take care for the spaces, the 'marks' will take care of themselves." Some students may have difficulty distinguishing dits from dahs. (The normal ratio is 1:3.) For them it may help to overemphasize the length of the dahs at first by lengthening them from 3 units to 4. (It is interesting that in American Morse the dahs tended to become shorter than three units, to contrast with the longer dahs of L and zero. Again, it may be the nature of the sounder that led to this.)

 

There are good reasons for believing that we must distinguish between conscious perception of duration and what the brain actually is capable of perceiving at subconscious levels. Support for this belief comes from the experiences of those operators who can receive code signals accurately at speeds, which far exceed the point where dits and dahs all sound alike. See Chapter 10.

 

The "Ear" Can Often Make Sense Out Of Poor Sending
The ear is remarkable in being able to make sense out of some pretty badly mangled code, such as is often heard on the air. It is a forgiving organ: by mental adjustment one can quickly learn to recognize and read quite poorly timed code-- code whose glaring defects would stand out prominently if traced out on paper. Within fairly wide limits the actual duration of the sound in a rhythmic pattern may vary and still be recognized. However, the spacings within and between characters and words is a highly significant factor.

 

Some distortions of proportion are less unintelligible than others. Better discrimination exists when the dits are too fast as compared to the dahs than when the dits and dahs begin to approach the same length (easily confused). The ear can often read this kind of stuff when "machinery" fails.

 

The Trained Ear Can Discriminate Between Signals
The normal ear can learn to separate between signals nearly, but not quite, identical in pitch. For many people the ear-brain filter can focus on a bandwidth as narrow as 50 - 100 Hz. If one can focus on a 50 Hz. bandwidth with a receiver having a 3 kHz noise bandwidth, a CW signal nearly 18 dB below the noise level can be heard. However, a bandwidth of about 500 Hz., rather than a very narrow one, makes the mechanics of tuning easier and gives freer rein to the ear-brain filter.

 

It is usually only when the going gets quite rough that we need an extremely narrow receiving filter -- and then there is the risk of losing the signal entirely if anything shifts just a little. It has been said that "The amateur ear, trained to dig out signals buried six layers deep in murderous QRM is the most prized ear in intercept work in all the world."

 

Headphones Are Superior To A Speaker
Headphones effectively double the power of received signals compared to a loudspeaker. The muffs on the phones keep out extraneous noises and keep the weak sound energy in. The signal-to-noise ratio can be increased by reversing the phasing of the phones: that is, the noise at one phone is 180 degrees out of phase with the other and the brain tends to cancel the noise. Noise type ear plugs can also help with phones and/or filters to reduce spurious noises.

Chapter 15

Timing

 

Timing Is the Heart of the Code
Timing is the heart of the code: there is no code without it. Clear intelligibility depends upon right proportions. However, it is true that some distortions are less unintelligible than others, and people can learn to read that sort of stuff -- but is it justifiable? Control of timing rests entirely with the sending operator.

 

For this reason, attention to careful timing is first needed when the student starts to practice with a manual key, especially a straight key, though also with most other types. This is one reason why some good teachers discourage the use of anything but a keyboard by a beginner. Most modern teachers agree that it is important not to specifically mention the subject of timing until the student has learned the alphabet and numbers so well by hearing them that he recognizes their patterns without hesitation.

 

Some teachers recommend that other than using "dits" and "dahs" to verbalize characters, they should not be time-analyzed at all in teaching, but that it all be done intuitively by sound. On the other hand, some excellent teachers of the past (before keyers and keyboards) have insisted on teaching precise timing, in terms of its elements, from the very first. Accurate timing is vital, but it must never distract the student from the basic recognition of characters by their essential unity of patterning: it must not lead to his breaking down the characteristic rhythm of the characters by analyzing them into components.

 

The Basic Units
The basic unit of code timing is the Baud, which is the duration of one dit (or "dot"), denoted here by 1 for the "on" signal, and by (the equal unit) 0 (zero) for silence, the "off" signal. The basic contrasting signal to the "dit" is the dah, which has duration of 3 units (111). It is obvious that each dit and each dah must be separated both before and after by at least one unit silence (0) in order to be distinguishable: this (one unit) is the normal spacing between parts of a character. Normal spacing between characters within a word (or group) is three units (000), and between words (or groups) is seven units (0000000).

 

Punctuation marks normally follow the last word with only one character space (000) between. It is these components of time, signal "on", short or long, and "off", which produce the patterns or rhythms which distinguish one character from another. We must learn to hear these patterns, sense them, feel them, and this is best done by hearing well-sent code. In actual practice, individual operators may and do deviate somewhat from the standards given above. This may be for emphasis or because of communication conditions, as well as unconscious individual variations.

 

Relative Duration and Spacing Are Very Important
In the perception of rhythm by the human ear the precise duration of sounds is, within fairly wide limits, unimportant. If the longer signals (i.e., dahs) are substantially longer than the shorter ones (i.e., dits), the ear will be satisfied. While our judgment of the duration of brief sounds is poor, we can judge the relative length of brief silence intervals much more accurately.

 

It has been said: "If you take care of the spaces, the 'marks' will take care of themselves." Spacing, the periods of silence between parts of a character, between characters in a word or group, and between words, is critical to good receiving. Sloppy or hastily sent code can be a terror to receive and understand. (Beyond some speed the persistence-of-hearing effect tends to fill in the small spaces and make us unable to consciously recognize characters.) [In American Morse with its three different lengths of dashes, each successively longer one was taught as being twice as long as the next shorter one -- an amount which is clearly "hearable" under almost any conditions. In practice, however, because they used a telegraph sounder which marks the start of a signal by one kind of click, and its end by a different-sounding click, with silence in between, these durations were often shortened without confusion for reasons stated above. The same thing was true for its internally spaced characters.]

 

Code "translators", microcircuitry for converting code into print, break down when sending is poor or interference is severe. The human ear and mind, however, can copy rotten code far better than any machine. The "ear" is a forgiving organ: by mental compensation we can quickly recognize and read stuff as passable code, which if it were recorded on paper tape would show its glaring defects. In the presence of interfering signals and static, and to a large extent during fading, the "ear" can be trained to pick out a very weak signal and read it well. (Chapter 11)

 

Irregularities in Timing
From the very beginning of telegraphy as soon as the art began to spread, the individuality of operators became apparent. Little peculiarities in sending stood out to identify each one, just as voice quality and style do in speaking. Mostly these were subtle little things, which did not distract from easy intelligibility. But they did involve aspects of timing and rhythm. We hear them today on the CW bands among amateurs using hand keys just as they did among all operators in the past.

 

For many operators there was a certain pride in this. However, there is a danger here also, because some operators deliberately created peculiar styles of sending as a sort of trademark. When such distortion reaches a certain point and becomes habitual, intelligibility suffers. We hear some of these operators today on the air. They do not seem to realize, or perhaps even care about the difficulty they cause. With the advent of the "double speed key", also called the "sideswiper" or the "cootie key", a key, which is operated by sidewise movement, with one contact on each side, a new set of peculiar styles of sending arose. Sidewise instead of up and down motion helped relieve some forms of fatigue, but also the peculiar motion patterns developed a different timing pattern, one that is sometimes hard to copy.

 

The use of "bugs," semi-automatic keys (the best known being the "Vibroplex") which soon became very popular, also gave rise to various personal sending peculiarities unless the operator was careful. "SWINGS" One of the most interesting developments in disturbed timing of hand sending was the rise of so-called "swings." Swing has to do with a change in the normal rhythm of sending, sometimes described as a change in symmetry or lack of it: a peculiar way of forming the characters. Swings most commonly developed among marine operators within a close-knit group having a large volume of specialized communications. Thus we have the names "Banana boat swing", "Lake Erie swing", "Cuban swing", etc.

 

The operators of the large United Fruit Co. were especially noted for this. Some have claimed that swings developed as a most effective way of copying the early day spark signals (which sounded so much like static) through heavy static. The basic principle of "sea-going swing" was to exaggerate the spacing between letters when a letter ending with a dah was followed by one beginning with a dah, and similarly for one ending in a dit when the next began with a dit. The spacing before and after an E within a word was often made a bit longer for clarity. Exaggerated dah lengths were common also in the attempt to improve readability: e.g., the first dah in C was generally dragged out slightly.

 

Other individual rhythmic disturbances were common also, such as drawing out the second dah in "Q" (which we often hear on the air today). In order to avoid confusion in the midst of typically heavy Gulf of Mexico static, sending the call signs of two main shore stations was modified: -- the P of WPA was made with long dahs, while the space between A and X of WAX was exaggerated and the dahs of X were lengthened. This stopped the confusion. In later years such swings were found necessary for intelligibility in low frequency marine work when signals were barely audible. Some said "Banana boat" swing developed from call letters KFUC, the general call for all United Fruit Co. ships. Others suggested the rolling motion of boats contributed to forming it. The name "Cuban swing" or "Latin swing" came from the way most Cuban and Mexican operators ran their words together. Sometimes it must have been quite deliberate -- just to try to be individualistic, such as a jerk in forming H P C S 4 5 Y Q; a lengthening of one of the dahs a bit in J, 1, etc.; any "funny" little stroke. But these things made them hard to copy by other operators.

 

Early in 1936 the Eastern Air Lines (EAL) communications supervisor decided to develop an EAL swing for its operators. He dreamed up the idea of modifying a "bug" by moving the stationary dot post a half inch forward. This produced a swing like none ever heard before. The operators did not like it and soon repositioned the post, but it unconsciously influenced the sending of many of them ever after. Recently operators in a foreign navy were found almost impossible to understand at first because of a peculiar rhythm taught by their telegraph instructors.

 

Over the years, peculiarities of this sort have often been observed in other parts of the world as well. These, too, would have to be called "swings". Swings. The earliest comment found so far about swing is from Radio News Dec. 1921 p.565: "The American Radio Operator" (commercial and shipboard): criticizes "the cultivation of a fancy or eccentric style of sending, believed clever in originality, but causes the receiving operator to make more effort to copy than usual. He introduces a jerk in his H's, P's, C's, 3's, 4's, 5's, Y's, and Q's and makes one of the dashes of J and 1, etc., a trifle longer than the rest... A tricky swing he makes as an effort to acquire the 'funny' stroke as he goes on. -- Consider the other operator!"

Chapter 16

Other Methods

 

 

Personal Computers And Keyboards For Self-Learning
For self-learning nothing is superior to a Personal Computer (PC) or a keyboard where the student can push a key and hear each character (and see it in print if there is a screen), as often as he wishes or needs to get the feel of its rhythm. The PC especially has become such a valuable tool that some teachers (as Gary Bold) consider it to be superior to private or classroom learning.

 

· It is consistent, always sending perfect code in exactly the same way.

· It is always available and ready to be used whenever the student wants to practice.

· Most computer teaching programs provide for easy tailoring to the exact needs of the individual student.

· A PC is impersonal and there is never any reason for the student to feel embarrassment, something which often is an emotional deterrent to efficient learning in the presence of a teacher or classmates.

· It can provide both an excellent introduction to the code and growth in skill to any desired degree.

Many Computer Programs Are Excellent
See also Chapter 18. Computer programs have been and some are still available for the Commodore and Apple computers, but most have been for the IBM-compatible PC's. They have been of all sizes and varieties, according to the skill, teaching experience and ingenuity of the programming writers. Many provide for connecting the computer with the transmitter and using the computer as a keyboard. Some provide an evaluation of the student's sending skills.

 

One of the important features for rapid learning is the degree of adaptability to the student and the amount of interaction with him that is provided. How flexible are they? Do they provide checks on skill and accuracy? One example of an interactive computer program (Gary Bold's) starts the new student out by having him hear the character, then keying in his identification of it. If his identification is correct, the character is then displayed on the screen. But if he is wrong, his answer is ignored, and the character is repeated until he correctly identifies it. The same character is then presented several more times for his correct response before taking up the next one. If he delays too long in responding, the character is repeated (and may be displayed simultaneously) until he gets it.

 

After a number (per student's request) of new characters have been introduced, they are repeated in random order, and if one is misidentified, it is repeated until the student correctly identifies it. This program then ingeniously ratios the next series of random characters in proportion to the number of times any of them have been misidentified, until the student reduces this ratio significantly. Many PC programs provide a considerable variety of practice material beyond the initial learning and recognition stage. Computer programs can be versatile tools for rapid advancement, tailored to individual needs. Keyboards may provide for some of these various factors, depending on how they have been designed and programmed. There are some smaller pocket sized "computers" which are limited to hearing practice only.

 

Growing Up With Hearing It
Old timer George Hart, W1NJM is one who learned the code originally, as he says, by "osmosis" from an older brother who was a ham -- just by listening, with no intention of learning it or getting a license. This way he learned frequent letters and operating procedures until one day he discovered he could communicate by code. From then on he was hooked! He later wrote: "[I was] practically born with a key in my hand, so cw [was] as natural to me as talking."

 

Learning By Listening To High Speed Code
A few hams in years gone by have said that they initially "learned the code" by listening to fast commercial press dispatches (probably 35 - 45 wpm), which were then available day and night. (Did they mean starting out, or advancing? Just how they actually began is not clear.) They claim that they found they could identify a letter here and there, then short words, and within a couple of months were reading it all. However, this approach may not have been very efficient -- for most of us it might prove discouraging -- and probably depended greatly upon the mental makeup of the learner as well as his enthusiasm. We mention it here only to show what can be done if one is determined enough.

 

Further Comments on Gaining Speed
With many modern computer code programs available, programmable keyboards and keyers, as well as tapes, etc., there are several attractive alternates available. With these, material can be better tailored for our individual needs. The Farnsworth method suggests itself here in the high speed range, too, to allow the mind time to digest and identify characters and words. Using this, some have found that to set up a character speed in the 50 - 60 wpm range and then widening the inter-letter and inter-word spaces initially, gradually reducing them as desired, can speed up the recognition process.

 

Sleep Learning (??)
A number of operators in the past who desperately wanted to increase their receiving skills deliberately tried sleeping beside their receivers or playback recording equipment (or their line telegraph sounders in the case of landline operators) with fast code signals coming through for several hours or all night. They claimed that within a surprisingly short time they had great increases in receiving speed. This procedure has been challenged, but apparently works for some people.

 

One ham, who says he can copy at 70-wpm and still wants to increase above that, has for years been listening this way every night. Maybe it works for some people, but I wonder if it is actually effective, and also whether they got any restful sleep that way. It is interesting that in the early 1920's a group of doctors were being trained to use Morse code. Their teachers tried sleep-learning with them, and found that if the word "doctor" was sent while they were sound asleep during the night, it would nearly always wake them immediately -- showing that there is some kind of unconscious receptivity and response.

 

Another Suggestion That Has Worked
When someone comes to me and asks how to make the 13-wpm requirement for General class, I give them the following plan of working:

"You need to listen every day to good sending, and I suggest the W1AW CW bulletins. They are at 18-wpm. Start out the first few days and just listen for no more than one minute. Then turn it off. As you listen, pick out the characters you recognize. Don't write anything down at all the first few days like this. After a few days, increase your listening time to two minutes and continue to pick out as many characters as you can in your head-- and don't write anything down yet. Then turn it off, as before. After eight to ten days of this practice, go back to the one minute period of listening, but this time write down everything you can recognize. Try to leave blank spaces where you miss out. Write down every letter you can catch for that one minute period, then turn it off. Repeat this practice for several days, then extend the time to two minutes, writing down everything you can recognize. After several days or a week or so this way you will find your comprehension coming up fairly rapidly because your concentration is improving and you will be surprised how much you can copy in just this short period of time. From here on gradually increase your listening time to 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 minutes. When you can copy somewhere around 60% of the bulletin materials you will find that you can copy 13 wpm, the test speed, with flying colors. This scheme has worked well for a number of people who had reached speeds between 5 and 10 wpm, but had difficulty in advancing. This general pattern should prove of help to others aiming for the 20-wpm test or higher."

 

McElroy's Course and His Claims For It
Although this does not fall into the above categories, here is what was said: -
In the Nov. 1945 QST, p 115, was an ad in which Ted McElroy's Company offered to "send you this complete course of instruction (McElroy's 'Morse' Code Course) free so you can see for yourself what it'll do for you. It was said to contain "everything he has learned in 30 years of operating experience." "Assuming that the average person will practice several hours the first day, we can tell you ... that you'll be copying THAT VERY FIRST DAY, words and sentences at the rate of 20 wpm. The thing is that ingenious! Ted has taken one-half the alphabet, which appears on his chart No. 1, prepared a practice tape, which runs for at least one full hour without attention at the rate of 20-wpm. You won't copy 20 full words in one minute. But each letter you write will hit your ears at a full 20-wpm and the space between letters becomes progressively shorter as the rolls go along." Since Ted's receiving speed records were tops in almost every official speed contest, it would be very interesting to see this document. At present, the above is all that seems to be available.

Chapter 17

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