Morse Elmer
v 1.5
Morse Elmer is an app to help you learn Morse Code. Morse Elmer uses two well established methods to help you learn: The Koch Method and (what I’m calling) Farnsworth spacing. As you train Morse Elmer keeps track of your results, graphing them so you can monitor your progress. With Morse Elmer on your iOS device you’ll have the tools to train whenever you want and the more frequently you train the quicker you’ll become proficient.
Now let’s get started...
Overview
I was personally drawn to amateur radio by my fascination with communicating long distance without any infrastructure, a battery, radio and antenna and you were ready to talk to the world. Morse Code is particularly suited to mobile low power long range communication. Morse code signals (also known as CW, for Continuous wave) penetrate interference and can be generated by equipment that is very simple and cheap to build. By the time I finally got my General license the requirement for Morse code had been removed. Even without the requirement my captivation with Morse code continued and I sought ways to teach myself.
I learned about the Koch and Farnsworth methods when I ran across a really nice desktop program by G4FON. It’s a Windows program he wrote to help keep his Morse code skills in shape. It’s a good tool that I used for a while to train. The only downside to G4FON’s trainer is that I had to sit at my computer to use it. I kept looking for something I could take with me.
When I started developing software for Apple iOS I knew I had found a mobile platform that I could use to create a Morse code training app. Morse Elmer is the first version of this trainer and I’m using it to learn Morse code.
I learned about the Koch and Farnsworth methods when I ran across a really nice desktop program by G4FON. It’s a Windows program he wrote to help keep his Morse code skills in shape. It’s a good tool that I used for a while to train. The only downside to G4FON’s trainer is that I had to sit at my computer to use it. I kept looking for something I could take with me.
When I started developing software for Apple iOS I knew I had found a mobile platform that I could use to create a Morse code training app. Morse Elmer is the first version of this trainer and I’m using it to learn Morse code.
What's New
Version 1.5
This version brings the Morse Elmer codebase up to date with the latest iOS hardware and software while addressing a few minor bugs. This will make it easier to make more frequent smaller releases going forward.
I've updated the UI to take better advantage of the various screen sizes that have proliferated since the last release.
The QSO results screen bug has been fixed.
The maximum file size has been increased to 65536 bytes.
The maximum training length has been increased to 60 minutes.
I've updated the ability to access text files in Document Browser for File based training and added the ability to delete files.
I hope that Morse Elmer continues to be a value to those of you trying to learn Morse Code.
Remember to leave a review/rating for Morse Elmer in the app store.
Cheers, Morgan Jones KI4OWG
This version brings the Morse Elmer codebase up to date with the latest iOS hardware and software while addressing a few minor bugs. This will make it easier to make more frequent smaller releases going forward.
I've updated the UI to take better advantage of the various screen sizes that have proliferated since the last release.
The QSO results screen bug has been fixed.
The maximum file size has been increased to 65536 bytes.
The maximum training length has been increased to 60 minutes.
I've updated the ability to access text files in Document Browser for File based training and added the ability to delete files.
I hope that Morse Elmer continues to be a value to those of you trying to learn Morse Code.
Remember to leave a review/rating for Morse Elmer in the app store.
Cheers, Morgan Jones KI4OWG
There are eight configurable aspects to your training in Morse Elmer. Five of these apply to your training sessions: Target Speed, Farnsworth Spacing, Duration, Frequency and Delay.
Three, apply to your training set: Word Size, Which Set and Set Size.
Training Session
The first setting in your Training Session is used to set your “Target Speed” in Words Per Minute (WPM). This is the rate the dits and dahs are sent within the individual characters. You set this to the speed you ultimately want to use. With Koch and Farnsworth, you don't work your way up from a slower speed, from the beginning you learn to recognize the characters at the full speed you want to use.
The Normal setting shows the simple scale control that allows you to swipe to select your Target Speed WPM. This Normal Target Speed will use the same WPM for the entire training duration. If Advanced is selected a completely different control is displayed.
The Advanced control defines a graduated Target Speed by specifying three values. Percentage Ramp Time, is the percentage of your training duration that is used to smoothly increase the Target Speed over the range specified by Start WPM and Target WPM.
Consider the following example:
Let's say you specified a training duration of one minute.
and a Graduated Target Speed with the following parameters:
In this example your training would start with a Target Speed of 5 WPM. For 30 seconds (50% of your one minute training duration) the Target Speed would smoothly increase until it settles at 15 WPM. For the final 30 seconds of your training the Target Speed would stay at 15 WPM.
As you become more comfortable copying at a particular Target Speed, you may find this tool useful to help nudge you up to the next level.
The Farnsworth spacing varies from “off” to your current Target Speed. If you’re having trouble identifying characters before the next one starts you can use this to exaggerate the spacing between characters until you’re more comfortable with your training set.
The duration setting adjusts the length of your training session. Morse Elmer supports training sessions as short as one minute or as long as 60 minutes, but for the best results you should use sessions that are at least five minutes in length.
The next setting in the Training Session section adjusts the frequency of the audio you hear during training. Morse Elmer defaults to 440 Hz, generally associated with the A note above middle C.
The last setting in the Training Session section will enable a five second delay after you tap the "Start" button before the audio starts. This will give you a chance to get ready to start copying.
Training Set
Training Sets represent useful groups of characters to help you learn.
The first setting in the Training Set section specifies either fixed or random length words in your training set. You have three choices of fixed word size: 3, 5, or 7 characters.
The next setting in the Training Set section allows you to choose which training set to use. Morse Elmer now supports eight different training Sets.
The next setting in the Training Set section allows you to choose which training set to use. Morse Elmer now supports eight different training Sets.
The Default Set consists of 43 assorted alphabetic, numeric, punctuation and prosign characters.
The Default Set is a good starting place to learn the characters you’re going to initially need on air.
The next four sets focus on particular subgroups of the Default Set. The Letters Set is composed of the 26 letters in the alphabet. The Numbers Set is composed of the numbers 0 through 9. The Prosigns set consists of 11 special prosigns or procedural signals. The Punctuation set is composed of 18 different symbols.
The Custom Set allows you to create your own training set from members of any of the other basic sets: Letters, Numbers, Prosigns and Punctuation.
The next four sets focus on particular subgroups of the Default Set. The Letters Set is composed of the 26 letters in the alphabet. The Numbers Set is composed of the numbers 0 through 9. The Prosigns set consists of 11 special prosigns or procedural signals. The Punctuation set is composed of 18 different symbols.
The Custom Set allows you to create your own training set from members of any of the other basic sets: Letters, Numbers, Prosigns and Punctuation.
With a custom set you can focus on characters that are giving you trouble by creating a Training set that includes just those characters.
NOTE: since Morse Elmer uses the standard iOS keyboard when creating your custom set, some of the special characters available are not supported by Morse Elmer and will not be included in the set if you type them.
A warning will be displayed if you attempt entry of unsupported or duplicate characters.
The File Set was added in version 1.3.
This set allows you to provide text files to train from. You provide these files via iTunes File Sharing.
This means when you connect your device to your computer, you can add text files to Morse Elmer, via the Finder, to be used for training.
The details of how to copy files can be found in this Apple support article: Use the Finder to share files between your Mac and your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch.
Version 1.4 added two new feature to Morse Elmer File Set. Now you can exaggerate the spacing in file sets and add files from a third party source like Dropbox.
Version 1.4 added two new feature to Morse Elmer File Set. Now you can exaggerate the spacing in file sets and add files from a third party source like Dropbox.
The spacing control allows you to exaggerate the spacing between words. In a file set, for each space found depending on the control setting that space will be replaced with either 1, 2 or 3 spaces. This will give you more time between words to figure out what was just sent and get ready for the next word.
Version 1.5 expanded the way files could be added to Morse Elmer. Using the Document Browser you are now able to browse all the text files on your device, iCloud drive, or in any supported third-party file providers.
Tap the + in the upper right hand corner to access the Document Browser.
Only text files will be selectable in the Document browser.
When you choose File as your training set, you'll be shown a list of available files.
Morse Elmer will only display and use files with the .txt extension that are (as of Version 1.5) not greater than 65536 bytes in size. Text files that are too big will not be selectable and will have a warning message.
Verizon 1.5 added the ability to delete a file that has been added to Morse Elmer. Just swipe left on the row to access the delete button.
You will get a warning alert before the file is actually deleted.
Once you select a file, Morse Elmer will check the contents of the file.
If there are any unsupported characters, they will be highlighted and ignored by Morse Elmer.
Keep in mind the unsupported character may not even be printable, so the highlighting may only approximate the location in the file.
The validation is just to show you the characters that will be ignored.
You can go ahead and train as is or rework the training file and share it again with Morse Elmer.
NOTE: Morse Elmer (as of Version 1.5) doesn't support parsing Prosigns in training files.
When you select a File based training set, back on the Settings tab,
instead of specifying training word length, you now specify File Order.
If you choose Sequential then a training set is built by sequentially drawing words from the file you specified.
If you choose Random Word then a training set is built by randomly selecting whitespace separated words from the file you specified.
Morse Elmer ships with a single file: The top 100 CW Words.
File based training sets have been requested since the beginning of Morse Elmer.
The functionality is currently a work in progress.
Please try it out and let me know how it works and how it could be improved.
Selecting QSO will randomly generate a QSO between two operators. The QSO follows a very formal format. Selecting QSO changes several aspects of training.
With a QSO you don't specify a Training duration, you listen to the entire QSO sequentially. Your Target Speed options are also limited.
As of Version 1.4, Advanced Target Speed settings are not available for use with the QSO Training set. If there's sufficient interest I could add it in a subsequent version. The Results tab for a QSO Training Session is different as well.
Instead of comparing how you copied the entire message, you're asked questions about the QSO.
As you fill in the fields for the caller and responder you get an immediate indication if you heard correctly. Once you have answered all the question you can you can submit your score.
If you're curious about the QSO text there's a button for that as well.
No cheating!
As you can tell this is a very simplistic first attempt. There's a lot more I could do, but I want to see if there's any interest before I put more effort into making more realistic QSO's or adding contesting QSO, etc.
The last setting in the Training Set Section is where you specify the size of your training set.
In the above image we can see that we're using the Default Training Set. The set has 43 total characters and we're currently using just the first two. The character we're currently training with are shown in the blue box 'K' and 'M'. Morse Elmer controls the order of the characters in your training set.
You just set the size. To add a character to your training set tap the
button beneath the blue box, the next character in the overall training set will be added to what you are training with.
button beneath the blue box, the next character in the overall training set will be added to what you are training with.
In this case it's the letter 'R' the third character in the Default Set. Tapping the
button will remove the last character from your current training set.
You can use the
tton to hear what the last character in the training set sounds like.
The character audio will be generated at the Target Speed. This is a good way to introduce yourself to a new character before you start training. For file based training sets the File Order takes care of how your training set is built.
How to Train
Morse Elmer is configured to start a training session as soon as you install it. Morse Elmer defaults to an initial Target Speed of five words per minute for one minute training sessions. If this doesn’t suit your needs you can choose a different configuration on the Settings tab.
When you are ready to start training, have a pad of paper and pencil ready and select the Train tab.
When you are ready to start training, have a pad of paper and pencil ready and select the Train tab.
The Train Tab will show your current settings with a “Start” button in the middle of the screen. Tap the “Start” button to begin your training. If you've enabled the Training Session Delay, a five second countdown will be displayed before the training audio starts.
During your training session, Morse Elmer will generate random or fixed word-length groups of characters drawn from your current training set. As Morse Elmer generates the Morse code, you copy what you think was sent onto your pad of paper. Once the training session is complete, switch to the Results tab to check how well you did. Compare what you copied during the training session to what Morse Elmer sent as shown on the Results tab.
In version 1.4, a switch was added at the bottom of the Results Tab to enable displaying the last letter sent in a HUD in the middle of the screen.
The Results tab now shows on each line, the "word" that was sent, along with the number of characters in the word followed by the total characters sent.
To help reconcile what you copied with what was sent you can now tap the line as you check a word.
If you didn't miss any characters, tap once and the line will change to green and a new number will be
displayed indicating the number of correctly copied characters.
If you missed one or more characters, just tap again for each missed character.
The line will turn red and the copied count will decrement by one each time you tap.
If you keep tapping it will loop back to green and show all characters copied.
As you clear each line the total number of correctly copied characters will be show in the text field at the
bottom ready to be submitted.
You can always just directly enter the number of characters you correctly copied and tap “Submit”.
Morse Elmer keeps track of how well you are doing on the next tab, the Progress tab.
Morse Elmer keeps track of how well you are doing on the next tab, the Progress tab.
This tab shows a graph reflecting your accuracy for each training session. Your goal of 90% is marked by a horizontal green dashed line. In the upper right corner is an “Edit” button that allows you to delete a submission you may have entered incorrectly. In the upper left hand corner is an "Export" button that allows you to save your current session data to a .csv file accessible via iTunes next time you sync you iOS device. At the bottom of the graph is a slider that allows you to vary the number of sessions(10-100) displayed at one time on the graph.
Once you achieve an accuracy of 90% on your training set (shown as crossing the green dashed line), go back to the Settings tab and add another character and start again.
In no time you’ll have mastered enough characters that you can broaden your training by listening to the regularly scheduled code practice transmissions broadcast by the primary operating station W1AW of the American Radio Relay League(ARRL). Good Luck!
73, KI4OWG
Once you achieve an accuracy of 90% on your training set (shown as crossing the green dashed line), go back to the Settings tab and add another character and start again.
In no time you’ll have mastered enough characters that you can broaden your training by listening to the regularly scheduled code practice transmissions broadcast by the primary operating station W1AW of the American Radio Relay League(ARRL). Good Luck!
73, KI4OWG
Background
Koch Method
The Koch method, named after German psychologist Ludwig Koch, randomly generates word-length combinations of letters drawn from a training set that initially starts with just two characters. These “words” are sent at the speed you want to learn (words per minute). During a training session you listen to the Morse code, translate what you hear and copy it down. At the end of the training session you compare what you copied to what Morse Elmer sent. Once you can copy with at least 90% accuracy, you add another character to your training set and start again. Your training is complete when you can copy all the characters in your training set that Morse Elmer can generate for 5 minutes with 90% accuracy at your desired speed.
Farnsworth Spacing
If you’re having problems differentiating between the characters in your training set, you can take advantage of Morse Elmer’s ability to use Farnsworth spacing. Farnsworth spacing, based on a method identified by Donald R. "Russ" Farnsworth (W6TTB), increases the space or silence between the Morse characters you are learning. The extra space gives you more time to understand a character before hearing the next one. The Morse characters themselves continue to be sent at the target speed you want to learn. Farnsworth spacing only exaggerates the space between characters. As you improve, you can adjust the Farnsworth spacing until it’s off and you’re learning everything at your target speed.
Prosigns
Prosigns are a form of transmission control characters. Although they are written like two or three ordinary alphabetic characters, the actual Morse Code is sent without inserting the normal inter character spaces.
Punctuation
There are no ITU standards for &, $, _ and !. Morse Elmer includes the KW digraph for the exclamation point instead of the older MN digraph which originally arose from American landline telegraphy code. The dollar sign is represented by the SX digraph from the Phillips Code, a collection of abbreviations used on land line telegraphy. The ampersand is given the same prosign as wait. Morse Elmer includes the most recent addition to the official Morse character set, the @. The at sign is represented by the AC digraph and was added on May 24, 2004, the 160th anniversary of the first Morse telegraph transmission. It’s also the first addition since World War I.
In App Feedback and Support
As of version 1.2 Morse Elmer includes in app methods to provide feedback or request support.
If you scroll to the bottom of the Settings tab you'll see a section called "FEEDBACK & SUPPORT". The blog will provide an area for users to ask questions and discuss new features. Twitter will be used to notify Morse Elmer followers of app updates. An email is included for direct questions to the developer regarding Morse Elmer.
Release Notes
Version 1.4
I've added the ability to access text files in Dropbox for File based training.
I've add the ability to increase the spacing between words in File based training sets.
There was a request to bring back the ability to see the last character transmitted. So now on the Results tab there is a switch that toggles the display of the last character transmitted.
I've had several requests to add the ability to vary the WPM speed while training. Version 1.4 contains the first implementation of this capability.
I've also (finally) included a basic QSO capability. I though this would be useful to become familiar with actual conversations over the air. The conversations are very formal and fairly predictable, but it's a first attempt.
Version 1.3.2
Includes a couple of bug fixes for the latest version. I've tried to improve how you score what you've copied on the Results tab and I've added a couple of improved controls for selecting your desired WPM and duration.
Version 1.3
Now supports training sets based on user supplied files. I'm working on another new feature that I hope to release soon: Training via Random QSO's. You'll learn all about how to use File based training in the Configuration section of the help.
Version 1.2
With this new version I've introduced a variety of changes. I've updated the app to work on iOS 7 and display better on the new 4" iPhone 5 and 5s/c. I've fixed several bugs that helpful users have notified me about and I've added a new feature.
I've added the ability to access text files in Dropbox for File based training.
I've add the ability to increase the spacing between words in File based training sets.
There was a request to bring back the ability to see the last character transmitted. So now on the Results tab there is a switch that toggles the display of the last character transmitted.
I've had several requests to add the ability to vary the WPM speed while training. Version 1.4 contains the first implementation of this capability.
I've also (finally) included a basic QSO capability. I though this would be useful to become familiar with actual conversations over the air. The conversations are very formal and fairly predictable, but it's a first attempt.
Version 1.3.2
Includes a couple of bug fixes for the latest version. I've tried to improve how you score what you've copied on the Results tab and I've added a couple of improved controls for selecting your desired WPM and duration.
Version 1.3
Now supports training sets based on user supplied files. I'm working on another new feature that I hope to release soon: Training via Random QSO's. You'll learn all about how to use File based training in the Configuration section of the help.
Version 1.2
With this new version I've introduced a variety of changes. I've updated the app to work on iOS 7 and display better on the new 4" iPhone 5 and 5s/c. I've fixed several bugs that helpful users have notified me about and I've added a new feature.
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