N5NTW:
Chris I am not great with the pc but i can type ok, what I was trying to say was at a point of about ten words a min i can not hear the sound and tell myself what letter that was and then write it down bevfor the next letter popped up. but on the pc i can type the letter out faster.
As you get better two things will happen ( takes time ).
1/ morse will somehow seem to be going slower - you seem to have more time anyway . .
2/ you will suddenly start to hear the code, but then decode it whilst you are hearing the next code arriving at the same time.
To do this you have to avoid becoming typewriter bound - else you will start automatically typing out morse->key
and you will have to read back what you typed to get the meaning . .
Aptitude is the main factor in learning morse - probably made up of a combination of factors starting with hearing.
If you don't have high aptitude and get to 25/25 in a month or so, then you MAY have to watch out for a few gotchas - in addition to typewriter bonding.
eg.
- you have to make continuous progress - else you get bored and give up.
- you have to avoid going too quickly - else it won't sink in and you may get just past lesson 10 and find you stalled
i.e. suddenly you somehow forgot those lessons you just passed at 90%
If you go too slowly you certainly waste a bit of time - but if it didn't sink in properly you will probably give up . . .
Try to get through the 40 "lessons" with char speed 15 min and gap however long it takes to keep making progress.
Maybe wait until you get a few in a row at 90% rather than just the one, as a truer indicator . . .
You will learn by repeating decoding
N5NTW:
Thanks again everyone . an added question , I understand that there are a bunch of people out there sending and receiving at all speeds, but is there such thing as an average speed/ not standard like 20 wpm. I dont have a HF rig yet so I have not been on the air to see what really is out there.
20/20 is fine for chit-chat.
(con)tests are often very fast but very formulaic.
Lots of QSOs are a little bit the same TNX fer call = ur RST 5nn = QTH london = op name dave = WX raining so maybe a bit faster than chit-chat . . .
Anyway, forget speed. Go for accuracy and finishing the 40 "lessons"
You can listen to cw on the bands with a cheap rig.
QRPguys are back now I think :- https://qrpguys.com/ also see https://www.qrpkits.com/ maybe http://shop.qrp-labs.com/qcxp
Switch it on, find some activity, sit back and just listen . . .
Good luck with it all.
Let us know how you get on . . .
YMMV as ever
cb