Welcome to the Instructions on how to get the best results when using the WB9SBD Morse Tutor.
I know this is a LOT to read through, but you have to do it only once, so don't skip through!
I know this is a LOT to read through, but you have to do it only once, so don't skip through!
You are about to enter a world of dits and dahs…
A dimension not only of sound, but of rhythm.
A journey into the space between noise and meaning —
where confusion turns into clarity,
and random beeps become real communication.
Stay tuned. Adjust your headphones.
Your signal is about to improve.
Over the years, many operators have struggled with Morse Code—not because they lacked ability,
but because they were taught in ways that made the process harder than it needed to be.
The WB9SBD Morse Tutor is based on methods that I have refined through decades of real on-the-air experience.
Since first learning CW in the 1960's, I’ve had the privilege of earning the highest level of proficiency recognized by the American Radio Relay League and, more importantly, helping dozens of new operators discover that they CAN learn Morse Code.
Every student I’ve worked with has gone on to become a confident CW operator. The goal here isn’t speed right away—it’s building a solid foundation so the code becomes something you hear naturally, not something you struggle to translate.
If you stay with the process, it will click. When it does, CW becomes one of the most enjoyable and rewarding modes in amateur radio.
but because they were taught in ways that made the process harder than it needed to be.
The WB9SBD Morse Tutor is based on methods that I have refined through decades of real on-the-air experience.
Since first learning CW in the 1960's, I’ve had the privilege of earning the highest level of proficiency recognized by the American Radio Relay League and, more importantly, helping dozens of new operators discover that they CAN learn Morse Code.
Every student I’ve worked with has gone on to become a confident CW operator. The goal here isn’t speed right away—it’s building a solid foundation so the code becomes something you hear naturally, not something you struggle to translate.
If you stay with the process, it will click. When it does, CW becomes one of the most enjoyable and rewarding modes in amateur radio.
To show you what your CW Skills can become here are two examples of what eventually you could be capable of.
 |
 Here above is "Morsle" https://morsle.fun/ It is like the fun game "Wordle". I visit Morsle every day. When you open the page you see 5 empty boxes, and you hit play, and it sends a 5 letter word in CW. BUT AT 40 Words Per Minute! Play this audio file to hear what 40 Words Per Minute sounds like. |
When
you visit the page you are presented the 5 empty boxes, and you hit the
play button. It sends in CW the 5 letters that makes up the word at 40
WPM! You enter in the boxes your guess and hit the Grade button, if
correct YAY! You copied at 40 WPM. If you got it wrong you hit play
again and it sends the word again but slower. It drops 5 WPM so it's at
35 WPM. This continues on dropping speed until you get it correct. As
you can see I have a perfect 40 WPM score havent made a mistake in 1367
DAYS!!!
The Certificate at the left is the coveted ARRL Certificate Of Code Proficiency. To earn the basic Certificate, you had to more or less pass a CW test just like we all did way back when CW was mandatory for a license. You had to pass Code being sent at 10 Words per minute to earn the certificate. Then as your skills get better and better you could earn the endorsement stickers as seen on that certificate. The test was simple, they send you CW at the designated speed for five minutes. And to "Pass" you had to have one minute of "Perfect Copy" One solid minute with not one T mistaken for a E, Not a single comma missed, not anything simply missed you had to have perfect copy for a complete Minute!
Taking this into consideration what was the 40 WPM test like? Well you heard it above! For the five minutes they end up sending you 1000 characters! Yeah thats not a typo one thousand characters! And to Pass you had to have a perfect string with no errors of any kind of 200 characters long! WOW! I was easily able to copy that in my head, it's like someone speaking to me! My problem was being able to write it down clearly enough so the FCC examiner could read and grade my chicken scratch!
Remember I said I learned Morse back in the 1960's? Yeah, I did , BUT.... And there always is a BUTT isn't there?
While I knew the code, the way I learned it was sooo BAD, that it took me till 1975 to get my speed up to the measly snails pace of 5 WPM to be able to pass my Novice test! Sadly! Some places online still promote that way I learned back
then as the way to learn it today!
The way you will learn here is more or less as close as it can be as if you were learning a new Language!
Like German, Italian, Spanish etc. These languages are just SOUNDS are they not?
Like when I say the word "Bike" What happens? This
appears in you head, not the word "BIKE" right?
Or if I say the letter "H" Again what Happens? In you minds eye you see a "H"
You don't see what makes the sound of a "H" "aych" Or what letter is a "eks" of course it is an "X"
So back to it in english when you hear "aych" you understand it as the letter "H" in English.
As a kid growing up you never learned that to say an "H" you had to say "aych" you just learned the SOUND of a "H" is "H"!
When I teach you Morse Code I will be teaching you as if it is a real language because it IS!
Back to the Letter "H" as an example. I will teach you to associate the SOUND of the letter "H" to mean well the letter "H" Just as You did NOT in your head associate "aych" to mean "H" You just heard "H" and learned it means "H"
Just like now you will NOT (hopefully) associate what makes a morese "H" (4 dots) as meaning "H"
Yes that was the old way to learn. Like in the Boy Scout Handbook. Or things from Radio Shack.
You learned that four dots was how to make a "H" Later on through the years they improved on this some, by changing the names of the dots and dashes to dits and dahs, because it actually sounded closer to what the real thing sounds like.
Like then a letter "H" would be represented as "dit dit dit dit" Which is better, but there is still a problem.
If you heard a "H" in Morse and your brain says I heard four dits, 4 dits equals a "H" yeah thats right.
Thats the same as thinking when you hear "aych" your mind thinks it heard that and translates it to mean you hear a "H" You just don't do that. You learned the SOUND of an "H" is just simply what it sounds like. No double translation.
OK next here is a Video showing HOW to use this system to learn of mine.
It should be clear enough to know what to do and what you can do.
The Certificate at the left is the coveted ARRL Certificate Of Code Proficiency. To earn the basic Certificate, you had to more or less pass a CW test just like we all did way back when CW was mandatory for a license. You had to pass Code being sent at 10 Words per minute to earn the certificate. Then as your skills get better and better you could earn the endorsement stickers as seen on that certificate. The test was simple, they send you CW at the designated speed for five minutes. And to "Pass" you had to have one minute of "Perfect Copy" One solid minute with not one T mistaken for a E, Not a single comma missed, not anything simply missed you had to have perfect copy for a complete Minute!
Taking this into consideration what was the 40 WPM test like? Well you heard it above! For the five minutes they end up sending you 1000 characters! Yeah thats not a typo one thousand characters! And to Pass you had to have a perfect string with no errors of any kind of 200 characters long! WOW! I was easily able to copy that in my head, it's like someone speaking to me! My problem was being able to write it down clearly enough so the FCC examiner could read and grade my chicken scratch!
Remember I said I learned Morse back in the 1960's? Yeah, I did , BUT.... And there always is a BUTT isn't there?
While I knew the code, the way I learned it was sooo BAD, that it took me till 1975 to get my speed up to the measly snails pace of 5 WPM to be able to pass my Novice test! Sadly! Some places online still promote that way I learned back
then as the way to learn it today!
The way you will learn here is more or less as close as it can be as if you were learning a new Language!
Like German, Italian, Spanish etc. These languages are just SOUNDS are they not?
Like when I say the word "Bike" What happens? This
appears in you head, not the word "BIKE" right?Or if I say the letter "H" Again what Happens? In you minds eye you see a "H"
You don't see what makes the sound of a "H" "aych" Or what letter is a "eks" of course it is an "X"
So back to it in english when you hear "aych" you understand it as the letter "H" in English.
As a kid growing up you never learned that to say an "H" you had to say "aych" you just learned the SOUND of a "H" is "H"!
When I teach you Morse Code I will be teaching you as if it is a real language because it IS!
Back to the Letter "H" as an example. I will teach you to associate the SOUND of the letter "H" to mean well the letter "H" Just as You did NOT in your head associate "aych" to mean "H" You just heard "H" and learned it means "H"
Just like now you will NOT (hopefully) associate what makes a morese "H" (4 dots) as meaning "H"
Yes that was the old way to learn. Like in the Boy Scout Handbook. Or things from Radio Shack.
You learned that four dots was how to make a "H" Later on through the years they improved on this some, by changing the names of the dots and dashes to dits and dahs, because it actually sounded closer to what the real thing sounds like.
Like then a letter "H" would be represented as "dit dit dit dit" Which is better, but there is still a problem.
If you heard a "H" in Morse and your brain says I heard four dits, 4 dits equals a "H" yeah thats right.
Thats the same as thinking when you hear "aych" your mind thinks it heard that and translates it to mean you hear a "H" You just don't do that. You learned the SOUND of an "H" is just simply what it sounds like. No double translation.
OK next here is a Video showing HOW to use this system to learn of mine.
It should be clear enough to know what to do and what you can do.
Click HERE To Go to the actual WB9SBD Code Tutor Page. And Please let me know how you do and what you think!Contact US