Lessons
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bullitThe object of the Lessons is to teach you Morse code systematically using a tried and true method. A new letter is introduced with every lesson. Each lesson contains series of drills of increasing difficulty. When you pass the drill marked End you can advance to the next lesson.  
bullitBefore you start your lessons, you must set up a Lesson Plan. A Lesson Plan is set up from the New Lesson Plan Dialog Box which appears automatically when you first select lessons. An essential part of setting up a Lesson Plan is to decide where to start. For a new user it is a good idea to start with just the first three letters (A, R and E) which is the default setting. Each time you complete a lesson one more letter is added. The fourth letter is "AR" which is Morse code for "End of Message." By convention this combination letter is entered using the "+" key. You will find a table of the complete Morse code (including the other combinations) here.  
bullitMore advanced users can start with more letters. One thing you need to know about setting up a Lesson Plan is that once you have set it up, the starting letter and order of the letters cannot be changed. This is deliberate. If you have a plan you should follow it. If your plan is wrong, start a new plan.  
bullitOnce you have set up your Lesson Plan, you move to the Main Lessons Screen. You can return to Lesson Plan Dialog Box by clicking the Plan icon.  
toppanel  
 
bullitThe Upper Panel (above) shows you which lesson you are on and shows you which drill is next. You can change the drill by clicking the appropriate button. Each lesson emphasizes a given letter -- the drills in the top row strongly emphasize the current letter and those on the bottom row mildly emphasize it. You can advance through the drills in order or skip them if they are too easy. You can not advance to the next level until you pass the drill marked End. The first drill in each row marked Free lets you go at your own speed -- the others present groups of letters at a fixed speed (which can be set in the Lesson Plan Dialog Box).  
bullitYou start each drill by clicking go or pressing Enter. Then type the letters you are receiving into the lower panel. Case is ignored and spaces are added automatically. When you complete the drill, the letters that were sent appear in the upper panel so that you can compare them to what you typed.  
sentrecd  
             Lower Panel  
bullitIf you prefer to transcribe on paper, proceed as before. When the drill is complete click stop or press Enter. The letters sent will be displayed and you can grade yourself using the Self Scoring Dialog Box.  

bullitEach time you complete a drill successfully you advance to the next one. One error is permitted. If you give up by pressing Enter or clicking stop, or make too many errors, you will go back a drill. You can override these choices at any time by clicking the drill you want in the top panel.  
       progress  
            Progress Display  
bullitEach time you complete a drill with fewer than five mistakes, a green light comes on in the progress display. It is a good plan to continue practicing until all the lights are green -- after that it may be a good time for a break. You can reset the number of lights in the progress display from the Existing Lesson Plan Dialog Box. The default value is 15.  

Speed

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The default speed for Lessons is the current standard set by the FCC which is:
      Character Speed      15 words/minute
      Word Speed         5 words/minute


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The character speed refers to the rate at which dots and dashes are sent within a given letter. The Word Speed is the overall speed which is the average speed with which letters and words are sent. Since words differ in length the Word Speed is precisely defined as the speed at which the word PARIS is sent when sent repetitively. If you want to learn to copy Morse code at a higher speed, be sure to set the speed you want in the extended Lesson Plan options.
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It is interesting to note that before Morse code was introduced, the fastest mode of information transmission on earth was using semaphores. This involved people stationed on hills every few miles holding two flags to indicate a letter. Transmission speeds were under one word per minute, but even that was much faster than using relays of horses.