LESSONS IN MORSE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 69, 18 October 1940, Page 12

LESSONS IN MORSE

(6) Another Bad Habit

HE following is a draft of Morse signalling lesson No. 6, which was broadcast by Stations 2YC, 1ZM and 3YL at 10 p.m. on October 14, 15, and 16. The talk which preceded the receiving practice dealt with another very bad habit, easily acquired by a_ beginner. This habit is what is termed " rolling." Briefly, the fault is the result of a "squaring" or "thickening" of the second last dot in certain letters, as a result of which these dots are given an incorrect value. As an example, instead of sending .... for the letter "H," the ‘"rolling" sender would signal ..-. which, of course, is " F," not "H." Other letters which "rolling" senders frequently misform are "L" and "S." It is difficult to explain just how the habit is first formed. Possibly a tight grip is the primary cause, and a tendency to develop a diagonal or swinging movement of the wrist, instead of the vertical wrist action which has been referred to frequently in previous lessons as the correct one. The position of the hand on the key is most important. If the hand is allowed to roll to either side when sending, a uniform vertical wrist action cannot be acquired. The back of the hand must remain parallel with the top of the table at all times. The position of the hand should be watched whilst sending. In addition, a loose comfortable key grip should be cultivated. Figures For each figure, five characters are used and these are easy to memorise if the sound equivalents are concentrated upon. First, take the figures 1 to 5. They are:acter aAkhwndre It will be noticed that the number of dots indicate the figures concerned. Now the figures 6 to 0:CouUaOnNoa It will be seen that the characters for these five figures are exactly the opposite of the first five. The remainder of the lesson was taken up with receiving practice, jumbled letters, figures and plain language being transmitted. Answers to Test Pieces The following are the answers to the tests given on the nights of Thursday, Friday and Saturday, October 10, 11 and 12:-

Line ; 1 L L 1 1 L

10 11 % 1 1 1 15 16 E L : 6 1 1 21 22 23 R 8 ;

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10

Line ; R " E 5 8 6 4 12 is 1 1 L L 1 28 1 16 17 8 18 19 C 20 S 3 2 1 1 24

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11

Line ; 1 8 } 3 5 6 10 { 1 | 6 12 16 1 8 | | 1 8 19 3 1 L L 23 24

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12