Our club mantra is preparing students to get on the air.  Our curricula, reflecting that goal is a unique blend of vintage training methods further modernized with techniques and exercises based on our collective teaching experience.

Our Beginners Carousel Curriculum is based on extensive research and study of historical documents written by leading 20th-century scholars of Morse Code, such as Biegel, Jost, Koch, Lipmann, Seashore, Spragg, Taylor, and Thurstone. We have incorporated the Koch Method of character introduction ensuring our students learn CW as total acoustic patterns and not by visual reference to a chart. We have come to realize the references to Koch today are in many cases misquoted and misinterpreted and we have done our best to interpret Koch correctly.

Our students learn CW using a unique character sequence developed based on the frequency characters are used in the QSO protocol. This unique methodology allows us to tightly integrate QSO language and protocol into the curriculum. Our students learn how to communicate with CW as they learn the code. We teach the code at 12 words per minute, a radical departure from popular training methods, but a speed recommended by Koch and found optimum for making first contacts on the air.

Character sound familiarity is the foundation of accuracy in character recognition. Our approach to achieving accurate and quick recognition of characters is to focus on familiarity first (for as long as it takes) then accuracy and speed naturally follow. This is a gradual and relaxed process of exposure, practice, and reinforcement of new characters. Three new characters are introduced per lesson using the Koch Method in a relaxed manner. After the new characters have been introduced, students will verbalize them with Code Talking for the instructor to ensure they are being heard as single acoustic sounds. Then the instructor will conduct character familiarization exercises to begin reinforcing the new character sounds. Students are expected to continue home practice with character familiarization exercises until they feel strong character sound familiarity has been achieved, then they should shift to character recognition exercises.

Assuming a relaxed state of mind with a loose focus enhances the learning process. New characters are more easily learned, and character sound familiarity established. Loose focus yields more effortless copy and the ability to decode for longer periods of time without becoming fatigued.

CURRICULA
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