CPwin - A program for learning Morse code
CPwin is a program to assist in learning, or practicing, the reception of CW (Morse code). Written by KK6MK and free, it should function under the current Microsoft Windows versions -- Windows 95, 98, 2000 and XP. It uses the built-in wave sound generation system in Windows to generate its sounds, so it should have good sound output without hardware compatibility issues seen in some other programs. A unique feature is voice prompting of characters.
The program is freeware and may be shared in its zipfile form.
The Current Zip File
- Download this zipfile to install the program:
- CPwin_110.zip -- The current version is 1.1.0.
- Here is the readme file for the program:
- CP_readme.txt
The readme contains a basic description and installation instructions. CP_readme.txt is also contained in the zipfile. - Here is an example sound file of the program's output:
- cp001.wav
Clicking the file link will play it in most browsers.
Why it was written
I found my CW abilities were going from bad to worse. I looked for a free program that I could use to improve my skills. In my search, all the programs that I found were either old DOS programs, or required some particular type of sound card. I decided to write my own program and make it available to the ham community. Of course, when I was well along in writing the program, I did find a couple other free programs that were very good. G4FON's Morse Trainer Koch.exe is one that seems very good. VE3NEA's Morse Runner is another excellent program for practice with many options like QRN and QRM.
I believe the voice prompting option in this program is unique and has some advantages especially for making portable sound files. When the option is enabled and the operating mode is either 'Random Letter Groups' or 'Random Grids', after a sequence is sent in CW, a voice prompt for the sequence will be spoken in addition to the text display. This allows a user to practice Morse code without looking at the PC. The program also has an option to generate a wav sound file from CPwin. The files recorded this way can then be burned onto a CD or loaded onto a personal audio device (like an Apple iPod) to create portable practice sessions. Some of these devices need mp3 files, so it may be necessary to convert the wav file to an mp3, but there is other free software that should be able to do that task.
A group of mp3 Sound files
I used the CPwin program to generate a series of wav sound files which I then converted to mp3 files for higher compression.
The series of files in this group implements a Morse code learning system using the Koch method. The Koch method begins the learning process at a fairly high sending rate. The first group consists of two characters. As the student learns to accurately copy the characters, the sending sequence is stepped up to three characters. When those three can be copied accurately, the sending sequence is stepped up with one more character. This continues until the student is copying the full 43-character sequence.
All of these files easily fit on a small portable audio player, so they can be carried around for a practice session at any convenient time. The total playing time for all of the files is about 5 hours. The compression factor is high, so the audio quality is not great, but adequate for the task.
- Download this zipfile containing the mp3 files:
- Koch_mp3_13.zip (28 MB)
Read the readme file in the zip archive for more details about the files and the learning process.
Links
G4FON -- Koch CW Trainer
VE3NEA -- Morse Runner
K3WWP -- Lots of information and links related to CW.
Feedback
CPwin's features have been tested, but not extensively. I think there are no major problems, but contact me if you find any issues. Critiques are welcomed -- good or bad --. Any suggestions for improvements are also welcomed.
Some additional input files would also be good. If anyone generates additional text input files (words, phrases, qso's, tests) please forward them to me. If I receive a number of such files or fragments, I''l try to either add them in the install zip, or post then for download.
You can reach me at:
