Morse Code Trainer

Most people start Morse code by memorising a chart of dots and dashes, then try to decode by counting. That works for a few words per minute and then hits a wall, because counting is too slow. Experienced operators hear each character as a single sound pattern. The Koch method, developed by the German psychologist Ludwig Koch in the 1930s, trains exactly that, and this trainer follows it.

How the Koch method works

You start with just two characters, K and M, sent at full speed in random groups of five. You copy what you hear. When you reach 90 % accuracy, you add one character, and so on through all 41 letters, digits and common punctuation marks. Because the characters are always fast, you never learn the counting habit, and because only one character is new each time, the load stays manageable.

Character speed and Farnsworth spacing

Character speed is how fast the dots and dashes inside each character are sent; 18 to 25 words per minute is typical for Koch training. Effective speed is the overall pace. If it is lower, the trainer adds the extra time to the gaps between characters and words, following the Farnsworth timing formula used by the ARRL. That gives you time to think while each character still sounds the way it will at full speed. As you improve, raise the effective speed until it equals the character speed.

A practice session

Set the lesson number — 2 to begin — and the number of groups, then press Start. Type each group of five as you hear it, with a space between groups; if you miss a character, leave a gap or type anything and carry on rather than stopping. Press Check to see your accuracy, the characters you missed most, and what was actually sent. At 90 % or better, the button to the next lesson appears. Short daily sessions of 10 to 20 minutes work far better than occasional long ones.

Tone and comfort

Pick a tone between 400 and 1,000 Hz; most people find 550 to 700 Hz comfortable for long sessions. Headphones help in noisy rooms. Your lesson, speeds and tone are remembered in this browser.

Light flasher

Morse can also be sent with light, as ships and scouts do with signal lamps. The flasher shows any text as flashes on screen, with or without sound, at the speeds you set. Start slowly; light reading is harder than listening. Flashing light can trigger seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy, so use it with care.

Code chart

The chart lists every character in the course. Click one to hear it. Use it to review characters you confuse, not as a crib while copying.

A worked example

Lesson 2 at 20 WPM character speed and 10 WPM effective speed plays ten groups such as KMKKM MMKMK. Each dot lasts 60 milliseconds, but the gaps between characters are stretched so you have time to recognise each one. Type the groups as you hear them and press Check. A result of 46 correct out of 50 is 92 %, so the next lesson button appears and adds U. Over many sessions, the effective speed can rise until it equals 20 WPM and the extra gaps disappear.

Related tools

Translate text to Morse and play it with the Morse Code Translator, learn the radio spelling alphabet with the Phonetic Alphabet Translator, or practise typing speed with the Typing Test.