jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

That's why I learned it.

HamB

Wig-wag flags and CW are very different.
I could copy CW, but the flags drove me crazy. I had to write down..dot, dash, dash and then interpret it.

Mustanger Loc: Grants Pass, Oregon USA

Yes you CAN learn Morse code in 20-30 minutes. If you mean the dots & dashes only. The method was printed in an old Field & Stream magazine decades ago. I used it to teach 5-7th graders in our Church Royal Rangers group. The kids loved it and we used to leave Morse Code messages on the Blackboard for the Pastor to decipher...they both had fun writing & deciphering it!

We also learned to send SOS & other very short messages by flashlight in the dark. Not saying any of us were were proficient by any means but it was of some value.

bluezzzzz Loc: Stamping Ground, KY

Before the Army, in its infinite wisdom, changed my orders and sent me to an engineer outfit in Korea, I was at Fort Gordon Signal School in Georgia, trying to be trained as a radio operator. Had to learn Code as part of it, receive and send.

It was at the stage of the course where we were just good enough to be dangerous, and were learning how a radio network works, with call signs and all that.

Each student had a call sign and a key, and we'd practice sending messages to each other. In hindsight I'm sure it was a part of every class, but at one point the instructor left the room with no further instructions.

Don't remember how long he stayed gone, but it was instant chaos, with each of us trying to get a word in, talking over each other, and getting absolutely nothing sent. Lesson learned!

Marshall

SnoShuSam Loc: Texas, (ex Virginian)

Was a radioman in the USCG back in the 60's. I remember the day I reported to Radio School I Groton Ct. Two kids who had flunked out were in the galley and kept talking about "Henry's Code" and making fun of it. I got a bad feeling but it was erased the next day when a CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER was on the circuit working a friend at about 90 WPM. He knew it better than he knew English.
After he got through he had us sit down at the positions in the classroom with a key and an oscillator and had us get a feel for the key. Then he handed each one of us a pack or deck of flash cards with a letter, number or punctuation mark on the one side and the code for that on the other side. After two days we were working at 3 wpm (words per minute) and after a week we were at 6 wpm. Going from 6 to 10 was a little difficult but the whole class made it and from there we had to get to 16 wpm. That was tough but to make it was really special. We had to attain 18 wpm to graduate and by getting 20 you graduated up a grade and were approved for 3rd class Petty Officer when. you passed the test and had a year in. I did that and when I was sent to USCG Radio Station Ketchikan Alaska my speed really went up. Working the military and commercial traffic very quickly sent me up to 40-45 wpm. I can still send about 25=30 wpm after all these years but my copy speed is really down. I'm going to look in my garage to see if I have my old electronic keyer and get it out and practice.
This brought back so many memories of sitting on watch and waiting for some of the ships I had gotten to know their radiomen. Getting their messages and shooting the breeze vic MC (morse code).

fetzler Loc: North West PA

..._ ._. _._ _ .._. _...

quagmire Loc: Greenwood,South Carolina

Learned code off a Boy's Life page that juxtaposed the code on top of the letters, still remember a lot.

HamB

TNX es 73

Laramie Loc: Tempe

Never needed MC, but I could run a 10-key with either hand.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I remember learning it with groups of letters, like T, M, O and E, I, S, H.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I sort of learned the code in Boy Scouts WAY back. About 20 years later I decided I needed to get an amateur radio license. I practiced at home and got up to 5 wpm so I went in for a test. They started at the top and worked down. I couldn't get anything out of 20 wpm. At 13 wpm after the test I had gotten 5 characters. It was a multiple guess test and I passed it. The technical part was easy for me so my first license was advanced. Once I started using it, I got to 20 wpm in a couple months.

But the initial 5 wpm took me a couple months.