Settings
This page explains the general settings for the KochMorse application. The settings for each tutor are explained in a separate Tutor page.
The Morse Code page shows all settings that influence the generation of the morse code sounds. The first option is the speed the characters are send with in words per minute (WPM). A reasonable speed to learn the code using the Koch method is something between 15 and 20 WPM. The effective speed just specifies the speed of the pauses between characters and words. Reducing this speed below the character speed will allow for some additional time to write the heard character down. A choice between 12 and 15 WPM should provide sufficient time. The tone specifies the frequency of the CW tone in Hz. This choice is really personal. I prefer relatively low tones around 650Hz others prefer higher tones of 800Hz and even 1000Hz. The dash pitch setting specifies an optional frequency shift for the dash compared to the dot tone. The sound setting defines the envelope of the dashes and dots send. Soft is a very smooth envelope while cracking is a very fast rising and falling envelope. Again, a very individual choice. Jitter specifies three possible keying jitters that are frequently heard on the band: Exact means an very precise timing and no jitter at all. Bug tries to emulate the keying jitter frequently produced by operators using a semi-automatic key (bug). This key can produce a series of precisely timed dots. Dashes, however, are generated by the operator directly. Consequently, this setting will variate the timing and lengths of the dashes send to emulate this behavior. Straight tries to emulate the jitter frequently produced by an unexperienced straight key operator. That is, a jitter in the timing and length of dots and dashes.
The Effects settings allow to enable and configure three different effects that together will simulate typical conditions on HF bands. That is Noise, Fading and QRM.
The noise effect adds some noise to the generated CW audio and additionally allows for the filtering of the resulting signal. If enabled, this effect will simulate the typical CW audio from a receiver/transceiver. Where the bandpass filter simulates the effect of the CW filter of the transceiver. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) setting specifies the CW signal strength relative to the noise floor in dB. It should be >= 10dB to get a sufficiently readable CW signal.
The fading effect simulates the reduction in signal strength due to QSB on HF bands. The Rate setting specifies how frequent a signal will fade while the max. Damping settings will specify how strong the fading effect is. This effect makes only sense together with the Noise effect described above. Together, these effects will simulate typical HF conditions pretty well.
This effect will simulate a crowded band. That is, it will simulate nearby QSOs in different speeds. The Num QRM Stations setting specifies the number of nearby stations while the SNR setting will specifiy the relative signal strengths of these QRM stations to your CW signal.
Finally, the Devices settings allows you to specify which audio device is used for the output and input of CW signals. The Detector threshold value specifies the amplitude threshold for the CW decoder used by the Transmit and QSO Tutors.