 Rhythm is indeed the key to good sending if your code is to mean anything to others in the radio net Then you've got to send rhythmically Dits must be uniform and short as uniform and long spacing exactly right very small tight spaces between the dits and does and a character as The operator will now demonstrate with letters that are all dits or all does Each of them has a distinctive beat. There's the galloping sound Hotel No, it's not H Think phonetically alpha Bravo Charlie Delta and so on this is Hotel and it's printed military style by the numbers one stroke down two down three across We've added arrows to our lettering merely to remind you of the direction of each stroke All right, this is hotel For dits galloping like a horse in a hurry did it it did it it did it get to the hotel Now the sound of the three beat letters Oscar and Sierra In combination one particular combination. They've got a rhythm nobody misses. Yeah is a quick little two-step Mike clumps around heavy-footed her and benefactor. Mr. Samuel F. B. Morse was a practical man He reserved the shortest sound patterns for the letters. We use the most echo one lonely dip and Tango one solid da Now the beat is trickier, but still easy enough to get in the characters that combine dips and dies Yankee for example. Oh slow it down Da de da da that's a soldier changing step watch da dear da da Yankee rhythm every time Charlie's different. He's always changing step da de da Did Juliet is a girl walking away mad? dear da Da and Romeo Couldn't care less Did da did In short the pattern of dips and dies and spaces gives a very special sound to each of the 36 characters in our code and You cannot send that sound simply by counting out the dips and dies and letting the spaces between them stretch out while you count Romeo is not did Da did It's did I did Listen, and you won't get Lima merely by adding one more dip dip da dip Dip it falls apart when you stop that way you must send the complete sound of Lima Did I did it listen did I did did I did it? Two different sounds two different beats two different rhythms So much for the spacing between the dips and dies of a character very tight and uniform Spacing between the characters in a word or group is uniform too, but longer a Definite space or pause after a letter is completed Even when he speeds up. Are you wondering if proper spacing is really so important? Or is it no more than an extra refinement the nice thing to do like neat handwriting? If you think so you're wrong, and I'll show you why As you see this word consists of a dip a dot two dits three dies a dip and two more dies The operator will send these elements again same number of dits same number of dies in exactly the same order But this time he will change the spacing a little dip for dip and da for da they match Only the spacing makes the difference between one word and The other those planes being described are they merely flying low or are they enemy? I want to re-emphasize this important point about spacing Tight spaces are used between dits and dies longer spacing to separate the characters and Even longer spacing than that between words and groups Listen for the three different kinds of spacing in this phrase Letter spacing and word spacing can be a little tricky when you're sending If a word space is too short or letter space is too long the sense of the message may not get through Say that this is what you want to send oh T space H This is what you actually send space T space H Space T H is what the receiver thinks you're sending you're trying to tell him You've just arrived But the way he reads it You're about to leave or you'd like people to believe you're working But it comes out a weather report the whole idea in hand sending is to produce these sounds and silences the Dits dies and spaces in a swinging kind of rhythm that in time you will learn to feel It's what experienced operators mean by smooth sending when they say Another operator has a good fist. How does one acquire a fist that good? Actually, it's not too hard Just do what the man says Basic essential even obvious when you think about them The first step involves equipment which is where any rhythm making must begin Certainly musicians begin by tuning up their instruments You begin by checking out the operator's friend the J38 hand key This one was borrowed from a big operator Thank you For good hand sending certain things about this key must be just right You see these contacts they must be lined up right and the gap between them must be right and This spring which pushes the key lever back up every time you push it down The tension here must be right And that's about it. You align the contacts by turning these two trunnion screws You open and close the gap by turning the space adjusting screw at the other end of the lever You tighten the spring or slack it off by turning the spring tension screw and Once the screws are adjusted Lock nuts hold them in place The procedure is to loosen things up first by opening the gap wide And releasing all spring tension now align the contacts Please notice that the trunnion screws hold the lever firmly to prevent wobble Yet freely enough to avoid bind Next set the gap make it fairly small Four thicknesses of paper is just right then put some tension on the spring Exactly how much is up to you Now what has all this got to do with rhythm? Everything if the gap is too wide or the spring too tight you'll work too hard the result Does cut short dit skipped over spacing erratic if the gaps too narrow or the springs too loose Does and dits will run together with no real spacing at all But if your key is but if your key is properly adjusted you can make it sound like this Which brings us to step two developing the proper technique to work that key Again a musical analogy some performers never bother with technique Others in this business the best technique is the one that's least tiring Would you give us a hand, please? Oh, that's very good There's no better way to get into a relaxed position Elbow on the table as if you were having a drink let your hand fall to the key Keep your elbow on the table. You'll need the support The wrist is limber and off the table The fingers hold the key Hold it the fingers hold the key. They don't tap it slap it hit it. They hold Index and middle fingers on the button tips overlapping the edge a little thumb at the side Ring and little fingers curled under Note that the thumb is always against the side Or should be You see some people have what we call Hitchhiker's thumb. Oh Sorry The point is when you thumbs off the button you work only your fingers with choppy results Not to mention the strain on your hand Movement should come from the forearm a light movement straight down straight up As in everything were form counts send slowly but correctly right from the start then Gradually increase your speed and that's step three practice So basic that we mentioned it only to pass along a hint or two on how to practice You learn this skill by imitation you improve your skill by constant self appraisal Listen to your own tapes every chance you get another way is to work with an rd-60 code recorder Romeo Delta 6-0 This is particularly good because it gives you an inked record to study a diagram of the sounds you send In a moment. We'll project some of that tape on the screen What he was sending was the standard test word Paris And there you are each peak is a dit or a da each valley a space This is excellent sending Uniform and rhythmic this is an example of poor hand sending same word Paris, but look at the difference Irregular dits and does haphazard spacing No uniformity No rhythm A one last word out in the field you'll use a key that clamps to your leg Same key same technique except there's no place to rest your elbow Even so don't slap that key Hold it stake say again