After years of being a ham radio operator, and an Extra Class, I have choosen to learn Morse Code. When I was licensed the Morse Code portion of the exam was no longer required, although older hams had to copy Morse Code to obtain their equivalant licenses of Technician, General, and Extra class.

But a few things lead me to make the decision to learn Morse Code. A few of those reasons were for knowledge, use, and wanting to follow the footsteps of other hams.

When repeaters identify, a lot if not the majority of repeaters, use Morse Code to identify, even if they have voice identification enabled. Well not knowing code makes it exteremly difficult (more like impossible) to copy who the repeater licensee actually is. Knowing how to copy, and subsequently receive, Morse Code gives an operator the ability to copy the repeater which they happen to be monitoring.

Another practical use of code is DX’ing. A lot of DX stations will utilize Morse Code for making long distance DX contacts with other amateur radio stations. All too often I have been voice DX’ing and while generally able to break into a pile up, on the CW side there are not a lot of stations to break up in order to QSO with that hard to reach station.

Above all else is not wanting to be “that ham”. While respected as an amateur radio operator, I never had to learn code like other more mature hams had to do. When I began studying for my license I did after the code requirements were aboloshed. Side note: the reasoning for abolishing the Morse Code requirements was to generate more interst into the hobby, as it was experiencing a decline in use and licensees. But to set the example and follow what others before myself did, I am taking the opportunity to learn Morse Code.

I have found a few good websites online that have information to assist with learning Morse Code. One happens to be The Ham Whisperer where he has videos that teaches the Technician, General, and Extra courses, and Morse Code. I strongly reccomend The Ham Whisperer, and other links found on the N2AL website Under Training Materials & Links.

Below is a picture from a Pinterest article I found. I pinned it to my N2AL Amateur Radio Board, and wanted to share it with others taking the endeavor to learn Morse Code.

Best wishes for those studying to learn Morse Code, and thanks for taking the time to read my blog! If I can assist you with this endeavor please send me a messag