CW Regimen

I was hitting a wall with my copy skill at about 19 wpm.  I had been pushing hard with the MST contests ( 1 hour long runs to copy calls ).  But I still seemed to have just a block at around 19-20 wpm.

I asked the CW Ops folks and got a wealth of information.  

Most of the advice centered around the use of Morse Runner (the free software that simulates CW operations) -- and this software is quite good actually.  The adjustments are easy to make and the speed can be set to any level you wish.  There are really two main versions of the software.  There is the "CE" version which is being maintained (it seems) seperately.  I'm using this version

https://github.com/w7sst/MorseRunner

I've been tweaking it with some changes that make it easier to use. For one, I just needed it to always simulate zero-beat just because I cannot hear the low-frequency offset.   Another change I'm looking to make is add a feature to log (into a text file) the results so there's a way to get a report of the progress.

But for some of the CWOps training I'm using a custom version with a special `MASTER.DTA` file.

I'm still on track to participate with the class in the Fall, but I was advised that it's perfectly alright to just begin the process on self-study mode -- which I wasn't aware of.  The class materials are online.

The changes I've made are to practice a bit more with the simulator (MorseRunner).   

I'll still keep up with the MST contests.

I fashioned some call-sign files to feed into my build of the MorseRunner so it can work in K1USN SST mode but with the callsigns from my past logs (ADIF).  I hear these calls mostly every time, so I'm practicing them.