Morse Mania OSX 3.2.0 review
DownloadMorse Mania is a teaching tool that helps anyone that's interested in learning Morse Code understand how to communicate with another person using the code.
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Morse Mania is a teaching tool that helps anyone that's interested in learning Morse Code understand how to communicate with another person using the code.
The software packagehelps you learn morse code at speeds ranging from 5 to 30 words per minute.
Morse Mania is ideal for amateur (ham) radio operators who desire to learnor improve their morse code proficiency, especially in order to upgrade their license class. In addition to drills to help learn the various characters, Morse Mania also allows complete text files to be sent, so that "real life" messages can be used for practice. Koch mode is available, which is generally considered the quickest way to learn morse code. It also supports the Farnsworth mode, which increases the speed of the dots and dashes, and lengthens the pause between letters sent, allowing the student to learn morse code at higher speeds more easily.
Morse Mania provides the following three modules to help you learn morse code:
* Learn Characters - Each morse code character is displayed on the screen as it is being played. This is useful when you're first learning the morse code alphabet, as it helps you link each sound to the corresponding character.
* Guess a Character - Morse code characters are played, and you must type the key of the character sent. At the end of the exercise, your score is displayed.
* Copy Groups - Random five letter morse code character groups are sent (and displayed on the screen). You select how many morse code groups you would like to have sent, and practice by copying the groups down. At the end of the exercise, compare what you copied to what was actually sent.
* Copy Groups - Random words are sent (and displayed on the screen). You select how many words you would like to have sent, and practice by copying them down. At the end of the exercise, compare what you copied to what was actually sent.
It also supports Farnsworth mode. Farnsworth is useful when first learning morse code, so you don't reach the "plateau" around 7 wpm, where you can't copy any faster, because you learned the individual dots and dashes that make up each character, rather than the overall sound. In Farnsworth mode, each character is sent at a high speed, but with a long pause between characters. Hence, you hear the character as it sounds, and don't try to learn the individual dots and dashes that make it up. The long pause gives you time to think about what you just heard, and identify the character, before the next one comes along.
Finally, the Koch method is also available. Using this method, you learn morse code at full speed, one letter at a time. It's considered by many to be the best way to learn morse code quickly and effectively.
Koch mode is generall recognized at the quickest way to learn full speed CW. Koch himself was able to teach a group of students to copy CW at 20 wpm in just a little over 13 hours total time.
Here's a brief description of the Koch method: You start off by learning just two letters, at full speed (15 or 20 wpm). Then after achieving 90% or better sucess in copying them, you add another letter. You keep doing this, until you have mastered all of the characters.
As with Farnsworth, you hear the characters at full speed. The idea behind Koch mode is that you learn each character one at a time, and don't move on until you've fully mastered that character. You can learn at your own pace, and you get continuous immediate positive feedback as you learn each character. After you learn the first one or two characters, you realize that you indeed can copy CW at high speeds, and never hit the speed plateau that you otherwise would with traditional methods of learning CW.
It is important that you only select one new character to learn at a time, and that you don't move on to another new character until you're getting accurate copy of all of the current characters. Some characters will take longer to learn than others, that's normal.
Morse Mania can also produce morse code from a text file, which is then also played out of your computer's speaker. So you can create your own practice sessions, or grab text from other sources such as newspapers/etc, to have a never ending supply of practice material.
There is also a Typing Window, where you can type any valid character at the keyboard, and it is immediately translated into the morse code character, and played.
Limitations:
Nag Screen
11 days trial.
What's New:
Fixed a bug with the Send File and Send QSO exercises.
Reduced the amount of CPU time used.
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