MTrainer V. 1.2 Written by Antonello Biancalana IK0TOJ in Jan 1994 Table of contents 1. Introduction 2. Requirements and installation 3. Running Morse Trainer 4. Customizing Morse Trainer 5. Using Morse Trainer 6. The menus 7. File mode 8. QSO mode 9. Multi QSO mode 10. Contest mode 11. Group mode 12. Verify mode 13. The CW Output option 14. Special CW signs 15. Conclusion 1 - Introduction Are you one of those who want to learn morse code and one of the lucky who own an Amiga? Great! Morse trainer is for you! Morse Trainer (MTrainer for short) is a shareware program which lets you to learn morse code. But there is more than this. Using MTrainer you can also act as a short wave listener and facing with CW reception as if you were listening to a real QSO. You can also filter the signal in order to cut out the QRM and interferences. MTrainer lets you to change the pitch of the tone, the speed of transmission and other interesting things. MTrainer can be used to learn CW code from the beginning to the professional level by means of groups, just like any CW learning course, then, when you will be familiar with the various signs, you can also "receive" and decode QSOs between two HAMs. If you are not satisfied by MTrainer learning options, you can also create your own lessons and getting practice with them. Infact, if you supply a normal text file, MTrainer is able to convert it in CW code. In this way, you are completely free in learning CW and you can practice with the method you like most. 2 - Requirements and installation MTrainer requires Amiga OS 2.0 or higher, 512 Kb RAM and it runs on every Amiga. At this point, someone of you could be disappointed by the fact that MTrainer does not support Amiga OS 1.3, but nowadays, I think that there is no reason in writing programs that support 1.3. If you still have OS 1.3, I strongly suggest you to upgrade your Amiga with the OS 2.0 for two main reasons: the upgrade is cheap and, most important, you will have a more powerful Amiga. MTrainer needs four data files to run properly. Files MT01, MT02, MT03 and MT04 must be copied in the same directory where MTrainer is located. 3 - Running MTrainer MTrainer can be executed either from the Shell or Workbench. If you want to run it from the Shell, you just have to type MTrainer. If you invoke MTrainer from the Shell, you will not be able to set any option and in this case, MTrainer will use default options. To get out the most from MTrainer, you should run it from Workbench by double clicking on its icon. In this way you can also set some options in order to create a personal learning session. Consult "Customizing MTrainer" to know more about options. 4 - Customizing MTrainer MTrainer can be customized by means of its icon. You can do this by using the "Information" option of the WorkBench's Icon menu. You can specify your own initial options in the tool type field. This is the complete list of the tooltypes that can be used in this session. BALANCE: This option is used to set the amount of volume of the CW tone or the noise respect the other. Using this option you can set the amount of noise in your lesson. The range of the values is from -100 to 100 where -100 indicates the maximum level for the noise and no CW tone, whereas 100 indicates the maximum level for the CW tone and no noise. Default is 0. CWOUTPUT: This option indicates whether the CW output window has to be opened or not during the transmission. Default is NO. CWOUTWINDOW: This option indicates the initial coordinates for the CW output window. The format is x/y/w/h where x is the left border position, y is the top border position, w is the width and h is the height. Defaults: x=20, y=20, w=600, h=100 Please note that the coordinates are not enclosed in double quotes. FILTER: This option sets the width of the filter used to cut out the noise. There are four kinds of filters: 6KHz, 2.2KHz, 1.8KHz and 500Hz. Default is 500Hz. GROUPS: This option is used to set the default number of groups to be generated when MTrainer operates in group mode. The range of the values is from 1 to 100. Default is 10 groups. LEVEL: This option sets the difficulty level for the group mode. The range of values is from 1 to 26. Default is 12. MODE: This option sets the initial MTrainer mode. Possible values are: FILE, QSO, MULTIQSO, CONTEST and GROUPS. Default is GROUPS. MULTIQSODELAY: This option sets the maximum delay between QSOs. This value is used only in the MultiQSO mode. The delay must be specified in seconds. The minimun delay used is always 10 seconds and the value specified in this tooltype cannot be lesser than it. Default is 60. CONTESTDELAY: This option sets the maximun delay between contest's QSOs in Contest mode. The delay is specified in seconds. The minimum delay allowed is 1 and the default is 3. SPEED: This option sets the speed of transmission and it indicates the CW signs sent per minute. The range of values is from 10 to 200 cpm (characters per minute). Default is 40 characters per minute. TONE: This option is used to set the waveform of the CW tone, that is the timbre of the CW tone. There are four kinds of tone: SINE, SQUARE, SAWTOOTH and CWTONE. Default is CWTONE. TONEFREQ: This option sets the CW tone's frequency, that is the pitch of the tone. The range of the values is from 300 to 1400 Hertz. Default is 800 hertz. VERIFY: This option sets the editor or the viewer used to verify the last lesson. You must supply the path and the name of the program you wish to use. Default is "c:ed". VOLUME: This option allows you to set the initial volume for both CW tone and noise. The range of the values is from 0 to 64. Default is 50. 5 - Using MTrainer Once started, MTrainer opens its own window in the WorkBench screen. At the left of the window there are four sliders. The volume slider is used to set the output volume for both noise and morse signal. The balance gadget lets you to determine the amount of noise and morse signal. A value of zero means the same amount of noise and morse signal, that is they are perfectly balanced. A positive value means that morse signal is stronger than noise, whereas a negative value means noise stronger that morse signal. If you want to have a pure morse signal, that is a signal with no noise, you have to set balance to 100 by positioning the gadget on the far right. The tune slider allows you to set the pitch of the CW tone. You can set CW tone from 300 Hertz to 1400 Hertz. The speed slider lets you to set the speed of transmission in characters per minute. You can set this value from 10 to 200 characters per minute. At the right of the window there is a recessed box where you can set the filter band width and the timbre of the CW tone. You can consider the filter gadgets just like the filters of your transceiver. There are four kinds of filter and every one can attenuate noise by means of its band width. The higher the band width, the higher the confusion in the reception. Using these gadgets and the balance slider, you can simulate a lot of situations, from the ridiculously easy to the extremely hard. The Filter can be set in one of the following band widths: 5 Hertz, 1.8 Hertz, 2.2 Hertz and 6 Kilohertz. The other gadget placed inside the recessed box is used to set the CW tone timbre. There are a lot of people who learns CW using a particular tone and feels having no problem with CW. Because of our auditory system, someone could discover himself or herself absolutely unable to decode CW sent with different timbres. This option is useful to get practice with the most used waveforms for CW in order to become familiar with the various situations. There are four kinds of timbres: Sinusoidal wave (sine), square wave, sawtooth wave and CW Tone. In the bottom of the window there are three buttons where you can start, test and stop the reception. The start button is used to start the lesson using the selected mode. The test button lets you to control and set the CW reception before starting the lesson. The stop button stops any action in progress, that is the test session and the lesson itself. Any option can be set during the lesson or the test session, this means that you can alter filter, volume, balance and any other parameter during the CW transmission. The test button has been provided for this purpose, that is to prepare the working environment before starting the lesson for real. Below the recessed box there is a recessed gadget that MTrainer uses to show the current mode and the current status. If you want to pause MTrainer during the CW transmission, you have to click outside of any MTrainer window (either main window or CW output window). To resume Mtrainer after a pause, you have to re-activate one of the MTrainer's windows by clicking inside of it. 6 - The menus MTrainer has only three menus where you can choose some options. Using these menus you can also set the working mode. 6.1 - Project menu - New: This item creates a new session in the selected mode. For example, if your current mode is QSO, when you choose this item MTrainer will create a new QSO according to the current settings. - Start: Starts the lesson in the selected mode. - Stop: Stops any CW transmission. - Test: Lets you to test the settings of the CW transmission. - About: Shows the copyright notice about Morse Trainer and some other information about the author. - Quit: Lets you to quit Morse Trainer. You can also quit MTrainer by clicking on the window close gadget. 6.2 - Mode menu - File: This mode lets you choose a text file to transmit. When you choose this option, a file requester will appear on the screen asking for a file to load. - QSO: This mode generates a QSO to be transmitted during the lesson. Using this option, you can act as a short wave listener listening at a CW QSO between two HAMs. - MultiQSO: This mode is similar to the QSO mode except that it sends QSOs until you press the Stop button. The delay between QSOs is set by the MULTIQSODELAY tooltype. - Groups: This mode is used to generate groups of signs at different difficulty levels. - Verify: This option allows you to verify the last lesson transmitted. This option is used to check out how many errors you did during the reception. When selected, a file viewer will appear on the screen showing the contents of the last lesson. The file viewer or the file editor to be used by this option must be specified in the tool type VERIFY. 6.3 - Options menu - CW Output: When this option is on, everytime you start a CW transmission, a window will be opened on the screen showing the CW signs as they are sent out. This is useful in learning new CW signs. During the reception you will be able to see the corresponding sign while it is sent out. The output window can be dragged and sized at your ease. 7 - The file mode Using this mode you can load any text file to be sent by Morse Trainer. As you select this mode, a file requester will appear on the screen asking for a file to load. In this way you can create your own lessons by preparing files with your groups or whatever you want. If you want to use special CW signs such as "wait", "silent key" and so, please consult the chapter "Special CW signs. 8 - The QSO mode This mode lets you to act as a short wave listener listening at a QSO between two HAMs. Every time you select this mode, MTrainer will generate a QSO between two HAMs calling from various parts of the world. Because the QSO is generated in a random base, you could also hear a W9 calling from San Francisco, California or a I2 calling from Rome, Italy. This is not a bug, this is just normal for MTrainer. Remember this is a training program intended for people who want to learn CW code, and this apparent bug is not relevant. A HAM from San Francisco calling from the USA area number 9 (you know California state is assigned to USA area number 6), is not a relevant error in training purposes. Consider this aspect when you will be going to receive QSO generated by MTrainer. A QSO generated by MTrainer is a typical CW QSO concerning names, QTHs, RIGs, antennas and other things that HAMs like to send each other. At the end of the QSO you can verify what you heard by using the verify option of the mode menu. When you look first at the written QSO, you could be surprised by some "strange" characters. MTrainer uses some characters to indicate special CW signs such as "wait", "silent key" and so. Please read the chapter "Special CW signs" to know more about them. 9 - The multi QSO mode This mode is quite similar to the QSO mode except that it creates and sends QSOs until the user does not select the Stop button. At the end of every QSO MTrainer will wait for a while before sending a new QSO. The amount of wait time is specified by the MULTIQSODELAY tooltype. The wait time will be between 10 seconds and the time specified in the MULTIQSODELAY tooltype. 10 - The contest mode This mode lets you to listen at a contest. The contest mode is very useful to getting practice with critical CW situations because the exchange of information is very quick. This mode is also useful to getting practice with numbers. The amount of wait time before a new HAM station starts transmitting is specified by the CONTESTDELAY tooltype. 11 - The group mode This mode is used to generate groups of signs just as typical CW courses and every group is made of 8 rows by 5 signs. After selecting this mode, a little requester will appear on the screen. Using this requester you can choose the number of groups to generate and the difficulty level of the groups. When you will start the transmission, a sequence of three V will be sent. This sequence is just to warn you about the beginning of the transmission of groups and it does not belong to them. Every level is featured by its own signs and these are those used in all the levels available in MTRainer. Please note that a higher level uses its own signs and all the signs used in the lower levels except for levels 23 and 25. Level 1: AN Level 2: R Level 3: D Level 4: W Level 5: K Level 6: U Level 7: G Level 8: E Level 9: L Level 10: BF Level 11: ITM Level 12: C Level 13: X Level 14: S Level 15: O Level 16: V Level 17: Q Level 18: Y Level 19: H Level 20: J Level 21: P Level 22: Z Level 23: Only numbers Level 24: Numbers and letters Level 25: Only special CW signs Level 26: letters, numbers and special CW signs 12 - The verify mode This mode lets you to verify the last session used in Morse Trainer. This is done by using a file viewer or a file editor as specified in the VERIFY tool type. If no viewer or editor has been specified, MTrainer will use "c:ed" as its default verifier. 13 - The CW output option When this option is on, everytime MTrainer sends CW signals, it will open a window on the screen showing the CW transmission, just like a "teletype". This option is useful when you want to learn new CW signals by hearing the signals and seeing the corresponding characters. The window can be dragged and sized at your ease and everytime that the window is opened on the screen, MTrainer will use your last settings. 14 - Special CW signs MTrainer uses some ASCII characters as special CW signs. The following table shows the special CW signs used in MTrainer and the equivalent ASCII character. CW Sign Meaning ASCII ------- ------- ----- BT Dash - . Fullstop . / Slash / CL End of transmissions : AS Wait ; AR End of message < KN Key now = SK Silent key > ? Question mark ? Error Error @ FG Final greeting [ BK Break \ 15 - Conclusion I hope you will like MTrainer and I hope MTrainer can help you in getting practice with CW code. I should like to thank my dear friend IK0EFR Andrea for his support and for his precious suggestions during the development of MTrainer. I should also like to thank him because without his precious help I would have never become a HAM. I also want to thank Commodore for giving us this fantastic computer whose name is AMIGA. Send your contributions and suggestions to: Antonello Biancalana, IK0TOJ Via Girolamo Diruta, 69 I-06132 San Sisto (Perugia) ITALY or if you wish, you can contact me through fidonet at 2:335/412.3 MTrainer may be freely copied and distributed, provided that any distribution is accompanied by this documentation file. MTrainer can be used for any non-commercial or non-profit-making purpose. Permission for commercial or profit-making purposes may be obtained from the author. Have fun with your Amiga and with CW! Perugia, 28th January, 1994 Antonello Biancalana, IK0TOJ member of the ADSP (Amiga Developers Support Program) Morse Trainer 1.2 is copyright 1994 by Antonello Biancalana, IK0TOJ Amiga is a registered trademark of Commodore-Amiga, Inc. WorkBench is a registered trademark of Commodore-Amiga, Inc.