xcwcp - Online in the Cloud

PROGRAM:

NAME

xcwcp - X Window-based Morse tutor program

SYNOPSIS

xcwcp [-s --system=SYSTEM] [-d --device=DEVICE] [-w --wpm=WPM] [-t --tone=HZ]
[-v --volume=PERCENT] [-g --gap=GAP] [-f, --infile=FILE] [-F, --outifile=FILE]
[-h --help] [-V --version]

xcwcp installed on GNU/Linux systems understands both short form and long form command
line options. xcwcp installed on other operating systems may understand only the short
form options.

There are no mandatory options.

Options may be predefined in the environment variable XCWCP_OPTIONS. If defined, these
options are used first; command line options take precedence.

DESCRIPTION

xcwcp is a X Window-based interactive Morse code tutor program. It lets you choose from a
number of options for practice, including sending random characters, random words, and
characters from the keyboard. It will also receive Morse code that you send using the
keyboard or mouse as a Morse keyer, and display the characters it sees.

COMMAND LINE OPTIONS
xcwcp understands the following command line options. The long form options may not be
available in non-LINUX versions.

-s, --system=SYSTEM
Specifies the way that xcwcp generates tones. Valid values are: console for tones
through the console speaker, alsa for tones generated through the system sound card
using ALSA sound system, oss for tones generated through system sound card using
OSS sound system, soundcard for tones generated through the system sound card, but
without explicit selection of sound system. These values can be shortened to 'c',
'a', 'o', or 's', respectively. The default value is 'oss'.

-d, --device=DEVICE
Specifies the device file to open for generating a sound. xcwcp will use default
device if none is specified. The default devices are: /dev/console for sound
produced through console, default for ALSA sound system, /dev/audio for OSS sound
system. See also NOTES ON USING A SOUND CARD below.

-w, --wpm=WPM
Sets the initial sending speed in words per minute. The value must be between 4
and 60. The default value is 12 WPM.

-t, --tone=HZ
Sets the initial sounder pitch in Hz. This value must be between 0 and 4,000. A
value of 0 selects silent operation, and can be used for timing checks or other
testing. The default value is 800Hz,

-v, --volume=PERCENT
Sets the initial sending volume, as a percentage of full scale volume. The value
must be between 0 and 100. The default value is 70 %. Sound volumes work fully
for sound card tones, but xcwcp cannot control the volume of tones from the console
speaker. In this case, a volume of zero is silent, and all other volume values are
simply sounded.

-g, --gap=GAP
Sets the initial extra gap, in dot lengths, between characters (the 'Farnsworth'
delay). It must be between 0 and 60. The default is 0.

-f, --infile=FILE
Specifies a text file that xcwcp can read to configure its practice text. See
CREATING CONFIGURATION FILES below.

-F, --outfile=FILE
Specifies a text file to which xcwcp should write its current practice text.

USER INTERFACE
xcwcp offers GUI controls for changing the speed, tone frequency, 'Farnsworth' gap, and
mode of the program. All of the major controls are placed on the application toolbar.

The main GUI window is used to display the characters that xcwcp sends or receives.

To find out more about what a particular GUI control does, use the "What's this..." icon
(the '?' at the far right of the toolbar).

RANDOM CHARACTERS AND WORDS
xcwcp sends random characters in groups of five, with a space between each group.

When sending random words, xcwcp sends the complete word, followed by a space. Because
short words are easier to copy without writing, xcwcp's default dictionary contains only
three, four, and five-letter words in its random words list.

xcwcp chooses at random from a list of around 3000 words in its default dictionary. You
can change this text using a configuration file, read at startup. See CREATING
CONFIGURATION FILES below.

RECEIVING MORSE
xcwcp can receive Morse code, and display it in its main GUI window. To key Morse code
into the program, select the Receive Keyed CW mode, and press the stop/start button. Now,
place the mouse cursor over the central window of the program. By pressing the middle
mouse button, you should be able to key Morse into the program as if the mouse button was
a straight Morse key.

For better keying, you can use the left and right mouse buttons as if they were paddles on
an Iambic keyer. This will send Morse code at the exact rate set on the Speed control.

You can also use the keyboard for keying. In this case, any of the Up or Down cursor
keys, Space, Enter, or Return may be used as the straight key, and the Left and Right
cursor keys act as the two paddles of an Iambic keyer.

By default, xcwcp will try to follow the speed of the Morse code that you send to it. It
is possible to switch this tracking off, in which case the program switches to receiving
only at the exact speed set on the Speed control. However, fixed speed receiving is very,
very picky about receiving only extremely accurately timed Morse code, so unless you are
striving for complete perfection, you may find that speed tracking is more comfortable.

The speed tracking in xcwcp can sometime be confused by very wide and abrupt changes in
speed. If it is having difficulty finding the speed you are sending at, you can use the
File pulldown menu to synchronize the receive speed to the speed set on the Speed control.

At any time, the mode selection combowidget can get focus by using Alt+M. You can then
use the space bar or the up/down keys to change the mode. The Tab key moves to the next
widget, so you can change speed, etc. Shift+Tab moves backwards.

NOTES ON USING A SOUND CARD
By default, xcwcp tries to open OSS device "/dev/audio" to access the system sound card.
This is generally the correct device to use, but for systems with special requirements, or
those with multiple sound cards, the option -d or --device, combined with -s or --system
can be used to specify the device and audio system for sound card access. If the sound
card device cannot be set up, xcwcp prints the error message

cannot set up soundcard sound

and exits.

Sound card devices, when opened through OSS sound system, are usually single-access
devices, so that when one process has opened the device, other processes are prevented
from using it. In such cases xcwcp will of course conflict with any other programs that
expect exclusive use of the system sound card (for example, MP3 players). If xcwcp finds
that the sound card is already busy, it prints the error message

open /dev/audio: Device or resource busy

and exits.

The sound card device is not used if xcwcp is only sending tones on the console speaker.

AUDIO OUTPUT - DEFAULTS AND SELECTION
xcwcp first tries to access sound card using PulseAudio sound system, using default device
name, unless user specifies other audio device with option -d or --device.

xcwcp then tries to access sound card using OSS audio system and default OSS audio device
name ('/dev/audio'), unless user specifies other audio device with option -d or --device.

If opening soundcard through OSS fails, xcwcp tries to access the sound card using ALSA
audio system, and default ALSA audio device name ('default'), unless user specifies other
audio device with option -d or --device.

If opening soundcard through ALSA also fails, xcwcp tries to access system console buzzer
using default buzzer device '/dev/console', unless user specifies other audio device with
option -d or --device.

It is very common that in order to access the console buzzer device user has to have root
privileges. For that reason trying to open console buzzer almost always fails. This is
not a program's bug, this is a result of operating system's restrictions. Making xcwcp an
suid binary bypasses this restriction. The program does not fork() or exec(), so making
it suid should be relatively safe. Note however that this practice is discouraged for
security reasons.

As stated, user can tell xcwcp which device to use, using -d or --device option. Which
device files are suitable will depend on which operating system is running, which system
user ID runs xcwcp, and which user groups user belongs to.

CREATING CONFIGURATION FILES
xcwcp contains a default set of modes and practice text that should be enough to begin
with. It can however read in a file at startup that reconfigures these to provide
different character groupings, word sets, and other practice data.

To read a configuration file, use the -i or --infile command line option. The file should
introduce each xcwcp mode with a section header in '[' ... ']' characters, followed by the
practice text for that mode, with elements separated by whitespace. Lines starting with a
semicolon or hash are treated as comments. For example

; Simple example mode
[ A to Z ]
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

xcwcp will generate five character groups for modes whose elements are all single
characters, and treat other modes as having elements that are complete words. As a
starting point for customized modes, xcwcp will write its default configuration to a file
if given the undocumented -# option, for example "xcwcp -# /tmp/xcwcp.ini".

NOTES

xcwcp is an X Window rewrite of cwcp. Both programs borrow heavily from the the DOS Morse
code tutor CP222C.EXE, by VU2ZAP.

The characters echoed in the main GUI window may be ASCII equivalents of Morse procedural
signals; see the cw(7,LOCAL) man page for details.

HINTS ON LEARNING MORSE CODE
Here are a few hints and tips that may help with the process of learning Morse code.

Firstly, do NOT think of the elements as dots and dashes. Instead, think of them as dits
and dahs (so 'A' is di-dah). If you think of them in this way, the process of translating
sound into characters will be learned much more easily.

Do not learn the characters from a table. Learn them by watching the groups appear on the
screen, and listening to the sounds produced as each is sent. In the very initial stages,
it may be beneficial if you can find a person to take you through the first stages of
recognising characters.

Do not waste your time learning Morse code at 5 WPM. Set the speed to 12 or 15 WPM, but
use extra spacing (the Gap window) to reduce the effective speed to much lower - around
four or five WPM effective speed. This way, you will learn the rhythm of the characters
as they are sent, but still have plenty of time between characters. As you practice,
decrease the gap to zero.

Learn in stages. Start by learning the EISH5 group, then progress down through the menu
as each group is mastered. The groups contain characters which are in some way related,
either by sound, or by type of character.

Once you have completed all the groups EISH5 to ,?.;)/ (or 23789 if you do not want to
learn procedural signals yet), use the full character set options, and the words and CW
words options, to sharpen your skill. If you have difficulties with particular
characters, return to that group and practice again with a smaller character set.

Resist the temptation to try to learn or improve your speed by copying off-air. You will
not know what speed you are working at, and much hand-sent Morse is not perfectly formed.
What you can gain off-air though is a general 'resilience', a tolerance for Morse code
where the timing of individual elements, or spacing between characters and words, is not
100% accurate.

If working to attain a particular speed for a test, always set the speed slightly higher.
For example, if aiming for 12 WPM, set the tutor speed to 14 or 15 WPM. This way, when
you drop back to 12 WPM you will feel much more relaxed about copying. Be aware that
xcwcp is not necessarily going to send at exactly the speed you set, due to limitations in
what can be done with UNIX timers. It often sends at a slower speed than you set, so be
very careful with this if you have a target speed that you need to reach.

Use the program to make cassette tapes that you can take with you in a walkman or in the
car, for long journeys. You do not have to write down everything you hear to practice
Morse code. Simply listening to the shapes of characters over a period will help to train
your brain into effortless recognition. In fact, slavishly writing everything down
becomes a barrier at speeds of 15-20 WPM and above, so if you can begin to copy without
writing each character down, you will find progress much easier above these speeds. But
do not over-use these tapes, otherwise you will quickly memorise them. Re-record them
with new contents at very regular intervals.

Try to spend at least 15-30 minutes each day practicing. Much less than this will make
progress glacially slow. But significantly more than an hour or so may just result in you
becoming tired, but not improving. Recognise when it is time to stop for the day.

Do not worry if you reach a speed 'plateau'. This is common, and you will soon pass it
with a little perseverance.

At higher speeds, CW operators tend to recognise the 'shape' of whole words, rather than
the individual characters within the words. The CW words menu option can be used to help
to practice and develop this skill.

Neither the mouse buttons nor the keyboard are ideal for use a keys or keyer paddles, for
sending practice. Try to use a proper key for sending where possible. It is hard even
for experienced operators to get good keying using the mouse or keyboard. Of the two, the
mouse is probably the better option, though, in a pinch.

ERRORS AND OMISSIONS

The calibration option is a bit ropy. It simply sends PARIS repeatedly, and relies on you
to time the sending and then work out if any adjustment to the speed is really necessary.
Automatic calibration by making measurements over a given period would be a lot better.

Use xcwcp online using onworks.net services