Learning Morse code is easier — and way more fun — when you can practice with real people anytime, anywhere. KO6BTY and I have been building a phone-based CW practice app that lets you send and receive code with other operators over the internet, no radio, antenna, or license required. This post walks through the waterfall display, keyer modes, histograms, and demo videos so you can jump right in and start making contacts from your phone.
KO6BTY and I have been working on a two-way phone based CW (Morse code) practice app for a while. We'd really love for people try it out, and let us know what to improve, or what to implement next. We've finally got it in a state where people can start to test it. If you'd like to practice sending and receiving code with other people via your phone anyhere you can get on the internet, read on.
App Components
Project TouCans CW Practice app is a Morse code tranceiver that operates over your phone, so no ham license, (or antenna), is required. You can see a picture of the interface below. I'll describe it here, and you can also see it running in the videos below.
Waterfall
At the top of the app, you'll find the waterfall, and below it the unmute button. First, unmute. Then, if you see CW traces, you can click on one of them to listen in or join the QSO. You'll here the transmitted Morse from the other users over your speaker or headphones. When you click away from that trace to an empty space on the waterfall, you won't hear the QSO anymore. Here's a short demo.
Keyer
There are three different keying modes in the app, iambic, cootie, and straight key. The iambic keyer mode lives here. The straight key and cootie keys both live here. Both sorts of keyers transmit and receive over the same channels. The video below explains how to use the iambic keyer. The boxes on your phone screen labeled 1, 2, and 3 are the keyer controls. Tapping on box 3 or tapping and holding will send dahs. Tapping or tapping and holding on box 1 will send dits. See the demo below.
To use the cootie keyer, first make sure your on the Cootie/Straight Key version of the web app. In cootie mode, region 2 is intended as a finger rest. Swipe across the screen back and forth between regions 1 and 3 to use the phone like a cootie keyer.
In straight key mode, you can simply tap out code on either region 1 or region 3.
Both the straight and cootie key count as mechanical keys. The sound that is transmitted corresponds exactly to the amount of time your finger was on the key. Here's a demo of the key being used as a cootie.
The final feature to explain today is the historgram that runs behind the key. As you key, the top histogram, (blue bars), measures the the lengths of your dits and dahs; the bottom histogram, (green bars), measures the length of your pauses between dits and dahs, your pauses between letters, and your pauses between words. There's more detail and a demo in the video below.
I know a lot of people might arrive at the site on a desktop rather than a phone. There's a video below that explains how to best use the app on a desktop machine.
The Project TouCans CW Practice App brings live, two-way Morse code practice to your phone with a simple waterfall interface and three touch-based keying modes: iambic, cootie, and straight key. Whether you're polishing your timing, joining a QSO, or testing your skills on the go, the app gives new and experienced operators a lightweight way to train with real humans—not bots.
If you try the app, please send us your feedback! Tell us what worked, what confused you, or what you'd like to see next. Your input directly shapes what features we build.
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