Morse trainer
Morse code trainer
Koch method, Farnsworth spacing, real audio generated in your browser. Free, works offline once loaded, and no account required.
Lesson 2 · 3 characters
8 WPM effective, sent at 18 WPM character speed
Highlighted in amber: the two newest characters. They appear more often in the drill.
How to actually learn this
The instinct is to slow everything down and count dots. It feels like progress and it is a trap — you build a mental lookup table that cannot keep up past about 10 words per minute, and breaking that habit later is genuinely painful.
The method that works has two halves, and this trainer implements both.
Send characters fast, stretch the gaps
Set the character speed to 18–20 WPM and leave it there. Lower the effective speed instead — that stretches the space between characters without changing how each character sounds. You learn dah-di-dah as one sound meaning K, never as “dash, dot, dash”.
Add one character at a time
Start with K and M — the pair that sound least alike. Copy at 90% accuracy, then add R, then S, and so on. The trainer advances you automatically when you clear 90%. The full order is:
K M R S U A P T L O W I . N J E F 0 Y , V G 5 / Q 9 Z H 3 8 B ? 4 2 7 C 1 D 6 XPractise daily, briefly
Ten to fifteen minutes every day beats an hour once a week by a wide margin. This is a motor and listening skill, built by repetition rather than by study time.
Do not look at a chart
Referring to a lookup table while practising reinforces exactly the habit you are trying to avoid. Miss the character, accept it, and let the next repetition teach you.
Common questions
Is Morse code required for the ASOC exam in India?
Morse proficiency is not required for ASOC (Restricted). The current rules state that the ASOC (General) examination also requires the Morse Code proficiency specified by the Central Government. Confirm the exact standard from the official notice before you apply.
What is the Koch method?
You start with just two characters sent at full target speed, practise until you copy them at about 90% accuracy, then add one more character. Because characters are always sent at full speed, you learn each one as a single rhythm rather than counting individual dots and dashes.
What is Farnsworth timing?
Characters are sent at a fast speed, typically 18 to 20 words per minute, while the gaps between characters and words are stretched so the overall rate is slow enough to keep up. As you improve you reduce the spacing rather than speeding the characters up, so nothing you learned has to be relearned.
How fast is 5 words per minute?
Speed is defined by the word PARIS, which is exactly 50 dot-lengths long. At 5 WPM one dot lasts 0.24 seconds. The formula is: dit length in seconds equals 1.2 divided by the speed in words per minute.
How long does it take to learn Morse code?
With ten to fifteen minutes of daily practice, most learners reach a basic copying speed in six to twelve weeks. Short daily sessions work far better than occasional long ones, because the skill is built by repeated exposure rather than by study time.