Smart Morse

[ Description | Features | How to Use | Buttons | Menus | Version History ]

• Multi-letter practice option (new)
• Basic artificial intelligence that determines what letters you need the most help on.
• Alphabet divided into smaller "Letter Groups" to make learning easier.
• Number and 7 other special characters also available for practice.
• Adjustable volume control.
• Silent operation available ("Flash").
• Fully configurable signaling system (tones pitch and timings).
• Simple user interface and intuitive user feedback.
• Works on nearly all Palm devices.

Smart Morse was designed to teach Morse code through practice. It is important that that student learn to associate letters with the sound patters (e.g. "dit-dit-dat-dit") rather than written the written pattern (e.g. "**-*").

The method used, therefore, is to listen to a letter as it is played and identify what letter it was. To do this, hit the "Next" button to play a letter at random. You can hit "Replay" to hear the same letter played again if you need to. Then write your guess in the graffiti area and hit "OK". The correct answer will then be displayed on the line marked "Answer". If you guessed correctly, the "OK" button will stay lit. If you guessed incorrectly, the sequence that corresponds to the letter you guessed will be displayed next to the letter for your information (as is in the screenshot to the right).

As the program learns which letters you know and which ones you don't, it will start asking the missed ones more often. As you consistently get those previously missed letters correct, they will slowly be asked less and less often in favor of other problem areas.

Recommended Strategy

First, start in single-letter mode with just Group 1. Remember that single-letter mode responds much more quickly when you get a letter wrong, repeating the missed letter over and over again until you consistently answer correctly. With just a few minutes of practice, you'll probably find yourself answering correctly almost 100% of the time.

Next, move over to multi-letter mode, still using just Group 1. Multi-letter mode is much more forgiving of mistakes, but still gives more attention to letters you consistently get stuck on. After all, we wouldn't want you to forget what you've already learned.

The purpose of multi-letter mode is to learn speed. Start out with just 2 letters at a time, no spaces. You want to translate while you're listening, not after hearing the whole sequence. After just a few minutes at 2 letters, move on to 3 letters at a time. Remember, speed is the key. You need to get used to translating in your mind while the sequence is playing. Once you're comfortable with 3 letters, try 4. If you can easily do 4 letters at a time, you're on the right track.

Next, try just group 2. First single-letter mode, then multi-letter mode. Then try groups 1 and 2 at the same time in multi-letter mode.

Remember that you're main practice area once you're familiar with the alphabet (or the part of the alphabet you're interested in) is multi-letter mode. Single-letter mode was designed to quickly familiarize you with the alphabet. Multi-letter mode, on the other hand, helps you learn to associate the codes with the letters the instant you hear them. It helps you translate while you listen, instead of after.

• Single / Multi
  Switches you between single- and multi-letter quiz mode.
• Letters (multi mode only)
  The number of letters to quiz at a time in multi-letter mode.
• Spaces (multi mode only)
  Include spaces in the character string or not.
• Group1, Group2, etc.
  Use these buttons to turn on and off certain letter groups. It's easiest to start with learning just the first letter group, then just the second, then try both the first and second at the same time, then move on to the third, etc. You can find what letters are in which group in the "Morse Code" list under the help menu.
• Number
  Turns on and off the "Numbers" group.
• Special
  Turns on and off the "Special" group. The special characters are punctuation and other special-meaning symbols.
• Hi, Med, Low
  Adjusts the speaker volume.
• Flash
  Plays the letters by flashing on and off the "Replay" and "Next" buttons instead of beeping the speaker. This option is very useful for times when you want to practice but don't want to make any noise.
• Replay
  Plays the current letter again.
• Next
  Chooses the next letter at random from the selected groups and plays the letter.
• OK
  Use this button to make you guess after you've written a letter in the "Your Guess" area. Note that the program only considers your first guess in determining whether or not you guessed right.

• Settings
  • Speeds and Tones
    This menu item displays a box where you can change the tone of the beep as well as how long each tone should last. You can also change this times for the visual signaling ("Flash") independently of the speaker tone timing. Generally, "Flash" signaling is much slower than the audio signaling.
  • Reset Settings
    Resets all the system settings (such as speaker tones) to the way they started out. This option does not change the student profile that Smart Morse has built about you.
  • Reset Profile
    Clears the profile that Smart Morse has built about the student. Specifically, it resets the number of times you've guessed a specific letter right or wrong, which it uses to determine what letters you need more practice with.
• Help
  • Morse Code
    Displays a list of all the codes this program recognizes, arranged into their various letter groups. Remember, though, that you should be memorizing what the code sounds like, not how it looks when written.
  • About
    Gives some basic information about Smart Morse, including the current version number.

Version History

• 2.2: Aug 13, 2003 (current)
  Fixed compatability issue with PalmOS 4 and below.
  • Added "User-defined volume" option
  • 2.1: Aug 10, 2003
    • Added ability to hide codes.
    • Added new symbols.
  • 2.0: June 22, 2003
    • Added Multi-letter capability
    • "Flash" mode now only flashes the button you didn't tap
    • Fixed hard-key scroll buttons in morse-code help dialog box
    • Increased entropy in random letter selection (hopefully)
    • small bugfixes
  • 1.1: May 10, 2003
    • Small bugfixes
  • 1.0: May 9, 2003
    • Initial public release