I never became proficient. Couldn't begin to receive as fast as those guys
would send. Later in the Navy, we had to get up to about 15 words per
minute. (but this was with buzzer, radio code, which was a different code,
and wasn't as fast as Ry. telegraphy). I never saw a key code book like you
mention. My dad was an old-timer and probably no longer had to refer to the
book. I have my dad's old bug and his dispatcher's phone. I have them set
up in my RR room, along with a couple of keys and a sounder. I practice on
the key and the bug, just enough to demonstrate what telegraphy sounded like.
Telegraphers could identify each other by the way they used the key. Each
operator's sending had its own personality. They chatted as eaily on the
sounder as they did by the speaking voice. Good to discuss this. Very few
around who have any notion of what Ry. telegraphy was.
DRale
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