This work hopes to end the problems of learning and remembering Morse Code.

Its primary contribution

is a mnemonic scheme whereby a student
can learn the code in as little as an hour or even less. The Bahr Method has applications in amateur,
commercial, and military radio, and is a
generally useful survival skill. Because it employs a memory technique of a level higher than nonsense
syllables, it guarantees far longer retention
rates. Methods for obtaining code speeds equal to or better than conventional methods are also
addressed. To save a student's valuable time,
explanations are made as succinct as possible.

The Bahr Method is a mnemonic technique which employs a special, easily memorized table to allow a
student to change the
letters of the alphabet into words, similar in form to the "A" is for "Apple" (or "Ax") list learned in
gradeschool. These specially
designed words are representations of Dots and Dashes. The words are then associated with one
another in story form through
the commonly used "link" memory method. As the words are thus burned into memory, they allow a
person to easily convert
letters into Morse Code. The Bahr Method further focuses on our theory that receiving speed is a highly
correlated multiple
of sending speed. Students are provided methods of increasing their sending speeds so as to efficiently
multiply receiving
capabilities.

The following table converts the letters of the alphabet to words on a first letter basis; e.g. "A" becomes
"Ax," "B" becomes
"Bear,"... and "X" becomes "Xray" .... The words are then formed into two columns depending upon
whether the Morse Code
equivalent of the first letter starts with a Dot/Dit (.) or a Dash/Dah (-). A letter always retains its Dit/Dah
column identity
(refer to table). For example, an "A" will always be a Dit, a "B" will always be a Dash,... and an "X" will
always be a Dash....
A word can be translated into Dits and Dahs by spelling it and substituting Dits and Dahs for its
component letters
(e.g. A = A"x" = Dit "Dah"; B = Be"a"r = Dah Dit "Dit" Dit; and X = "X"ray = "Dah" Dit Dit Dah).
Memorizing Morse Code letters
then means memorizing these words and the columns to which they belong. An easy way of doing this
follows the table.
BAHR METHOD MNEMONIC MORSE TABLE

DOTS (Dits) DASHES (Dahs)

.- -...
Ax Bear

. -.-.
E Crow

..-. -..
Face Dip

.... --.
Heap G n u (African antelope)

.. -.-
I V (IntraVenous) Kid

.--- --
J o c k (Athlete) M D (Medical Doctor)

.-.. -.
Love N E (NorthEastern)

.--. ---
Pots Odd

.-. --.-
Row Q t a m (Electronics term)

... -
Sea T

..- -..-
U F O (See story) Xray

...- -.--
Vest Yank (Yankee)

.-- --..
W o k (Oriental frypan) Zoea (Crab larva)

Word and column memorization is easy using the "link" memory method, which uses an associative
technique, demonstrated
below:

For Dits, picture clearly in your mind, exaggerating as much as possible, the following story or sequence
of events:

An Ax smashes a large letter "E" into smithereens of little letter "E's" which fly and hit someone in the
Face. The person falls
in a Heap, is given an IV, a Jock visits, and Love develops. Once well, they climb into large Pots and
Row out to Sea.
There, they see a UFO (round and metallic Unidentified Flying Object). They catch it and use it first as an
armored Vest and
later as a Wok.

For Dahs, picture clearly in your mind the following events:

A Bear takes a Crow in his paws and eats it with Dip. Trotting by is a Gnu being ridden by a Kid who just
got his MD from
NorthEastern. "Odd," shouts the kid to the bear about the fare. "Why with a QTAM T, I could Xray that
crow and see
Yank Zoea inside."

Remembering Morse Code letters then means remembering words and to which of two possible stories
they belong. Numbers
and punctuation are relatively easy to learn (tricks are available in the full edition of "Morse Code Made
Memorable," available
from BahrNo Products at $10 ppd). By the way and quite coincidentally, McGuffy's Readers' first lesson
in the First Reader noted
"A is for Ax." : )

The Desperate Person's Way to Pass the 5 wpm Technician Code Test:

Here's one tip on how to legally pass only the Technical level code test with minimal study, if you're really
desperate.
First, spend 10 minutes to an hour learning the code from "Morse Code Made Memorable" (see BahrNo
Products catalog).
Then use the following idea from G. Harold Love (KA0NTK(SK)), as mentioned in 73 Amateur Radio, July
88:
During the exam, don't copy the characters represented by the dits and dahs (dots and dashes), but copy
the dits and dahs
themselves. Before the test, draw a grid on unlined paper with seven vertical and thirteen horizontal
lines, resulting in fourteen
rows of eight squares or 112 squares altogether. Each time you hear a character transmitted, write down
the dits and dahs
as you hear them, moving on to the next square when you hear a space, which separates characters.
For a dit, make a period
or short vertical stroke. For a dah, make a long vertical strong (vertical strokes are easier than
horizontal). Don't convert the
characters into letters and numbers, even if you know them, until after the code sending stops. Again,
make sure you write
down exactly what you hear. If you think it's necessary, at the end of the code sending, construct a table
on another sheet of
scrap paper provided which relates alpha-numerics to dits and dahs, beginning, for example with A = dit
dah. This should be
easy if you've purchased "Morse Code Made Memorable." All that's needed then is to go back to the grid
and convert the
dits and dahs to letters and numbers. Normally, examiners give you all the time you want within reason
to hand in your
translation of the copy sent. Naturally, this method won't give you natural code receiving speed, but in
nine times out of ten,
it will help you pass your 5 word per minute code exam so you can get your Technician license. Note:
please use this
technique discreetly, as a few examiners don't care for it. While we believe it meets the letter of the legal
requirements, a
few doubt it meets the spirit. We'll leave that up to you, given your degree of desperation to pass the
code requirements.
We believe the positive aspects overcome the negative. In any case, good luck!

This project teaches you about binary numbers and how to translate them to decimal
numbers we recognize.

When you see a letter T on your computer screen, did you know the computer doesnt
actually use the letter T? Instead, it uses a string of numbers, for example, 01010100.
This is called a binary number because it uses two numbers, 0 and 1.

Computers transport, calculate, and translate binary numbers because computer

hardware circuits only have two electrical states, on or off. These two states can be
represented as zero (off) or one (on). All letters of the alphabet, numbers, and symbols
are converted to eight (or more) character binary numbers as you work with them in
software on your computer.

However, you can have fun with binary numbers without diving deeply into how
computers translate binary numbers into letters, numbers, and characters.

How Binary Numbers Work

Heres how simple binary numbers work. First, each position in a string of ones and
zeroes represents a power of 2. A zero means no value is counted. A one means the
power of 2 is added to your total number. The value of the power of 2 depends on the
position of the one in the string. You calculate or decode a binary number by adding up
the power of 2 values, working from right to left. Heres an example how this works for
binary number 110001011:

1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 Write a binary number 1 or 0 in each cell

256 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 Position Value (as a power of 2)
Write value of each 1 then write total here:

256 128 8 2 1 256 + 128 + 8 + 2 + 1 = 395

Lets start with a simple two-digit binary number 0 0:

0 0 Write a binary number 1 or 0 in each cell

2 1 Position Value (as a power of 2)
Write value of each 1 then write total here:

0 0 0+0=0

The two-digit binary number 1 1 has a value of 3. The left 1 is in the position with a
power of 2 value of 2 while the right 1 is in the position with a value of 1.
0 0 Write a binary number 1 or 0 in each cell
2 1 Position Value (as a power of 2)
Write value of each 1 then write total here:

2 1 2+1=3

The three-digit binary number 1 1 0 equals 6 (4 + 2):

1 1 0 Write a binary number 1 or 0 in each cell

4 2 1 Position Value (as a power of 2)
Write value of each 1 then write total here:

4 2 4+2=6

If you want to play further with binary numbers, the tables below show the power of 2
values for binary numbers up to nine digits. At the bottom of this article is a link to an
Excel worksheet to help convert binary numbers to decimal numbers, as well as a blank
worksheet (PDF) to play around converting decimal numbers to binary and back again.

Heres a secret: add up the power of 2 values to find the maximum number you can
represent with your binary number string. For example, a two-digit binary number string
has possible power of 2 values of 2 and 1. So 3 is the highest number you can translate
into a two-digit binary number. A six-digit binary number can only represent numbers up
to 63 (32 + 16 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 1).

How many numbers can you translate into binary numbers? Can you write a random
binary number and translate it into a decimal number we recognize? For more fun,
figure out the highest number that can be represented with a ten-digit binary number.

Can You Translate/Decode These Binary Numbers?

Print out and use the blank tables below to translate/decode these binary numbers, or
any numbers with 1 and 0s.

01
101
0110
11001
011000
1110100
100110000

Write a binary number 1 or 0 in each cell

2 1 Position Value (as a power of 2)
Write value of each 1 then write total here:
Write a binary number 1 or 0 in each cell
4 2 1 Position Value (as a power of 2)
Write value of each 1 then write total here:
Write a binary number 1 or 0 in each cell
8 4 2 1 Position Value (as a power of 2)
Write value of each 1 then write total here:
Write a binary number 1 or 0 in each cell
256 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 Position Value (as a power of 2)
Write value of each 1 then write total here:

Binary Numbers Summary The binary number system is a base-2 number system. This means it only has
two numbers: 0 and 1. The number system that we normally use is the decimal number system. It has 10
numbers: 0-9. Why use binary numbers? Binary numbers are very useful in electronics and computer
systems. Digital electronics can easily work with a sort of "on" or "off" system where "on" is a 1 and
"off" is a zero. Often times the 1 is a "high" voltage, while the 0 is a "low" voltage or ground. How do
binary numbers work? Binary numbers only use the numbers 1 and 0. In a binary number each "place"
represents a power of 2. For example: 1 = 20 = 1 10 = 21 = 2 100 = 22 = 4 1000 = 23 = 8 10000 = 24 = 16
Converting from Binary to Decimal If you want to convert a number from binary to decimal, you can add
up the "places" that we showed above. Each place that has a "1" represents a power of 2, starting with
the 0s place. Examples: 101 binary = 4 + 0 + 1 = 5 decimal 11110 binary = 16 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 0 = 30 decimal
10001 binary = 16 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 1 = 17 decimal Converting from Decimal to Binary Converting a decimal
number to a binary number can be more difficult. It helps if you know the powers of two (1, 2, 4, 8, 16,
32, 64, 128, 256, ). First subtract the largest power of two possible from the number you are
converting. Then put a "1" in that place of the binary number. Next, you subtract the next biggest power
of two possible from the remainder. You put a 1 in that position. You keep repeating the above until
there is no remainder left. All the places without a "1" get a "0". Example: What is 27 decimal in binary?
1. What is the largest power of 2 that is less than or equal to 27? That is 16. So subtract 16 from 27. 27 -
16 = 11 2. Put a 1 in the 16's place. That is 24, which is the 5th place because it starts with the 0's place.
So we have 1xxxx so far. 3. Now do the same for the remainder, 11. The largest power of two number
we can subtract from 11 is 23, or 8. So, 11 - 8 = 3. 4. Put a 1 in the 8's place. Now we have 11xxx. 5. Next
is to subtract 21, or 2 which is 2 -1 = 1. 6. 11x1x 7. Lastly is 1-1 = 0. 8. 11x11 9. Put zero's in the places
without 1's and we get the answer = 11011. Other examples: 14 = 8 + 4 + 2 + 0 = 1110 21 = 16 + 0 + 4 + 0
+ 1 = 10101 44 = 32 + 0 + 8 + 4 + 0 + 0 = 101100 Helpful Binary Tables First 10 Numbers Binary Position
Values in Decimal (powers of 2)

Read more at: http://www.ducksters.com/kidsmath/binary_numbers_basics.php

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