Decoding CW received via SDR

Hi Guy's,

I have been playing around with my RTL SDR device that has been laying in a drawer for a few years. This time I actually spent the time in getting to grips with an SDR program (SDR Console) to the extent that I got it up and running to do what it's intended to do, namely find activity on the band in question so I can then tune my SS9900 onto it.

Anyway, as you do I was tuning around in SDR and came across the usual CW taking place at the bottom end of most bands and this got me wondering what software solutions were out there for those like me who never learned Morse Code. I came across a little program called CWGet which is intended to decode CW from your transceiver.

After a bit of lateral thinking I managed to get SDR Console to route the output to a Virtual Audio Cable and from there I was able to get CWGet to hear and decode the CW signals being received.

I just thought I would share it with you in case anyone else wanted to spend a few hours killing time 

Nice one Mark.
I had a go at this 2 or 3 years ago but gave up.
Think i still have it will look it out over the weekend and have another try.

Thanks for posting. I am sure some others might want to give this a try. 

I've read in many places that it can be very hard for computers to decode Morse due to the analogue nature of the code. Some software seems to do better than others. I suspect if you keep watching decodes that you'll see some outputs clearer than others depending on the skill of the operating keyer. Occasionally you'll get perfect decodes, especially during contests where people are using computers to send the code.

The G90 has a built in decoder, but clearly is using a very different piece of inbuilt software to do the job as although outputs are often not bad and quite readable, there are equally as often a lot of spurious 'e' and 'i's in the decodes.

CW Skimmer by Afreet is the best for decoding morse by far. Can decode multiple streams, can change frequency of the radio when you click on one, will do callsign lookup for amateur callsigns. Definitely worth paying for. 

https://www.dxatlas.com/CwSkimmer/

I've been attempting to learn morse for a few months now, and slowly making progress.  Best decoder I have found is the Wolfwave box form Sotabeams - nothing else comes close, though I'm led to believe Elecraft receivers are also excellent.  I've never had any luck with the PC based ones.

What I can say is it's worth the effort to learn....and your brain does a better job or decoding "bad" sending (Where the timing is off) than the software, as the software expects perfect timing on characters, between characters and between words.

My KN 990 SDR is capable of decoding Morse, it's a great little radio, very versatile.

Have tried a lot of different CW decoders they all fall down on hand sent stuff.

I have the Preppcom MMX Zero but that to does not like hand sent stuff but it does try to decode.

The only way to decode hand sent is to learn CW and get to 20 or 25wpm and your good to go.

If you want to dabble with higher speed machine code then a Preppcom MMX Zero, expensive, or
CW Decoder, free, will do the job.