Virtual Straight Key
The straight key is where sending begins — a single contact, a single tone, and your wrist as the timing circuit. This page gives you one in the browser: press the knob and a 600 Hz tone sounds; release and it stops. Every press is measured, judged into a dot or a dash, grouped into letters, and decoded to text in real time. No installs, no signup, and it works with a finger on touch or the Space bar on a keyboard.
Press and hold to key · tap short for a dot, hold past ~250 ms for a dash · pause ~1 s to end a letter
Learning a proper fist
"Fist" is ham shorthand for a operator's sending touch — and good fists are made of exactly two habits. The first is element length: a dah should be three times your dit, every time. The second is spacing: one dit of silence between elements, three between letters, seven between words. Send on a straight key and both are exposed immediately, which is why old-timers could recognize a friend's keying across an ocean. Watch the live decode here: if your letters smear together into one long symbol, your spacing is too tight; if single letters split in two, you're pausing mid-character.
- Start slow and even. 10 WPM with perfect rhythm reads better than 18 WPM with wobble — receivers copy rhythm, not speed.
- Count in dits, not milliseconds. Think "dit-dah-dit" as a word with a swing to it; muscle memory outlasts mental math.
- Check the fist estimate. If your measured WPM drifts upward during a session, fatigue is shortening your dits — a classic straight-key tell.
- Send real words. Key SOS until it's reflexive, then your name and callsign — practical vocabulary beats random dots.
From here
Sending is half the circuit. Pair this key with the listening quiz and the Koch ladder so your ear improves alongside your wrist, and read up on CW culture — Q-codes, prosigns, band etiquette — on the ham radio CW page. When you're ready for narrative pressure, the Titanic radio-room game has you keying SOS with a story attached.
Frequently asked questions
How does the virtual key decide dot vs dash?
It measures how long each press is held. Under roughly 250 ms counts as a dot, longer holds count as a dash — the same judgment a CW decoder's timing gate makes on the air. Pausing about a second ends the letter, and the code you keyed is decoded to text below the knob.
What speed is my fist?
The tool watches your shortest press — that's your dit — and converts it to words per minute (WPM = 1.2 / dit-seconds). If it reads much faster than you intended, your dashes are probably too short relative to your dots; aim for a 1:3 ratio.
Why 600 Hz?
Around 500–700 Hz is where most operators set their sidetone and where the ear's sensitivity is comfortable for long sessions. 600 Hz is the de facto default on modern rigs and training apps alike.
Is a straight key the right way to start sending?
Yes — hams have learned on one for over a century. A straight key teaches element length and spacing honestly because you, not an electronic keyer, produce every dit and dah. Once you're solid at 15 WPM-ish sending, moving to a paddle and keyer is straightforward.