The keyboard session allows actual text to be prepared and sent for practice. It is possible to edit, save and reload text to and from diskette or hard disk. The function keys F2 thru F9 select program options.

F2 will toggle the keyboard between EDIT and SEND states. In SEND state the text on the screen will be sent in Morse code. Once the last character is sent (marked by the small square character at the end of the text), transmission ends. At any time during transmission of the code, pressing F2 causes sending to be suspended, and the EDIT state entered. If the Prosigns option (in the Options menu) is "On", whenever the program enters the Edit state it sends the Prosign AS (wait) to show suspension of code transmission. The cursor position displayed is the next letter to be sent. Pressing F2 again returns to the SEND state and causes code transmission to resume where it left off.

As a memory aid for the operator, line 23 is used to display the keys to send the Morse Prosigns. For example " AR * " means that the Prosign AR is sent using the "*" key on the keyboard.

The program MUST be in the EDIT state to use the F3 thru F9 program options. NOTE - the default mode is EDIT mode; you can only enter SEND mode by pressing F2 when in EDIT mode.

F3 allows the average speed of transmission to be set in words in minute.

F4 allows the character speed of code transmitted to be set in words per minute. If the speed selected is faster (it can't be slower) than the average code speed, delays are inserted between characters to cause the effective transmission speed to be equal to the average speed selected by F3.

At the end of the message, the elapsed time is displayed on line 22 along with an equivalent characters count (numerics, punctuation, and prosigns count as two characters). This information is used to compute and display the effective sending speed, i.e. WPM=10*(Count)/(Seconds).

F5 clears the screen to allow the start of input of new text.

F6 allows the loading of previously saved text. Pushing the key displays a complete list of all saved files, and provides a prompt at the top of the screen requesting the name of the file to be loaded. If the file is available, the screen is cleared and the stored text displayed.

F7 allows the saving of screen text for later recall. If overwriting of a previously saved file is requested, the operator is given the opportunity to confirm that overwriting is desired.

F8 allows files to be deleted from the directory. The DOS file name wildcards * and ? can be used to delete groups of files. Deleting a .KB file will automatically cause the corresponding .TST and .KEY files to be deleted.

F9 displays character statistics and estimated time for the text displayed.

If you wish to add your own ASCII files, just copy them to the your MA diskette in the same sub-directory with the other .KB files, making sure that each file has an extension of ".KB". Morse Academy will automatically add them to its directory at the start of execution.

In EDIT state the following editing keys are active:

   UP      - cursor up one line         DOWN    - cursor down one line
   PAGE UP - cursor to previous line    PAGE DN - cursor to next line
   LEFT    - cursor left one character  RIGHT   - cursor right one character
   HOME    - cursor to home position    END     - cursor to end of text