On Jun 28, 2011, at 9:06 PM, Vic K2VCO wrote: > The hardest CW to copy (for me anyway) has insufficient spacing between > letters or words. > This is exactly what a keyer does NOT help you with! The operator has to > learn to > recognize what good CW sounds like. Does sending with a straight key help > with that? > Maybe, but I doubt it.
Nah, not with that. I think sending with a straight key does help with getting a feel for how characters are structured, though. Not a bad thing, but like others here, I'd much rather have interested cw ops than insisting on straight keys all the way. On the other hand (am I an octopus?), an op who handles a straight key well is a real joy to work. Ditto for a well-handled bug. I'd love to be able to use both well myself; straight key fist is a bit rusty, not what it once was, but it's coming back, and I'm having a lot of fun with it. I expect I'm more critical of my sending than some might be of it, though. > > Many of you have heard old-timers with bugs sending with the "banana-boat > swing" (dits way > too fast for the dahs) or the "Lake Erie swing" (think about sending from a > rolling ship). > These are generally considered 'bad CW', but they aren't difficult to copy. Unless the spacing is off, then, well, all bets are off. I don't mind some swing, it adds character. > > The techniques of sending with an iambic paddle, a bug and a straight key are > very > different. I don't think learning one helps you with the others. Completely agree. To this day, I still can't send properly with an iambic paddle and tend to use them as though they were single lever paddles. Even though I've never owned such a beast. Really, really want another bug, though. But getting back to the straight key for a second, probably the worst code I've ever heard came from a straight key. Unfortunately, my friend Dave, N5RUL, had to suffer through that as his first cw contact. Were I not there to back him up on copy, and I really struggled with that myself, he'd have been completely lost and probably discouraged. The guy's dits and dahs were almost nearly the same length! Strange but true. In that case, I don't think a straight key helped him much. -- Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
