On Jan 12, 2006, at 1:26 PM, Darwin, Keith wrote:
It used to be one would say oops by sending 8 dits in a row. Now, I
routinely hear a couple of short odd spaced dits instead. I
suppose it
works but it is more risky.
This phenomenon is actually a very interesting and natural evolution
to cw's conversational style. When sending at relatively slow
speeds, particularly -- but not only -- with a straight key, the 8-
dits error sign made a good contrast and served psychologically to
clean the slate for a fresh start. When sending with a keyer,
however, at higher speeds (say 25 wpm or above -- and certainly above
30 wpm), the string of dits no longer provides the kind of contrast
that makes the mind say, whoa, let's do that again, and instead often
just sounds like unintended noise. Indeed it a couple of well spaced
dots that do provide this contrast, and hence serve better to the
purpose. I think this notion grew naturally and independently to a
large number of operators, and I suspect it is going to stay. As
Keith says, "it is more risky," but this risk can all but be removed
if the sender takes the pains not to make the dots "oddly spaced" but
rather, say, three dits spaced evenly with the between-word spacing.
best wishes,
dave belsley, w1euy
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