Certainly not picking on Ralph's comments, but I have a question. As a CW operator for some 61 years, I have always wondered why a lot of CW operators adjust their sending weight to suit their own ears (taste)? Do they then sit back and send to themselves because their weight adjustment sounds good to them? For instance, what if Ralph calls CQ with his weight "on the 'heavy' side (52%....)" and since I prefer a normal 3 to 1 ratio, I probably will not call him because to me his CW sounds pretty bad. If we could back up a step and all CW operators set their weight to the 'normal' three to one weight, wouldn't that be more ideal? Then if someone ask you to change your weight to the 'heavy side', you could then comply with that persons wishes?
I used to run QRQ and if your weight was set to anything other than the standard 3/1 and you were sending at over 50 wpm, not too many folks could copy you. If you operate in very many contest, your CW is going to stick out like a sore thumb if your weight is anything other than the standard. So why not stick what has been the standard for a very many years? Again, I am not knocking how Ralph likes to make his outgoing CW sound. 73, Tom - W4BQF -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ralph Parker Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2013 1:48 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Elecraft] Keyer weighting (was 'Elecraft keyer chip replacement') Many people confuse "ratio" with "weight". 'Weight' makes both the dots and dashes longer (or shorter), but preserves the 3:1 ratio between the two. I've used some radios with internal keyers that have adjustable "weight" (wrongly named) that only makes the dots longer. Sounds terrible, IMHO. I prefer my weight slightly on the 'heavy' side (52% on my Super CMOS III). 'Choppy' sounding CW usually means that the weighting is too light. I always use an external keyer that does exactly what I want, except in a contest, where my microHam keyer (via N1MM) has provisions for correctly changing weight. Sounds good either way. My internal keyers are for emergency use only. Ralph, VE7XF ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
