On May 9, 2006, at 2:01 PM, Sandy W5TVW wrote:
I'd say a majority of the people working REAL high speed are
doing it with keyboards and "readers". (What's the point in that
when there is PSK31 to do the same job?)
Keyboards - definitely! It's the only way to consistently generate
high-speed CW.
Readers - definitely NOT. Most QRQ ops copy in their heads. They
wouldn't lower themselves to use a "reader".
Back in the late 70's, when I was a Novice, and later a General, I
was involved in the WV Novice Net. A couple of the net control guys
were blind hams. They would call the net at 5 wpm, go through the
traffic, close it, and then call each other on the 'net frequency --
at 40+ wpm! They both had CW keyboards (which were pretty new back
then), and would converse quite a bit back and forth at these speeds.
A few hams out there can skip along at 30-40 WPM but they are in the
minority by far. "Contesters" don't count as they are locked into
a set
format and not much information is actually exchanged except for
the required data.
Most of the really, really good contesters I know can also copy
conversationally QRQ CW.
Me? I can do almost 30 wpm in a contest, but I'm back down below 24
for conversational CW.
Really good high speed telegraphers are rather
scarce. (I'm speaking of those using straight keys or "bugs, or
sideswiper keys).
That's pretty much a dead art.
Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
-- Wilbur Wright, 1901
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