W0MU Mike Fatchett wrote: > The key is a decent computer. There are many people using very old > computers with minimal ram and cpu speed and they wonder why they have > issues. > > Some people do not have days and hours to figure out why something won't > work especially leading up to a contest, for them a WinKeyer might be a > great solution. To each their own.
It's an interesting problem. I have an old Windows 2000 800 MHz laptop which sends perfect CW on my K3 from N1MM at 30 wpm. I did have to set the weight parameter in N1MM to 55. Interestingly, I once had a problem of horrible CW with variable-length elements, etc. I discovered that it was because my wireless network was *not* connected -- and therefore was continuously scanning. Probably the driver was disabling interrupts for long periods. I simply turned the wireless back on and solved the problem. This is just one possible issue. Anti-malware programs can also interfere with CW generation. Since I don't do email on my shack computer and only minimally access the web, I've removed the anti-virus software and kept only a firewall. If you use packet while contesting (I don't), the load on the computer will be increased. And as someone mentioned, SO2R is another factor. Personally, I am suffering from gadget overload in my shack, and the more gadgets there are, the wider you open the door to Murphy. So I don't use Winkey or similar devices. What I suggest is that you a) use a reasonably powerful computer, b) remove unnecessary software running in the background (MSCONFIG will show you much of it), and turn off unneeded Windows services, and c) look for problems like a wireless adapter scanning. If you still have a problem, then maybe Winkey is the solution for you. -- 73, Vic, K2VCO Fresno CA http://www.qsl.net/k2vco ______________________________________________________________ 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
