Ken, great. When you are copying, are you using the K3 decoder or
copying in your head at 30 wpm.
Uncle Phil, W0xi...
Ken mailto:wa8...@gmail.com
Monday, December 01, 2014 6:37 PM
Yes, I’ve looked up and understand the theory of Iambic keying but 1)
it’s been weird to try and 2) I haven’t
I still have my original straight key that I bought in 1958 when I
was practising for my Novice. I didn't have the luxury of a code
machine to send my practise sessions (cassettes had not been
invented) so either I listened on my little 3-tube receiver or I
spent hours sending to myself. I
Ed et al.,
My opinions usually rub someone wrong, so take them as they are - one man’s
opinions about what he has observed in his short time as an amateur operator.
K1EL makes a kit that will let you set it up in “bug” mode. I assume his
Winkeyer does the same.
I have been reluctant to jump
There are alternatives to Iambic keying.
One way is to use a single lever paddle which makes it impossible to
send those alternating dit/dah sequences that I cannot work with
correctly due to some 'finger habits' that I learned when using a bug.
Another way is to get a K1EL keyer (or
On 2014-12-01 8:46 AM, Don Wilhelm wrote:
If you are just starting out, you may want to learn to send with
dual lever paddles in Iambic (A or B your choice) and learn the
squeeze sequences as well. That should help you when you get up to
speeds above 30 wpm.
*IF* one must start out with
On 11/30/2014 8:42 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
On Sun,11/30/2014 8:25 PM, Leroy Marion wrote:
Does not a paddle and keyer give you perfect timing?
Not quite. Refer to Page 40 of the October 1949 issue of QST for the
definitive work on spacing in International Morse code.
It's been nearly 60
A little late to the party here, but I'll throw in my 2 cents worth. I'm sort
of old school in favoring becoming proficient with a straight key first
before moving to a bug or a keyer. It makes sense: to use a sports analogy,
one needs to master the fundamentals before trying to move to fancier
Well not being really old or really new to CW, I take a path of thought
that has not been touched on, but trampled all around. I started on a
J-38 and I like it and us to this day, but I really prefer my keyer and
single lever paddle.
I started with the J-38 because that is all I had and
My story...
Learned CW when I was 9 years old, taught by ham uncle (also a ship radio
operator). I used to listen to ham radio operators CW and got my speed up a
little bit before I ever got my Novice license so passing that code test was
easy-as-pie.
As a novice, started with J-38 (I didn't
With all the keyers out there, built in and otherwise, there should be no
bad CW heard, but as anyone who listens can attest, there is, lots of it.
One thing I suggest is copying W1AW code practice, and bulletins once your
speed can handle the 18 wpm used for Bulletins. That is perfect code,
Hi everyone. I'm the OP here and I thank everyone who replied. I've had an
order of magnitude more mail than I received on the list. I can't answer all of
them due to a broken elbow but I thank everyone who replied. Lots to digest,
hopefully will be on the air soon.
73's Tom
On Dec 1, 2014
I'm sold on single-lever paddles. I have a handbuilt one from G3YUH, and
I have a Kent single-lever that is outstanding. Very smooth to operate
and nicely finished. It's my favorite key now. I never could get
interested in iambic keying which is more of an affectation than
anything useful. The
On 12/01/2014 09:36 AM, Terry wrote:
... I started on a J-38
I do think a straight key is good when you're starting out because it
forces you to concentrate on correct timing. One trick to get your
timing correct is to set up your code-practice software to send a known
text at a slow
Well we all have our CW learning stories. So here is mine and can be taken as
a tip-suggestion-opinion.
At 13 in 1956 I signed up for a Novice class at the local radio club, Nutley
Amateur Radio Society (Nutley, NJ). When it came time to learn the basics of
sending the instructor, W2TJD
, 2014 8:14 PM
To: elecraft
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Getting Started With CW
Well we all have our CW learning stories. So here is mine and can be taken
as
a tip-suggestion-opinion.
At 13 in 1956 I signed up for a Novice class at the local radio club, Nutley
Amateur Radio Society (Nutley, NJ
On Dec 1, 2014, at 12:36 PM, Terry tmyers1...@sbcglobal.net wrote:
The moral of the story is you tend to like what you first learn.
That has not been my experience, it probably depends more on what you have to
start with.
I started out with a Japanese J-38 clone and then later was
This is more common than one might think, but only for left-handers it
seems. I'm left-handed and my Elmer, W6RMK, was too. He taught me to
send with my right hand so I could write legibly in my log. In those
days, you logged every transmission, whether or not it resulted in a QSO.
A
On Dec 1, 2014, at 9:06 AM, Joe Subich, W4TV li...@subich.com wrote:
*IF* one must start out with paddles/keyer, learn on Iambic A. Iambic
B was a logic error in the AccuKeyer and simply covers up sloppy (slow)
paddle operation.
There are really three Iambic modes - based on where the
You’re not alone. My first experience with paddles was long after having used
a ‘bug’.. Hence… … wobble wrist… I have never gotten even remotely adept at
‘squeeze keying’… Still screw stuff up with iambic etc. paddles/keyers.
Nevertheless, I prefer paddles/keyer to a straight key at
Am I missing something?
No, with the mention of Iambic, I assumed squeeze technique. If one
uses a single lever paddle or slaps dual lever paddles, Iambic A/B
or Super CMOS are all the same G.
73,
... Joe, W4TV
On 2014-12-01 4:00 PM, Ken wrote:
On Dec 1, 2014, at 9:06 AM, Joe
Ah ah! So THAT (Farnsworth) is the source of the horrible CW I hear (fast
characters with excess spacing!)
Sorry but I will disagree with that approach. It teaches plain bad CW.
(Okay, when I went to school they didn’t have to teach the alphabet with silly
bellies and stuff either.
Yes, I’ve looked up and understand the theory of Iambic keying but 1) it’s been
weird to try and 2) I haven’t noticed any advantage for me. Now maybe there is
an advantage at higher speeds? But when I’ve run above 30 wpm, I use a
keyboard ;-)
73,
Ken WA8JXM
On Dec 1, 2014, at 4:41 PM,
Well, I use iambic keying (mode B, because I learned to use a paddle on an ICOM
radio, which would only do mode B. Anyway, this was before I even knew there
was such a thing as mode A and mode B).
The following article questions the value of iambic keying, makes for an
interesting read:
I'm one of those left-handlers who learned to send on the paddle either right
hand -- that way, no need to put down the pen :-) When I learned the straight
key though, in order to get my ham ticket, I learned left-handed, and still
can't use a straight key with my right :-(
73,
Matt VK2RQ
Cavalla, USS Stewart
From: Ken wa8...@gmail.com
To: k6...@foothill.net
Cc: elecraft elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Sent: Monday, December 1, 2014 6:33 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Getting Started With CW
Ah ah! So THAT (Farnsworth) is the source of the horrible CW I hear (fast
characters
On Sun,11/30/2014 8:25 PM, Leroy Marion wrote:
Does not a paddle and keyer give you perfect timing?
It's been nearly 60 years since I went through that. Paddles and keyers
did not exist -- we had bugs, but did start on straight keys. But bugs
are inherently different from the paddle/keyer
I’m not a CW operator, but if you have any RSI issues from computer use, be
careful about spending a lot of time with a straight key. Professional
telegraphers got an early version of RSI called “glass arm”. It appears that
you can avoid that with excellent technique, the same way you avoid RSI
I like the comment about going through an intermediate step... Maybe I'll look
at a paddle instead.
So what's this about iambic? What are the types of paddles out there?
On Nov 30, 2014 11:42 PM, Jim Brown j...@audiosystemsgroup.com wrote:
On Sun,11/30/2014 8:25 PM, Leroy Marion wrote:
@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Getting Started With CW
I like the comment about going through an intermediate step... Maybe I'll look
at a paddle instead.
So what's this about iambic? What are the types of paddles out
Tom,
As a beginner, don't get hung up on iambic. It's really for the
advanced CW operator. It requires a double paddle, or squeeze key set
and when you squeeze the paddles, you send alternating dits and dahs.
Whether you send a dit or a dah first, is a matter if which side you
squeezed
I couldn't agree more. I'm glad I finally discovered the single-lever paddle
after more than ten years of struggling with iambic. It is so much easier to
use the single-lever and it is much more forgiving for small timing errors.
I wrote about it on my blog some time ago:
When I started out as a Novice in 1964, I was advised to start with a straight
key. When I could send well at about 15 wpm, then consider changing over to
some kind of speed key. We didn't have iambics then. I switched to homebrew
solid state keyer, that I built myself, and a Vibroplex
32 matches
Mail list logo
