[1000mp] Icom vs Yaesu QSK???

Wed, 10 Mar 2004 08:12:01 -0700

Mike,

I have a 1998 MP, but as far as I know, there's not much difference
between the MP and the Field, as far as QSK is concerned (but I don't
know for sure).  Anyway, I have been happy with the QSK on my MP.  But
note the following comments and conditions...

1.  When the MP was factory stock, I did not like QSK with very narrow
filters (pair of Inrad 250's).  There was some annoying thumping in my
headphones.  With wider bandwidths it was pretty good.  The EDSP seemed
to help the thumping a little, but I didn't always like to use that.

2.  When I did the W8JI key click mod, it seemed to help that thumping
situation significantly, which was nice.  There's still a minor thump at
250 Hz, but it's not especially noticeable or objectionable under most
conditions.

3.  I use an external DSP filter, which I like.  But when you crank any
DSP to a narrow bandwidth, you also get some digital delay.  That makes
QRQ CW a little interesting if you try to listen to your own CW signal
through a delay.  So I built a little audio mixer to mix the MP audio
output with the sidetone from my MFJ keyer.  The point is that I don't
listen to my MP's sidetone or MON audio.  I turn those off and listen to
my keyer sidetone, so that I don't have the delay.  Under these
conditions, the QSK is very nice.  The RX just cleanly goes silent
between dits, with no noticeable thump in the audio, even at 250 Hz.

4.  I occasionally listen to my own signal on my spare rig, a Kenwood
TS-520S.  I don't connect it to an antenna, and activate the 20 dB RF
attenuator, and the signal is usually around S-9.  It sounds quite clean
to me in terms of clicks or clipped dits.

5.  I have asked my CW buddies to be critical of my CW signal under QRQ
conditions, to listen for key clicks or clipped dits.  They all give it
a very clean bill of health, even at speeds up to 50 wpm.

So, as far as my MP is concerned, I'm quite happy with its CW/QSK
performance.  Your mileage may vary, but my experience has been good.

73,
Tom / W7GT

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of Mike Manship
Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2004 7:40 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [1000mp] Icom vs Yaesu QSK???

> > Not until someone checks out the QSK.  Lots of ICOM rigs I've wrked
or
> used
> > had a habit of badly clipping leading dits above about 20 wpm.  I
ended up
> > referring to the ICOM QSK as "novice QSK" due to its slow speed
> requirement
> > Seriously, though, check out the QSK if you care at all about CW

> Yes, thats the big flaw of all the icom rigs. Their cw performance is
not
> good in qsk mode(clipping). I have a local friend who has the 756 PRO2
and
> he does not like the rx. He is convinced that the 746 pro has a more
> sensitive receiver. In any event , he just ordered the Field to
replace his
> 756 pro 2

Is the Field a good QSK performer ?
I know a guy who tried an MP and claimed the MP produced lots
of "clicks and thumps" in the headphones when using QSK. He
finally bought a PRO2 and while admitting the PRO2 chopped the
first characters, he actually preferred it to the Yaesu. He set
his Logikey keyer to make up for the "chopping". I'd really 
prefer the Field but am receiving conflicting information on
the QSK issue.
73 de Mike W9OJ
_______________________________________________
List Moderator: Richard Lubash N1VXW
1000mp mailing list
[email protected]
To Change Options or Unsubscribe:
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/1000mp