[CW] CW Speed Limit ???

[K0HB]

----- Original Message -----
From: <N2EY at aol.com>

> At 60 wpm, the theoretical on time of a dit is 20 ms. The rig described
> will spend 5 ms on rise, 10 ms "on" and 5 ms falling for a 60 wpm dit.

> At 120 wpm, the theoretical on time of a dit is 10 ms. The rig described
> will spend 5 ms on rise and 5 ms falling for a 120 wpm dit, and only
> an instant fully "on".

Well maybe, but probably not.  This is a case where real-life trumps theory.
Your examples depend on the unlikely notion that the 60WPM operator closes
the key for only 15ms and the 120WPM operator closes the key for only 5ms to
make a dit.

In real life, the operator will weight his keying to produce a 'pleasing'
dit-to-space-to-dah ratio, taking into account the observed rise/fall times
of his transmitter.

> So the 5 ms rise/fall times do place a speed limit of sorts.

And that speed limit is imposed by keyer weighting and transmitter
electronic design, not by FCC or ARRL edict.  It should be obvious from this
discussion that an operator who wishes to transmit at 120WPM must fabricate
a transmitter with rise/fall numbers much crisper than 5ms.

73, de Hans, K0HB/W7