[CW] methods to increase code copying speed

[D. Chester]

> From: "Mark Danner" <markd at mfwi.org>
> One thing that has been holding me back has been my choice of sending
> with a straight key.  I've had a love affair with straight keys for
> quite a few years now and had totally abandonded my keyer.  I reallized
> that my speed was locked into how fast I used the straight key.  So, I
> am now re-learning the paddles.

Perhaps a bug would more closely match your sending preferences.  I 
abandoned my keyer when I finally acquired a bug that I thought had a good 
feel.  I picked up a basket case Vibroplex original at Dayton one year, 
repaired the damage (it had apparently been dropped), replaced the broken 
bakelite finger pieces and cleaned it up.  It turned out to be velvet 
smooth, with negligible contact bounce.

My previous bugs all sucked.  My first one was a Lionel J-36 WW2 surplus.  I 
had to weight the thing down and file on the dit spring to make it send at 
less than 35 wpm, and no matter what I did to correct the problem, the 
contact bounce was so bad that my characters sounded mushy.  Later, I picked 
up a 1947 vintage Vibroplex Original, but it wasn't much better.  It felt 
stiff, and no matter what I tried, I couldn't get rid of the contact bounce 
on that one, eicher.  I picked up my good one simply because I thought it 
might be able to restore it and being somewhat of an antique, it would make 
a good collector's item.  It is a 1929-era classic Vibroplex with the 
japanned base decorated with a gold stripe.  Once I repaired the bent parts 
and replaced what was broken, I was impressed with its smoothness.  My other 
bugs and my Bencher paddles have been  collecting dust on the shelf ever 
since.  I never knew it was possible for a bug ot work so flawlessly.

That bug had most likely been used and abused for decades in commercial 
landline service.  What was left of the original bakelite finger pieces were 
so well worn that they were actually eroded from use.  There is quite a bit 
of slop between the pivot and armature, but that doesn't seem to hamper its 
functioning - perhaps that's what gives it its smooth, well broken-in feel.

I never could completely master sending with iambic paddles.  I could work 
the keyer from below 10 wpm to upwards around 30 wpm, but regardless of 
speed, I would start out doing very well, but after a  few minutes of 
sending I would start making errors.  After a transmission or two I would 
have to correct what seemed like every other letter - a real pain for me and 
the person at the other end of the QSO.  I never had any problem switching 
between the bug and iambic keyer.  In fact, I could change over in the 
middle of a word without getting the attention of the listener.  But I never 
could gain complete control of the iambic keyer and not make excessive 
errors while sending, and I always found that frustrating.

The best electronic keyer paddles I ever laid my hands on was at Dayton 
another year.  I tried out a March magnetic paddle.  It had the firm, solid 
feel of a straight key.  I figured out the reason:  the magnets in those 
keys are set up to repel each other, rather than to attract, as is the case 
in most other magnetic paddles.  With repulsion, the magnetic force 
increases as the contacts approach each other, much like a real mechanical 
spring.  With the magnets set up to attract each other, they move farther 
apart when the paddles are squeezed together, and the magnetic force 
decreases.  This  gives the paddle a light, flimsy feel.

But I was already so happy with my old Vibroplex, that I didn't feel like 
forking over the $250 he was asking for a set of March paddles.

As far as increasing copying speed, I never made any conscious effort to do 
so, once I had passed the 13 wpm code test.  I just had CW QSO's fairly 
regularly, but not even 50% of my operating time.  Most of my operating 
since 1959 has always been AM phone.  But I somehow managed to pass the 20 
wpm Extra exam on an impulse, without practising to bone up on my code 
copying, when I happened to be at the FCC's quarterly examination point to 
take my First Class commercial Radiotelephone exam, and made an on-the-spot 
decision to go ahead and try for the Extra while I was already there.

If you are regularly working CW and enjoying it, the increase in copying 
speed will come automatically and you won't even realise it.

Don k4kyv


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This message was typed using the DVORAK keyboard layout.

http://www.mwbrooks.com/dvorak/
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