[CW] Sending Technique

[Bob Liesenfeld]

This post brought to mind a related issue with sending 
Morse.  I have found (and I think others have reported) 
that at higher speeds (>30 WPM) a change in weighting 
makes human decoding a much easier and natural task. 

I have done quite a bit of testing including building an 
Arduino based keyer where all timings (dit length, 
inter-element length, dash length, overall speed) are 
independently adjustable with pots.  

I would be interested to hear other people ideas on 
weighting. 

Bob  WB0POQ


On Thu, 1 Mar 2012 16:29:12 +0000
 Bruce Prior <n7rr at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> It's nice to see that my putting the Begali Sculpture on 
>the block has generated some interesting discussion here 
>on the this list.  I've changed the topic, since it's 
>morphed away from that particular paddle.  By the way, 
>the Sculpture is still available.
> 
> I have an Elecraft K3 transceiver 
><http://www.elecraft.com/> , which has a built-in decoder 
>for CW, PSK31 and RTTY.  You can use a Morse paddle to 
>control the internal keyer and make the radio talk CW or 
>PSK31 or FSK RTTY.  That's really cool.  There's a rub, 
>however.  The receive Morse decoder, like any that I know 
>of, will only decode Morse accurately if is sent nearly 
>perfectly and when there is a high signal-to-noise ratio 
>on the circuit.  That's true of any computer-based Morse 
>decoder that I've ever seen.  Most high-speed Morse (say, 
>in the vicinity of 50 WPM) is sent these days by computer 
>keyboards.  The K3 decoder does a good job on that style 
>of Morse as long as propagation conditions are really 
>good.  
> 
> The big deal with the K3 is that it also has an outgoing 
>decoder. An outgoing Morse decoder is a truth-teller.  If 
>you don't leaveenoughspacebetweenwords, the decoder will 
>runthemtogether. If yo u ha ve to o m uch spa ce b etwe 
>en lett er s in a w ord, t he d ecod er w il l re cor d t 
>he m a s s ep ara te wor ds.  It's just as irritating for 
>the operator on the other end of the Morse circuit as it 
>was for you to try to read those last two sentences. 
> There may be some operators who can send really good 
>Morse with a bug.  I don't personally know of a single 
>one.  If so, they could pass the outgoing decoder test on 
>the Elecraft K3.  The Begali CW Machine has a similar 
>outgoing decoder.  So does the brand-new Elecraft KX3 
>transceiver.  I'm lucky to one own of the latter already 
>since I'm on the field test team for it.
> 
> In practice, we've learned to tolerate pretty badly-sent 
>Morse when we're in CW Mode.  However, when sending PSK31 
>or RTTY via a keyer paddle on a K3 or the new KX3, that's 
>an entirely different manner.  The same truth-telling on 
>the K3 or KX3 display which I was describing for CW 
>applies to the printed or displayed text on PSK31 or 
>RTTY.  If the paddling is messy, the text on the other 
>end will also be messy.
> 
> It was the outgoing decoder on the K3 that told me that 
>my paddling was utterly unsatisfactory, even with the 
>fancy Begali Sculpture.  I read an article by Marshall 
>Emm N1FN, the owner of Morse Express called "Iambic 
>Keying - Debunking the Myth" 
><http://www.morsex.com/pubs/iambicmyth.pdf> .  That 
>convinced me to try single-lever paddling.  
> 
> The Begali Simplex Mono looks at first glace like a 
>dual-lever paddle because it has two fingerpieces, but 
>both fingerpieces control a single central lever.  It's 
>actually more complicated to design and manufacture a 
>quality single-lever paddle than a dual-lever one.  For 
>some time, the Simplex Mono was my favorite paddle, and I 
>think I improved my sending accuracy -- measured by that 
>K3 decoder -- using it.  
> 
> There are other fine-quality single-lever paddles 
>besides the Begali ones.  N3ZN makes two of them 
><http://www.n3znkeys.com/c/2/single-lever-keys> .  So 
>does Scheunemann, whose Einhebel and Einhebel 2 are 
>described in English and available from Morse Express 
><http://www.mtechnologies.com/scheun/> .  American Morse 
>Equipment (AME) makes both the Bushwhacker 
><http://www.americanmorse.com/bushwhacker.htm>  and the 
>Mini-B <http://www.americanmorse.com/minib.htm>  for 
>portable operations.
> 
> Taking a clue from AME, I now install 3M Dual Lock on 
>the base of all of my paddles and also on the operating 
>surface, so they absolutely stay put in operation, but 
>with a yank they can still be removed.  That's even true 
>with the heavy and elegant Begali Sculpture Mono 
><http://www.i2rtf.com/html/sculpture_mono.html> , which 
>is doubtless the current single-lever paddle champion. 
> The unusual characteristic of the Sculpture Mono is the 
>large size of its fingerpiece, which allows both the 
>thumb and the pointer-finger knuckle to comfortably 
>contact it.  
> 
> Right now, the Sculpture Mono controls my K3 and the 
>Simplex Mono is attached to the KX3.  For portable 
>operation, very practical with the diminutive KX3, I'll 
>be using the AME Bushwhacker for picnic-table operating 
>and the AME Mini-B for backpacking and SOTA (Summits On 
>The Air) mountain treks.  On mountain trips, my titanium 
>ice axe is the "operating surface." I've attached 3M Dual 
>Lock on the ice axe shaft just below the head.  
> 
> If Elecraft eventually creates a good-quality 
>single-lever paddle to attach to the KX3, that also might 
>do for portable operating.  That development is probably 
>down the road a piece.  By the way, with the KX3, I won't 
>be confined to CW for backpack and mountaineering 
>operating.  I can use a Morse paddle to send PSK31 and 
>FSK RTTY, and I can read both on the scrolling KX3 
>display.  The K3 and the KX3 displays are identical, even 
>though the latter is a much smaller radio.  Yes, the KX3 
>also does operate phone modes (SSB, AM and FM) and as a 
>field tester I had to buy a mike for it.  I probably 
>won't use that microphone much until the KX3 2-meter 
>module becomes available, when it might become convenient 
>to use the rig for FM repeater operations.
> 
> 73, Bruce N7RR
> 
> J. Bruce Prior   853 Alder Street  Blaine, WA 98230-8030 
>  360-332-6046   •Grid CN88px    •Amateur Radio Station 
>N7RR    •The CW Operators' Club 846    
> •Washington State SOTA Manager   •Pacific Northwest 
>Trail Association   •American Alpine Club #1672 
>   •SATERN
>