[CW] Sending Technique

[Bruce Prior]

Thanks for your interesting reply, Ron.  Yes, dah-insertion is exactly the way I sent L and F and dit-insertion is exactly the way I sent Q and Y when I paddled with a dual-lever paddle.  If I have to use a dual-lever paddle, that's still the way I do it.  There's a lot of fun "swing" when you send "First laddle the sauce quickly, if you please" properly with a dual-lever paddle.  

What you say about thinking in phrases is instructive.  Have you ever tested yourself against a Morse decoder like the one in the Elecraft K3 or KX3 or other implementations of decoders to see whether "go to the zoo" or whatever actually gets decoded with the spaces in the proper places?

I'm interested not only in what it feels like to send code on the sending end, but what it sounds like on the receiving end.  Mine accuracy is much better, but still not perfect, since I switched to single-lever paddling using an electronic keyer.  I use mode B, by the way.

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


> Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2012 14:00:27 -0500
> From: ka4inm at gmail.com
> To: n7rr at hotmail.com
> Subject: Re: [CW] Sending Technique
> 
>    Hi  Bruce N7RR Prior:
> 
> > 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.
> 
>    I teach and preach iambic keying.  No one that ever learned to key completely iambically ever 
> said anything other than:  "I'd hate to go back to the old way."
> 
>    The following is an incorrect assumption:   (By someone that has not learned to do it.)
> 
>   <<
> This is fact, not theory, common wisdom, or the author's opinion! The presumed benefit of
> iambic keying is that it is more efficient. Fewer movements of the hand are required in order to
> generate any given piece of Morse code text. Fewer hand movements result in reduced strain on
> the muscles of the hand and hence easier, more comfortable operation of the keying system.
> Here's where we get to question one above­ how much more efficient is it?
>   >>
> 
> 
>    The thing that is gained by using iambic keying is *the way the brain works* when doing it.
> It takes about a year of practice with the various characters (and character combinations) to 
> learn.*  What you are doing is learning to TIME your movements, not count anything.   This causes 
> your brain to learn to subconsciously sent the letters, then the words.  I tell my right shoulder to 
> send: "go to the zoo"  and my hand does it.  I only think of the words, unless it is something that 
> I must spell out letter by letter because I don't know how to spell it.  (off of the top of my head, 
> frequently that winds up being wrong)  (movement count has NOTHING to do with the benefits, that 
> assumption is false)
> 
>    When you iambically key you use the same motion for several letters or you hold one paddle and 
> inject the other element at various places depending on the character, this is not mentioned in the 
> PDF.  To send an "F" you hold the dot paddle and throw in a dash at the right time, that time 
> determines if it will be a "F" or a "L".
>    Seeing is believing, talk to someone that can really do it, 98% of the people that say they key 
> iambically wind up (at field day) in fact do NOT key iambically!
> 
>   * you have to send each character at varying speeds to calibrate your brain's timing circuits
> -- 
>     73 Ron KA4INM - All E-mail sent to this address shall linger in the Google cloud forever!
 		 	   		  
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