[Elecraft] K2 Operating Tip: Effective use of the CW message buffers

[Tom]

Hi Wayne, and thanks for the tips.

I have a follow up question on CW message chaining, however.

I thought I was doing something wrong and after reading your post, I'm sure
of it.

Whenever I chain a message onto another, as you described, there seems to be
a very noticeable time delay (perhaps a second or two or three) before the
second message starts.  I wonder if this is because I have some "space" at
the end of the first message?  But I'm not sure. If so how can I avoid this?

I hope I'm explaining this clearly.

Also, tnx for the tip on "chain with repeat" I wasn't aware of this feature.

Thanks for your help
Always learning (and a lot to go)
Tom McCulloch
WB2QDG
K2 s/n 1103

Friend of Bill W.
   ---  If you are too, drop me a line.
-----Original Message-----
From: Wayne Burdick <n6kr@elecraft.com>
To: Elecraft <elecraft@mailman.qth.net>
Date: Friday, December 13, 2002 2:20 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] K2 Operating Tip: Effective use of the CW message
buffers


>Most K2 owners know how to send CW messages in the usual way: just tap MSG,
>followed by a numbered switch (0-8). (Tapping 9, i.e. the MSG button
itself,
>just cancels message play.)
>
>However, there are some tricks that are useful during contests or general
>operation. (These are covered in the K2 owner's manual and K2 Rev D
Firmware
>manual, too.) They include Repeat, Chaining, and Fast Play.
>
>Message Repeat
>
>This is useful for beacons, during contests, or when a band is "dead."
First,
>set up a message repeat interval using the "RPT" menu entry (1-255
seconds).
>Next, tap MSG as usual. But then HOLD rather than tap one of the numbered
>switches (0-8).
>
>Message Chain
>
>Any time one message is playing, you can "chain" another one onto it just
by
>tapping 0-8 during the first message. The chained message will play
immediately
>following the first one. You can even chain a message to be repeated: HOLD
0-8
>rather than tapping. (We call this "chain with repeat.") Chaining is most
useful
>during contests, where you might kick off a sign-off message from one
buffer
>("QSL TU"), then, while it's playing back, chain on another CQ message from
a
>different buffer ("CQ TEST DE ...").
>
>Fast Play
>
>Normally two buttons must be pressed to play a message (MSG, then 0-8).
During
>contests you might want to have "one-button" access to message playback to
speed
>things up. To use Fast-Play, first assign either PF1 or PF2 as an "FPLAY"
switch
>using the menu (I'll use PF1 in this example). Next, select a group of
switches
>to use as fast-play switches using the FPLY secondary menu entry (let's say
>"45", i.e. the PRE/ATTN and AGC switches). Now you're ready to use
fast-play:
>hold PF1 to turn this mode on, then just tap either 4 or 5 to instantly
play the
>messages assigned to those buffers. Note: While you're in fast-play mode,
>initiating message repeat requires tapping MSG first. That's because
fast-play
>only takes over the *tap* function of the assigned switches; the HOLD
>functions--in this case SPOT and CW RV--still continue to work normally.
>
>To cancel fast-play, just hold PF1 again (or PF2 if that's the switch you
>assigned FPLAY to).
>
>73,
>Wayne
>N6KR
>
>
>--
>
>http://www.elecraft.com
>_______________________________________________
>Elecraft mailing list: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
>You must be a list member to post to the list.
>Postings must be plain text (no HTML or attachments).
>See: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>Elecraft Web Page: http://www.elecraft.com