[Elecraft] Paddle practice

[Ferguson, Kevin]

If you plan to use the built-in keyer, then I STRONGLY recommend that you 
practice ONLY with the rig itself, either in test (K2) or P0 (K1) mode.

There can be slight differences in the way keyers are implimented, and  your

unconcious mind may come to expect one quirk, and not another.  Changing
keyers can sure mess you up, and sometimes your concious mind can't even
figure out what the difference is....you'll just be making mistakes, and not
know why.

Even if you can figure out the difference, it may not help much.

Sending CW needs to be instinctive, it doesn't work right at all if you 
have to think about it.  Yes, you have to think at first, but if you are
still thinking
then you are not ready to go on the air with a keyer yet.  As soon as you
start 
thinking about WHAT you are sending, you will stop thinking about HOW you
are sending,
and start making mistakes...unless you have trained your unconscios to
handle that 
part for you.. 

I am aware of what I consider to be a major difference between my K2's mode
A implimentation,
and my outboard keyer which uses a curtiss mode-A chip.  Also, there are
noticeable differences
between the timing in "live" mode and keyer memory entry on the K2.

-73-
ko0b