[Elecraft] Chirp

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Egad! Since when was "chirp" illegal? 

In the USA we are required to use only the bandwidth "necessary for the
information rate and type emission type being transmitted..." (Sec.
97.307), but a small amount of "chirp" can be a useful part of the
information and, in the case of a great many rigs, it is "necessary"
since they chirp due to the limitations of their basic design.  In any
case, "chirp" often stays within the bandwith required by the keying of
the signal anyway, so eliminating it does not reduce the bandwidth. 

Now "clicks" are different, since they typically extend far beyond the
normal bandwidth of the CW signal and do nothing to improve the
intelligibility of the signal.  

A long time ago I suggested, somewhat tongue-in-cheek but not
completely, that a nice software feature for the K2 would be a
selectable amount of chirp. It really does make a weak signal stand out
and, if it does not go too far, improves its "copyability" in both QRM
and QRN. Therefore, bandwidth for "chirp" can be argued to be as
necessary as, say, 2 kHz of bandwidth is "necessary" if one chooses to
use voice SSB. 

Ron AC7AC
K2 # 1289

-----Original Message-----
Jerry, AI6L wrote:
Having a little chirp in one's signal was an old DXer's trick for being
distinctive in a pileup. Illegal, but works well. Of course, when did
DXers ever worry about being legal? (E.g., proper identification,
FT-1000MP key clicks, etc.)