[Elecraft] SSB - Fooie!

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Kevin, KD5ONS wrote
Don't knock a keyer :)  It has helped me shape characters with my
straight key immensely.  Just by hearing what 'good' code sounds like by
sending to myself for 
many, many hours, making the transition to a straight key was fairly
painless.  I found only 20 or 30 hours worth of work got me to the point
where I don't notice much difference between sending with one or the
other.  

-------------------

I'd never do any such thing, Kevin. My apologies for sounding "grumpy" I
guess. 

My Scotia Paddles may not get much use these days, but I've 20 years of
experience with an Iambic keyer. And with a keyboard -- but that was
hooked to the noisiest gawdawful bucket of bolts that you ever heard.
We called 'em a "Model 10 Teletypewriter" that demanded that you
synchronize your keystrokes with the machinery or those keys were going
to buck and refuse to send the characters you wanted. That was during my
stint as a MARS operator in the US Army in the 50's and in the RACES
circuit when I got out. My age is showing through the mask of cyberspace
again I see...

I was just listening on 40 CW to a couple of ops flying along at about
50 WPM - obviously on keyboards a bit more modern than the ol' RTTY and
sending code so clean that even I could lean back and copy it. It's fun
doing that. And "reading the mail" all over the bands and modes. 

CW, SSB, PSK, RTTY, you name it. It's a great hobby. Let's all HELP each
other get the most fun out of it!

Ron AC7AC
K2 # 1289