[Elecraft] Fastest: paddle or bug?

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Given that a paddle is used with a keyer, and a keyer typically has
logic that corrects spacing errors over a very wide range, I'd say there
is no question that a keyer produces "perfect" spacing.

Is  "perfect" spacing "quality" spacing? That might spark quite a big
debate. My favorite example is comparing computer-generated speech with
human speech. Computer-generated speech can be perfectly constant, but
that can also make it hard to understand in some situation. OTOH, it is
much preferable to someone speaking with a severe impediment or accent
if ease of communications is the goal.

The same is true of keyers and bugs (or straight keys) in my experience.
A keyer can get a bit tiring to listen to with its unvarying spacing,
but by and large it is easier to copy than a bug in the hands of someone
who can't keep it under good control or someone who has allowed himself
to develop some sloppy habits, like an exaggerated 'swing'. 

Perhaps the most important 'inflection' in CW is spacing... spacing to
break up thoughts (sentences), spacing to set off complicated or unusual
words, etc. A keyer does that quite well. The most difficult CW for me
to copy (next to a truly lousy fist) is a keyboard when the operator
doesn't pound the space bar at the right places so I get one unending
long sentence per transmission much like this sentence is running on.
Whew! 

You ask about 'greatest speed'. I don't pretend to be a "high speed"
operator. 30 wpm or so is about the highest I go while not 'straining'
(i.e. can send on my bug without working at it and can receive solid
copy while puttering around the shack without concentrating on what I'm
hearing). So perhaps things get different up in the "rarified"
atmosphere above 40 wpm where some CW ops like to work. 

On commercial circuits I never worked much over 25 wpm. I knew only a
few ops who did. Those lucky stiffs worked on some circuit where they
exchanged traffic with the same operator at the other end all the time,
so they could develop whatever speed suited both of them. But many
commercial outfits frowned on that practice. Indeed, in the early days
commercial installations welded the weights in place on the bugs so the
ops had to stay at one uniform speed - usually around 15 wpm.

On the maritime bands the pride of proficiency was in reading some of
the absolutely ghastly fists out there on the "high seas". Accuracy was
far more important than speed, because "repeats" slowed down the traffic
more than a slow fist. Time = money, and more messages got passed at 15
wpm with no fills than one could hope for at 35 wpm followed by repeats
to fill in gaps. So true "high speed" CW was always more of a "hobby"
than anything else, and lucky were those ops who could pursue it on the
job on a regular basis!

Ron AC7AC
K2 # 1289

-----Original Message-----
Hi all - 
Given an extremely competent cw op - which is capable of achieving the
greatest speed while still maintaining quality spacing - a bug or a
paddle? Thanks. 73/Tim NZ7C