[Elecraft] Yippee, M0KWV finally gets on air with K1-K1-4 #1534

Mon Jun 23 11:06:04 2003

[email protected] wrote:

> 3)    Is it worth trying to alter the dipole length to get SWR of 1.0 on
> 40m. I'm tempted to leave it if it works. (if it works don't fix it)

Absolutely!  It would be hard to improve on 1.5:1 and 1:1 and there 
would be no improvement in performance if you could.

> Some ops
> have great slow speed CW and I've got everything, but others either can't
> slow down, won't slow down or when they do it looses all the rhythm and
> becomes a jerky mess. Is this because they are using keyers.

It's because they don't have much practice sending slowly.  I personally 
tend to make a much greater number of errors when I slow way down 
(embarrassing -- here I am trying to help somebody copy and I'm making 
it worse).

>  Not sure whether
> to use tapes or just practise as much as poss on the air. On the air is far
> more fun than a tape. 

On the air is definitely more fun, and as long as you are getting good 
replies to your calls, I would recommend it for the positive feedback it 
produces.  What is helpful is to try to copy (on the air or on the 
tapes) at a speed that is slightly too high for you.  As soon as you 
don't feel stressed, increase the speed.

Vic K2VCO