[Elecraft] QSK? Newbie question & Other Ramblings

Sun Oct 19 02:36:03 2003

Dear Fellow Elecrafters,

I was at the Pacificon today and it was truly a pleasure to see the 
Elecraft Booth.  I sure wish I had the money to buy the DSP for my K2, but 
I'm glad the price was high enough to keep Elecraft in business; we all 
depend on them making a profit.

I would like to discuss QSK.

Your question is not "Stupid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

In the "good old days" I ran QSK with a "TR Switch."  This device protected 
the receiver from the transmitter, which was directly connected to the 
antenna.  The major problem with it was that the transmitter did not go 
from full power to zero instantaneously, indeed, if it had I would have had 
terrific key clicks if it had done so..  So there was a period of time 
between when I let the key "up" and the transmitter stopped sending.  I 
used to refer to this period of time as "tails."  During the tails, I could 
hear nothing except the transmitter ramping down.

Depending on the speed, that could be a long time.  For example:  at a 
speed of 10 WPM the space between dots is a long time, and your QSK is 
excellent; you can hear between dots.  But as you increase to 45 WPM the 
tails never reach zero before the next dot appears and you can only hear 
between letters.

Yes, there are those of us who can work 45 WPM and much greater speeds!

It is always possible that you could advance to this stage.  I am a member 
of the Chicken Fat Operators club and the minimum qualifying speed is 45 
WPM.  I am the 1000th member, meaning that there were 999 operators before 
me.  Yes, it is possible you could achieve this speed.  The CFO has members 
who can QSO in excess of 100 WPM!!!!!!!!!!

What does this mean?

It means that if you acquire enough speed, your QSK will become inadequate.

There are many internet destinations for fone boys, but none that I know of 
for CW operators.  To this end, I have established the "Full Duplexers 
Club."  The call sign is K6FDX, and in commercial parlance "FDX" means full 
"duplex."

You can call a certain telephone number and be connected to the "Full 
Duplexers" CW transmitter.  You can use a modified telephone and send over 
the air using the remote transmitter at my house (TS-850) and do the 
receiving at your home.  This will give you "full duplex," meaning that you 
can hear while your key is down.  This is the system that major Coastal 
Telegraph Stations such as KPH where I worked for 21 years used.  Yes, you 
can be a "Full Duplexer" for the price of a telephone call.  At present, we 
have "Zero" users.  I would be happy to hear from you and set up a system 
for you.

Contact me at:

www.radions.net/spamfltr.htm

Very 73,

TR WB6TMY
K2/100 S/N 0838

>-----Original Message-----
>From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
>Sent: Saturday, October 18, 2003 1:01 PM
>To: Elecraft reflector
>Subject: [Elecraft] QSK? Newbie question
>
>Hi folks
>
>I've a stupid question to ask. What is the significance of the remarks
>about QSK operating in amateur radio? I've been used to a world where
>transmitters and receivers are separate beasts and where the
>instantaneous muting of multiple receivers and public entertainment
>systems is accomplished by driving relays off the back contacts of a
>morse key.
>
>cheers