[Elecraft] Iambic mode faux pas

[Terry Conboy]

At 08:18 AM 2004-08-17, blake wrote:
>So how many mode "A"ers are there out there?  Am I the only mode B paddle 
>pusher?

I never could figure out how anyone could send with a mode B keyer.  If you 
try to send a 'K' and don't release the dot paddle before the second dash 
starts, you get a 'C'.  I can do that at 5 WPM if I concentrate really 
hard, but at any higher speed, no luck.

The original Curtis CMOS keyer chip was mode A, and he later made a mode B 
(and A/B) chips for all those who were forever cursed by learning to iambic 
sending with some of the early TTL iambic keyers from QST.  They had what 
became known as "the trailing dot problem" and fixes for their logic were 
offered.  I still have one of the original TTL keyers in my collection and 
can only use it with a single lever (non-iambic) paddle.  My vacuum tube 
keyer from the 1965 Handbook works just as well.

Keep clam,
Terry