[Elecraft] FD wipe-out-need advice on the Iambic key

[William Moore]

Hi,

 I am an 807 generation ham, who has stayed only moderately active over the
years on SSB and VHF-FM as well as involvement community emergency planning.
However, the advent of the Elecraft K2 rekindled a passion to once again
feel that special ham radio magic of my teen years that resulted from
building my own radio, making CW contacts with little power into a simple
(home-brew) antennas and, of course, the glory of participating as a CW
entrant in Field Day using a modest setup.

Recently, my K2 3842, basic kit, made its successful debut. A little late in
completion but a lifetime of life intervened between the arrival of that
special white box of parts and final completion. I made my first CW contacts
in 48 years. What a thrill. I  was motivated. It was now time to prepare for
FD. I got my code speed up to 100% at 10 wpm with W1AW sessions but, alas,
after what seemed like hundreds of QSO's with the K2 in the tESt mode, I
just could not develop any consistent skill using my Bencher BY-2  Iambic
paddles. No problem though. Instead, I dusted off my very old and well
pitted, (by keying the voracious cathodes of the 807's at 500 volts) Lionel
J-38 key and polished up my rusty fist instead.

Field day arrived and I was on the air as a 1E station with my K2 set to a
very testy 5 watts. Very quickly and much to my dismay, it was apparent that
I was so very outclassed. Iambic keys dominated and the average CW speed of
the contest was at least twice that of my recently regained skill of 10 wpm.
Except for the K2, I felt like I was in an F1 race with a 1980 Chevy
Cavalier. I made a few contacts with some very patient operators but I was
so not prepared. I realized how true it is that a radio is only as good as
the operator in front of it.

So, before I condescend to selling my Bencher BY-2, retiring the J-38 for
life and start building the K2 SSB board, the 100 watt amp and permanently
retiring up-band, can someone give me some advice on possibly mastering the
Iambic key. Questions include:

1.  Iambic A or Iambic B?
2.  Proper contact spacing on the paddles?
3.  Paddles n or Paddles r? I am right handed.
4.  How to best learn the art of Iambic keying. For instance start at 20 wpm
and work down or 10 wpm and 	work up?
5.  Slap or caress the paddles?
6.  Is it just a matter of practice, practice and more practice? Kind of
like soldering
7.  A reality check, maybe I am just too far gone to learn this skill. But,
at one time,  I did have a pretty good fist 	on  the J-38.
..............And any other tid-bits of advice

So, I have returned to W1AW code practice sessions. I will take the K2 out
of tESt (except on SKN New Years Eve), when I can once again copy up to
15-20 wpm and hopefully transmitting with some vestige of skill using Iambic
keying.

Thank you for any advice.

Bill, VE2WMA