[Elecraft] Need advice on the Iambic key

[Dave Sublette]

One man's nemesis is another man's requirement.... By pure chance, I 
learned to use a keyer with a Mode B machine many,,,many years ago. I 
now find that I have trouble leaving off trailing dots if I use a Mode A 
machine. So the remark that Mode B allows leaving off a tiny bit earlier 
is right on. I need that little extra time. I'm sure I could retrain to 
use a mode A machine, but at age 64 and 49 years experience on the air 
perhaps doesn't allow for that.

73,

Dave, K4TO


Mike Morrow wrote:
> Tom wrote:
> 
>>> 1.  Iambic A or Iambic B?
>> Generally, most ops seem to prefer Mode B as it is a bit more 'forgiving'.
> 
> Tom, much as I hate to, I'm going to disagree a little here.  
> 
> The paddle timing is quite a lot more critical in mode B than in mode A, since holding the paddles closed just a *tiny* bit too long at the end of an iambic string will cause an unwanted dit or dah to be generated, even though the paddle for that dit or dah was not closed.  In mode A, one gets a dit or dah ONLY if the paddle for the dit or dah has been closed.
> 
> There's no advantage to mode B over mode A in terms of paddle manipulations required to generate a particular character, but mode B may allow the paddles to be released a tiny bit earlier than mode A would.
> 
> I personally hate mode B, the mode that resulted from a logic flaw in an early electronic keyer that became advertised, a la Microsoft, as a "feature."  But, which ever mode one learns, the other will be hated.
> 
> I'd recommend learning mode B over mode A, because some ham rig manufacturers (such as Yaesu) have been arrogant enough to include keyers in some of their rigs that function only in mode B.  It's also obvious that, in some ham Morse-guru circles, some seem to consider the use of mode B as a sign of superiority.
> 
> 73,
> Mike / KK5F
> _______________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Post to: Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
> Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
>  http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft    
> 
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
>