[Elecraft] K2 Key shaping (hard?)

[Don Wilhelm]

Sam,

It is difficult to discern what another person's perceptions are.  I 
have heard the term 'hard keying' associated with keyclicks, but it may 
just be his way of saying the keying is crisp and clear - which *IS* 
characteristic of the K2.

Yes, the K2 did have some keyclicks in the original design.  These 
clicks were at a very low level with the QRP K2, but add the KPA100 and 
they became apparent and bothersome on the air, so the Keying waveshape 
change was created.

Now, take that fact and also consider that keyclicks are rarely heard 
when tuned to the transmit frequency (unless the receiving filter is 
wide).  Keyclicks produce spurs that are spread apart from the 
transmitted  (carrier) frequency by several hundred Hz.  So if the 
receiving operator was using a relatively narrow CW width filter, he 
would not discern keyclicks unless he tuned away from your frequency a bit.

So, in conclusion, whether or not you have a problem there is difficult 
to say.  If you have a recent K2, the keyclick change has been 
incorporated, but if you have a K2 below SN 4060 the change is not 
installed unless you have added it.  There does remain a possibility 
that any 'problem' may only be in the listener's perspective, or he may 
just be parroting something that he heard long ago.  If you can find a 
local whose assessment and receiver that you can trust, you may want to 
run a test, or exchange shacks and listen to your transmitted signal 
yourself.

73,
Don W3FPR


Sam Morgan wrote:
> Morning all,
> I was playing in the SKCC last night and working a guy with some QSB. 
> But I thought I caught him saying my signal had the "hard keying" sound 
> that was typical to the K2. I lost him after that and never got to ask 
> anything more.
> 
> I looked at all the Elecraft archives and a number of mods pages. But 
> all I found was glowing reports on how wonderful the K2's key shaping is.
> 
> What was the guy trying to say, that the K2s keying is so outstanding in 
> the fact that it's better than most other rigs? Or that there was 
> something bad in the fact that it was "hard keying"?
> 
> TIA