[Elecraft] OT: type of Keying

[Don Wilhelm]

Doug and all,

For me, the number of finger movements is not relevant, it is the timing 
and coordination that I have the most trouble with.  Iambic A with a 
single lever paddle helps a lot, but good ones are either difficult to 
find or more expensive than suits my taste.  I can handle Ultimatic with 
a dual lever paddle.

My problem with iambic is twofold - I learned a bad habit with a bug 
that I just can't seem to shake completely - I sometimes depend on my 
thumb to 'push-off' my index finger and vice versa - leads to bad 
characters for me.
Secondly, I had an injury to my arm that left me with more limited 
muscle control of my fingers.  Yes, it is a problem with keyboard 
operation too.

So, I use a K1EL keyer which does include Ultimatic, but it certainly 
would be nice if the Elecraft rigs incorporated Ultimatic natively.

For those who do not know what Ultimatic keying is - there are no 
alternating dots and dashes.  With both levers closed, the last one 
closed takes control and will send a string of dashes followed by dots 
if the dash lever had been closed and then the dot lever is also closed 
(works the other way around too).
Think about the letter P - close the dot lever, and after the first dot 
has started, close the dash lever and hold it until the second dash has 
started and release the dash lever - continue holding the dot lever 
until the second of the two dots has started.  Insertion of a single dot 
is even easier.

73,
Don W3FPR

DOUGLAS ZWIEBEL wrote:
> For the life of me, I can't see the practical difference.  I
> understand the difference, but comparing iambic to utlimatic, I see
> essentially the same number of finger movements for the majority of
> letters/numbers.
>
>