[Elecraft] Kent Single Lever Paddles

Sun Aug 31 18:38:55 EDT 2008

It's not the single vs. dual lever issue that bothers these guys. It's the 
iambic mode, a or b. Mode B has been the standard since the early 70's. 
TenTec came out with their KR-40 which is mode b and ever since then mode A 
has been a step child. All JA rigs use mode B now.
Basically, mode B has enough brains to know if you held in a lever long 
enough to produce the last element without actually starting to send it. 
People who learned on mode B, trying to send the letter C on a mode A 
machine will end up sending the letter K. The last dit is dropped because it 
wants you to hold in the dit button until that dit has started to form. Mode 
A people who try to send C end up sending KA _._._ because they hold the dit 
lever in too long. Both modes are iambic since holding in both levers 
results in alternate dits and dahs. It's just a matter of when to let go!
A single lever paddle works equally well with either mode. In fact when you 
consider the entire alphabet, less finger movement is required with the 
single lever paddle. This came as a shock to me. Check the letter C. On a 
single lever we swing left, right, left, right. That's 4 movements. With 
duals, we (push left and hold), (push right and hold), (release left), 
(release right) for letter C. So we have the same number of movements with 
either paddle. Now let's do A. With single lever we swing left, swing right, 
release. 3 moves. With duals, we push left and hold, push right, release 
left, release right. 4 moves! It all happens so fast that you don't realize 
you are doing it.
The Kent single lever paddle is a precision device. I prefer a wider finger 
piece over the thin paddle Kent uses however.
The K3 works well with either single or duals. It doesn't know the 
difference.
Steve Ellington
N4LQ at insightbb.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "WILLIS COOKE" <wrcooke at flash.net>
To: "Jack Regan" <ae6gc at sbcglobal.net>; <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, August 31, 2008 6:16 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Kent Single Lever Paddles

> Why do you need special interface for a single lever paddle?  It works the 
> same as an Iambic paddle except that you can't close both contacts at 
> once.
>
> Willis 'Cookie' Cooke
> K5EWJ
>
>
> --- On Sun, 8/31/08, Jack Regan <ae6gc at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
>> From: Jack Regan <ae6gc at sbcglobal.net>
>> Subject: [Elecraft] Kent Single Lever Paddles
>> To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>> Date: Sunday, August 31, 2008, 3:10 PM
>> Last week I asked K3 Support if single lever paddle support
>> was on the to
>> "to do" list.  Gary Surrency responded that it
>> was not but would be
>> considered.
>>
>> within days the answer came back that it would not be
>> supported due to the
>> small number of users affected.
>>
>>
>>
>> At first I was a little annoyed but now I am all right with
>> that decision
>> because I have found that I can in fact use my Kent paddle
>> with a slap and
>> dash technique with the K3 internal keyer just the way it
>> is.
>>
>>
>>
>> 1.       I changed my weighting to 1.25 and selected MODE
>> A.
>>
>> 2.       I used the TEXT DECODE function to get feedback.
>>
>> 3.       I made sure I was consistently as fast as possible
>> with my keying
>> of elements within a character when switching from dot(s)
>> to dash(es).
>>
>>
>>
>> This technique "cured" my problem of things like
>> CQ being seen NNMET!!!!
>>
>> Using the TEXT DECODE function also helped with getting rid
>> of unwanted
>> Farnsworth spacing between characters.  The better I get at
>> hearing CW the
>> more annoying it becomes.  It also makes sending a more
>> natural rhythm.
>>
>>
>>
>> BTW, before I worked this method out I hooked up my
>> microHam CW Keyer and
>> used it and it worked FB with no effort on my part but I
>> resented having an
>> extra box and extra cables on my desk!  In an attempt to
>> clean up my station
>> I went back to using the K3 keyer and worked things out!
>> Not only did I get
>> rid of the external keyer and cables but now the Kent
>> single lever paddle is
>> plugged into the paddle jack and so TEXT DECODE as well as
>> TERMINAL mode in
>> the K3 Utility both work on send and receive.
>>
>>
>>
>> Jack AE6GC, K3 1433, KX1 1403
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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
> _______________________________________________
> 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

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com
Version: 8.0.169 / Virus Database: 270.6.14/1644 - Release Date: 8/31/2008 
4:59 PM