[Elecraft] K3: Key down, Operator trouble, etc.

[Kevin]

Bravo! Excellent post!

There are some things which just go with being an Amateur, like, 
learning how to use the rig WAAAY before the contest or DXpedition, 
making sure an antenna is hooked up, knowing what frequency you're 
transmitting on before you transmit, etc....

I think it's a bad idea to rely on software in the radio to do the basic 
"radio" stuff that we should already know how to do. So what if you lose 
a couple 3 Q's per hour, or, heaven forbid have to wait another 5 
minutes to get that rare one in the log because you have to manually 
check that the antenna, frequency on the radio and amp all match up?

This is one of the reasons I'm all for Ham Radio newby's buying old 
hybrid rigs like the 530/830S or one of the Yaesu's as a first rig. 
There is a process required that forces the operator to slow down and 
pay attention.

Off my box, carry on.


Brian Alsop wrote:
> In my opinion you don't want to burden the radio with this.
>
> The preferred way is to use any contesting program for logging and set 
> it up to be a single band operation.
>
> Trying to make the radio so "smart" that it compensates for operator 
> error is inappropriate.  The op makes a mistake, tough.  Perhaps he 
> will learn from it and move on.