[Elecraft] ending in K

Wed May 21 22:55:13 EDT 2008

If ur call ends in K, then just send KN always after ur call.  Many, but sadly not all, know KN means "go ahead you only" but it gets the

job done as per problem noted below.  73

Charles Harpole
k4vud at hotmail.com

> From: w7aqk at cox.net
> To: n5ge at n5ge.com; mike at paxsen.com
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 Auto CW copy
> Date: Wed, 21 May 2008 11:39:57 -0700
> CC: Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>
> Hi All,
>
> I have only tried using he CW reading feature on my K3 a few times. Like
> most code readers, it misses a lot, and a little interference can throw it
> off track fairly easily. It takes a pretty good signal to minimize the
> errors. But I did check once by having it copy W1AW. There are two
> benefits to trying that. First, the CW is machine sent, so it's nearly
> perfect. Secondly, W1AW has such a good signal that interference issues are
> minimal. The reader did very well in that test. There were very few
> errors, and word separation was very good. I would strongly suggest that
> you check your K3 in the same manner to see if you are getting the word
> spacing problem.
>
> It was also interesting to watch my own sending. I've always thought my
> sending was reasonably good, and the reader did confirm that by showing the
> text I was sending in pretty much the correct text and spacing. But if I
> got the least bit casual about it, the reader reflected that as well.
> Spacing was the big issue, although most of my errors were exaggerated
> spaces rather than insufficient spacing. But I send with somewhat
> exaggerated spacing between words on purpose. I try to send words correctly
> spaced, and then leave a slightly extended space between words. I think
> this helps the receiving station clearly identify just what the word is I am
> sending. Every so often expresses appreciation for my doing it that way.
> In my view, I'm not sure there is a greater CW "sin" than running words
> and/or letters together.
>
> Interestingly, this process pointed out a glaring error that I have probably
> been making forever. That was in how I sent my call. I have a "K" on the
> end of my call, and I've always had problems in contest exchanges, etc. with
> the other station truncating my call to just a two letter suffix, presumably
> thinking my last letter "K" was asking them to transmit. It only takes a
> slight hesitation to cause the reader to reflect that. I kept seeing my
> call appear on the reader as "W7AQ K" rather than "W7AQK". In thinking
> about it, it made me realize how easy it is to slip into these little bad
> habits. Some stations send their calls with insufficient spacing between
> letters. Things that we send repeatedly, like call, name, QTH, etc. seem to
> be common candidates for this type of error. It's as if, on occasion, we
> develop our own rhythm for sending these standard items in violation of the
> standard timing and spacing rules. And some folks just plain don't put the
> right number of "dits" in what they send. I heard one W6 station who
> repeatedly sent his call with 5 dits in the number 6, as well as repeatedly
> sending a "5" for an "H". In cases like that, the reader won't lie! But
> your brain won't lie either. You will probably get that "hey, wait a
> minute" feeling about what you are hearing.
>
> Anyway, I then used the reader to "retrain" myself to send my call so that
> it did not insert an extra space between the "Q" and the "K". It was a hard
> habit to break. Years of doing it wrong aren't easily erased. But I would
> strongly recommend that folks use the reader now and then to monitor their
> own sending. On a transmitted signal, the reader is very accurate in my
> view. And if you intend to utilize the K3's capability of translating your
> CW into RTTY, you better have your sending timing in good shape.
>
> Anyway, as I said above, the W1AW test is about the best way I know to
> really check out the reading capability of your K3. If it doesn't read that
> pretty well, I would guess you have a problem with your K3.
>
> Dave W7AQK
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tom Childers, N5GE" 
> To: 
> Cc: 
> Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 9:08 PM
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 Auto CW copy
>
>
> On Tue, 20 May 2008 20:12:14 -0700, you wrote:
>
>>I have noticed that the CW text display of auto copied CW signals often
>>does
>>not get the spacing between words and runs words together. When I copy the
>>same text in my head the word spacing seems pretty good. Also when I send
>>CW
>>it will also run words together. So I am wondering about a tweak to the
>>algorithm. Making a computer copy CW of unknown speed must be difficult.
>>But
>>everyone knows my code is perfect :)
>
> I noticed the same thing when I was sending, but when I paid more attention
> to
> making sure my timing between words was consistent the spacing improved
> along
> with my sending ;o) What a nice tool for improving my sending!
>
>>On the other hand I had a QSO with a near local (80 miles) and he had
>>trouble copying me because of QRM. I was dialed down to 50 Hz and heard no
>>other signal present. I opened up to 1 KHz and there they all were. Isn't
>>that great or what?
>>
>>Mike Scott - AE6WA
>>Tarzana, CA (DM04 / near LA)
>>K3-100 #508/ KX1 #1311
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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