[Elecraft] Re: [K3] Text decode with straight key - OT now

[David Ferrington, M0XDF]

Thanks David, yes, been sending too, both to my mentor, G3NCN (he  
sends a char or a word, I tell him what it is and send it back) and  
also sending text (normally the contents of a page-a-day calendar for  
yesterday :-) via an oscillator to an MFJ code reader - that is very  
unforgiving, so my sending is apparently pretty good and improving  
daily.
Every now and then, I send my call and bits - sending a complete over  
is a good idea.
I've had a couple of shaky QSOs on air with G3NCN and felt I needed a  
little more practice - I'm not key shy, but I am Tx shy - HiHi
I have a crib sheet - yes I need you jump in and get on with it.
-- 
One can pay back the loan of gold, but one dies forever in debt to those
who are kind. -Malayan Proverb

On 21 Oct 2008, at 10:28, <d.cutter at ntlworld.com> wrote:

> My advice is to send as well as receive.  Get a short automatic  
> recording of something repetitive at a speed you are comfortable  
> with and send along side it - mimicking the code that you hear.   
> This is a good way to build up a good fist.  I used to copy a point  
> to point station that sent its long call sign over and over.  Get  
> someone else to check your sending and compare yourself to automatic  
> recordings.  Sending reinforces the characters into your memory by  
> another route.
>
> Then try sending without paper in front of you; just common stuff  
> like your rig and QTH, name etc.  Once you are on the air and  
> getting your feet wet with live contacts, you don't have stuff to  
> copy, you take it direct from the brain.  That's quite a jump  
> forward and you need to prepare for it.   As a beginner on air, you  
> can have a card with salient points you often mention in your QSOs  
> but you dispense with that when you've done it often enough.