[Elecraft] K3 choppy CW

[Paul Christensen]

>One question for the doubters. If a winkey like device isn't necessary
>to send properly timed CW, why do several hardware manufacturers, Micro
>Ham, US Interface, Rig Expert, and nearly all general and contest
>logging applications support it? Just to make K1EL rich?

In addition to correct CW timing irrespective of the PC interface, the 
Winkey chip allows the user to fine-tune keying compensation to offset the 
effect of the so-called "dit shortening" in QSK mode, an anomaly that exists 
on nearly all high-end transceivers today.

Much of my operating is conducted over the Internet where timing latencies 
can be bad enough that CW will oftentimes "stutter" without some means of 
synchronizing the path.  With Winkey, CW is perfectly timed over the 
Internet when using a pair Winkey devices -- and they don't even need to be 
matched across manufacturers.  For example, I am using a microHam interface 
at the host end and it synchronizes perfectly with a WinkeyerUSB device at 
the client end.

For what it does, Winkey is an exceptional value for contesters, Internet 
users, and even folks whose operating is limited to casual CW QSOs.

Paul, W9AC