[Elecraft] About the K3 cw speed

[Fred Jensen]

Alan Bloom wrote:

> Many years ago, a friend was listening to a couple of the QRQ boys on
> the low end of 40 meters having at it at 70 wpm.  Chuck recorded them on
> the reel-to-reel tape recorder at 7-1/2 inches per second and later
> played them back at half speed.  He said that during the entire QSO
> neither one of them ever got the other's callsign correct.  :=)

Many believe that marine radiotelegraphy back in the "good old days" was 
moderately high speed.  In fact, it wasn't at all.  We ran our wheel at 
18WPM which is what W1AW uses for bulletins I think.  All the operator 
afloat had to be able to copy was our and his call signs.  He could look 
the QSX up.  Traffic was essentially always handled slower ... 15WPM or 
below.  Press was normally sent at 18-20, it didn't require letter 
perfect copy.  Fists afloat ranged from pretty good to totally awful.

Vibroplexes were notoriously hard to slow down to the common speeds. 
See radiomarine.org/historic-5.html for one ingenious example.

50WPM is fast enough for me.

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 2009 Cal QSO Party  3-4 Oct 2009
- www.cqp.org