[Elecraft] OT - Accurate CW Keying

[stan levandowski]

I've been following the recent posts about CW and would like to share an 
epiphany of sorts.

A couple of hours ago, I got my Begali CW Machine.  One of the 
facilities it has is a 'training' facility.  Within this training 
facility is the ability for the machine to evaluate the sender's code 
and provide immediate visual feedback.

Aw geez........I've been a proud brass pounder for 51 years. Bugs, 
paddles, 'swipers, straight keys.  I've always thought of myself as 
pretty darn good with all of them.

Well, did I get a dose of reality today.  I sounded great on a paddle 
because it does all the work for me.  On the other stuff I'm really not 
very consistent at all.

That new little blue box is now going to be part of my daily routine 
until IT tells me I'm sending good code.

I honestly thought my code was darn good which proves how ineffective it 
is to try to evaluate oneself.  It's equally ineffective to expect that 
another human can provide accurate feedback.  The human listener will 
have a tendency to guess the upcoming character, allow his or her mind 
to 'adjust' poor word spacing so the word comes out "right", etc.

Clearly, some device that can objectively evaluate one's sending is the 
best feedback.  This is without doubt the best investment I could have 
made toward my personal goal of developing the 'manual'  fist possible.

Stan WB2LQF