[Elecraft] Keys/Paddles as jewelry

[Don]

Ed,

 

a.) Iambic keying comes quickly with practice. Proficiency may take longer.
I don't know. 

I'm still waiting for real CW skill to come my way, but I love it.

b.) Begali Justification: 

              1.) They look fantastic on your operating desk.

              2.) They seem to hold adjustment perfectly and seemingly
indefinitely.

              3.) While the cost is significant, it is still a small
percentage of what many of us have tied up in all our ham gear.

              4.) They spell better than lesser code instruments.

Okay, so maybe #3 might not be totally valid but the confidence that comes
from operating such a precision instrument may enhance our sending
proficiency.

No?

c.) FWIW, I agree with sending "de" in casual QSOs.  It seems appropriate,
particularly from QRP stations in noisy band conditions. It assures the
other station that he really is listening to the correct signal, I think.

 

... Don K3RLL  

 

Message: 9 ****************************************

Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2014 23:21:31 +0000

From: "Dauer, Edward" <edauer at law.du.edu>

To: "elecraft at mailman.qth.net" <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>

Subject: [Elecraft] Keys as jewelry

 

My Morse fist is better than my typing.  I accidentally left out of the

paragraph below, in my first post, the fact that I now use a dual paddle

Bencher, though I never use the iambic function.  Alan?s response, and

others?, raise two questions:  Putting aside the self-evident virtue of

the maxim that ?whoever dies with the most toys, wins,? in what way is a

Begali (or equivalent) superior to a much cheaper Bencher (or equivalent)?

 I need a plausible excuse for buying one.  Second, I know the theory of

iambic keying (e.g. the letter C is a squeeze rather than four movements);

but never having tried to master it, I wonder - is the difference

noticeable in practice - e.g. after 10 or 12 hours of CW contesting?

 

Finally, on the question of sending ?de? before a callsign, there is a

large difference between pileups and contests on the one hand (call sign

only) and casual QSOs on the other.

 

SK, KN1CBR