[Elecraft] P3 Ubdate

[David Woolley]

Re first bottom quoted paragraph, Windows doesn't come with a fully paid 
version of MS Word.  It has Wordpad as its built in word processor. 
There are differences in that Elecraft don't sell an standalone keyer, 
but in my experience, multi-function products happen when marketing 
departments cannot come up with any real innovations.

Re the second quoted paragraph, this is basically not true, as for 
example demonstrated by 
<http://fermi.la.asu.edu/w9cf/articles/ultimatic.pdf>.  Any well timed 
twin paddle mode can be converted fairly easily.  In the case of 
ultimatic, it would seem that an SSI approach is quite possible, but, if 
you have access to the source code, and a spare pin, only a few extra 
lines will be needed on any microprocessor based keyer.

The bug mode is a different matter, because the dashes are, essentially, 
straight keyed.  However, if the K3 had bug mode added, I'd also expect 
it to have straight key added, as the same problems would have to be 
solved there.

There seems to be an Arduino based open source keyer at 
<http://sourceforge.net/p/k3ngarduinocwke/code/ci/master/tree/> that 
could, presumably, be adapted.

-- 
David Woolley
Owner K2 06123

On 06/12/14 23:33, Ian White wrote:

>
> Given that the K3 aims to be the world's best CW transceiver,
> "incomplete" seems a very appropriate word for an internal keyer that
> offers fewer alternative timing options than a $6 WinKey. For anyone who
> isn't already attuned to Curtis A or Curtis B modes, the K3's internal
> keyer is of little use. The obvious remedy is to plug in a separate
> keyer - and of course many people do, although that reduces the
> much-vaunted portability of the K3 (and the KX3, even more so).
>
> But the internal keyer remains mandatory for paddle-sent RTTY or PSK.
> Normal datamode keyboard speeds are 40-50wpm, so most paddle users will
> try to send as close as possible to their personal top speed. This is
> where the internal keyer needs to offer the maximum possible support for
> alternative timing modes... and that support isn't there.
>