[Elecraft] Bug mode on K3?

[Guy Olinger K2AV]

Go for a Winkey chip based box, which includes the MicroHam line and the
Winkey "house models", and set the mode to "Ultimatic" to use with your
single lever paddle. It is the most "natural" by far for someone raised on
a mechanical bug and who just can't get themselves to do Iambic.

Any box with a keyer chip based on any version of WinKey has IambicA,
IambicB and Ultimatic as choices of keying modes. This would be any of the
Winkey boxes of course, the MicroHam contest boxes, and others I can't
recall at the moment.

A single lever paddle and Ultimatic in the Winkey chip have long been my
favorite as I was never able to make the transition from mechanical bug to
dual lever paddle and the Iambic methods. Guy plus Iambic plus dual lever
paddle = sloppy, awful, mistake-ridden code. Just can't do it. Ultimatic
plus dual lever paddle = decent code, but after a while my hand cramps.

Given the various things that have to go on controlling a contest station
and the very useful integration of functions, I have a MicroHam "CW Keyer"
which was my first MicroHam purchase and now a MicroHam u2R which very
nicely works my K3 and K2 side-by-side. I have never looked back.

Some of my friends have the very reasonably priced Winkey USB keyers, and
some earlier Winkey boxes, which allow either a logging program or the
paddle to drive the output which goes into the K3 straight key jack (not
the paddle).

I still use a Vibrokeyer single lever paddle which I've had since the 70's,
but am seriously looking at the current crop of magnetic single lever
paddles. The paddle is plugged into the u2R. For field day, I take along
the small MicroHam CW Keyer instead, which provides the complete
functionality for N1MM+ to drive it from my laptop.

The MicroHam boxes, and the USB Winkey boxes connect to the PC with a USB
cable, and provide RS232 signal lines to the transceiver for CAT and
command functions. With N1MM+ running, the paddle CW speed is always the
same as the box knob or the N1MM+ speed. In N1MM+ the box speed knob also
runs the N1MM+ CW speed up and down just like the page up and down keys.

It's a very slick station integration, and I do NOT have to use dual lever
or my Iambic enemy, and I can switch back and forth with a real bug without
my brain blowing fuses.

73, Guy K2AV


On Tue, Dec 9, 2014 at 9:13 PM, Joe Subich, W4TV <lists at subich.com> wrote:

>
> > They are progressive, offering  versions of Iambic keying only.
>
> The fact that a keyer offers Iambic A/Iambic B has *nothing* to do
> with the ability to support a single lever paddle.  I have used single
> lever paddles with the Iambic keyers in Icom (IC-706mkIIg), Yaesu
> (FT-1000D, FT-1000MP MKV, FT-2000) and Elecraft (K3) with no issues.
> The iambic features of the keyer are not active unless both left and
> right contacts are closed at the same time - which is a physical
> impossibility with a single lever paddle.
>
> > then why do you suppose I built a keyer to use with my paddle?
>
> I have no idea why you built a totally unnecessary keyer to use with
> your paddle.
>
> 73,
>
>   ... Joe, W4TV
>
>
>
> On 2014-12-09 8:56 PM, W2BLC wrote:
>
>> The internal keyers on several rigs I have used, including the K3, do
>> not well support the single lever paddle. They are progressive, offering
>> versions of Iambic keying only.  If they did function properly with a
>> single lever paddle  - then why do you suppose I built a keyer to use
>> with my paddle?
>>
>> Bill W2BLC K-Line
>>
>>
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> Elecraft mailing list
>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>> Post: mailto:Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>>
>> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>> Message delivered to lists at subich.com
>>
>>  ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to k2av.guy at gmail.com
>