[Elecraft] CW Monitoring

[drewko]

If you want to quantify the CW element lengths and timing as they appear 
in the sidetone audio try an app called Precision CW Fistcheck. It 
displays a graphical representation of the individual code elements.

73,
Drew
AF2Z


On 09/23/15 15:10, David Bunte wrote:
> A friend is having an issue that I cannot resolve.  I maintain the station
> for an elderly friend who prefers CW, and often operates at about 40 wpm.
> A while back he told me that his "E"s were too short, and hoped I could
> change the timing or weighting, or whatever to "fix them".  When I hear him
> on the air, I thought they sounded perfect... he swears that they used to
> be, but no longer are.
>
> I went over and verified that the weight setting on his K3 was set as mine
> was, and that his microHAM keyer was set as mine was as well.
>
> He still said that the letter "E" was way too short.  Today I went over to
> his QTH again.  I sent some CW at 40 wpm and agreed with him that the
> letter "E" seemed short... I listened carefully at a variety of speeds, and
> down around 20 or 30 wpm all sounded good to both of us.  I had no
> instruments to verify what I was hearing, but it 'seemed' to me that up
> around 40 wpm the leading dit of any character was a bit short.  I admit, I
> am not a 40 wpm guy, but that is how it sounded to me.
>
> I then went into the next room, where he has a different station setup,
> where I selected NO antenna, turned the RF gain way down, and tuned that
> rig to the same freq as his K3.  I then had him transmit at 0.1 watt from
> the K3.  To my ear the CW I was hearing on the other radio was perfect.  We
> then traded places, and I transmitted while he listened.  I transmitted
> from 40 up to 50 wpm, and he agreed that the CW coming from the K3 was
> "perfect"... but at 40 wpm the monitor signal from the K3 does not sound
> perfect.  He said that it did sound perfect until a couple of months ago.
>
> Assuming that it, in fact, does now sound different that when I first setup
> the station for him, I have no idea what may have changed, or what to do
> about it.  As I indicated, I cannot quantify the change, but I do believe
> that it is different.  I am now home and my K3, with all the keying
> settings the same as his, and with my microHAM keyer set the same as his,
> sounds "perfect" at 40 wpm.
>
> I started to wonder if a component in the monitor circuit may have changed
> value, resulting in a truncation of the sound of that first dit.
>
> I want to help my friend, but I have NO idea what to try next.
>
> Dave - K9FN