[Elecraft] kxpd3 question

[Gary Smith]

Jerry,

I learned on a Navy key and when I got my 
license, Iambic was a new thing but those 
who used it, swore by it. There were a few 
interfaces that used what I think was a 
Curtis 8044 IC and it was a fantastic chip 
to learn Iambic with. I had a "Ham Keyer" 
which used it and later made my own using 
this chip. It had two settings for Iambic 
and one seemed more natural than the other 
so I stuck with it. 

I then bought a (at the time) new Corsair 
II from TenTec which had a keyer built in 
for Iambic but I never liked the way it 
felt or operated so I stuck with that 
Curtis chip. When I bought the K3 kit & 
checked out the built-in Iambic option and 
it was exactly what I had come to love all 
along so the Curtis is now on the shelf 
beside the Corsair for when I'll fire that 
up again in the future. FWIW, the K3s has 
that same functionality and I'm guessing 
the other Elecraft rigs have the same as 
well.

Iambic is efficient, it requires I think, 
less motions to accomplish the same 
character and it flows like water with 
such little effort. I also use a Begali 
Sculpture but I started with a Bencher 
Iambic paddle, moved to a Vibroplex Iambic 
and finally to the Begali. The original 
Bencher came apart easily and always when 
I was excited and I had to put it back 
together (easy to do but not an elegant 
thing). Maybe they've attended to this 
flaw by now? The Vibroplex worked very 
well but seemed to require occasional 
attention and could have been heavier to 
stay in place during my moments of 
exuberance. I ordered the Begali maybe 3 
years ago and never have had to touch it. 
I'm sure the other Iambic paddles made by 
hand are just as good. I will likely keep 
this one for what time I have left.

As the Iambic from the rig is spaced 
perfectly as regards timing, it is a 
perfect teacher as to how to send well. 
Set your speed, go into the test mode so 
you don't transmit and practice with 
headphones to your heart's content. You 
will find it intuitive and what you will 
need to focus on is not running your 
characters and words together as it is so 
easy to send, you forget the point of 
error is you and your not sending with the 
proper gaps between characters and words.

The way to best do this on the K3/K3s is 
to go to test mode! Now push the TEXT DEC 
on the front panel for decoding CW, select 
the TX ONLY option and you can read what 
you're sending on the LCD and this will 
help you get your character spacing and 
word spacing down just right.

Lastly, I'm sure that whatever key you 
get, you'll learn how to be comfortable 
with it. For me, & me being a musician, 
the timing is everything and again, for 
me... Iambic was the easiest way to do it 
right with the least effort.

73,

Gary
KA1J

 
> Hello,
> 
> 
> I'm a "no-code-ham" determined to become a "know-code-ham" and so have
> signed up to a course by CWops.
> 
> They require a paddle for sending practice since lessons will be done
> at 20-wpm.
> 
> 
> Having researched the topic of 'paddles' and from that effort, I think
> that a single paddle might work best for me.
> 
> Here are the negative items which helped form that opinion:
> 
> 1. a comment that regular practice is needed to maintain competence
> with a dual-paddle,
> 
> 2. iambic-a or iambic-b just seem physically complicated.
> 
> 
> In reading my KX3-manual and Fred-KE7X's book, it seems to me that the
> KXPD3 is capable of only dual-paddle operating. Or have I missed
> something?
> 
> 
> I understand that my KX3 has a second port for an external key (I
> presume a single-paddle).
> 
> In the past, I recall seeing photos of hams working KX3-portable with
> a straight-key but, at those times, I did not pay attention if any had
> a paddle.
> 
> 
> TIA for any reply.
> 
> 73 Jerry KM3K
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