[Elecraft] CW Decode and Preamp?

[Gwen Patton]

Please forgive me if this is a FAQ. If it is, just point me to where I can
find the old answer and I won't bring it up again.

I can usually get the CW decode to work if I can clearly hear the signal.
The CWT bar flashes and the text scrolls, and it gets a lot of characters
right. BUT...

...that's only if I have the preamp OFF.

I've tried using the preamp but decreasing the RF gain. I've tried using
the preamp and the attenuator. I even tried setting a couple of bands to
only 10db preamplification. But if the preamp is on AT ALL, the decode
either never gets a "lock" and the CWT bar is flickering randomly (no
matter what the threshold setting is) with no decode, or the CWT bar is
solid, no flashing, and there's no decode.

If have the preamp OFF, the same signal will usually decode at least
somewhat, and sometimes excellently. Most of the time, W1AW can decode
fairly easily...though FLDIGI and CWGET seem to decode more reliably.
They'll decode 80-90%, while mush is appearing on the PX3 display lines.
But at least I get something with the preamp off.

But there's just some times when the signal is weaker and I can't get the
threshold to crack without the preamp. But then I get no decode at all.

Am I doing something WRONG? Is there some step that I'm not understanding?
Heck, I've seen past entries in the list where some have said they can't
get decode unless the preamp is ON!

Or is there some known issue with preamp + decode that I haven't seen? Mind
you, my antenna, while not fantastic, is adequate for me to get to Europe
on FT8 at 35 watts. I even got from Philly to Fargo on 50w FT8 on 30
meters, using an indoor magnetic loop I built. So it's not my antennas. I
have signal, but paradoxically, when the signal is strengthened by the
preamp, I get lower decode performance. I'd expect that in high-noise
conditions -- amplifying the noise as well as the signal and hashing them
both -- but when the noise floor is low and the signal is just made more
solid with the preamp, I should be able to decode it with the same
technique as when I use it on a stronger signal without the preamp.
Shouldn't I? Or am I simply not grasping some fundamental issue? I've read
the manual, I've read mailing list archive messages, I've experimented with
my own second rig on a dummy load sending a canned CW message (K2 s/n 1641).

This will, I hope, be a moot point in a few months. I'm trying to learn to
copy the CW barebrained instead of using the decoder. (I got rusty from
when I first learned it back in 1999.) But I want to at least be able to
check my copy using the decode function if I can until then. Between them,
maybe I can hold a coherent QSO!

Thanks,
Gwen, NG3P

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