[Elecraft] Proposed Software Option for K4 Waterfall

[David Gilbert]

I'd like to suggest a future capability for the K4 waterfall that I 
think should be feasible as a software mod:

1.  Be able to select a window on the panadapter screen using 
point/click with the mouse... i.e., a subset of the displayed spectrum 
that could be variable for both width and position.  For example, 2 KHz 
or 5 5 KHZ or 10 KHz window centered anywhere on the band, including 
from either receiver, or both receivers simultaneously.

2.  Change the waterfall to scroll from right to left below the spectrum 
display for only that subset window (or windows if from both receivers).

3.  Within reason, be able to adjust the rate of the waterfall(s), 
including the capability to pause/resume either one with either a button 
push on the K4 or a key press on a keyboard.

I used to have this same thing set up on my computer monitor by feeding 
the audio from my K3 into the sound card of my computer and running both 
AutoHotKey and VE3NEA's CW Skimmer in "audio mode" (3 KHz bandwidth), 
but with decoding turned off.   CW Skimmer has a very high resolution 
waterfall and it runs from right to left, and AutoHotKey allowed me to 
assign CW Skimmer's pause/resume to a couple of keyboard keys.  I could 
even run the audio from both receivers in separate windows since CW 
Skimmer can run multiple copies of itself.  The biggest problem with it, 
other than the hassle of setting it all up, was the monitor space 
required to run N1MM (both receivers) plus two long skinny windows of CW 
Skimmer.

The result is that if I missed a character or two of a callsign or 
report while running stations in a CW contest (distraction, room QRM, 
fumbled logging requiring a correction, me being a poor operator, 
whatever) I could hit the pause key (if needed) and visually read the 
dots/dashes of the character I missed, reading from left to right as 
many of us are used to.  The way I had everything set up with the CW 
Skimmer windows set to full width of the monitor, I could get about 8 
seconds of waterfall history, which is huge.  I only had to use it once 
in a while, but on those occasions it definitely saved me from having to 
ask for a repeat, and it didn't take me long to get used to visually 
decoding since I would mentally read the dots and dashes as dits and 
dahs.  I queried a couple of major contest committee members about the 
practice at the time and nobody could find fault with it under the 
rules.  After all, I'm still doing all the decoding.

I think the K4 could potentially implement this as a useful feature for 
CW contesters, and possibly even have benefit for DXers or others who 
might want to simply monitor activity on a different frequency without 
having to listen to it.  Reading left to right is far more natural than 
down-to-up, and the capability for several seconds of history is useful 
as well.

Comments appreciated.

73,
Dave   AB7E