[Elecraft] A or B?
Edward H Russell
ehr at qrv.com
Thu Jul 8 05:34:19 EDT 2021
Ted,
Thanks for the link to that excellent article. I agree that a single lever paddle is a good option. Mine is from N0SA #145. I also enjoy my Begali Magnetic Classic with a WinKeyer in Ultimatic mode, which makes it essentially single lever. Both serve well at "normal" speeds up to about 33wpm.
Above that my fist starts showing its age. A period becomes very difficult to send. Switching to Iambic makes that an easy squeeze, but there are problems with other characters.
Maybe at speeds over 35 or so the best thing to do is switch to a keyboard.
TKS,
73 ED W2RF
-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net <elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On Behalf Of W4NZ Ted Bryant
Sent: Wednesday, July 7, 2021 10:38 PM
To: 'Elecraft Reflector' <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] A or B?
"... Iambic (of whatever alphabetical variety) is pretty atrocious..."
https://www.morsex.com/pubs/iambicmyth.pdf
Ted W4NZ
-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Chuck Chandler
Sent: Wednesday, July 7, 2021 3:57 PM
To: Wayne Burdick
Cc: Elecraft Reflector
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] A or B?
I'd like to see bug mode as an option... for those of us who still use a bug, I find I can send pretty well with a keyer in bug mode. Iambic (of whatever alphabetical variety) is pretty atrocious.
73 de Chuck, WS1L
chandlerusm at gmail.com
On Wed, Jul 7, 2021 at 3:18 PM Wayne Burdick <n6kr at elecraft.com> wrote:
> This has been a great discussion, with many perspectives. Just to
> reiterate, all Elecraft radios going back to the K2 provide both
> modes, and the default is (and always shall be) mode A.
>
> 73,
> Wayne
> N6KR
>
> > On Jul 7, 2021, at 12:10 PM, Dan Presley <n7cqr at arrl.net> wrote:
> >
> > I’d like to bend the conversation a bit to general CW sending
> > regardless
> of which mode or key you use. I don’t think we’ll ever settle the
> arguments about A vs B,except B is more ubiquitous and most students
> start on B. But what really matters is the quality of the code you
> send. And it doesn’t have to be machine perfect. Some individuality is
> a nice touch as long as it’s still good copy. I had one student who
> simply couldn’t make a go of any dual paddles,but he had excellent
> results with a single lever,and his fist is very nice. On further
> questioning,he had a strong musical background,which leads me to the
> point I want to make, which a previous poster mentioned. My career was
> a bit unusual in that I was a professional jazz musician (bassist) and
> had the rare fortune to travel the world as a performer,and recording
> artist,and in later years as an instructor at college and professional
> levels. I still play occasionally-not much in the past year,but that’s
> changing finally! As an instructor the one constant with every student
> was the misperception of their rhythmic abilities,regardless of how good their’chops’ (musical facility) were .
> Almost universally they’d say’I have a good sense of time/rhythm’ and
> if was usually their weakest area. For the most part I think that’s
> true with a lot of the newer cw ops as well. And there’s also a myth
> that nothing can be done about your rhythmic abilities-‘you’re born
> with it,or not’ is the common wisdom. True you may never get good
> enough to hang with Steve Gad,or the late Ginger Baker or Gene Krupa,
> but you can certainly work on improving your rhythmic cw skills. A
> couple of tips-think of little phrases like CQ as a musical phrase.
> What’s that? Well-any little bit of a melody that you might have in
> your head,or a bird song. Even ‘happy birthday to you ’ is a musical
> phrase. If you have a metronome set it to a really slow tempo like
> 40-50 and send simple characters between each click. Then gradually increase your tempo. Then try two letter groups like CQ,73,etc.
> Eventually larger groups and words,and then phrases like’name hr Dan’
> This works for any mode or key-paddle,straight,single lever, bug. This
> will even out your fist and make for much more enjoyable sending.
> And-your copying will improve too.
> >
> > Dan Presley 503-701-3871
> > danpresley at me. com
> > N7CQR at arrl.net
> >
> >
> >> On Jul 6, 2021, at 23:44, Guido Tedeschi <guidoted at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> 99% of non Elecraft radio have Iambic B keyer only, so I suggest
> >> to
> learn
> >> Iambic B.
> >> I learned Iambic A in the eighties and now I have to use a single
> >> lever
> key
> >> with radios that have Iambic B only, otherwise I send C instead of K...
> >> 73 de Guido, ik2bcp / k2bcp
> >>
> >>
> >>> Il giorno mer 7 lug 2021 alle ore 06:18 Mike Morrow <
> kk5f at earthlink.net> ha
> >>> scritto:
> >>>
> >>> Several have stated they use "squeeze keying" and therefore use mode B.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> That is a total non sequitur. ALL iambic keying requires
> >>> simultaneous closure of both paddles...i.e. squeeze keying. Mode
> >>> A is just as much
> a
> >>> squeeze keying process that closes both paddles to generate an
> >>> iambic stream as is mode B. The only difference is TIMING OF PADDLE RELEASE.
> >>> Mode B requires paddle release critically earlier to generate a
> particular
> >>> iambic stream because it automatically generates the final element
> >>> in
> the
> >>> stream depending on a dot or dash being sent when paddles are released.
> >>> Mode A does not automatically generate the final element in any
> >>> iambic stream. It simply requires holding both paddles closed
> >>> until the
> desired
> >>> final element has been sent.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> There is absolutely no speed advantage of one mode over another,
> although
> >>> many mode B users seem to believe that there is. Some mode B
> >>> users
> even
> >>> believe that they can generate some characters with fewer paddle
> >>> manipulations than a mode A user. They can not. Some mode B
> >>> users
> believe
> >>> only mode B is a squeeze keying process. Mode A is also.
> >>> Regardless
> of
> >>> the basis upon which a person selects and learns mode A or mode B,
> there is
> >>> no factual basis to claim one mode superior for ANY purpose over
> >>> the
> other.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Mike / KK5F
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> -----Original Message-----
> >>> From: Louandzip <louandzip at yahoo.com>
> >>> Sent: Jul 6, 2021 11:05 AM
> >>> Cc: <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
> >>> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] A or B?
> >>>
> >>> I'm a squeezer and use B. It's physically the easiest,
> >>> particularly at higher speeds, and I believe B is really most
> >>> common. Of course you
> don't
> >>> have to squeeze using B. On Tue, Jul 6, 2021 at 9:11 AM, Tom
> Doligalski
> >>> via Elecraft wrote: I’ve always preferred B, and I do use squeeze
> keying.
> >>> If I were starting off I would probably recommend B. I doubt there
> >>> is
> much
> >>> difference in the learning curve between either! Tom W4KX > On Jul
> >>> 6,
> 2021,
> >>> at 10:58 AM, Wayne Burdick wrote: > > I’ve always used mode A.
> >>> Mode B
> may
> >>> be preferable for those doing squeeze-keying, especially at higher
> speeds.
> >>>>> Wayne > N6KR > > ---- > elecraft.com > >> On Jul 6, 2021, at
> >>>>> 7:36
> AM,
> >>> Gary Peterson wrote: >> >> An old friend, who has been inactive
> >>> for
> several
> >>> years, recently purchased a used K3. This is the first
> >>> transceiver
> that
> >>> he’s owned that includes a built in keyer. He has always operated
> >>> CW
> with
> >>> a straight key. He has acquired Vibroplex paddles and wants to
> >>> know whether to set the radio’s keyer for mode A or mode B iambic.
> >>> He has
> never
> >>> used an iambic keyer or a bug, before. >> >> I learned iambic
> >>> keying
> with a
> >>> WB4VVF circuit board, back in the early 1970s, so mode B is what I
> prefer.
> >>> I know there are a lot of died-in-the-wool CW people who frequent
> >>> this
> list
> >>> and I would like any opinions as to whether it is easier for a
> >>> newbie
> to
> >>> learn iambic mode A or mode B. I have no clue. >> >> Thanks in
> advance for
> >>> any advice or opinions that I can pass along. >> >> Gary >>
> >>> KzeroCX >>
> >>> ______________________________________________________________ >>
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