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help with iambic and letter "a"	Reply
by KD7MPK on November 9, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
I'm learning iambic b mode. I've read that you should keep your fingers on the paddles. I'm doing that but doing an "a" is hit and miss. I get an "r" almost as often as an "a". Any tips or recommendations on learning this method? thanks

RE: help with iambic and letter "a"	Reply
by KB9CRY on November 9, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
You're riding the paddles. Back off to just barely touching and slow down.

RE: help with iambic and letter "a"	Reply
by KN1W on November 10, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
What keyer are you using? de KN1W

RE: help with iambic and letter "a"	Reply
by KD7MPK on November 10, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
I am using a bencher by-1. I have also used a small mfj travel paddle (just to play with) but it clearly is not the paddle that the by-1 is.

RE: help with iambic and letter "a"	Reply
by KN1W on November 10, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
Hi there, I am including the links for two articles that I like very much from very experienced and respected hams: http://www.morsex.com/pubs/iambicmyth.pdf http://www.hamradioinstructor.com/download/K7QO_Iambic_Paddle.pdf I was asking on the previous post about the Keyer, the device that makes all the magic. This is important to know because in my experience Iambic B has different timing variables depending on the keyer. If the BY-1 is connected directly into your radio then you have an internal keyer. Some hams prefered an external keyer disabling the internal one This is the definition of keyer from one of the above cited articles: "...The term “keyer” is generally used to refer to an "electronic keyer," which is a device that will generate dots or dashes..." Take care, de KN1W

RE: help with iambic and letter "a"	Reply
by KD7MPK on November 10, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
oops. I read too fast. I am using an mfj 401D. the little econo keyer II. It is set to "b". I'll look up the articles.

RE: help with iambic and letter "a"	Reply
by KN1W on November 11, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
Nice setup! You might also want to read about single versus double paddles from this forum, interesting read! http://www.eham.net/forums/CW/8141 de KN1W

RE: help with iambic and letter "a"	Reply
by KA9QGH on November 11, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
It sounds like you are trying to go to fast. I just sat down with a QST Mag. and practiced sending at a slow speed, then a faster speed never exceeding what I can copy. I refused to get on the air as a "bad fist". I hate it when hams run TNXFERCALL or worse their name and rst as one long series of dits and dahs as one letter...makes me nuts. don't be a LID. Geoff KA9QGH

RE: help with iambic and letter "a"	Reply
by VA7CPC on November 13, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
You'll have to master the "dit" paddle before you try to combine it with the "dah" paddle. The exercise that helped me was sending: E I S H 5 E I S H 5 . . . . until I got it right, every time. Then I worked on: EISH5 EISH5 EISH5 until I got it right. If you can't get off the dot paddle quickly enough to reliably send EISH5, _slow down the keyer_. You're trying to send too fast. After mastering EISH5, introduce the "dah" paddle with: A U V 4 A U V 4 and N D B 6 N D B 6 and so on. Don't learn the letters in alphabetical order -- let the structure of the dits and dahs guide you. The arguments (against iambic keying) in "The Myth of Iambic Keying" are pretty good. You might want to try switching to non-iambic keying, even though you have a double paddle. One way to do that is to hold your finger and thumb _just off the paddles_, and rock your wrist left and right. That way, you'll never be touching both paddles at the same time, and "A" will never become "R". Charles

RE: help with iambic and letter "a"	Reply
by KD7MPK on November 14, 2008	Mail this to a friend!
thanks for the tips. I'll go to work on these. 73

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