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K2 keyer

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Joe Hetrick-2

K2 keyer

For contesting I've gotten a K1EL WinKeyUSB that i've been fussing
with all week. I just cannot get it to feel like my K2's internal
keyer, which I've really come to like. The closest (and most equally
comfortable), is probably a Logikey CMOS II I've got.

At anyrate, I thought I'd ask if anyone found the magic combination of
weight/compensation/etc in the K1EL to make it feel like the K2.

I've discovered that a higher dit/dah (say: 1.333) and increasing the
weight to 60% seem to help, and then adding a bit of keying
compensation (2ms), but, there is still just something that just
doesn't feel right, whether it's 20wpm or 35wpm.

Does anyone have any input, or insight into the K2's keyer that might
help?

73,

Joe KC0VKN
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vk3dbd

Re: K2 keyer

Interested in your remarks Joe, on the K1E. keyer. Cannot relate to the
K2, but I have following comments to makes
I have used one of those now (K9 model - in conjunction with my TS 50) for
several years and find it the most user friendly keyer I know.
Since having the K3 now in use for some 9 months, I have been fairly happy
with the built in keyer. BUT it does not have auto spacing. I use iambic A
setting a twin paddle and the default ratio of 1.15 which seems to be about
right
I feel the actual indicated speed is perhaps faster than it says and I am
happy for a normal conversation at an indicated 19 -22 wpm .

The K1EL K9 model has more adjustments. I built a K10 keyer early this
year (mainly because I wanted speed change on a pot rather than a menu) but
am not happy with that one, among other things it suffers badly from RF
pick up .I guess fixing that is not going to be too difficult, but so far
not tried.

73 David VK3DBD/G3SCD

On Sun, Nov 29, 2009 at 12:38 AM, Joe Hetrick <[hidden email]> wrote:

> For contesting I've gotten a K1EL WinKeyUSB that i've been fussing
> with all week. I just cannot get it to feel like my K2's internal
> keyer, which I've really come to like. The closest (and most equally
> comfortable), is probably a Logikey CMOS II I've got.
>
> At anyrate, I thought I'd ask if anyone found the magic combination of
> weight/compensation/etc in the K1EL to make it feel like the K2.
>
> I've discovered that a higher dit/dah (say: 1.333) and increasing the
> weight to 60% seem to help, and then adding a bit of keying
> compensation (2ms), but, there is still just something that just
> doesn't feel right, whether it's 20wpm or 35wpm.
>
> Does anyone have any input, or insight into the K2's keyer that might
> help?
>
> 73,
>
> Joe KC0VKN
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>

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Joe Hetrick-2

Re: K2 keyer

Hi David,

On Nov 29, 2009, at 5:43 AM, David Dunn wrote:

> Interested in your remarks Joe, on the K1E. keyer. Cannot relate
> to the K2, but I have following comments to makes
> I have used one of those now (K9 model - in conjunction with my TS
> 50) for several years and find it the most user friendly keyer I know.

I agree. I'm quite pleased with it, I just can't quite get the "feel"
to be the same. It's pretty close. I spose I could get the saved
settings out of wk2mgr and put them up for other folks to try. I know
if I switch to other keyers (my ATS3A, PicoKeyer, JacksonHarbor keyer,
or CMOS II) they all have subtle differences, and since I use my K2
the most frequently, I'm sort of glued to it. Maybe I need to learn
to adapt!

> Since having the K3 now in use for some 9 months, I have been fairly
> happy with the built in keyer. BUT it does not have auto spacing. I
> use iambic A setting a twin paddle and the default ratio of 1.15
> which seems to be about right

I agree. I run my K2 that way as well (though, IA-B). I haven't used
my K1EL enough to find the auto-spacing making a difference. I've
turned it off/on and can't feel a difference. By default, though, the
50% weighting seemed to be different than the K2.

I should get more practice, as one of the first thing I did was write
a K1EL --> Instant Messenger (jabber) gateway that lets me key IM's
in. Just for the fun of it!

> I feel the actual indicated speed is perhaps faster than it says and
> I am happy for a normal conversation at an indicated 19 -22 wpm .
>
> The K1EL K9 model has more adjustments. I built a K10 keyer early
> this year (mainly because I wanted speed change on a pot rather than
> a menu) but am not happy with that one, among other things it
> suffers badly from RF pick up .I guess fixing that is not going to
> be too difficult, but so far not tried.
>

I know lots of folks use them and like them. I was finding that the
code produced by the simple transistor/diode + RS232 keying when
contesting just didn't sound very good. I disliked putting out such
horrible sounding code (timing issues, etc) and think the K1EL would
be a good solution for that. I guess even if I don't find it
comfortable for daily use, it's still a good contesting solution.
There is some appeal in having a keyer that feels the same on every
rig I might use, though. Maybe I just need more time!

73,

Joe KC0VKN

> 73 David VK3DBD/G3SCD
>
> On Sun, Nov 29, 2009 at 12:38 AM, Joe Hetrick
> <[hidden email]> wrote:
> For contesting I've gotten a K1EL WinKeyUSB that i've been fussing
> with all week. I just cannot get it to feel like my K2's internal
> keyer, which I've really come to like. The closest (and most equally
> comfortable), is probably a Logikey CMOS II I've got.
>
> At anyrate, I thought I'd ask if anyone found the magic combination of
> weight/compensation/etc in the K1EL to make it feel like the K2.
>
> I've discovered that a higher dit/dah (say: 1.333) and increasing the
> weight to 60% seem to help, and then adding a bit of keying
> compensation (2ms), but, there is still just something that just
> doesn't feel right, whether it's 20wpm or 35wpm.
>
> Does anyone have any input, or insight into the K2's keyer that might
> help?
>
> 73,
>
> Joe KC0VKN
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>

Sverre Holm (LA3ZA)

Re: K2 keyer

In reply to this post by Joe Hetrick-2

I have used these settings for the K1EL-keyer to emulate the K2:
Ratio 45, Weight 65, Sample 35. They work quite OK. They have been taken from here:
http://www.mail-archive.com/elecraft@.../msg46771.html

73

Sverre
LA3ZA

Unofficial Guide to K2 Modifications http://www.qslnet.de/member/la3za/K2/mod.html

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Sverre, LA3ZA

K2 #2198, K3 #3391,
LA3ZA Blog: http://la3za.blogspot.com,
LA3ZA Unofficial Guide to K2 modifications: http://la3za.blogspot.com/p/la3za-unofficial-guide-to-elecraft-k2.html