Another Introduction

Started by vwflyer, January 15, 2014, 06:40:56 PM

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gil

Quoteif a dedicated CW transceiver comes stock with a narrow filter I should be able to copy better with it than with my Kenwood.

Probably... That wouldn't be a RockMite though, it has no filtering.. A good kit might be a K1 or KX1 but they cost quite a bit more...

Gil.

cockpitbob

There are several good CW filter kits you can buy.  They go between the rig and your headphones, or you can build them into the rig.  This one cost $20 and gets good reviews.  I'm familiar with the generalities of the design and it should work well for you.

gil

Another great kit is the Weber Tri-Bander from qrpkits.com, $200 I think..

Gil.

vwflyer

That's good to know Gil. I may get something like one of those someday. I'll have to see how much I can get for the Kenwood. I imagine that a KX1 would be a decent and more versatile replacement for my Kenwood. Oh wait a minute, the guy who gave me the Kenwood called it a "loan of indefinite duration". I guess I'll have to find another way to finance it's replacement.

Thanks for the suggestion cockpitbob. I didn't know those existed. A $20 filter would save me a chunk of change over a Kenwood filter and I could use it on deferent radios too. It might also be a good way to hone my circuit board soldering skills before I tackle a transceiver kit (although the filter kit looks about as complicated as a RockMite kit).

vwflyer

QuoteAnother great kit is the Weber Tri-Bander from qrpkits.com, $200 I think..

That one looks very enticing. It wouldn't replace the Kenwood as it doesn't have SSB Phone but for a portable CW rig it looks great.

vwflyer

Hey Gil, I looked at those websites with the paddles. Do y'all recommend that I look for a single paddle or double?

gil

QuoteDo y'all recommend that I look for a single paddle or double?

Double.

Gil.

KK0G

Single  8)


To expound on that - the only thing a dual lever paddle can do that a single can't do, is iambic or 'squeeze' keying, which in my opinion is WAY over rated. I would venture to guess that only a very small minority of dual paddle users ever utilize iambic keying. In the end your paddle choice doesn't make a lot of difference since either one will operate essentially the same when not iambic keying.
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin

KK0G

vwflyer

So from what I understand then, a decent argument could be made for the double paddle in that; if it is not much more money than the single paddle, and if non-iambic keying is not any harder with it than with it's single paddle counterpart, than why not go double and have the option of trying out iambic keying?

gil

That is my opinion... Some people prefe single, but most users use double. Iambic keying is easy.

Gil.