Those who know me well know that I designed, built and marketed a
product called the CW Sendin' Machine in the 70s. I did this
entirely from my home, calling on some resources from friends etc.
It was a product that filled a demand for CW contesters and enjoyed
a short period of demand that I could not fill.
One day I realized that to stay in the business I had to advertise
heavily. I didn't have the means to build enough product to pay
for the advertising etc etc. So I stopped and considered the
experience was the most valuable return for me.
I can understand the problems that the providers of contest
software face. I'm sure designers of such software can only hope
for fame, not fortune.
Anyway with all this talk about sending CW from the computer, and
how to design somthing that works under Windows 95 etc. I would
like to suggest that someone design a new product. A memory keyer
that can be controlled from an RS232 port or parallel port. This
would have a paddle attached where you could send and override
anything the keyer was sending from memory. You would be able to
upload strings to be sent etc. There would be buttons on the keyer
that would initiate functions within manually. All of these
functions should also be actuated by a simple remote command via
the control port. This should be produced and sold for less than
$200. Convince CT and others to add routines to control the keyer.
There you are wannabe designers. An idea. Go for it!
Alan Harp K4PB.
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