My comment was directed toward the FT-9000 ETR, not the Orion's. The
waveforms shown there have very sharp edges.
73, Duane
On Wed, 16 Nov 2005 10:04:26 -0700 "Bob Cunnings"
<cunnings@lectrosonics.com> writes:
> Ummm...
>
> Looking at the QST review of the Orion at (ARRL members only):
>
> http://www.arrl.org/members-only/prodrev/pdf/pr0401.pdf
>
> you'll see the cw keying waveform for external keying, on a time
> base of 10
> ms per division, at 60 wpm. The rise time on the 2nd dit looks like
> 2.5 to
> 3.0 ms or so. So if the default rise/fall time of 5 ms was selected
> (they
> don't say, but a reasonable assumption?) then indeed the actual time
> is off
> by roughly a factor of 2 like you say. This is interesting.
>
> But in the same review they rave about the keying: "...the actual CW
> signal
> is very clean. We got favorable reports on the air, with keying
> sidebands
> falling away from the carrier frequency more rapidly than any other
> tranceiver we've tested." This agrees with my own experience using
> external
> keying... when monitoring on another rig, I've never detected any
> clicks now
> matter what the rise/fall time setting or keying speed. Reports,
> usually
> unsolicited, are always very positive (using default setting of 5
> ms
> (indicated), usually around 15 - 20 wpm). In fact, I've never seen
> or heard
> a complaint anywhere about Orion key clicks, but maybe I'm out of
> touch.
>
> I can't reconcile these observations with the assertion that a rise
> time of
> 3 ms will "guarantee bad clicks". Further, if you believe the Orion
> manual,
> anyone using external keying is in a hopeless position. This is
> because the
> range of allowable times for external keying is 3 to 5 ms, with the
> default
> being 5 (2.5 ms actual if the indicated value is off by a factor of
> 2).
>
> As an aside, what's funny is that if you adjust it higher than 5 in
> the CW
> menu the message "Max 40 wpm external keying" is displayed, yet one
> can run
> the value all the way up to 10 anyway. Is it limiting the value to 5
> when
> keying is external? If so why display the higher values as the knob
> is
> turned? Or is the rise/fall time set as indicated, regardless of
> what the
> manual says, with the warning message being only advisory? Without
> a
> monitoring scope one can't really know what's going on.
>
> Certainly, if this discrepancy between actual rise/fall time and
> the
> rise/fall time indicated by the Orion user interface is real then
> I'm
> surprised that it hasn't been corrected by now. But would Ten-Tec
> really be
> shipping the product if the consequence was terrible key clicks at
> the
> default setting?
>
> Am I misunderstanding the QST review data? Is this really a problem?
>
>
> Bob NW8L
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tentec-bounces@contesting.com
> [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com]
> On Behalf Of Bill Tippett
> Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2005 3:36 PM
> To: tentec@contesting.com
> Subject: [TenTec] cw settings
>
> Hi Ken,
>
> >I use rise at 3 and get excellent
> reports. also have heard few TT's
> with too soft a keying.
>
> Ouch...those reports are certainly not from anyone close or
> else
> you must have a very low ERP station. 3 ms would guarantee bad
> clicks. 6
> ms is as low as I would ever go, even for QRQ CW. Menu settings are
> about
> twice what the actual rise/fall time is. ARRL recommends about 4-5
> ms which
> would equate roughly to a setting of 8-10 in Orion's menu.
>
> Glad you're in California! :-)
>
> 73, Bill W4ZV
>
>
>
>
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>
Duane Calvin, AC5AA
Austin, Texas
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