The only keys that are inherently "handed" (that I can think of anyway) would be bugs.  The others are mostly ambi.  A few have finger pieces that go one way or the other, like the Vibro-keyer.  But I think it's just a matter of taking out a screw and turning the finger pieces over if you want to convert them.

Mike

I found that sending could be a good way to learn the characters.  I used to send the text on road signs, in my head, during the daily commute.  You don't have to be tied to a chair while you are working on your code skills.  As I improved, I loaded a novel in morse into my iPod and listened while I jogged (I still do that sometimes).

The initial memorization of the characters is just a very small first step.  Don't let folks scare you with stories about how you'll be ruined for life if you memorize them the wrong way.  Just keep banging away at it, and get on the air as early as you can.  Practice by itself is drudgery.  QSO's are fun, even the really slow ones.

73.  mike

Welll, I had to travel across the state for a meeting today.  Was reading the mail 20 meters when I heard a rather shaky CQ.  Traffic was light on I-40, so I answered.  75 mph with a j-38 on the console...  It doesn't get any better than this  .  Turns out I didn't have any trouble at all with the whole CW while driving thing.  Different parts of the brain I guess.

Turns out that the other guy was a high school student doing his first ever CW qso!  K5LBJ.  Very cool.  He did a nice job.   Chattted for several minutes.  I have to say, I think Matt did a better job than I did on my first  .  Although, I think the /M in my call gave him a hard time

I was still smiling after the meeting with the corporate guys.  I'm liking this whole HF mobile thing!

Cheers,  mike

Well, I have spent most of the weekend installing an FT-857 in my Miata.  Don't laugh..  Between the threaded mounting holes on the rear deck and the trunk mounted battery, the miata is actually a pretty good mobile radio platform.

I got lazy and bought the atas-120 screwdriver.  I mounted it on the hard points for the (optional) hardtop, and I have a dual band 2M/440 antenna on an NMO mount in the middle of the deck lid.  So far, it is all working great.  The little screwdriver tunes up everything from 6M to 40M without a hiccup.  The dual band antenna works, well, like it always has...

I haven't actually tried a CW qso while driving yet, but hope to do so eventually.  I'm thinking that long highway trips would work nicely for CW rag chewing  . Also, hope to spend some quality time on lunch breaks in the company parking lot...

Right now, I've just got an old J-38 sitting on the console.  that was quick and easy.  What I would like to do is hard-mount some paddles right behind the gear shifter.  I haven't worked out a graceful way to do that yet.  I can't say that I'm super fond of the built-in keyer on the 857 though.  It's a bit rudimentary.  Still that little box does an awful lot of stuff.  I shouldn't complain 

In the past, I've worked mobile CW guys from the shack, and I always thought "wow, that would be a hoot!". But, now that I'm all ready to give it a try, I find myself hesitating... Well, that guy is pretty weak, might lose him in the road noise.   Well, there's a traffic light coming up, I'll have to shift a lot... Well, I'm about to dive into this valley, I'll probably lose him behind the mountain and that would be rude...  It's funny, I feel like a noobie all over again.

Anyway, just thought I'd share a little.  Always fun trying new things.

73. Mike

You might consider giving CW a try sometime.  In my experience, the jerk ratio is significantly lower on the CW sub bands.

Welcome to HF!

73 mike

That would be a reasonable number.  You might have to work up closer during a busy contest, but 1KHz would be fine most of the time.

Mike

My TS-820S was doing that when I first bought it, 4 years ago.  It was an ebay bargain.

The rig would blow it's main fuse after a few minutes of transmitting.  If you watched the plate current in CW mode.  It would slowly increase from it's normal idle current value after 30 seconds or so in transmit (without key down).  The current increase would get faster and faster.  Then the fuse would blow just before the needle pegged out.

After a week or two of futzing with it.  It turned out that the brand new shiny Chinese (or maybe it was Russian) tubes that the previous owner had installed were gassy.  After I replaced them with a pair of slightly used American 6146's.  The problem disappeared.  The rig has worked beautifully ever since.

Just something you might looks at...

73,  mike

I'm honestly not sure which mode I'm using.  My keyer has 10 "emulation modes", three of which have an "A" in the description.  None of them mention anything about "B".  (it's a kit-built CMOS-4 from idiom press)  If I had to guess, Id say I'm  running "A" mode.

I like to use iambic wherever I can.  I've heard folks say that they don't like it.  I've read long treatises explaining how iambic is actually slower than slap keying, and all the world speed champions eschew iambic mode.  That's all well and good.  I just think it's fun.

I also use the forced letter space timing on the keyer.  I really like that feature. 

All that being said, I still use my old bug more than I do my paddles.  Once again, it's fun.  kinda like playing a banjo

73 mike

Sounds like fine plan to me

I suspect you are hearing more slow code lately because it's new years day.  "Straight Key Night starts at 0000 GMT on 1January every year.  Lots of folks break out the straight keys and some of them fire up the old tube rigs of yesteryear just for SKN.

Even without the new year straight key party, there's usually a good bit of slow code happening on the 40M band.  I think half of my log is 40M QSO's.

I prefer listening to actual QSO's over computer practice. It's especially helpful if I can tune in a QSO running near my speed limit, where I can hear both parties reasonably well.  Max speed gets exhausting pretty quickly though.  I think time spent copying at easy speeds is still helpful.

For me, the greatest improvement came when I switched from paper copy to head copy.  That was the point where code changed from work to enjoyment for me.

Since the XYL works nights, I have a SW radio next to the bed.  I've been lulled to sleep by the dulcet sounds of CW on more than a few nights.  Unfortunately, this leads to the occasional rude awakening at 3am, when a strong station starts calling on the frequency where I left the radio

Well, best of luck with the code work.  Hopefully, since you are re-learning, it will come back quickly for you.

73  mike

I use ACLog by N3FJP.  It brings up the list of previous qso's when you start a new one, in order from most recent to oldest.  But, you have to right click on each record to see the details (including notes).  I've done that occasionally.  If I see a half dozen previous contacts pop up, I'll look at the last couple while the other guy is sending name,rest,qth.

There is one drawback though.  The notes field is fairly limited.  It's only about as long as a tweet.  So you can't write the other guy's biography.

Still, I like the software quite well.

73  AA4N

Okay nevermind that last bit.  Readout doesn't change when you key down in SSB mode.  I couldn't stand it.  Had to go check 

Mike

Here's another thought.  I've got the 820S model.  The digital frequency readout on mine actually changes by 700Hz when I key down in CW mode.  It only shows the actual carrier freq during xmit.  During receive, it drops by 700Hz so the bfo has something to beat against.  if I'm working a guy on 7.038, the dig readout shows 7.037.3 during receive.

 I wonder if it does something similar on sideband?  Does the 1.5kHz difference swap sides when you switch from LSB to USB?  I havent noticed whether mine does that.  I'm pretty much never on sideband...

Just thinking out loud.

Mike

So, it sounds like xmit and receive are happening one the same frequency.  If you tune another staition in by ear, never mind what the dial says, you sound on-freq to the other station?  If that's the case it still sounds like the rig is working fine.  Just adjust the dial by 1.5k.

If your xmit and receive are on different freqs, then it's time to pop the top on the rig and get out the little plastic screwdrivers.

Maybe I'm not understanding the problem.

Mike

Are you sure that you don't just need to slip the dial a bit to one side?  It's normal to touch up the frequency scale by one or two kc every now and then on a 820.  You don't even need the frequency counter.  Just flip the function selector from vfo to 25kHz, then tune to the nearest multiple of 25kHz.  You should hear a beat tone.  Zero beat the tone (by tuning to a lower and lower pitch until it disappears), then slip the ring on the back of the main vfo knob until the scale reads right on 25, or 50, or 75, as is appropriate.  That will get you within 100 Hz or so of perfect, which is close enough for any real world HF work.  Really, the digital readout on th S version is just eye candy.  Doesn't serve much of a useful purpose IMHO.

73, mike. AA4N

I know the guy that you are talking about.  He sends machine perfect code with a straight key.  Can't remember his call though.  He's sending something like "BENS BEST BENT WIRE"  but there's more to it than that.  He told me once that it was a practice thing.  I've heard him use it many times when the bands are dead and no one is answering.  He'll include the whole ditty in his CQ call.  One of the best fists I've ever copied...

cheers

mike AA4N