It would be nice if qrz provided a way for you to see who all had looked you up, that would be much more interesting to me than just a number.

Point taken, I stand corrected.

Please, by all means, place a review in the Reviews section.  That is the only way that people like myself can be forewarned of potential problems with companies and their product.  Thank you for posting this letter.  I was considering some of their equipment, but after reading this and given the time frame that it has gone unanswered, I will seriously reconsider giving them my business.

73,
Carlton

I too have sent them several emails over the last few days with no response.  It makes me hesitant to do business with a company that I cannot communicate with.  I can understand they may not have the staff to man a bank of phones, but they could at least make an effort to answer emails.  I have sent them several from different accounts and locations to rule any problems on my end.  I tried sending directly to their list email address as well as using the contact form on their website.

73,
Carlton

If you were closer to Georgia I would take you up on it.  However, it's nice to see someone offering to help others.

73
Carlton

Hi Bill,

I have just started playing with JT65-HF, it is a lot of fun.  I recommend that you download the software from jt65-hf.sourceforge.net.  Included in that download is a pretty good 'getting started' pdf document.  Also, http://blog.g4ilo.com/2010/09/jt65-on-hf.html  has some information on it as well.  As far as your clock drift, most people are using http://www.meinberg.de/english/sw/ntp.htm, however, there is a program/script out there (I do not remember the link) that will adjust your registry so that the built in Windows time sync will run hourly instead of weekly.  I used the script on Win7x64 and have had no problems with clock drift.

73,
Carlton

>Your decision should be based on taking advantage of your transceivers capability.

I have an FT-950 with a built in keyer.  It also supports a straight key as well.  So as far as technology goes, it is not really a factor. 

I would like to thank everyone for offering the experiences and opinions, they have been very helpful.  It seems there are definitely pros and cons to starting out with either one.  Perhaps I will try both and see which one seems to feel more natural.

>>AE5QB

>What's the hurry? 

There really isn't any.  My main concerns are learning it correctly and not going down one path and wishing I had gone down the other
and having ended up duplicating effort/time switching from one type to the other.

>The straight key has a romantic nostalgia to it.  Just imagine the operators of decades ago pounding away at the brass.  Or imagine an operator in a WWII submarine or on the Titanic sending an emergency message for help.

Yes, I agree 100%.  The nostalgic factor is one of the reasons I am attracted to CW.  The other reason I am wanting to learn CW is because I am
interested in qrp/portable operation and from what I have learned, CW on 5 watts gets you a whole lot further than SSB on 5 watts.

>I am using both and truly believe that learning on a straight key will make you a better CW operator. 

What factor about learning on a straight key is it that you believe will make me a better CW operator.  I'm not questioning
your opinion/information but rather just want to get some additional insight from someone that has been down the road before.

>Yes a keyer is faster and kind of cool but I like straight keys best. 

What is it about straight keyers that you like best over paddles/keyers?

>Slow down and enjoy the trip.  Good luck to you!

Thanks, I have no doubt I will be taking it slow...lol

>>W5ESE

>My experience, as someone who makes quite a few contacts with new CW operators, is that the fellows who start right out with paddles make a lot more sending mistakes. In particular, it's easy to let extra dits slip out when you are first getting started.

Very good point, I had considered that may be an issue.

>suggests beginning with a straight key and using it until you can consistently copy about 16 wpm.

That raises another question I meant to include in the original posting....do most people learn to copy first then learn to
send or do they do it together...ie, after you learn how to copy a few letters, learn how to send them, then progress to the
next set of letters?

>check out the 'Straight Key Century Club' at http://www.skccgroup.com for on-the-air operating events that are quite popular with morse newcomers.

Thanks for the info, I will definitely check them out.

Thanks for the quick reply. 

>If your goal ultimately is to get fast, chase DX, contest, have faster-than-average rag chews,

I can't say at the moment I intend on contesting or DX chasing.  At this point my intention is to learn to send/copy at more of a casual/average speed (15-20 wpm?).  I just want to be able to copy and be copied by the majority of the casual ops and have fun doing it.

>Many people NEVER leave the straight key behind.

Interesting, I did not imagine that would have been the case.

I am a newly licensed General and would very much like to learn CW.  It seems from what I have read that the usual progression is to start learning with a straight key and then as your speed increases move up to a paddle/keyer.  My question is, would it make sense to start learning from the outset with a paddle/keyer as opposed to a straight key?  Would skipping the straight key and starting with a paddle make it more difficult to learn?  My reasoning is that if I learn on a straight key and then want to move to a paddle, I will probably have 'rewire' my brain to use that paddle, so why not just start out on the paddle?  So I am looking for opinions/thoughts on whether I will be shooting myself in the foot by trying to start with paddles or if it makes a difference.