At 10:12 PM 12/19/99 +0000, John - G3JAG wrote:
>IAMBIC - UGH !@! I am convinced that the so-called iambic keyer owes
>its design entirely to sloppy, corner-cutting programming. It can
>only have been developed by a phone man. Very few useful code
>combinations can be sent using it. Far more useful is the "ultimatic"
>logic of yesteryear. For those unfamiliar with it, squeeze both paddles
>and the last to close takes control, no mindless alternation between
>dots and dashes. So a single squeeze can be a W, G, J, 7 or a 3 etc.
>just by working the English on the timing of the second closure (whilst
>hanging onto the first one, no need to let go). Much more user-friendly
>than just squeezing an A,C, N, or a period.
If the Ultimatic is so good, why aren't people clamoring for it? Why is the
Iambic keyer so popular and not many folks know what an Ultimatic keyer is?
You have to send the same dots and dashes to form a character that I do, as
we are both using the same code. Why is it "mindless" to form those
characters when I use my iambic keyer but not mindless when you do it using
your Ultimatic?
>Years ago I built the 12 tube Ultimatic keyer from QST; now I use the
>most recent solid state version (hardly recent; its from the same
>QST as contained the first review of the Drake TR-7 !!). Since then,
>iambic has become fashionable, but it remains pretty useless. If only
>the programmers of the beautiful Super CMOS III would see the light and
>substitute Ultimatic logic for just one of those awful tedious
>emulations !! Yes, I also have a Super CMOS III and yes, I did phone
>the designers, but no joy.
>
>Once you have tried it you will not go iambic again out of choice. I do
>have the option, but I never use it. Auto-character space on the other
>hand is never turned off.
>
>John G3JAG - Over 40 years on CW, but now heading for my bomb shelter.
The war has been over for more than 50 years. You've probably been spending
too much time in the bomb shelter and that is why your a lil behind the
times..hi..hi..I couldn't resist this one. Iambic is a very good way to
send CW. At least for me this is true. I would suspect that if the
Ultimatic method was better the folks that created the CMOS II and III
would have designed it to work like the Ultimatic.
But then I always thought Beta was a better format for video tape and look
what happened to it. Same with UNIX. I always thought it was a better
operating system than Microsoft DOS and look what is happening to UNIX. I
lost my Beta and Unix crusades and I think your going to lose your
Ultimatic crusade.
73 and Iambic forever,
John/K4WJ
>
73..de John/K4WJ
***********************************************************
John/K4WJ in Pembroke Pines, FL
QTH 26 00 51 N
80 16 16 W
K8PXG from 18 Jun 59 to 11 Feb 97
K8WJ from 12 Feb 97 to 07 Apr 97
ZF2HZ from 17 May 84 to 31 Dec 84
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