[CQ-Contest] Key clicks improved on the Mark-V FIELD?

[Gus Samuelson]

As a new owner (yesterday) of the Mark V field and I am sure there
must be many others  any info relative to this  issue  posted here
would be welcomed. Likewise I will not have time to make any 
alterations
before the 10 meter contest.

73 Gus VO1MP

On Wednesday, December 11, 2002 1:50 PM, Tim Totten, N4GN 
[SMTP:n4gn at n4gn.com] wrote:
> I have a few questions, but first some background . . . I've 
owned
> a Yaesu
> FT-1000MP Mark-V Field (has to be the longest name in ham radio)
> since
> May.  I'll admit that I've not made any key click mod to it (at
> least not
> yet), and I've also not done any extensive testing for key 
clicks.
>
>
> Just looking at the scope captures in the ARRL product reviews,
> the
> original MP and the Mark-V look very similar, and I would expect
> clicks
> based only on that data.  But the scope captures on the Field
> look
> considerably better, especially on the first "dit".  Just
> comparing these
> three waveforms, I would expect the Field to be much improved 
over
> both
> the original MP and the Mark-V.  In other words, it looks to me
> like Yaesu
> has tried to address this issue in the latest version, and the
> Field could
> be expected at least to have LESS of a key click problem than the
> two
> earlier versions.  Maybe they even SOLVED the key click problem
> with the
> Field.
>
> In the expanded product review for the Field, there are a couple
> of plots
> labeled "Keying Sidebands" that show the -30 dB points at around
> +/- 800
> Hz from the center freq.  There are no corresponding plots in the
> expanded
> reviews of the earlier products.
>
> Here are my questions:
>
> 1) Any comments on this?  Any "real life" data or comparisons?
>
> 2) IF the Field is indeed better than the original MP or the 
Mark-
> V, is it
> "good enough", or are further improvements required?  Is -30 dB 
at
> +/- 800
> Hz acceptable, or what exactly IS the contest community standard?
>
> 3) IF further work is still required on the Field to get key
> clicks to
> the level deemed acceptable by the contesting community, do the
> W2VJN
> and/or W8JI mods even apply?  Has anyone actually attempted 
either
> (or
> both?) of these mods to a Field?  What are the results?
>
> 4) I have never had any complaints about my signal since using 
the
> Field,
> but maybe that's because people are afraid to tell me.  Or maybe
> it's
> because I'm not loud enough for anyone to care!  In any case, I
> would
> welcome any comments, good or bad.  Drop me a note, and I promise
> not to
> bite.
>
> I'll be making a go in the 10-meter contest this wknd, and I'll 
be
> using
> the unmodified Field.  I don't have the time to make any mods
> before the
> contest, even if I wanted to!
>
> 73,
>
> Tim Totten, n4gn at n4gn.com
> http://www.n4gn.com
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