[CQ-Contest] [YCCC] Key Clicks in ARRL DX CW

[Dave Thompson]

Most contesters turn on their shiny (many $$$) transceivers put it in CW mode and go to it.  I feel the manufacturers should make sure the rig does not click and should have instructions in the manual if it can be made to click as with the K3.

My experience has been with Yaesu.  My older FT-980 did not click but we found that the first character was cut off causing many "repeat the call or ???". The FT-1000D was an upgrade of the FT-980 (same final but two VFO's and stronger Power supply) and had the same problem at first. I have a FT-1000MP MK V 200 watt version with the W8JI click mod. 

73 Dave K4JRB 

-----Original Message-----
>From: George K5KG via CQ-Contest <cq-contest at contesting.com>
>Sent: Feb 22, 2016 2:46 PM
>To: cq-contest at contesting.com
>Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] [YCCC] Key Clicks in ARRL DX CW
>
>Ok, I will name names.  TO7A in FM gets the KEY CLIX AWARD FOR 2016!  He 
>was not only massively loud [a good thing], but his clicks were 
>absolutely terrible.  At one point, I told him "om bad clix", but he did 
>not respond, and continued his run.  TO7A was not the only station with 
>bad key clicks; TI5W was another one that I made a note of.  
>Unfortunately, those were the only two stations I noted with bad 
>clicks.  In the future, I will make a list of the ones I run across.  
>They are easy to spot, not only with the ears, but with the P3 panadapter.
>
>73, George, K5KG
>
>On 2/22/2016 8:24 AM, Barry N1EU wrote:
>> Great point Randy!  The untenable fact now is that those using clean
>> transmitters (esp K3) are clearly at a disadvantage when running because
>> they're just sitting ducks, i.e.  inviting someone to get real close to
>> them and click all over their run frequency.
>>
>> Barry N1EU
>>
>> On Mon, Feb 22, 2016 at 8:07 AM, Randy Thompson K5ZD <k5zd at charter.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> The challenge is that the problem is asymmetric.  It is all good for the
>>> clicker in that he gets a clear frequency.  And there is little that a
>>> station not clicking can do in response.
>>>
>>> We added the signal quality rule to CQWW, but we receive only 1 or 2 direct
>>> and specific complaints after the contest.  We need more of those to gauge
>>> impact and to know where to look.
>>>
>>> This is problem that is going to take a long time to fix, but it has to
>>> start with peer pressure.  I.e., naming names publicly and often.  Stop
>>> saying things like "S5 station" and actually say their call.
>>>
>>> Randy, K5ZD
>>>
>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: YCCC [mailto:yccc-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Barry N1EU
>>>> Sent: Monday, February 22, 2016 12:57 PM
>>>> To: YCCC
>>>> Subject: [YCCC] Key Clicks in ARRL DX CW
>>>>
>>>> (FYI - I just posted this to CQ-Contest)
>>>>
>>>> Instead of the situation improving over the past 15 years with more
>>>> awareness, key clicks on the bands during contests have gotten much
>>>> worse.
>>>> I've copied excerpts from score postings from W1UE and N1EU below.
>>>>
>>>> Two groups of contest operators are going to be much more aware of the
>>>> problem than others: those who run a lot (and experience the clarity and
>>>> usability of their run frequency deteriorate over time) and those
>>>> equipped with panadapters.  I also suspect that east coast operators are
>>>> going to be impacted more due to stronger European signal levels.
>>>>
>>>> I suspect the situation doesn't bother most contesting folks as much as
>>>> me.  I really think it has gotten bad enough to warrant extreme measures
>>>> - we've got the tools to monitor/playback spectrum.  Wide signals simply
>>>> should NOT be tolerated and operators should be disqualified.
>>>>
>>>> The other measure I'd really like to see is an S&P only category because
>>>> I, for one, would like to throw in the towel entirely on running during
>>>> cw contests.
>>>>
>>>> 73,
>>>> Barry N1EU
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, Feb 22, 2016 at 6:54 AM, Dennis Egan <egan.dennis88 at gmail.com>
>>>>   wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Sunday afternoon on 40M was a true click-fest.  I had a good 40M
>>>>> frequency, with a rate of about 80.  Gerry W1VE then nestles in 400
>>>>> cycles up, and I started getting key clicks, destroying the frequency
>>>>> for Rx.  I slid up to chastise him for the clicks, but when I got on
>>>>> his frequency I could still hear the clicks- his station wasn't
>>>>> generating them!  I went up another 4 KHz, and the offender was an S5
>>>>> station occupying about 20KHz of spectrum with his key clicks!  His
>>>>> station was only S6- if he could have channeled the power expended on
>>>>> his clicks into his signal, he probably would have been S9.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> On Sun, Feb 21, 2016 at 8:02 PM, Barry N1EU <barry.n1eu at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>>> Lastly, I have to say that I ended the weekend with a bad taste in my
>>>>> mouth from the rampant key clicks on the band and the recurring
>>>>> experience of having my clear run frequency eventually being
>>>>> over-ridden by key clicking neighbors getting too close, over and over
>>>>> and over again. I'm not sure if having the P3 panadapter is a good
>>>>> thing or a bad thing, because it clearly shows the band filled with
>>>>> wide key clicking signals. It's really sad that the ham radio
>>>>> community has never come to grips with this solvable issue. It has
>>>> seriously spoiled cw contesting for me.
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> YCCC Reflector mailto:yccc at contesting.com Yankee Clipper Contest Club
>>>> http://www.yccc.org Reflector Info:
>>>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/yccc
>>>
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>
>-- 
>George Wagner, K5KG
>Sarasota, FL
>941-400-1960
>
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