[TenTec] ORION first element shortening & headphone clicks

[Bob Henderson]

FWIW I relate my experience in this area to date, with the Orion I have 
here.

I am very much a CW man and most of my operating is on that mode.  
Although one might think that with a full QSK rig the transition to the 
first character element should be identical to the transition to all 
subsequent character elements, I have yet to see the rig that confirms 
this hypothesis.

Concerning clicks in the headphones I observe the following.  If I send 
at speeds upto 20 wpm there is a very noticeable click in the headphones 
at the start of every character element.  In practice I rarely send at 
those speeds and find that at greater speeds the clicking is less 
noticeable.  This is because at greater speeds the Orion is not fully 
reverting between elements to whatever state it was in before I 
commenced keying.  I am pretty sure those of you with an Orion will be 
able to witness the effect I am describing here quite easily.  
Incidentally, I am using an external keyer, as I am rather attached to 
Logikey functionality.  All you need to do is listen in your phones when 
you send a string of dots at say 15 wpm and again when you send a string 
of dots at 30 wpm.  Chalk & Cheese!  I am sure you will agree there must 
be some inter element transition takiing place at lower speeds that 
isn't at higher ones.  I guess if I regularly sent at sub 20wpm speeds I 
might find the clicking to be really irritating.

Concerning first character element shortening, I am puzzled by the ARRL 
findings.  I like to engage in QSK rag chewing at speed from time to 
time.  When I operate my Orion at 50 wpm I am unable to perceive any 
first element shortening by ear.  Intuitively, I feel that if shortening 
was as marked as the ARRL test suggests, I would be able to perceive 
it.  I don't have a storage scope so I can't easily do any more 
substantial a check on this.

73

Bob, 5B4AGN, P3F