[TenTec] The QSK of QSK

[Dave Edwards]

But someone is a 'LID' if they are dxing without QSK??

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Brown" <jim at audiosystemsgroup.com>
To: <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, August 16, 2004 12:24 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] The QSK of QSK


> On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 10:24:34 -0400, Dave Edwards wrote:
>
> >Jim... You're biased!! Look at your rig list...
> >Two Ten Tec amps, Two Ten Tec rigs..and a K2
> >QSK Heaven!!
>
> Biased?  If it's a bias, it's a bias based on experience. Since QSK is a
> MUST for me, I won't buy a rig that doesn't do acceptable QSK.
>
> But more to the point. When I started doing ham radio (in 1955), there
were
> no transceivers. We had a transmitter connected to a transmitting antenna,
> and those hams who were richer also had a T/R relay to connect it to the
> receiver. I didn't -- my receiver was hooked to another piece of wire. In
those
> days, a good CW operator wouldn't be caught dead not using QSK!
>
> The step up for me was to build an electronic T/R switch so I could use
the
> same antenna for receiving, which was a tube whose grid looked at the
> antenna and drove the receiver. The tube was biased into cutoff by the
> presence of RF from the transmitter.
>
> In those days, when you were sending you heard clicks and various forms of
> receiver overload from your own transmitter, and we all grew into ham
radio
> learning to deal with that.
>
> >I just picked up an FT897D rig last week at HRO.
> >I gave it a try in QSK mode...
> >Ain't gonna happen!
> >That relay clicking away tells me NO QSK!
> >(same with the 1000D for that matter!)
>
> What's the problem with a relay clicking away (as long as it doesn't
fail)?
> Does that interfere with your ability to send?  Sounds like something that
> most folks can get used to with some practice.  FWIW, I use my FT100D on
> CW in the car in the QSK mode, and I'm quite happy with it. (I wish it had
a
> better receiver, but I only paid $700 for it). In the car, there is so
much noise
> that I've never heard a relay. And when we were at my remote mountaintop
> retreat last winter setting up our first antenna, we pulled my buddy's
FT100D
> out of his car to see how they worked. I worked some nice DX with it, all
full
> QSK. My Omni V is there now.
>
> I've always worked with cans (headphones) anyway -- it lets me separate
> signals from each other and from noise. When you're wearing cans you
aren't
> going to hear a T/R relay.
>
> Jim Brown K9YC
>
>
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