[TenTec] Omni VI built-in keyer

[Ken Brown]

Hi John and group,

John Clifford wrote:

>I'm not sure what you mean by 'lack of dit and dah memories' for the VI's
>internal keyer.  The VI's keyer is not a memory keyer.
>
In some Iambic keyers there is a dit and dah memory. In some keyers it 
can be turned on or off, and even can be turned on or off separately for 
dit or dah. Dit and dah memory is not the kind of memory that a message 
or callsign can be stored in. Not even a whole morse character is stored 
in a dit or dah memory. Only a single element (dit or dah) is stored.

Here is an example of how it works: Suppose you are sending an "R" di, 
dah , dit.

With a basic keyer you will have to hit the dit paddle, release it, hit 
the dah paddle, release it, and hit the dit paddle again. This will send 
an "R".

With a slightly more sophisticated keyer, you may have a function called 
dit and dah insertion. In this case to send the "R" you needn't release 
the dit paddle. You just hit the dah paddle at the right time, and the 
dah gets inserted between the two dits, making the "R".

With dah insertion and dit memory you could also release the dit key 
sometime after the dah has started and before the end of the 
interelement space after the dah, and the trailing dit of the "R" will 
still get generated. Even though your finger left the dit paddle before 
it is time to send the dit. This is what the internal keyer in my Omni 
VI lacks, that I am missing.

It could be argued that one or the other types is "superior". I will not 
make that argument. What is important is how well you can send with each 
one. Once you get used to dit and dah memory, sending well without it 
becomes a problem, at least for me.

>  Re the 'Keyer Speed'
>pot, it doesn't show on the schematics but it is most likely wired into the
>Logic Board and the resistance sampled to provide the keying speed.
>
Kind of annoying that it does not show on the schematic. I suspect it is 
exactly as you describe and quite simple.

>Nevertheless, rather than build a Logikey K-3 keyer inside the rig, why not
>use it externally and plug it into the KEY port on the back?
>
This is what I have been doing all along.

>I believe that such a mod would decrease the value of your
>VI.
>
I agree, and have decided to suffer the annoyance of having a knob on my 
Omni that I wish I could use, but cannot.

Thanks for your input,

73 ES ALOHA DE N6KB (or N6N  TB when sent by me using the internal keyer 
in the Omni VI)