[Yaesu] Mark V Keying

[John Rippey]

A while back on the 1000MP reflector a comment was posted by a ham who 
questioned whether a key click mod a la Inrad is needed on later Mark V's. 
Taking a cue from that comment, I checked my Mark V, which was manufactured 
in February 2002, using my JRC JST-245 transceiver and found the audible 
keying bandwidth extending out +/- 800 Hz. I checked the JST-245 on the 
Mark V and got +/- 550 Hz. So it looks as though Yaesu may well have made 
some corrections in the Mark V's CW keying circuitry so CW bandwidth is at 
the margin of acceptability. I doubt that the Inrad mod would provide any 
significant improvement, while W8JI's might, to some extent at least. An 
ideal CW bandwidth, as I understand it, is <300 Hz (+/-  <150 Hz), so we 
still have a way to go.  Apparently a number of 1980's rigs by Kenwood and 
Icom at least did provide much narrower CW bandwidths.

Anyhow, with these results, I'm staying put with the Mark V. I wonder 
when/if the Orion appears what its CW keying will be like? While Ten-Tec 
has been good on QSK, its keying envelopes have not been all that exemplary.