One man's nemesis is another man's requirement.... By pure chance, I
learned to use a keyer with a Mode B machine many,,,many years ago. I
now find that I have trouble leaving off trailing dots if I use a Mode A
machine. So the remark that Mode B allows leaving off a tiny bit earlier
is right on. I need that little extra time. I'm sure I could retrain to
use a mode A machine, but at age 64 and 49 years experience on the air
perhaps doesn't allow for that.
73,
Dave, K4TO
Mike Morrow wrote:
Tom wrote:
1. Iambic A or Iambic B?
Generally, most ops seem to prefer Mode B as it is a bit more 'forgiving'.
Tom, much as I hate to, I'm going to disagree a little here.
The paddle timing is quite a lot more critical in mode B than in mode A, since
holding the paddles closed just a *tiny* bit too long at the end of an iambic
string will cause an unwanted dit or dah to be generated, even though the
paddle for that dit or dah was not closed. In mode A, one gets a dit or dah
ONLY if the paddle for the dit or dah has been closed.
There's no advantage to mode B over mode A in terms of paddle manipulations
required to generate a particular character, but mode B may allow the paddles
to be released a tiny bit earlier than mode A would.
I personally hate mode B, the mode that resulted from a logic flaw in an early electronic
keyer that became advertised, a la Microsoft, as a "feature." But, which ever
mode one learns, the other will be hated.
I'd recommend learning mode B over mode A, because some ham rig manufacturers
(such as Yaesu) have been arrogant enough to include keyers in some of their
rigs that function only in mode B. It's also obvious that, in some ham
Morse-guru circles, some seem to consider the use of mode B as a sign of
superiority.
73,
Mike / KK5F
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