I may be proven wrong someday, but I believe that 'problem' is caused by contact bounce at the key (or bug). Cleaning the contacts may not be sufficient, and it will vary from keying device to keying device depending on the type and condition of the surfaces at the contact area.
I cling to my contact bounce theory because it rarely occurs if the diodes are connected to a computer output. I have heard that a tiny drop of NoOxIt or similar product on the contacts helps, but I have not tried it myself. One idea (although it makes things more complicated) is to key a mercury wetted reed relay (if you can find one) with the bug and drive the diodes with the relay contacts. The mercury wetted contacts do not bounce (well, they could but it is greatly reduced). The other thing that works is to use an external keyer (I use the K1EL K12 keyer) which has a separate input wired for the hand key. 73, Don W3FPR > -----Original Message----- > I hooked up an old bug to my keyer paddle. > > I used a couple of junkbox diodes and made sure that they matched as > far as forward voltage. [.542 and .541 on my radio shack meters diode > check mode.] I have also tried a 0.01 cap across the bug. > > Even in test mode (so it isn't RF in the shack that is causing the > problem) when I send a string of dots with the bug, the IAMBIC > mode(which I do NOT use with my paddle) kicks in and instead of a string > of dots, I get alternating dots and dashes. > > I HAVE cleaned the contacts on the bug!!!! > > It seems to happen more when the dot weight is correct(or light). If I > make the > dots 'heavy', it doesn't seem to happen as often. > > USUALLY, the first few dots are ok, but occasionally it starts dashing > me early in the string. > > Suggestions? > -- > -bz- "it is a beautiful day to be alive, isn't it?" [every day] > -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.16.4/615 - Release Date: 1/3/2007 1:34 PM _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
