[WT-support] Question about CW weight

Bob Wilson, N6TV n6tv at arrl.net
Fri Dec 12 11:01:09 CET 2008


On Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 1:03 AM, Tom W8JI <w8ji at w8ji.com> wrote:

>
> Doesn't win-test have a weight control, or does it only have a ratio
> control that is mislabeled as weight??
>

Unfortunately it only has a dash/dot ratio control (shortcut = WEIGHT),
default = 3.0, range is 2.0 to 4.0.  I agree it is not very useful compared
to a true weighting control that would increase each dot or dash by a fixed
percentage.

Just so I understand your example, "10% weighting" would make a dot 1.1
bauds long, and a dash 3.3 bauds long, but the space between each dot or
dash would still be 1.0 bauds long?  Or are you saying 10% weight would
simply shorten the time between all dots and dashes to 0.9 bauds, making a
letter space 2.7 bauds, and a "CT word space" 5.4 bauds?

In normal QRQ contesting (35-40 WPM), I've found keying compensation more
valuable than a "10% weight" type control.  It seems many rigs shorten a dot
or dash by a fixed amount, regardless of keying speed.

But at slower (160m?) contesting speeds (20-30 WPM), adding weight could
certainly be helpful.

I think you're going to seriously have to consider the purchase of a WinKey
USB device to get exactly what you want, as the developers are focused on
other areas of the code right now.  LPT/SERIAL CW enhancements don't seem to
be high on the priority list, since these legacy ports are disappearing from
all the newer PCs.

Sometimes it's easier to throw hardware at a problem than to risk changing
the code and breaking something else. That's one of the reasons they decided
not to risk adding paddle input via LPT to Win-Test even though many (?)
requested it.

73,
Bob, N6TV
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