Here is the latest addition to my shack. A Kent Paddle key, which will connect to the keyer mentioned in my earlier blog entry. For someone like me who a) Is re-learning CW and b) Has only ever used a straight key in the past learning to use the paddle is quite a challenge, but it is fun. So far I have not ventured on the air with CW, and I wont do so for a while yet, not until I feel relaxed with the mode. In the meantime I will practice off air with the paddle.
A local amateur has recently purchased a Flex Radio transceiver. This is one of the new generation of transceivers that is controlled entirely by the PC. I had a quick test QSO with him on 10 metres this evening and it sounded very nice indeed. He tells me that the receive side is excellent, pulling out signals that he can barely hear on his more traditional HF rigs. I hope to get over to his place and take a look at the rig sometime this week and hopefully find out a bit more about it. However personally I would not want to have to use a PC to control all of a rigs functions, sometimes it is nice to switch the computer off! It may be though that this is the way of the future, who knows?
