CW Bug FIST practice tips

Revisiting a couple of simple practice tips to help your Vibroplex Bug FIST sound like a paddle and keyer

[aidd]

Excellent, I love my bug and I've gotten compliments on my timing. I think having a musical background helped me with timing. I do have to practice between my bug and my electronic keyer.

[daviddenniston]

Really cool idea for a video. I had to close my eyes to listen closely to the s characters in Paris when you were on the bug. To my ears, it was harder to hear the dits on the bug - at least in the s character. The dots can be very close together. Anyway, the opportunity to do a side by side comparison was very valuable. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this.

[ManfMeans]

Thank you for showing me the difference between a bug, iambic and straight key. I really need to see what will work best for me.

[leegroce]

Very good video! It sounds to me that you have your bug spacing very close to your paddles. Keep up the good work!

[jerryf]

What I have found is the #1 mistake people make when sending code is that they don't have the characters going fast enough and try to drag then at the same speed as their spacing... it's a mental timing thing ... send the characters fast and let the spacing do the work... it will come out clean everytime.. even if working someone at a slower speed, say 15wpm, still send the character's at 20wpm and just change your spacing.... this will help the slower operator and stop him from "character counting" and once he stops that, he'll just listen to the spacing

For instance, once someone learned the sound of the characters of each letter together, you can basically send them quite fast and he will comprehend them just fine. Sometimes at speeds of up to 25wpm or even more.. But if you were to send these at 15wpm, his mind doesn't have the time to compute the spacing that's also at 15wpm...

this correlates with what's in this video.. the guy sending doesn't change the weight on the bug... he just changes the spacing... if he were to change the weight it would all seem to drag together and be harder for a slower operator to comprehend...

And one big mistake Bug operators do in the setup is to drag the Dahs out too far... Something seasoned operators can live with but newbies really struggle with. .

[gsansoucie]

OK, just got my first bug today. I was using my HST to figure out what speed I was configured for on the Vibroplex. It’s going to take me a while to get used to the bug. I can’t just hold the dah side for repeats :-)

[gravestonemyth]

I find that my bug sending is cleaner when I wear headphones. Or maybe I’m just hearing it cleaner due to the noise canceling effect of the phones. That clatter can be a distraction!

[paulinmt]

FB exercise OC. I use the same technique. It's like having a teacher with you. You don't want to be developing a Vibroplex swing, HI. Always nice to see your vid posts. TNX AGN ES VY 73 DE N6MGN

[QRPCW]

Fantástico, como siempre un vídeo motivador
73

[therealwolfspidertoo]

Although I'm right handed I prefer the paddle to be reversed.

[morethanmph]

Nice sounding bug - not that daaaah that makes it hard to read