K1EL K45 CW Modem Manual K45
K-45 User’s Manual - Rev A.0
6/6/2021
Page 16
After the initial exchange, The K45 will respond to
BK
if you don’t care to enter a full exchange on every go
‘round. To end a QSO early respond with either
73
or
QRT
and that will speed things along;
TIME TO QRT
or
WILL SAY 73
works nicely. The session can be paused with the
INSERT
key or aborted by the
ESC
key.
To review a session, press
INSERT
to pause and then use the
PGUP
and
PGDN
keys to scroll around the
text. When the
INSERT
key is pressed a second time, the K45 will resume where the session left off.
Depending on the timing of the pause, the K45 may ignore the last exchange.
The AI used in QSO Practice is very basic, it responds to certain key words in an exchange and will
generate a semi-interesting QSO. It is not able to understand detailed questions. Remember its purpose is
to help build speed and skills and is not a substitute for a real online QSO.
Between QSOs, the K45 mixes things up by randomly changing sending characteristics, speed, and even
sidetone pitch.
Contest QSO Practice
Contest mode is selected in the QSO Practice Setup menu. It is essentially a simplified contest drill. The
user will run a spot and respond to calling stations. The user’s response is monitored by the K45 which is
very unforgiving and expects the exact format be followed with exact spacing. Any errors will stop the drill.
When Contest is started, the K45 will set up and then print
GO!
on the status line. The user starts things off
by sending an initial call. Here’s an example response to GO!:
User sends:
TEST K1EL
which will be answered:
W4RTY
User responds:
W4RTY 5NN NH
the calling station answers:
5NN GA
User responds:
TU K1EL
a new station responds:
K3NB
User responds:
K3NB 5NN NH
the new station answers:
5NN MO
User responds:
TU K1EL
a new station responds:
WA5DDC
This continues until the user makes a mistake, the session is paused, or the session is cancelled.
GO! QSO COUNT:27
TEST K1EL
W4RTY
W4RTY
5NN NH
5NN GA
TU K1EL
K3NB
K3NB 5NN NH
5NN MO
Figure 10 – QSO Contest Drill Display
A QSO counter on the status line will increment on every complete exchange. If the user enters a call wrong,
doesn’t use proper spacing, or misses an entry the drill will stop. STOP will be then displayed on the status
line. If the user hits ENTER, the QSO count will be reset and a new drill will start.
Remember that this is a simple drill to practice accurate and well formed replies in a contest like situation.
Many skills can be improved by using this mode of practice. If it starts to get boring, crank the speed up.
When you reach 20 WPM, you are ready for real contest conditions.
RTTY Transmit Operation
The K45 provides a very stable and accurate RTTY FSK output which is easier to manage than AFSK
interfacing since it directly drives a transceiver’s FSK input. When RTTY is first enabled, transmitter FSK
output is assigned to the ring of the output jack while transmitter key output is assigned to the tip. There are
many options available for tailoring RTTY transmit for a particular radio. These will be described below.
Before going any further, please note that the K45 is not capable of receiving and decoding RTTY live off air,
it is strictly a transmit only device. An alternate means of decoding RTTY Rx must be supplied by the user.
Several transceivers, currently available, decode and display Rx RTTY but do not have an easy way to
transmit RTTY, the K45 would be a good match for these.
