Daniel Jackson

yeah the gateway thing is totally normal, closest isnt always best especially on HF. propagation is everything and a gateway thats 300 miles away might just be hitting a better path to you than the one 80 miles out. Winlink Express does have that auto-connect feature where it'll try a few in the list if the first one fails, worth enabling that if you havent already. i usually just let it scan through 4 or 5 and it finds something workable most of the time. on the email reply issue — your winlink address should be [email protected] and replies to that from regular email do work but theres sometimes a delay and occasionally they get filtered depending on the sending mail server. did the bounce message give you any detail? if it was a hard bounce thats different than a soft one. also double check theres no space or weird character in the address because ive seen that trip people up more than once. the system itself isnt that fragile once its set up right.

Just got my General and want to dive into CW but I'm completely overwhelmed by all the conflicting advice online. I keep reading about Koch method and Farnsworth method - which one should I actually use? Some people swear by one, others say the opposite. I'm interested in mastering this historical skill but don't want to waste time with the wrong approach. What's worked for you experienced ops? Any specific software recommendations? I have an Android phone and Windows PC available.

the gap thing is super important and honestly most people set it too wide when they're starting out. for the BY-1 you want just barely enough space that the paddle doesnt make contact when you're not touching it — like a business card thickness or maybe a hair less on the dit side. too wide and you have to push farther to close the contact and that creates exactly the mushy uneven sending you're describing because your hand has to travel too far. also 18 wpm might actually be part of it. theres kind of an awkward zone where you're going fast enough that your brain cant fully keep up but slow enough that you're consciously thinking about each letter instead of just flowing. some people find it helps to either slow way down to like 12-13 and really clean up the muscle memory, or bump up and let your hands just do what they know. sounds counterintuitive to go faster but it works for some folks. the weight adjustment in the Winkeyer is worth playing with too, adding a tiny bit of weight to the dits can help them feel more solid.