You can use an external interface between a serial port's modem control signals -- either RTS (request to send) or DTR (data terminal ready); this external interface must be designed to key your transceiver when presented with an asserted RS-232 modem control signal (nominally +12 VDC), and unkey your transceiver when presented with an un-asserted RS-232 modem control signal (nominally -12 VDC). Alternatively, you can use an appropriately-designed external interface between a specified parallel port data bit and your transceiver; a PC parallel port uses TTL output levels. Configure WinWarbler to key your transceiver via the appropriate signal and port using the settings on the CW keying panel.

If your transceiver operates QSK, then a keying interface as described above will be sufficient. If your transceiver (or linear amplifier) does not support QSK, you can configure WinWarbler to place assert PTT (which places your transceiver into transmit mode) before sending CW and not de-assert PTT (which places your transceiver into receive mode) until after CW transmission is complete. If you wish to do this, use the PTT panel settings on the CW tab of WinWarbler's Configuration window; you can also enable or disable PTT during CW via the PTT checkbox on the Main window's CW Transmit panel. The means by which PTT is conveyed to your transceiver are common to all WinWarbler modes, and are specified on the Configuration window's PTT tab.

If you configure the PTT tab's mode panel to assert PTT via the PTT serial port -- either via RTS, DTR, or RTS + DTR in combination -- then you can optionally key your transceiver through the PTT port modem control signal that is not being used for PTT, thereby saving the need for a second serial port. For example, if you set the PTT mode panel to specify that the PTT port's DTR signal conveys PTT, then you can set the CW keying panel to key your transceiver via the PTT port's RTS signal;  if you specify that the PTT port's RTS signal conveys PTT, then you can set the CW keying panel to key your transceiver via the PTT port's DTR signal. 

If you set the PTT mode to RTS + DTR, as is required for soundcard RTTY operation, and you specify that CW keying be accomplished using the PTT port RTS signal, then during CW operation WinWarbler will use the PTT port's DTR signal for PTT; conversely,  if you set the PTT mode to RTS + DTR and you specify that CW keying be accomplished using PTT port's DTR signal, then during CW operation WinWarbler will use the PTT port's RTS signal for PTT.

With the CW Keying panel set to serial port RTS, serial port DTR, PTT port RTS, PTT port DTR, or parallel port, WinWarbler generates the timing of the signals used to key your transceiver, and (optionally) switch it between transmitting and receiving via a PTT signal. The generated CW's  timing will be more stable if you use the Windows Control Panel to set your computer's Power Plan to High Performance.

If you have a WinKey or an external modem capable of CW generation, such as a Kantronics KAM or Timewave PK232, you can set the CW Keying panel to WinKey or  external modem respectively. In these configurations, characters to be transmitted are conveyed to the keyer or external modem, which generates both the keying and PTT signals for your transceiver. External modems are typically capable of decoding as well as generating CW; to view decoded characters, check the display xmt/rcv characters box.

If you have configured WinWarbler to generate CW via a WinKey keyer but your WinKey is not responding - perhaps because it is powered down - the CW button caption in the Main window's Mode panel will be rendered in red; if your WinKey is responding properly, this button's caption will be rendered in black font.

If you're using a parallel port to transmit CW,

• select the parallel port to be used

• select the parallel port signal to be used

If you're using an external modem to transmit and/or receive CW,

• select the external modem model

• configure the external modem's serial port

• set the CW keying panel to external modem

• check the display xmt/rcv characters box

• a cmd checkbox will appear in the CW Transmit panel

Checking the CW transmit panel's cmd box will cause keystrokes in the Transmit Pane to be immediately sent to the modem even if transmission has not been initiated; this enables the transmission of keystrokes that place the modem into "command mode" and convey commands. Unchecking the cmd box will cause keystrokes in the Transmit Pane to accumulate until transmission is initiated.

If Commander is controlling a transceiver capable of CW transmission via CAT commands, the CW keying panel's Xcvr Ctrl App option will be enabled for you to select.

Operating in CW

To transmit in CW,

• set the CW transmit panel's WPM (words per minute) setting to the desired speed; you can also use a WinKey's speed control.

• start transmission by clicking the Main window's transmit panel's Start button (or striking the F2 or Insert keys)

• enter characters you wish to transmit into the Transmit Pane; you can transmit upper-case characters, numbers, punctuation, and pro-signs

• click the transmit panel's Stop button (or strike F4 or Ctrl-Enter) to indicate that transmission should stop after all characters have been transmitted; you can do this as soon as transmission has begun

You can immediately terminate a CW transmission by clicking the Abort button (or striking the Esc or End key) - unless the CW keying panel is set to Xcvr Ctrl SW. In the latter case, a CW transmission initiated by WinWarbler can be immediately terminated by tapping the dot or dash paddle of a CW key connected to the transceiver. 

Clicking the right mouse button on the transmit display pane produces a pop-up menu with two commands:

• Paste (insert Clipboard into Transmit Pane) inserts the contents of the Windows clipboard into the Transmit Pane

• Transmit file presents a Windows file selector with which to choose a file to be transmitted, starts transmission, and then transmits the contents of the selected file click the Abort button to terminate this operation before it is complete.

Striking Ctrl-V in the Transmit Pane also initiates the Paste (insert Clipboard into Transmit Pane) operation.

If you check the CW transmit panel's Tune box with the CW Keying panel set to anything but external modem or Xcvr Ctrl App,  then clicking the Start button will immediately key your transceiver until you click the Stop or Abort buttons.

To see characters as they are transmitted, check the display xmt/rcv characters box.

You can adjust CW transmission speed by depressing the ALT key while striking the keyboard arrow OR page up/down keys, as well as by clicking on the Transmit panel's WPM controls:

If you have configured WinWarbler to generate CW via an external modem, WinWarbler will set the modem to transmit at the specified CW transmission speed rounded to the nearest multiple of 5 WPM.

If you have configured WinWarbler to generate CW via WinKey keyer,

• You can adjust the CW transmission speed using your WinKey's  potentiometer by checking the WinKey Speed box in the Main window's CW transmit panel. You can specify the range in words per minute covered by this potentiometer, its connection scheme (standard 3-wire, or optional 2-wire), and a Farnsworth rate. Adjusting the CW transmission speed by clicking on the CW transmit panel's WPM controls or by striking the keyboard arrow keys will uncheck the WinKey Speed box, causing subsequent changes to WinKey's  potentiometer to have no effect on CW transmission speed until the WinKey Speed box is again checked.  If no potentiometer is connected to your WinKey keyer, uncheck the WinKey Speed box; otherwise, transmission speed will be held to zero words per minute.
  
• If you plan to use paddles, set the PTT lead time and PTT lag time settings to ensure smooth operation.
  
• If you're using paddles, tapping them while WinWarbler is transmitting text will abort that transmitting, including a <repeat> macro that is in progress.

Most of the substitution commands available for inclusion in macros can be used when operating with CW. A <cwspeed> macro makes it possible to set or adjust CW transmission speed from within a macro.

All of WinWarbler's logging facilities can be used with CW, including automatic interoperation with DXKeeper if its running.

Transceiver Control

WinWarbler automatically interoperates with Commander, an transceiver control program for Alinco, Elecraft, Flexradio, Icom, Kachina, Kenwood, TenTec, and Yaesu radios. If WinWarbler and Commander are running simultaneously, WinWarbler's Xcvr Freq panel will automatically track your transceiver's RX (receive) and TX (transmit) frequencies as you QSY; it does not matter in what order the two programs are started. 

• If you modify the contents of the Xcvr Freq panel's TX frequency selector and then strike the return key, WinWarbler will direct Commander to QSY your transceiver to the specified frequency

• If you open the Xcvr Freq panel's TX frequency selector, you can choose a preset frequency; doing so places the transceiver in simplex mode (as opposed to split frequency operation), selects its primary VFO, and sets that VFO to the preset frequency
  

Additional CW options

Some transceivers let the user operate CW on either the upper or lower sideband. If you are running Commander, you can specify that your transceiver be placed in either CW or CW-R mode when WinWarbler's Mode panel is set to CW via the Xcvr mode setting.

If your transceiver's frequency readout does display the actual transmitted frequency and your are running Commander, the CW offset setting can be used to display the correct frequency in the Main window's CW Receive panel, ensuring that an accurate frequency will be logged with the QSO.

After you initiate CW transmission by clicking the Transmit panel's Start button, WinWarbler will transmit the Morse code for each character as you enter it into the transmit pane; this is referred to as character mode. Alternatively, you can select word mode, in which WinWarbler waits to transmit a word until you strike a Space, Enter, Period, Comma, Exclamation, Semicolon, Colon, QuestionMark, Minus, Plus, Slash, Ampersand, LeftSquareBracket, RightSquareBracket, Equal, Asterisk, or Accent key; these keys are collectively referred to as trigger keys.

If you prefer to have CW transmission start as soon as you enter a character in the transmit pane, check the auto start box; this eliminates the need to first click the Start button in the Main window's Transmit Panel, or strike the F2 or ESC keys.

If you prefer to have CW transmission stop when there are no more characters to transmit, check the auto stop box; this eliminates the need to click the Stop button in the Main window's Transmit Panel, or strike the F4 key. If you have selected both word mode and auto stop, CW transmission will not stop if a partial word is waiting to be transmitted; you must enter one of the trigger keys to begin transmission of the waiting characters, after which CW transmission will automatically stop.

By default, WinWarbler uses the standard weighting for CW element types, as suggested by the ARRL Handbook:

If you wish, you can adjust the weighting of transmitted CW using the weight panel settings; note that WinWarbler will maintain the specified transmission speed as you make these changes. If you have configured WinWarbler to generate CW via WinKey keyer, inserting the vertical bar character | will transmit insert a one-half dit-time delay.