CW Keyboards

[Julius Fazekas n2wn]

For those who need or want a CW Keyboard, I would recommend K1EL. www.k1el.com

I've built three of his kits, and you can get the USB kit built. They work well.

The only caveat I would have is setting up the drivers for the WKUSB. Some of us have had a lil' trouble, depending on one's OS. Follow the instructions EXACTLY ;o)

CW keyboards are great, particularly in situations where you're very tired and prone to less than perfect sending by other methods... straight key in my case.

Just a happy customer and no financial interest.

73,
Julius

Julius Fazekas
N2WN

Tennessee Contest Group
TnQP http://www.tnqp.org/

Elecraft K2/100 #4455
Elecraft K3/100 #366
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[Doug Faunt N6TQS [phone]]

   Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2009 04:58:06 -0800 (PST)
   From: Julius Fazekas <[hidden email]>

   For those who need or want a CW Keyboard, I would recommend
   K1EL. www.k1el.com

   CW keyboards are great, particularly in situations where you're
   very tired and prone to less than perfect sending by other
   methods... straight key in my case.

And if you want to run RTTY without a computer, but with a keyboard,
his K40 keyer (out of stock right now) will act as an keyboard to FSK
adapter.  I've done it with my old IC-756Pro, as a fun thing to do,
once.

OTOH, I'm sure somewhere there's microprocessor code for a CW keyboard
that could be modified to produce paddle outputs i.e. a closure for dit,
and a different one for dah.
When plugged into the paddle input on the K3, that would give you
no-computer keyboard operation for CW, RTTY and PSK, using the
built-in text decode for reception, if you can't copy all those modes
by ear 8-}.

I've built a bunch of WKUSB's for N8S and for my YU friends, too.

73, doug
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[Julian, G4ILO]

Doug Faunt N6TQS [phone] wrote

OTOH, I'm sure somewhere there's microprocessor code for a CW keyboard
that could be modified to produce paddle outputs i.e. a closure for dit,
and a different one for dah.
When plugged into the paddle input on the K3, that would give you
no-computer keyboard operation for CW, RTTY and PSK, using the
built-in text decode for reception, if you can't copy all those modes
by ear.

If you were going to do that, you could make it connect to the serial port and use KY commands to send the text. You could also use the TT command to get the decoded text and display it on a bigger LCD display.

I got a PIC development kit a while ago and it has a serial interface and also a USB one for a keyboard. So it definitely seems possible. However my brain can't cope with programming these days, so I'll wait for someone else to design one!

[Gary NL7Y]

One thought I had when I ordered my K3 was whether or not a direct keyboard/rig interface would ever be available, similar to what Icom has recently offered via USB port with their IC-7600/7700. Arthritis is taking the fun out of paddles for me. Down to a single slapper now.

Elecraft responded that it was an early thought, but not a current priority. Maybe someday. Or maybe it's just too difficult to implement.

73 Gary NL7Y