CW keying circuit

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CW keying circuit

Carter W. Craigie
I want to be able to do computer-generated CW on my K2, using software such as
DX4WIN and WriteLog. The circuit that works on my wife's Yaesu FT1000 MP Mark V
does not work on her Yaesu FT920, which makes me think it isn't going to work on
the K2, either, because both require a stereo plug. The circuit for the Mark V
addresses a mono plug.

Can someone send me, or point me to, a CW keying circuit for a COMM port that
will work with the K2?

I do not want to use a sound-card approach, such as the RigBlaster.
73,
Carter
--
Carter Craigie N3AO
K2/100 s/n 678
K1 s/n 159
KX1 s/n 119
--
 



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Re: CW keying circuit

Dan Romanchik KB6NU
Some time ago, I built the opto-isolator circuit found on http://
www.qsl.net/k0bx/cwkeying.htm. Since it uses an opto-isolator, it  
should not only work with the K2, but isolate the rig from the  
computer as wel.

73!

Dan KB6NU
----------------------------------------------------------
CW Geek and MI Affiliated Club Coordinator
Read my ham radio blog at www.kb6nu.com
LET'S GET MORE KIDS INTO HAM RADIO!


On Oct 26, 2006, at 10:50 AM, Carter W. Craigie wrote:

> I want to be able to do computer-generated CW on my K2, using  
> software such as
> DX4WIN and WriteLog. The circuit that works on my wife's Yaesu  
> FT1000 MP Mark V
> does not work on her Yaesu FT920, which makes me think it isn't  
> going to work on
> the K2, either, because both require a stereo plug. The circuit for  
> the Mark V
> addresses a mono plug.
>
> Can someone send me, or point me to, a CW keying circuit for a COMM  
> port that
> will work with the K2?
>
> I do not want to use a sound-card approach, such as the RigBlaster.
> 73,
> Carter
> --
> Carter Craigie N3AO
> K2/100 s/n 678
> K1 s/n 159
> KX1 s/n 119
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Re: CW keying circuit

N8LP
In reply to this post by Carter W. Craigie
If you happen to use a program that supports the internal keyer in the
K2, like TRX-Manager, you will get better keying. It eliminates CPU
timing issues.

Larry N8LP



Carter W. Craigie wrote:

> I want to be able to do computer-generated CW on my K2, using software such as
> DX4WIN and WriteLog. The circuit that works on my wife's Yaesu FT1000 MP Mark V
> does not work on her Yaesu FT920, which makes me think it isn't going to work on
> the K2, either, because both require a stereo plug. The circuit for the Mark V
> addresses a mono plug.
>
> Can someone send me, or point me to, a CW keying circuit for a COMM port that
> will work with the K2?
>
> I do not want to use a sound-card approach, such as the RigBlaster.
> 73,
> Carter
> --
> Carter Craigie N3AO
> K2/100 s/n 678
> K1 s/n 159
> KX1 s/n 119
> --
>  
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Post to: [hidden email]
> You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
> Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
>  http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft   
>
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
>
>
>
>  
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Re: CW keying circuit

Tom Hammond-3
In reply to this post by Carter W. Craigie
Hi Carter:

>I want to be able to do computer-generated CW on my K2, using software such as
>DX4WIN and WriteLog. The circuit that works on my wife's Yaesu
>FT1000 MP Mark V does not work on her Yaesu FT920, which makes me
>think it isn't going to work on the K2, either, because both require
>a stereo plug. The circuit for the Mark V addresses a mono plug.
>
>Can someone send me, or point me to, a CW keying circuit for a COMM port that
>will work with the K2?
>
>I do not want to use a sound-card approach, such as the RigBlaster.

Consider:  http://www.n0ss.net/lpt_keying_adapter.pdf

PC boards are $6 ppd to your mailbox.

I've used this with ALL of my rigs, including several K2s, for the
past 15 years with no problems.

73,

Tom   N0SS

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Re: CW keying circuit

Mark J. Schreiner
In reply to this post by Carter W. Craigie
Carter W. Craigie wrote:
> Can someone send me, or point me to, a CW keying circuit for a COMM port that
> will work with the K2?
>  


Hi Carter,

I went with the simple Serial Port circuit shown at the following website:

taggart.glg.msu.edu/wb8dqt/cwpage.htm

Actually, I may have gotten it from some other website, but without
opening the DB9 shell and inspecting, I'm pretty sure that was the
equivalent circuit.  It was easily found by doing a Google search (like
everything in life).  The circuit is built right inside of the DB9
connector shell and can go to a mono plug directly into the back of the
K2.  No external voltage is required.  I've used it connected directly
to the back of a PC (desktop and laptop) as well as using it with a USB
to Serial converter dongle.  I think the keying is not quite perfect,
though.  I have used this with the KA3JWE PA QSO Party logging program
as well as generally using it with the N1MM Contest Logging software.  I
set the K2 for hand key operation (MENU:  InP:  HAnd), otherwise you get
really interesting (bad) results.

I actually use a stereo plug but only connect the tip and shield and do
not connect the ring.  Also, to keep the Bencher paddles handy for when
I want to send something manually rather than using the memories in the
logging program (or K2 memories) or the keyboard (Alt-K for keyboard
operation on the KA3JWE software, I think it is CTRL-K with N1MM), I
have the paddles going into an old MFJ memory keyer which I can easily
set the speed as needed and the output of that goes into a Y-adapter
cable.  So, actually, I have the CW Serial interface cable and the
output of the MFJ keyer going into the two Y-cable inputs and the single
end going into the back of the K2 key input.  This works well for me.

I mentioned that the Serial keying isn't perfect.  It has been mentioned
that this has to do with timing issues, even on very fast compukers.  I
didn't notice any extra degradation using the USB to Serial interface
and figured it would be "less work" to use it on CW keying than for rig
communication, which I don't remember if I've tried yet.  This is handy
for use with laptop compukers that only have one serial port but
generally have at least one USB port (or you can get more ports with
additional PCMCIA card or a USB Hub).

I think I will build a Parallel port CW keying interface as well, which
can be found on the web by doing a Google search.  As I understand the
timing is a bit better on the P-Port than the S-Port.  The only reason I
haven't done so yet is that the KA3JWE software didn't support the
P-Port for keying (as I recall), however I'm likely to not be using
KA3JWE software next year and following.  I just checked and found that
the N1MM Logger does support LPT 1 - 3, so I'll definitely throw a
circuit together to try that as well before the next contest.

Anyone have success using USB-Serial adapter cable (with the correct
cable as built with the KIO2, I guess a pseudo-serial cable for lack of
a better name) for communications between the K2 & computer for getting
frequency and mode info?  This may have been a recent post thread, so
please, I didn't mean to open a can of worms by asking this, just a
simple question.  I am currently using the Belkin adapter (P/N P43293-B
or F5U409-CU which is by the barcode on the original package).  
Actually, this reminds me of another issue altogether that I'm going to
do in a separate post.

73,

Mark, NK8Q
K2 #4786

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Re: CW keying circuit

k7nhb
In reply to this post by Carter W. Craigie
Carter,
What do you think of this - one transistor couple of diodes and
resistors which all fit in the computer serial port plug. So I plug
the serial port plug into the computer Com port and the other end is
a straight key (non-stereo) phone plug. Actually that's not
technically true. The Argo V requires a stereo plug  but you just use
the shaft and tip, leaving the ring connection empty. You can wire
the rig end as required.

Here is the Link: http://www.qsl.net/wm2u/cw.html
Scroll about half way down and you'll see the circuit. I've seen some
that use even less parts - one transistor, a diode and resistor. But
this one works for me. I used the larger side serial plug housing
(for 9 pin) available at Radio shack and everything fit inside.
There is a Ham who also makes these switch "commercially" in that he
charges about $30.00 each. His are finished a little nicer and have a
phone jack at the plug. So you plug a wire into it and into your rig.
If you are interested I can look up his link. But you can do this
yourself in about 15 minutes and a few dollars in parts.

Good luck and 73,
Paul
PS: The companion program, CWGET, which translates audio cw into text
- and is not free - is also pretty good. I haven't surveyed them all
but it was the best of 3 or 4 I've seen.

Note that as a bonus, the CWType program is free.
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Re: CW keying circuit

Don Nesbitt
In reply to this post by Carter W. Craigie
I use a simple single transistor keyer in conjunction with the "Auto-Detect"
feature as described in the K2 manual to use both the computer and keyer
paddle with N1MM.  It runs directly off a "native" serial port on an old IBM
laptop as well as off a USB to Serial Converter Cable used on a "new"
laptop.  It works fine on either.

The simple single transistor keyer is described in the Help section of the
N1MM program as well as other places.  To see a photo of how all this is
cabled together you might want to look at my Elecraft photo album at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/n4hh
Play the Slideshow for larger photos.   73 -- Don N4HH

<SNIP>
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carter W. Craigie" <[hidden email]>


I want to be able to do computer-generated CW on my K2, using software such
as

Can someone send me, or point me to, a CW keying circuit for a COMM port
that
will work with the K2?

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