Larry,
How are you interfacing the computer with the radio?
Lots of new computers have no RS-232 ports or
parallel ports. A high-end HP laptop I bought this
August has only USB ports. I tried connecting a
USB to RS-232 or parallel adapter to the suggested circuit
for keying the K2. In my case, and from what I've
read many others have found, this doesn't work. It comes
down to USB timing issues.
The microHAM units work by virtue of the computer
sending not CW out the USB port, but other information
to cause this keyer to generate the code as an
outboard device. It's similar to the concept of your soundcard
operating independently of the CPU in your computer. The
computer just tells a sound card what task to address, but now matter
how busy the CPU in the computer gets, the sound card
still plays your PSK signal, music CD, or whatever without burping.
The micoHAM has it's own CPU and clock.
I found that even with my old computer (a 1.9 GHZ P4) with RS-232 ports that
the CW generated was not as precise as what I could do
with either the keyer in the K2 or a LogiKit CMOS-4. If
the CPU in your computer decides in the middle of
sending text that it needs to do some other housekeeping
chore, the weighting will change or the spacing between characters
or words will change. The same thing is true to a lesser extent with the
CPU in the K2. The K1EL chip in the microHAM keyer is the
brains (and timing!) behind this keyer's success. Your logging
program must support the K1EL protocol, and from what I
read, most programs do. I'm not sure about CT yet.
And no, I'm not affiliated with microHAM. I'm just a CW operator.
Andy W9NJY
K2 2651
Message: 6
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2005 12:02:01 -0400
From: Larry Phipps <
[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Re: micro Ham CW Keyer
Cc:
[hidden email]
Message-ID: <
[hidden email]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
If you are using it just for cw keying, the K2 has a built-in keyer that
works similarly, and it can be controlled from a number of programs like
TRX-Manager.
Larry N8LP
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