Keyer recommendations

[Jesse Lawrence]

Hello gang,

I am looking to get myself an external keyer. What are other CFO members using for standalone keyers? I'm not really looking for a contest keyer, so something older that doesn't have all the bells and whistles would fit the bill. Any advice will be most appreciated.

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73,

Jesse, VE1EM

CFO #1075, CWOps #3522

RAC, HARC

[S. Steltzer]

The K3NG keyers built on an Arduino board are excellent. If you're not a builder you can buy them here : https://elekitsorparts.com/product/funtronics-k3ng-keyer-fk-10-99-winkey-emulation/

Or any of the Winkey versions with buttons so you have a couple memories. 

[Mike Cizek W0VTT]

Hello Jesse,

 

My favorite is the old Logikeyer from Idiom Press, originally marketed by W9KNI (CFO #1043) through his Bencher company.  This keyer has one important (to me) feature that helps for higher speeds when using an iambic paddle.  It gives you a bit more time to release the “squeeze” before looking for the next key closure.  DJ5IL explains it way better in this comprehensive article about keyers: http://cq-cq.eu/DJ5IL_rt007.pdf

 

These keyers show up used all the time ( https://swap.qth.com/ is a good resource) and new ones are still available from Ham Supply. 

https://www.hamsupply.com/cmos-4-keyer/

 

 

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73,

Mike Cizek WØVTT

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[Andrew Moore]

Idiom Press Logikeyers were great, but I think they're not being made anymore. Much of the newer stuff seems to be closely tied to PC operation such as Windows, and are USB based which I think also introduces latency.

I settled on the Palstar CW50A a couple years ago - pricey yes ($380), but no dependency on a computer operating system. It's dedicated hardware, which relieves the radio or PC of using CPU resources to control timing. Very flexible in terms of connections to solid state, tube type, etc.; supports iambic modes A and B, etc...  and very simple, basic controls. Made in USA. It has a few simple front panel potentiometer controls for things such as keyer speed, pitch, volume. Highly recommended. It may go up to only 40 WPM but at my age I'm okay with sending only up to that speed. It's well made - circuit board, metal enclosure, etc. seem real solid, not junky. The CW50A also provides a straight key input, so you can instantly switch between paddles and a straight key, very convenient, especially for ending a paddle session by signing off with a straight key CFO chicken cluck.   

di di   di      di       di-daaaaaaaaaaaaah

73,

Andrew NV1B

CFO 963

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[Andrew Moore]

I should add - I haven't found a way to interface the CW50A to a keyboard for QRQ. This may be a deal breaker for high speed CW ops.

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[Don Kirk]

If you enjoy kit building you might check out the “Four State QRP Group” website.  They have a couple different Iambic electronic keyer kits available and each can be configured for iambic A or B mode, etc.  All of their kits are very cost effective.

Just FYI,

Don (wd8dsb) CFO #15

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