Re: Still Kicking after 40 Years ...
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Hi Mat,
OK, thx for the update.? If you had any problems with the character truncation you would have known that right away... I did figure that out the hard way.? My first QSO with the FT-980 was ZL2AIM who replied to me as I4PL and turned his beam to EU HI.? I quickly realized what was going on and switched to MOX.
As far as the Curtis keyer board... you have nothing to regret for not having it.? That IC requires a perfect paddle timing otherwise it immediately cancels the current character and starts a new one.? It is an art to master this keyer, especially if your expectations were set by, say, WB4VVF and later versions that had the "last character memory".?
FYI, I ended up ordering the Pico-keyer kit and built it on my own PCB that mounts inside the radio.? Connects via the same header.? I added a DC switching circuit so when the rig powers up the keyer uses the +9V internal supply line and cuts off the Lithium battery.? The front panel pot wiring required a small surgery though.? I have it all documented.? If you are interested I can upload it all to the server.
73, Wald N4PL
On Tuesday, February 23, 2021, 8:32:45 PM EST, Mat Breton <i.m.n8tw@...> wrote:
I was operating barefoot for the contest, so no QSK. My Henry linear doesn't have QSK capability natively. I've thought about adding it, but it would be expensive and a good-sized project.
I use an external keyer (K1EL). I don't even own the FT-980 curtis keyer pcb. I'm so used to the K1EL that it would be issue to swatch, I think. WIth the K1EL I've never received any feedback on a shortened initial dit, and I haven't noticed any miscopies that would indicate it. I also suspect it might be a curtis interaction with the FT-980. I note that it looks like the board was upgraded for later radios (FT-902, etc), and maybe they fixed this issue. The PCBs are backwards compatibile I believe.
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-Mat Breton, N8TW
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N4PL