HamGadgets MasterKeyer MK-1 User Manual Download Page 4 | Manualshive

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Firmware Version 1.21

2/2/2010

3

Introduction

The MasterKeyer MK-1 is a self-contained, iambic Morse code memory keyer.  The
hardware and operating program was designed with the Amateur Radio operator in mind.
The intuitive controls and large number of features make Morse code operating easier,
faster and more enjoyable.  It uses a highly advanced embedded microcontroller and non-
volatile memory, so all settings are retained with power off.  Firmware can be upgraded
by the user with no special equipment or computer software.

The cabinet measures approximately 6” wide by 4” deep by 1-1/2” tall.  The front panel
provides a speed adjustment knob and a power indicator LED.  The top surface has six
memory and function control buttons, each with three-color LED backlight illumination.

The rear panel includes connections for power, paddle input, straight key input, Morse
keying output, amplifier or PTT keying output, a USB Type B port for connection to a
computer, and a USB host (Type A) port for use with USB storage devices and
keyboards.  There is a volume control for the internal sidetone monitor.

The MasterKeyer MK-1 can be used standalone or connected to your computer through a
USB connection.  While no computer and no special software is required to fully enjoy
the features of the MK-1, the addition of the K1EL Winkeyer emulation feature means
operating with your favorite contest or logging software can be easier and more enjoyable
than ever.

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Summary of Contents for MasterKeyer MK-1

Page 1: ...Firmware Version 1 21 2 2 2010 HamGadgets MasterKeyer MK 1 User Manual ...

Page 2: ...44 Changes Errata and Known Issues 46 Specifications 48 Table 1 Command Mode commands 27 Table 2 Embedded message commands 30 Table 3 Effect of ESC END and Pause keys on messages 36 Table 4 Effect of Num Lock on USB keyboard 37 Table 5 Morse characters from keyboard 40 Table 6 Specifications 48 Table 7 Command Cheat sheet 49 Figure 1 Rear panel 6 Figure 2 Paddle wiring diagram 7 Figure 3 Straight ...

Page 3: ...design and testing of this unit It is my hope that you will find it easy to operate powerful and intuitive If you have suggestions for future improvements or features you would like to see or see done better please do not hesitate to let me know via email or letter I would also like to gratefully acknowledge the work of Steve Elliott K1EL in establishing the Winkeyer computer command interface as ...

Page 4: ...peed adjustment knob and a power indicator LED The top surface has six memory and function control buttons each with three color LED backlight illumination The rear panel includes connections for power paddle input straight key input Morse keying output amplifier or PTT keying output a USB Type B port for connection to a computer and a USB host Type A port for use with USB storage devices and keyb...

Page 5: ...ed to a specific value Set HSCW speed up to 15 000 LPM Set QRSS speed from 1 to 120 seconds per dit Set Farnsworth spacing Send the last word sent from the paddles Call any other message from any bank Merge two characters into a prosign o Messages can be paused to manually insert information from the paddle and will automatically resume o Messages can be stacked to send in sequence o Beacon mode w...

Page 6: ...settings from 1 to 120 seconds per dit QRSS1 QRSS120 Power from any AC or DC source from 9 to 20V Built in self resetting overcurrent protection High quality powder coated metal cabinet with silkscreen printed legends FCC NOTICE NOTE This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules These limits are designed to prov...

Page 7: ...minate Paddle and Optional Straight Key Connections For normal use a paddle is plugged into the 3 5mm stereo jack on the rear panel marked PADDLE Either a single or dual lever paddle may be used The normal method of wiring the paddle is with the dot contact wired to the tip of the stereo plug dash contact to the ring and the common or ground connection wired to the sleeve The dot contact is normal...

Page 8: ... optical isolation of the straight key jack This means that if your rig has a high keying voltage that voltage may be present on parts of the straight key Also the AMP OUT output will not be active when using the straight key Figure 3 Straight key and KEY OUT wiring diagram Radio Connections Two outputs are provided for connection to your station transmitter or transceiver and amplifier The KEY OU...

Page 9: ...will remain on during inter element gaps and for the entire duration of a message played from memory and while the transmitter is active in tune mode The lead time and trail time can be set from command mode If the lead time is set the AMP OUT signal will be active from 1 to 40 milliseconds before the transmitter is keyed If the trail time is set the AMP OUT signal will be active for one to six el...

Page 10: ...ed to your USB equipped computer if you wish This allows the use of text mode for setup and message editing along with support for various contest logging programs If you don t plan to use a computer with your MasterKeyer it is safe to skip this section and proceed directly to the Operating Instructions section Device drivers for Windows and Mac OS X are provided on the documentation and driver CD...

Page 11: ...you may need to install the device drivers present on the CD ROM that came with your MK 1 The newest updated drivers can also be obtained directly from FTDI via their web site http www ftdichip com Drivers VCP htm Determine the COM port number Once the device drivers are installed and the MK 1 connected you will need to determine the COM port number assigned to the MK 1 s interface To do this in W...

Page 12: ...of serial and parallel ports In this example the new port appears as COM8 On your computer it may be a different port number depending on how many other USB to serial converters have been connected and other factors To verify that this is the correct port right click the port and click Properties ...

Page 13: ... button to select an unused lower numbered port For now we can close the windows we have open just click CANCEL and close the other windows Setting up PuTTY Now that we know the COM port number we can set up our terminal program accordingly The free program PuTTY is included on your MK 1 CD it s easy to use and works well There is no special install process the program has a single executable file...

Page 14: ...rsion 1 21 2 2 2010 13 Open the PuTTY program This will be the first screen you see Type the COM port name COM8 in this example Click the Serial radio button Select the Serial category Change Flow control to None ...

Page 15: ... Type a question mark in the terminal window you should see the MasterKeyer command menu You can type a slash and a command here in this example I typed V to see the firmware version Setting up Hyperterminal If you prefer you can use Windows Hyperterminal to communicate with your MK 1 Hyperterminal has some limitations and bugs I recommend using something else but here is how to set it up if you m...

Page 16: ...on Select any icon you like Select the COM port number assigned to your MK 1 Modify the port settings for flow control NONE Since this is a USB connection the bits per second setting does not matter Click the Call icon looks like a telephone You should now be able to communicate with your MK 1 ...

Page 17: ...ch is on It is powered by the internal 5V regulator The SPEED knob This is used to control the Morse code speed while sending from the paddles or memory There are a few operations that will override the speed control knob o Paddle command mode can use the optional User Interface UI speed setting to operate at a constant speed o Sending QRSS or HSCW while playing back a stored message o Operation w...

Page 18: ... panel Figure 7 Rear panel The POWER switch whose operation should be pretty obvious The VOL control which adjusts the volume of the sidetone monitor Normal Operation When power is applied to the keyer and the unit is switched on the front panel LED power indicator will illuminate A brief self test is performed during which the six function memory buttons will very briefly illuminate in various pa...

Page 19: ...sing either Command Mode or by command sent via the computer Note that the Set speed is completely independent of the speed control range For instance let s say you normally operate between 20 and 30 WPM but wish to be able to work newbies or run a slow code practice net at 5 WPM You can change your Set speed to 5 WPM and the speed control range to 20 to 30 WPM Now you can rotate the knob all the ...

Page 20: ... sending a constant carrier or an endless series of dots or dashes In order to prevent this from happening your keyer has a stuck key safety If a dot or dash paddle is closed for more than 127 consecutive dots or dashes the keyer will stop sending disable its KEY OUT and AMP OUT signals and enter a low power mode This will be indicated by button M1 being lit orange Once the paddle is released the ...

Page 21: ...hen you are finished entering the message tap the button to stop recording 3 Send C from the paddle to edit and add to the message The existing message will be played and you will then be able to add to the message You can stop playback at any time by tapping the paddle replacing the remainder of the message with new text You will not be able to insert or delete text in the middle of a message onl...

Page 22: ...To play a stored message using the pushbuttons simply tap the button corresponding to the message you wish to play The button will light up green while the message is being played The color will change to orange whenever the keying output is active If you have the sidetone monitor enabled you will hear the Morse code message playing via the internal speaker Pressing a memory button while a message...

Page 23: ...as part of your call sign you need to enter two slant bars So to send DL N0XAS I would store it as DL N0XAS This is only needed when storing memory messages not during normal operation Tune Mode Tune Mode is a convenient way to key your transmitter for antenna or amp tuneup You can send either a steady carrier or a string of dits 50 duty cycle for as long as you need To enter Tune Mode press butto...

Page 24: ...or example to check the current setting of Farnsworth spacing you send F The keyer responds with F 0 This tells you the current Farnsworth setting is zero or OFF You will notice that the keyer s prompts and responses are sent at a slightly higher pitch than what you send from the paddle this is the keyer s voice and should make it a little easier to keep track of what is happening To change the se...

Page 25: ...For example to set the front panel speed control for a range of 10 to 25 WPM you would send R10 25 If you only wish to change the low range limit simply send the R command with the new low limit R10 The keyer will respond with both settings the same as if you had entered both This method also works for the D and J settings precomp first element and AMP OUT lead tail times To exit command mode simp...

Page 26: ...comp but only added to the first element sent 0 40 F Fnn F nn Farnsworth speed WPM This affects the inter character and word space but not the speed of the transmitted characters If the Farnsworth speed is set higher than the current operating speed it is ignored It is always ignored for QRSS and HSCW modes 5 99 or 0 to disable H Hn H n Hang or auto resume time Messages paused with P will resume a...

Page 27: ...Paddles Only Y N P N N n N n Select message bank to be assigned to the six top panel buttons 1 5 P DIT Select dot paddle paddle reverse Tap the paddle you wish to use for dots NA Q Qnnnn Q nnnn QSO serial number 0 65535 QD QD Q nnnn Decrement QSO number by one NA QI QI Q nnnn Increment QSO number by one NA R Rnn nn R nn nn Speed pot low and high limit values These are the absolute low and high lim...

Page 28: ...Save all settings and memories to FLASH drive Respond with Y to confirm or N to cancel NA XL LOAD Load all settings and memories from FLASH drive Respond with Y to confirm or N to cancel NA Note Additional responses for XS and XL commands include ND No Disk present NF No File exists DF Disk Full and WF Write Failed A WF response may indicate a write protected file or a problem reading the USB driv...

Page 29: ...or use within a memory message like the P command used in the previous example Embedded commands consist of a slant bar and the command During the recording and review process when you are using the memory button to record or review a message before sending it you will hear the command itself and not its effect For example you will hear R instead of a repeated word When the memory message is playe...

Page 30: ...text file Instead of H a special prosign YO can be used Mxx Merge Combine the next two characters xx into one Morse character Useful for sending prosigns P Pause Pause the message to allow manual insertion of information from the paddles or keyboard QI Send Number Increment Sends the current QSO serial number and increment QD Decrement Number Decrements the current QSO serial number without sendin...

Page 31: ... no parameter it will cause the keyer to wait the number of seconds specified by the B parameter setting then repeat from the beginning You may also specify a delay time in seconds from 1 to 600 that will override the B parameter This will continue until the message is terminated using either a paddle or a button press Example CQ CQ CQ DE Y Y Y K B will repeat the message at intervals determined b...

Page 32: ...H setting in the Paddle Command Mode section or if you tap the button again You can also insert text from the USB keyboard if in keyboard mode Message playback will resume when you hit the ENTER key Hitting ESC will cancel the message Information sent during the pause is not stored in the Last Word buffer so will not affect the L command It is a good idea to send the P command immediately followin...

Page 33: ...nd of the memory message MYCALL The Y command will send the contents of the MYCALL setting if there is one If the MYCALL setting is empty this command has no effect Example CQ CQ CQ DE Y Y Y K Memory Calling Chaining A memory message can call any other message When a slant bar followed by a single digit is encountered the corresponding message from the active memory bank is called If the slant bar...

Page 34: ...a while since you did it and you re not sure of the command A quick list of all available commands can be seen by typing a question mark So you type and hit ENTER Type a slash followed by one of these commands A nnn Audio tone freq B nnn Beacon time delay C xx Cut zero nine D nnn Precomp delay E n n Edit message F nn Farnsworth spacing H n Pause hang time J nn nn Amp lead trail K x Key mode L Y N ...

Page 35: ...essage that are not printable ASCII characters they will be represented by a special code explained below To leave the message alone without changes simply hit ENTER If you wish to delete the message completely type a single space character and hit ENTER Otherwise you can type up to 255 characters to be stored in the message slot Remember that the slant bar character is used to denote a command If...

Page 36: ...seven dots or dashes is fine It is only when editing or entering messages from the PC that you will need to worry about numeric codes It is usually much easier to simply combine two existing Morse characters into one using the M command see the Embedded Message Commands section above It may be desirable to send certain words for example your call sign with slightly expanded spacing between the let...

Page 37: ... if you have the sidetone set to Y you will hear the characters being sent The keyboard is buffered meaning you can type up to 127 characters ahead of what is being transmitted The keyboard buttons 3 and 6 will turn orange when you are close to filling the keyboard buffer and will turn red when the buffer is full They will return to the orange and green colors as the buffer is emptied Tapping eith...

Page 38: ...Sends corresponding memory message same as F1 F6 Number keys 7 9 Sends corresponding number in Morse code Sends corresponding number in Morse code Numeric pad Page Up Up arrow Increase speed 1 WPM Increase speed 1 WPM Numeric pad Page Down Down arrow Decrease speed 1 WPM Decrease speed 1 WPM Numeric pad Left arrow Right arrow Reset speed 1 6 will select a bank of messages resets speed Table 4 Effe...

Page 39: ...e HOME or UP ARROW Sets the pointer to zero TAB Plays the message from the current pointer location for review To review the entire message press HOME or up arrow followed by TAB Backspace Deletes the character just before the pointer the last character played Down arrow Sets the pointer to the end of the message At this point you can add to the message until it reaches its maximum length 255 char...

Page 40: ...B keyboard you can send ASCII text to your MK 1 for conversion to Morse code The process for entering and exiting this mode is similar to USB keyboard Morse mode With a computer connected via the USB B port and no USB keyboard connected to the USB A port press and release buttons 3 and 6 The MK 1 will first check to see if a USB keyboard is connected if it is that will be used and the PC interface...

Page 41: ...commonly used prosigns as shown in the table below Keyboard Keys Morse code characters sent Exclamation sign Dollar sign Ampersand AS See note below Open parenthesis Close parenthesis Plus AR Comma Hyphen minus Double dash BT Apostrophe Quotation mark _ Underscore SK Table 5 Morse characters from keyboard NOTE Ampersand from the USB keyboard will transmit as ES From the PC or in a stored message w...

Page 42: ...mp format the Dump EE command hex 0x00 0x12 does not return any stored message data Similarly the Load EE command 0x00 0x13 does not store messages The full range of sidetone settings is accepted but the sidetone frequency will only be set to values between 500 and 3000 Hz Weight is set in 10 increments though any value can be sent Set Pin CFG hex 0x09 does not affect Ultimatic operation Paddle wa...

Page 43: ...e reset Hold the buttons in until they turn red then release This is similar to the command menu XA reset it will do a complete reset of all user settings but will not delete the contents of the message memory slots Cleaning Your MK 1 is equipped with a sturdy aluminum cabinet and a tough textured powder coat finish Given normal care it should provide many years of reliable service No periodic or ...

Page 44: ...keyer will reset and function as normal It is safe to leave the USB FLASH memory drive inserted a firmware update will only be performed if the first and last buttons are held down while power is switched on Suggestions Feedback Everyone will at some point think Gee this is nice but I wish it would do this Well don t keep it to yourself The MK 1 is capable of doing things we haven t even thought o...

Page 45: ...ged Each setting is on a separate line The first field is the setting s code for example S for speed B for beacon time etc These correspond to the setup mode commands The second field is the value of that setting The format of the numbers generated by the XS command will always be five digits with leading zeros If you are creating or modifying a file the number does not need the leading zeros for ...

Page 46: ...0 M 00001 N 00000 Note that leading zeros are optional The next few lines demonstrate settings with no leading zeros Q 1 S 13 U 15 W 5 Y N0XAS Here is an example of a CQ message using the MYCALL setting M11 CQ R RDE Y R RK M12 M13 TU FER CALL UR RST P NAME HR IS DALE R M14 M15 M16 Not all memory messages are shown in this example EOF ...

Page 47: ...onfirmations in paddle command mode Text sent from paddles now includes spaces when sent to the host PC With sufficient effort a user could set the speed pot hi limit lower than the lo limit resulting in some unexpected behavior Fixed it Timing change to Mode A keying Y MYCALL was missing from the command menu Y command from terminal did not work now it does Fixed undesired interaction between aut...

Page 48: ...sue while recording from USB keyboard Fixed an issue with multiple button presses sometimes not being detected if they were within 5ms or so 1 10 July 23 2009 Added USB keyboard mode replaces PC keyboard mode Added half space character for messages Fixed a bug that would result in the amp lead time being applied for all characters sent from paddles Added second parameter to D setting to lengthen o...

Page 49: ...ve DC Connector 5mm 2 5mm coaxial plug Input Current Less than 100 mA no LEDs less than 300 mA all LEDs on Protection Internal self resetting overcurrent protection Three internal voltage regulators XCVR Output Max 400 Volts max 200 mA AC or DC AMP Output Max 400 Volts max 400 mA DC center positive Audio Sine wave sidetone internal speaker Environmental Temperature 0 to 85 Celsius operating 40 to ...

Page 50: ...e L Auto Letter spacing M Sidetone Y N N Bank number P Dot paddle select Q QSO QI Increment QSO QD Decrement QSO R Speed control range S Set speed T Paddle sense timing U UI speed setting V Firmware version W Weight XA Reset all params XM Wipe mem XL Load from USB drv XS Save to USB drive Y MYCALL Z Leading zeros on off Table 7 Command Cheat sheet ...

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