Ultra PicoKeyer
27 January 2017 (Firmware V2.2)
Page 18 of 21
Support Information
Warranty & Support
Your Ultra PicoKeyer Kit is guaranteed against defects for one year from date of purchase. This warranty does not
cover damage due to improper modification, improper soldering or wiring, overvoltage, static damage or other
misuse or abuse. That said, if you have problems please contact me via email to arrange for an exchange or
replacement part. If you accidentally damage your keyer, don’t panic! Replacement parts are not expensive. Send
an email and let me know what you need.
Should you need support, have questions, have feature requests or bug/problem reports, please feel free to contact
me via email at
. I will make every effort to respond as quickly as possible.
Troubleshooting
Having problems during or after assembly of your kit? Don’t worry… it’s fixable! Here are some common
problems and what to do about them. More hints can be found at http://www.hamgadgets.com.
Q: Everything is done, but I get no “73” when I install the battery!
A:
Almost all of these so far have turned out to be soldering mistakes. Remove the battery and check the voltage –
it should be just above 3 volts. Make sure you had the battery in right side up (+ marking on top). Now carefully
go over the solder joints with a magnifying glass. Re-melt any that look suspicious, and use de-soldering braid or a
solder sucker to clean up any blobs you have left. Next, check the resistance across the speaker leads. A good
speaker will show somewhere around 50 ohms.
Q: I broke (or melted) a part! (Or, I got a bad part!)
A:
Don’t panic. Email me, or just mail the bad part back to me with a note. Include your address! If you broke it,
it would be nice to include a couple of bucks to cover the postage and packaging. If it was bad when you got it, just
let me know and I’ll send a replacement at no charge, including postage. I’m pretty easy to get along with.
Q: The sidetone audio is too low, I can’t hear it!
A:
You can adjust the sidetone audio frequency (menu setting “A”); it will get quite a bit louder near the speaker’s
resonant frequency around 2 kHz. If that doesn’t do enough for you, you may want to use headphones or a small
audio amplifier and larger speaker.
Q: I’m having problems entering messages into memory.
A:
The keyer will insert a word space if it sees more than about 1 "dit" time between characters. I allowed a little
play, but not a lot. I recommend that when storing the message, don't even try to worry about character spacing.
Let the keyer do it. Enter the characters as you normally would, but when you finish one character just start the
next immediately. You only need an instant after the last dit or dah when you're not touching the paddles.
Many people find it helpful to slow the keyer down when entering messages - if you normally work at 12 WPM,
slow it down to 10 or even 8, but enter the characters with almost no space between them. Let the keyer do the
character spacing. Just pause a second or two between words and let the keyer do the word spacing -- just like you
can't get the character spacing too close, you can't get the word spacing too large.
Q: I can’t enter a message into memory while using a bug or straight key.
A:
Correct. You must be in iambic (A or B) or Ultimatic mode, and you need to use a paddle of some sort. Single
or dual lever is OK, but it must have separate dot and dash contacts.
