K1EL WKUSB-AF User Manual Download

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WKUSB-AF

with

WinKeyer3 IC & CPO

User Manual

www.k1el.com

Version 1.0

Introduction

Summary of Contents for WKUSB-AF

Page 1: ...WKUSB AF with WinKeyer3 IC CPO User Manual www k1el com Version 1 0 Introduction ...

Page 2: ...low the user to run two different radios from one keyer without swapping cables The feature list below shows some of the advanced options supported by WinKeyer Some WinKeyer products like WKUSB AF also provide a speed potentiometer interface so that an operator can quickly change Morse transmitting speed WKUSB AF Features USB 2 0 Interface with Mini type 3 connector Uses K1EL s latest WK3 1 IC Iam...

Page 3: ...h provides two individual key output ports or one key output port with PTT CH340 USB IF WKUSB AF uses a CH340 based USB to serial interface which requires a CH340 USB driver as described in Appendix B The CH340 is a third generation controller which works just as well if not better than an FTDI controller with drivers available for Windows Linux and Mac Product Warranty Support and Liability WKUSB...

Page 4: ...st the transmitting speed and CPO pitch Three pushbuttons are used to send enter messages and enter standalone command mode The right rotary control adjusts sidetone audio volume when driving an external speaker WKUSB AF Rear Panel Connections There are four connectors on WKUSB AF s rear panel The Audio Out connector is an 1 8inch 3 5mm stereo jack which provides a sine wave sidetone audio output ...

Page 5: ...However for safety reasons please confirm the keying requirements of the transmitter before connecting it to WKUSB AF The diagram below illustrates the connector pinout Sleeve GND Key 2 PTT 1 Key 1 Ring Tip Key Out Connector PTT is only provided for KEY1 and is off by default It can be enabled by software configuration or in standalone mode by WK3tools or paddle command Mini B Interface Cable The ...

Page 6: ...Setup and the com port selection list is shown Only the currently active USB com ports are shown Select a WK com port identified by WKscan You can click on shown in the upper right corner of the dialog box for a brief help menu Click on Open to connect to WKUSB AF If all is well the Open pushbutton will change to Close and the WK IC version will be displayed Click on Setup again and this time the ...

Page 7: ...e sidetone volume control to a comfortable level Note that even when internal sidetone has been disabled it will still be used for standalone commands External sidetone is not activated for standalone commands To disable CPO sidetone turn the volume fully counterclockwise to effectively turn it off There are several speed pot options Speed Pot Lock forces WKUSB AF to only use the speed pot for spe...

Page 8: ...made using commands entered on the paddles While it still has this capability WK3tools allows you to make these changes from a PC application https www k1elsystems com files WK3tools_52_setup exe After installation start the application and the following dialog box will appear It will be empty since you haven t read in WK s current configuration settings When WK is powered up for the very first ti...

Page 9: ... buttons see page 54 Message 6 is accessed by calling it from another message Don t forget that you have to write the messages back to WK with the WriteWK button when you are finished If you want to test them press the buttons on top of WK There is an option to setup standalone RTTY operation Typically you would setup User 2 for RTTY operation so you can easily switch between the modes without hav...

Page 10: ...C WKscan will tell you the IC version You will not be able to access a WinKeyer that has a WK2 or older IC Using WK3tools to Restore Factory Settings The Restore to Defaults control loads the menu with original default settings All of the control settings are initialized and messages are erased Don t forget to write these new settings back to WK before you exit WK3tools Help File A separate help d...

Page 11: ...ts are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation This equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions may cause harmful interference to radio communications However there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation If this eq...

Page 12: ... Mode the settings reside in EEPROM inside WKUSB AF If you disconnect from an application WKUSB AF will automatically go into Standalone mode and revert back to the saved settings from EEPROM WKUSB AF FAQ 2 Does WKUSB AF have internal batteries like WKUSB does No WKUSB AF is powered only from the USB I F connector It has to be plugged into a PC a phone charger or USB battery Due to the extra power...

Page 13: ...o transmit when it is externally keyed It s always a good idea to test your keying cable before using it with WKUSB AF Plug the cable into your transceiver and leave the keyer end unconnected Now set up your transceiver for external keying and then short the keyer cable end tip to sleeve with a clip lead If this doesn t key the transmitter then either the cable is not made correctly or the radio i...

Page 14: ...roblems make sure you have selected the correct WK key output port This is done in the Output Config control in the WKdemo setup dialog box Also check to make sure the connector is fully plugged into the WKUSB AF jack The tune function is useful for signal tracing A cheap path to a keying cable In today s world of cell phones and portable music players 1 8 stereo to 1 8 stereo cables are very easy...

Page 15: ...w a com port with a WK device This is a sign that either a USB driver has not been installed or the USB hardware on WKUSB AF is not working It could be a bad USB cable or bad connection to the PC Note that WKUSB AF s USB interface is factory tested before a board is shipped so if it doesn t work the it s usually the PC connector or cable Make sure that the USB cable is fully inserted at either WKU...

Page 16: ...ry Defaults There are cases when a host app misbehaves and can corrupt WKUSB AF s basic setup parameters We know of no app that does this but when under heavy use with RF floating around unexpected things can happen ESD is another issue that can cause this to happen The easiest way to restore WKUSB AF s EEPROM settings is through WK3tools Unplug WKUSB AF from the PC and then plug it back in after ...

Page 17: ...d in Appendix C page 40 Be sure to close WKscan after using it Start up N1MM and click on the Config Tab and then select the entry as shown This brings up the Configurer dialog box This is where devices attached to N1MM are set up For this example we will set up a WinKeyer device on COM2 1 Select COM2 from the drop down box 2 Specify that it is a CW device by clicking the CW Other checkbox 3 Conti...

Page 18: ...eed to do here is click the WinKey checkbox leave all the other settings as is Now click OK to close the Com2 configuration dialog box which brings us back the Configurer dialog box Here we select the Winkey tab as illustrated below Clicking on the Winkey tab brings up the WinKeyer specific configuration dialog box which is shown on the next page ...

Page 19: ...e Speed Pot which tells the host that the speed pot will set sending speed 3 Paddle Keyboard where the host controls only the message speed Lead and tail settings apply to PTT delay Keying compensation adjusts dit and dah spacing relative to sending speed Hang Time is similar to PTT tail except that it is proportional to sending speed When you are finished click OK and then another OK to close the...

Page 20: ... 2022 Rev 1 0 Page 20 Now on the PC s keyboard enter CTL T to put WKUSB AF into tune mode Cancel tune mode by entering CTL T a second time With tune enabled you should hear sidetone coming from WKUSB AF Now either enter CTL K or select the CW Key Window as shown ...

Page 21: ...e main N1MM dialog box is disabled For a final test turn the speed pot and you should see the CW Speed display in the main N1MM dialog box change This assumes that the speed pot has been enabled in the Winkey configuration dialog box That s it for basic N1MM and WKUSB AF testing Now it s time to learn all the amazing features in N1MM for setting up messages and getting up to speed with automatic C...

Page 22: ... option Click on Enable RTTY and then set a delay in both Lead Time and Tail Time 40 mSec in each is a good starting point Now click on the Configurer Digital Modes tab and in the left most drop down select Winkey Now close the Configurer and go back to the main N1MM window From there we will open up the digital interface window There are several things to set up in the digital interface window fi...

Page 23: ...etup Window click on the Message Setup tab and then select Other TinyFSK Winkey from the drop down menu Using the picture below as a guide click Tx then enter in the message Text Window followed by Save Settings Repeat this process by entering for Rx and then for ESC Note that you have to re select Other TinyFSK Winkey each time ...

Page 24: ...o run N1MM in RTTY mode with WKUSB AF Entering an Fn macro key will trigger its message and you will see the RTTY string echoed in the Digital Interface Window as they are transmitted You can enter free test in the Digital Interface Window by first clicking the Tx button and then typing into the input edit window When you are done typing click Rx or enter and N1MM will go back into listen mode Cli...

Page 25: ...orial on page 6 or use Device Manager as described in Appendix C page 40 Be sure to close WKscan after using it Start HRD and click on the DM780 icon in the upper left corner of the application If it s not visible you may have to enable program view as show on the left View Program DM780 takes a few moments to start up once it does select CW mode from the mode list and then from the CW tab select ...

Page 26: ...splays a choice of paddle input options Iambic B is the most often used so that is the default If you select Ultimatic three different variants for this mode are enabled Autospace applies to paddle input only while contest spacing applies to message sending When contest spacing is on wordspaces are reduced to 6 dit times vs standard 7 dit times Select paddle echoback and paddle entry will be displ...

Page 27: ...Port 1 If you want two separate output ports don t click any of these options A range of sidetone frequencies are available Note that sidetone enable can be unchecked if you would rather disable it and use your radio s sidetone instead The Speeds Tab is mostly concerned with speed pot settings You can change speed pot swing by adjusting its minimum and maximum values Farnsworth can be enabled if d...

Page 28: ...er These settings are discussed in detail in Appendix D of this document Also listed are settings for PTT timing PTT turns on before sending starts and shuts off after sending is complete Lead specifies how long PTT will turn on before keying starts The Tail delay specifies how long PTT will stay on after keying ends There is a separate tail delay setting for paddle sending called hang delay Most ...

Page 29: ... Log Interface Guide Start AC Log From the main application page select the Settings Transmit CW Setup tab That will bring up the CW Setup Form shown below A list of the active com ports are shown click on the one WKUSB AF is assigned to Next select WinKeyer and then click Configure WinKeyer ...

Page 30: ...ions should be familiar any that aren t can be looked up in Appendix E Sidetone can be turned off by unchecking Sidetone Enable if you would rather use your radio s sidetone Click Done and you will return to the CW Setup form you can enter messages in the F1 through F11 slots F1 is set up as a repeating message with adjustable loop delay When you click Test the message in slot F9 will be sent Clic...

Page 31: ...t window and Morse will be sent by WKUSB AF I recommend setting TxSpeed RxSpeed in TX Settings that way if you copy someone you want to work your transmit speed will be set to match theirs automatically I also like to adjust the text size to display more lines That option is under Display A simple WinKeyer configuration dialog box is displayed Enter the com port number as reported by WKscan and cl...

Page 32: ... our WKscan app To start we need to setup WinKeyer configuration Selecting WinKeyer will bring up the following configuration dialog box Enter WKUSB AF s com port and the review the default WinKeyer settings For the most part the defaults will suffice but you may want to change paddle swap or use a different keyer mode Click on Connect and FLdigi will open up the WK interface The following message...

Page 33: ... mode Bring up the configuration dialog and select the TTY tab and the WinKeyer 3 tab All of WK s RTTY settings are presented here Select the correct com port and adjust the defaults as required then click connect To set RTTY mode in the main operating window simply choose Op Mode followed by RTTY at the speed you want to run at WK RTTY operation like WK CW is well integrated into FLdigi and once ...

Page 34: ...s These are the recommended settings that will satisfy most setups First of all select RTTY Enable Diddle and RTTY monitor The only other settings that you may have to adjust in this group are FSK Map and Reverse FSKMAP will swap the PTT and KEY Outputs Normally WK s KEY out goes to your transceiver s KEY input and PTT goes to the transceiver s FSK input FSKMAP will swap these two outputs We will ...

Page 35: ...d by FSK When it s set up correctly the transmit output will be on all the time and be frequency shift keyed by FSK Note that it might be necessary to toggle Reverse The best way to tell is to listen to other stations and set Reverse to match their shift polarity If you want to insert a CRLF sequence enter the character Two other actions you may need are Pause and Clear both of these work by click...

Page 36: ...oo Group Odds are that there is someone else in the group who has used the app and they can give you first hand advice If no one picks up the trail we will jump in and do what we can Note that we have a large list of apps that support WinKeyer on our website Support and Warranty WKUSB AF is fully warranted to the original purchaser against defects in materials and workmanship for one year after pu...

Page 37: ...f a line it makes it easy to send Baudot strings by paddle There are special Morse commands to start and stop an RTTY transmission as well as insert a CRLF or send an RY test string In addition all of WK s standard message slots are available for RTTY as well as the User callsign slot Since WK has two separate user setups one setup could be used for CW and the other for RTTY That allows you to swi...

Page 38: ...grades to support RTTY mode You can enter messages and configure host mode RTTY transmit operation Sidetone Volume Command A somewhat limited volume control has been added to WK3 1 First Extent Command This command was removed from Version 3 0 but has been reinstated for Version 3 1 Serial Number Changes The serial number can be preserved in Version 3 1 The current value will be written to EEPROM ...

Page 39: ...en download CH341SER exe and Windows CH340 Driver zip from https www k1elsystems com WKminiRevB html and copy them into the new folder Unzip the Windows CH340 Driver zip file Now plug WKmini into your PC and wait to see if Windows Update will automatically search for a USB driver This usually doesn t happen but if it does click Skip obtaining driver Windows will then look on your local hard drive ...

Page 40: ...anual WKUSB AF WKUSB AF User Manual 5 19 2022 Rev 1 0 Page 40 Appendix C Determine WKUSB AF s COM port when you don t have WKscan Left click on Start and then right click on MyComputer Click on Properties Click on Hardware ...

Page 41: ...anual 5 19 2022 Rev 1 0 Page 41 Click on Device Manager Then Double Click on Ports COM LPT to expand the port list The port labeled USB Serial Port COMx is the WKUSB AF port If you want to change the port assignment double click on USB Serial Port and ...

Page 42: ...K1EL WKUSB AF User Manual WKUSB AF WKUSB AF User Manual 5 19 2022 Rev 1 0 Page 42 Then Click on Port Settings Click on Advanced ...

Page 43: ...ghting adjustment Values less than 50 reduce weighting and values greater than 50 increase weighting Note that weighting does not affect sending speed because any increase in keyed time is subtracted from spacing time Reduction in weighting results in a thinner sounding keying while increased weighting results in a heavier sound Since weighting tracks speed a given weighting will sound the same at...

Page 44: ...le maximum addition is 62 Paddle Sample Delay This setting controls when WKUSB AF will start looking for a new paddle press after sensing the current one If there is not enough delay the keyer could send unwanted dits or dahs If there is too much delay the operator is held back because they can t paddle ahead The default value is one dit time 50 and is adjustable in percent of a dit time A setting...

Page 45: ... a slow speed and then increases the speed to a much faster rate At the faster rate the tail delay will hold too long after keying stops Alternatively if a comfortable delay is set at a faster WPM rate PTT will then drop out between letters at a slower speed To solve this problem paddle tail delay is governed by a separate parameter called hang time Hang Time is adjustable in four steps and is mea...

Page 46: ...ce and WKUSB AF will send them as they were entered With a little practice autospace can help you to send better Contest Spacing When contest spacing is enabled wordspace time is reduced by one dit Instead of seven dits per wordspace contest spacing selects six dits per wordspace The idea is that exchanges can be sent faster with reduced space between words Paddle Keyed Modes There are six differe...

Page 47: ...ied The minimum must be greater or equal to 5 while the maximum must be less than or equal to 99 WPM This allows the speed pot to be tailored to the user s needs Sidetone Enable Sidetone can be turned on or off Local sidetone is not needed if the user is going to use the sidetone generated by the transceiver they are using This is the case in the majority of setups Sidetone Frequency WKUSB AF s lo...

Page 48: ...ameters must be entered on the paddles after the command A letter displayed in BOLD is something you enter BOLD ITALIC is what WK responds with A pb means that WK will wait for you to press one of the message pushbuttons A Sidetone enable is toggled when this command is entered Toggle means if the sidetone was on when this command was issued it will be turned off and vice versa WK will acknowledge...

Page 49: ... of the keyer The default value is one dit time 50 and is adjustable in a fraction of a dit time Faster operators report a setting somewhat less than default is more pleasing If the paddle sensitivity is set to zero both dit and dah paddle memories are disabled The delay is calculated with this formula DELAY_TIME nn DIT_TIME 50 where switch point is a value between 01 and 99 K Set Keying Mode Ther...

Page 50: ...nt to end practice respond with di dah di dah or press the command pushbutton By default practice will be sent on the active output port enable transmit mute M command to inhibit Tx In both modes the sending speed can t be changed with the speed pot Note that the new speed will start after the current round of characters has been finished A pseudo random letter generator is used to generate the se...

Page 51: ... is enabled WK will automatically insert proper inter letter space between letters Each time the U command is issued WK will toggle between modes responding with an A for autospace enabled an N for autospace disabled Here is how autospace works If you pause for more than one dit time between a dit or dah WK will interpret this as a letter space and will not send the next dit or dah until the lette...

Page 52: ...ered the sidetone oscillator will be keyed at a steady rate with transmit muted Pressing the paddles will raise or lower the frequency The range varies nearly continuously from 300 Hz at the low end to 2000Hz on the high end It takes a while to sweep through the whole range Pressing the command pushbutton will end this command and store the new sidetone frequency Like all settings use the Preserve...

Page 53: ... the minimum WPM and the maximum WPM An error will be flagged if the minimum value entered is greater than the maximum or if either value is less than 5 Maximum WPM is 99 If the speeds are valid WK responds with an R otherwise S Preserve Settings in EEPROM will respond with a letter R to signify that settings were saved successfully T Select Cut Number for Zero When enabled a T will be substituted...

Page 54: ...0 characters and still have 141 locations left to split among the remaining three slots Keep in mind that word spaces as well as embedded commands occupy memory locations When you stop at the end of a message WK will usually enter a wordspace before you have a chance to press the command pushbutton There are cases when you do not want a wordspace delay at the end of a message since which will dela...

Page 55: ...t decrements the serial number before sending it Here is an example of two messages one that sends a serial number is a message and a second that repeats that same serial number Message 1 5NN N QSL Message 2 D N QSL Message 1 is sent in the initial exchange and if the serial number needs to be resent message 2 would be used The second message decrements the serial number before sending it Both of ...

Page 56: ...DE K1EL K1EL K1EL S15 DE K1EL send 1 st part at 1500 lpm and the 2 nd at 15 WPM CQ CQ CQ DE K1 I10TMT I00 K send message with 20 extra space in TMT A more manageable way of doing this would be to load K1 I10TMT I00 in the callsign slot to get this spacing any time M is used CQ CQ CQ DE Z4K1EL K1EL K1EL Y4 K send the callsigns 4 WPM slower then return to normal WPM QTH IS E C1 E NAME IS STEVE send ...

Page 57: ...is 990 mSec If you need to enter a longer delay in standalone mode use the WK3tools application which allows these values to be entered from the host over the USB port When entering a message by paddle and minimal tail time is essential be sure to end all messages by entering di dah di dah AA to prevent WK from automatically appending a wordspace If there is a wordspace at the end of a message WK ...

Page 58: ...rspace Adjust 0 SampleAdjust 50 KeyMode Iambic B Internal Sidetone On Autospace Off Key PTT Port 1 Serial Number 0001 Min Speed Pot 5 WPM Max Speed Pot 35 WPM No 0 or 9 Cuts User 1 Message Bank 1 Tune Duty Cycle 100 Farnsworth Disabled You will need to attach a paddleset to proceed with the tutorial After WK has been powered up pressing the paddle keys will generate dits and dahs both in internal ...

Page 59: ...nd now the speed range will be 10 WPM to 25 WPM Repeat the command and use the T shortcut for the zero in other words enter a 1 followed by a T The WPM rate used while entering commands can be changed using the C command The Letterspace Keying Compensation Weight and Dit Dah Ratio commands adjust the way Morse is generated Read each command descriptions on pages 49 51 and 52 to understand how they...

Page 60: ... station s callsign and WK will automatically continue send the serial number and then pause again If the station needs a repeat of the serial number press PB 3 to send the message in slot 3 Since the serial number is incremented after the N command in message 2 you need to pre decrement it in order to send the correct number Message 3 can be repeated until the station acknowledges the exchange At...

Page 61: ...RYRYRY string can be generated by entering the Morse code DAH DAH DAH DIT When you are done sending enter di dah di dah which will unkey the transceiver and return you to receive mode Enter a test message into one of WK s message slots If you want to send a message simply press the message button and the transmit process will proceed automatically You do not need to insert the di dah di dah codes ...

Page 62: ...Mode Enable O Unassigned Z Toggle RTTY FSKMAP Standalone Embedded Command Table Bnn Set a beacon cycle time of nn seconds nn 00 to 99 Cn Call message and then return D Decrement serial number En Select message bank n 1 for bank 1 n 2 for bank 2 Hn Set HSCW speed See table below for determining n Inn Set Letterspace increase nn 00 to 31 Knn Key transmitter for nn seconds nn 00 to 99 M Send User Cal...

Page 63: ..._______________________ 15 Paddle Input Priority _________________________________________________________ 16 USB Sense _________________________________________________________________ 16 Serial Baud Rate ____________________________________________________________ 16 Reset WK3 Restore Factory Defaults ___________________________________________ 16 ASCII Code Assignments Prosign Mapping _________...

Page 64: ...nd Tail Times 45 Paddle Watchdog 45 Paddle Swap 45 Paddle Only Sidetone 45 Paddle Mute 46 Paddle Echo back 46 Serial Echoback 46 Autospace 46 Contest Spacing 46 Paddle Keyed Modes 46 Speed Pot Lock 47 Speed Pot Minimum and Maximum 47 Sidetone Enable 47 Sidetone Frequency 47 Appendix E WKUSB AF WK3 Standalone Mode_________________________________ 48 Standalone Command Mode WKUSB AF is not connected...

Page 65: ...User Defaults Warm Restart 57 Restore Factory Defaults 57 Keyer Lock 57 Shortcuts and Speed Ups 58 WKUSB AF Standalone Tutorial 58 WK Standalone RTTY Tutorial using paddle entry to send RTTY 60 WK3 Standalone Command List _______________________________________________ 62 Extended Command Table ____________________________________________________ 62 Topical Index 63 ...

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