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K42 CW Keyboard

1. CMD PB E TE gt GND Title K42 Console PIC Author Steven T Elliott KIEL Systems File Document F K42 K42_B dsn Revision Date Sheets B June 16 2009 2of5 1 2 4 5 6 7 Page 25 7 31 2009 K 42 User s Manual Version A K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual K1EL 1 2 3 4 5 5 7 c7 E BM D r See cia R18 Ep L HEI D2ut i 1 rap e Ki BR C45 7 14 uaa UAA o ep o a O42uF s rna Ld z NEA 33 2K SL 1 ILOW AF due Hee LMCBaB2 33 2K d R6 MYLAR Lucas 47K po 454K R17 976K oND E Cp GND uf mp GND TL Lo By RS 10K L GND av 4 AGND 4 CS 33uF E 33uF c5 R12 pones Dog JL mur oT il GND 2 GND GND Title K42 CWR Filter Author Steven T Elliott KIEL Systems File Document FAKA2 KA B den Revision Date sheets B June 16 2009 3of5 1 2 3 3 5 8 7 Page 26 7 31 2009 K 42 User s Manual Version A K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual K1EL DV CND RU C20 duf i DB LEDS L E GND uz E 1 E 7 1 D LED3 a PO Pom LOW AF E E I PAD lues 4 CWR
2. K1EL CW Keyboard amp Reader Manual K 42 Introduction The K42 is the Swiss Army knife of CW keyers it will provide many hours of CW operation and enjoyment A CW keyboard interface CW reader iambic paddle keyer LCD display and optically isolated keying outputs are all presented in one compact box In addition the K42 will operate many different modes including QRSS HSCW and conventional CW up to 140 WPM CW reader CWR circuitry is included on the K42 board It accepts audio from a receiver then filters demodulates and decodes CW characters which are then displayed on the LCD The CWR provides an LED bar display that is used to tune in CW stations quickly and accurately There s a lot to learn but first here s a section to get you going quickly with minimal reading required once you get started you will want to spend some time learning all the commands and what they do For now let s dive in and get the K40 hooked up We are assuming you are here after you have successfully assembled and tested your K42 It s important that you make sure the basic package is operating correctly before you try to use it K42 Quick Start Interconnection Diagram The following diagram illustrates a basic K42 set up The paddle is optional and is not a requirement A PTT connection would not be required for normal CW keying of a transmitter or transceiver the PTT output is used primarily in HSCW mode or to key an amplifier or antenna rel
3. SAMPLE ADJUST DIT_TIME 50 where Sample Adjust is between 10 and 90 At Sample Adjust 50 50 Dit Time 50 One Dit Time Factory Default At Sample Adjust 25 25 Dit Time 50 One Half Dit Time At Sample Adjust 75 75 Dit Time 50 One and One Half Dit Time Special Case If SampleAdjust is set to zero this will disable both dit and dah latches ALT TAB Show Receive WPM CWR MODE ONLY Momentarily display the CWR s Rx WPM in the LCD display CTL ALT DEL Clear EEPROM and Restart This causes the K42 to clear all of EEPROM and reload the factory settings Be careful when using this because it will erase all of your messages prosigns and numeric mappings The factory settings are Speed 15 WPM CWR ASR Paddle Sample 50 1 dit Autospace off CWR off Keying K1P1 lambic B CWR TXMON off Sidetone 800Hz PTT Delays 0 Extra Space 0 Shift F9 13 WPM CWR Gain 5 1 Extension 0 Shift F10 15 WPM CWR Filter 6 KeyComp Weighting normal Shift F11 18 WPM CWR ISPC 0 Dit Dah Ratio 50 1 3 Shift F12 20 WPM Known bug the delete key in the numeric pad will not work for CTL ALT DEL UP ARROW Increase Speed by 1 WPM DOWN ARROW Decrease Speed by 1 WPM This is a quick way to change speed in one WPM increments The new WPM will be displayed in the upper left hand corner of the display This is one way to select WPM speeds greater than 99 WPM The other way is by the rotary encoder K 42 User s Manual Rev A 7 31 2009 P
4. If the count is zero the K42 skips over the jump and just outputs the SK Remember that the CTL L command is ignored after the initial load Longer delay example Load Message Slot F1 with BCON DE K1EL F3 Load Message Slot F3 with L10 w60 Z F3 F1 Results when F1 is pressed BCON DE K1EL will be repeated every 10 minutes K 42 User s Manual Rev A 7 31 2009 Page 15 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual In this example the message is sent followed by a jump to F3 which waits for 60 seconds 10 times which gives us 10 minutes After the 10 minute wait we will jump back to F1 and do it all over again More Message Examples Send a string with an incrementing value Load F5 with Count is N D W05 F5 Assuming the serial number has been preset to 100 the F5 message will be sent in sequence with a delay of 5 seconds in between as Count is 100 Count is 99 Count is O A message that runs at two different speeds Load F1 with S10SLOW SPEED S20FAST SPEED A QRSS beacon message Load F3 with SQ2 K05 EL FN43 F5 Additional Key Assignments There are several other key assignments that are treated just like letters and are buffered is mapped to BT is mapped to QSL lt is mapped to AR is mapped to DN gt is mapped to SK is mapped to KR is mapped to QRZ is mapped to AC is mapped to MN is mapped to vu is mapped to KN is mapped to KK is mapped to RR is mapped to WG is mapped to DU _ is
5. There are several RF filters included in the K42 circuit design Caps C1 and C2 on the keying and PTT lines prevent RF from coming back through the keying lines C3 and C4 shunt any RF arriving over the paddle leads and C16 and C17 filter the rotary encoder leads L1 and L2 attenuate RF from coming in on the keyboard data and clock lines to the Console PIC These components also reduce RF radiation from the K42 Some keyboards can produce RF emissions on their own that can cause interference on your radio receiver Additional filtering may be required on the keyboard itself usually a large ferrite bead on the keyboard cable post note most keyboards manufactured within the last 5 or 6 years must meet stringent RF radiation requirements and are seldom a problem Table1 Immediate Command Chart Key Norma Shift ALT Toggle Encoder 2 Step N A Encoder CTL CWRnterElement Allowance Table2 Buffered Command Chart D___ Decrement Serial D __ Increment Serial 5 Merge Letters LN Play Serial p _ Pause P S O Set Speed W Wait Wnn nn seconds w DECSZ Loop K 42 User s Manual Version A 7 31 2009 Page 19 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual CW Keyboard Theory of Operation Block Diagram As shown in the block diagram below two PIC processors share the task of converting keystrokes to Morse code U5 the console PIC is responsible for retrieving keystrokes fro
6. This will momentarily show the approximate speed of the CW currently being copied by the K42 CWR Note that the speed is determined by the average width of received dits This means that it can be misled by Farnsworth formatted CW For example if you copy W1AW code practice at 10 WPM the K42 CWR will report a faster speed although ARRL code practice is sent at 10 WPM the individual elements are sent at a faster speed As mentioned previously the K42 has two display windows which are selected by the TAB key In CWR mode the way the windows work can be confusing Now is a good time to jump ahead to the Theory of Operations and learn a little system architecture which will clear things up Jump ahead to LCD Display Window Architecture on page 21 for a discussion of this topic CWR ASR Window Mode ASR Mode automatically toggles the display window from Echo Window EW to Keyboard Input Window KIW when the user types on the keyboard Pause the output with the INSERT key if you want to type ahead When insert is pressed again the transmit is released and what was typed will be sent When transmit is complete the K42 it will automatically toggle back to the EW CWR TXMON Window Mode TXMON mode allows both paddled and keyboarded Morse to be shown in the EW as a convenience Received letters are displayed in upper case while transmitted letters are displayed in lower case Both modes can be active at the same time No matter what mode you are i
7. 2009 Page 10 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual machine like Purists myself included recommend that you should always leave the ratio set at 1 3 which is the universal standard Increased Dit Dah Ratio Max Value Allowed is 66 Normal R Min Value allowed is 33 Decreased Dit Dah Ratio ALT F12 Start Persistent Beacon When this command is issued the K42 will send the message in slot 1 F1 repetitively A jump to message F1 command is not required at the end of the message The message can contain any valid command and calls or jumps to other messages will be honored It is called persistent because if power is lost and then restored the beacon will continue to cycle The beacon is ended by hitting the ESC escape key ALT PGDN Decrease Paddle Sample Delay applies to paddle input only ALT PGUP Increase Paddle Sample Delay applies to paddle input only This adjusts the delay from the start of a dit or dah to when K42 will start looking for the next paddle press Normally the K42 waits one dit time before latching a new dit or dah This delay can be adjusted to be greater or less than one dit time If the delay is too short the keyer could send extra dits or dahs If the is too long it slows you down because you have to hold the paddle longer for each dit or dah Faster operators report a setting slightly less than default is more pleasing The delay is calculated with this formula DELAY
8. Figure 3 shows the main sections of the K42 CW Reader Audio from a receiver is filtered through an initial four pole two op amp active bandpass filter stage The bandwidth of this stage is approx 400 Hz which provides coarse out of band signal rejection This stage also isolates and protects the PSoC processor from the large input levels The LMC6482 or TS922 op amp handles large input amplitudes well and clips very cleanly After filtering audio is fed directly to the PSoC processor This is a mixed signal device containing both analog and digital function blocks These blocks as well as the connections between the blocks are programmable This allows a very sophisticated design to be implemented in a tiny package The clock that runs the PSoC is contained within the device and is set at 24 MHz The signal chain inside the PSoC is described next First the signal is passed through an adjustable gain amplifier to allow a boost for low level signal levels Next the signal is fed through a two stage 4 pole bandpass filter that is implemented with an SCAF filter The center frequency of this filter is set to 690 Hz with a bandwidth of about 200 Hz The filtered signal is then fed to a tone detector which is implemented with a quadrature correlator This decoder essentially compares the period of the incoming waveform to a reference 690 Hz waveform if they match then the signal is deemed in band The recovered dit and dah intervals are then timed and tra
9. Sidetorie 1 eee etUm ee Leib Le ste sae ER a Da eee Enero deu 8 SHIFT F7 Toggle Transmitter Muting esseessesseeeeeeneeneeneneneennne ennemi 9 ll ae Re H e ul BEE 9 SHIFT F9 through SHIFT F12 Fast Speed Change Keys ssssseessesseesreerreeirerirernrsrresinsernsrnserneenn 9 ALT Commands 2 em ete dea Uc ed eret i ei folded dle 9 ALT F1 Toggle K42 CWR module on and oft 9 ALT F2 PET Lead In Delay Time EE 9 AET ES PTT Tal Delay Time nr tee tt reni ies 9 AET F4 Set Serial Number orc eee rd ec eee n anes deseo e eee e te dean 9 ALT F5 Keele elt e WEE 9 ALT F6 Select Paddle Mode applies to paddle input only 10 ALT F7 Toggle Autospace applies to paddle input only 10 ALT F8 Modify Output Doft Egger TUE coe ere te ERKENNEN 10 ALT F9 Swap Paddles applies to paddle input only 10 ALTAR VO Seld E EE ALT F11 nn Set Dit Dah Ratio eseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeereeererirerreeene ALT F12 Start Persistent Beacon ALT PGDN Decrease Paddle Sample Delay applies to paddle input only 11 ALT PGUP Increase Paddle Sample Delay applies to paddle input only 11 ALT TAB Show Receive WPM CWR MODE ONLY 11 CTL ALT DEL Clear EEPROM and Restart AA 11 UP ARROW Increase Speed by 1 WM enne rennen nnns 11 DOWN ARROW Decrease Speed by 1 WPM nennen nennen 11 ALT RIGHT nn Set Key Compensation sssss
10. TR 2 pos pyecsrias POP E 3 5 CWR TI gt gt Pat E P10 d eae S x R25 ara Sie D3 LED3 x GND F eu T Do LED3 x Di LEDS l l R24 R4 Ei 470 47K 4 1 T 2 12F508 cag 3 tut 4 GND MH 125 m OC HE SND MH 125 Or MH 125 O n Title K42 CWR LEDS Author an Steven T Elliott KIEL Systems File Document FAKAZWAA2 Bden Revision Date Sheets B June 15 2008 4of5 1 z 4 5 8 7 Page 27 7 31 2009 K 42 User s Manual Version A K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual K1EL Ls R1 10k LCD Contrast Control R14 LUMEX_ LCD x 220 4 82 1 ov PWRCON mS Ji LM7ODS gout 1Na004 s D7 ap Ex Kx EE Title a Im SS GND OND GN GND k42 LCD amp Power Input Authar Steven T Elliott KIEL Systems File Document FAKA2 KA Biden Revision Date Sheets B June 15 2009 5of5 3 4 5 5 7 Page 28 7 31 2009 K 42 User s Manual Version A K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual uge ET 1 K42 Quick Start teres na Dis eren T 1 lInterconnection DIagram d eee re EE 1 What Keyboard to Js rr imei rere rro reete eg nee Ue nune ge de se ee ERE ev Dep et 1 Power SUpply e cere EG edet eitis dioe cett evan e debe ee ct PER lags eee het eae uta 2 Sidetone Speaket to cientes rated er aep to diee Fett d eda
11. Window using TAB Echo Receive Transmit Practice Description The K42 will send a character from the selected level and you must respond by echoing the character back on the keyboard If you get it right the K42 will repeat the first character followed by a new character Now you must echo back both characters The K42 will continue to add characters until it reaches five after which it will start with a new set If you miss a character the K42 will simply start over with a new sequence of characters When you want to end practice hit the ESC key and the K42 will send an SK to let you know it s done SHIFT F5 Toggle Farnsworth Sending Farnsworth spacing is useful for CW practice because it encourages you to learn characters by sound not individual dits and dahs In the K42 Farnsworth is implemented by sending letters at a fixed rate of 18 WPM regardless what the WPM sending rate is Spacing between characters is determined by the sending rate When the WPM rate is set above 18 WPM Farnsworth is automatically disabled It s a toggle command which means if Farnsworth is on when you press SHIFT F5 it ll be turned off if it s off you ll turn it on SHIFT F6 Toggle Sidetone This is how you turn sidetone on and off If you would rather use the sidetone already provided by your transceiver just disable the K42 sidetone it s not required This command is both an immediate and a toggle command This command is accompanied by the message BEEP ON
12. detta 2 Trarismitter CODnectio enel e eR a a aea Bene ie ERE 2 Power It Up 20 ci het ee ee ee Hee deii Eo gebe edo eerte ae tes A EE CHE Sed dE 2 Using the K42 CW Reader CWR EEN 3 Audio lie rege UE E 3 CWR BASICS 5 cese code e nee eem dte de dec xe bis exa dtes pesca eae AENEA te Re Rd Parece db be 3 KA2 CWEC Settings oin eot ud t anello ER t giis 4 CWR ASR Window Mode AAA 4 CWR TXMON Window Mode 4 CWR Mode Transmitting ecco ti etm rte rt e eet ec en e eio t e etie ee ED e e De 5 Detailed Command Descriptions esses esee esee eene nennen nennen nnne annnm n ns nn nni nn nns tn ssi tn nns tn einn anat antra 5 ShIMV ALT CTL Cc E M 5 Keyboard LED indications iseni rm e per e edet Eee yo hue Liv ER dE Dre ieee 6 Current Value battle ee edel eLearning eed tee Ded 6 Command Description by Key AE 6 Shift Gommiands EE 6 Fi through F12 Send RER 6 SHIFT F1 Record Something in Memor 6 Message Recording iiss eccentric eed crar obe da ceto ete uam nitet dex ute uis 6 Fast WPM Keys 5 iet ERE D OE E e api na eai E e a etait 7 Custom ProSighS 3 127 ent e Leable dn dee do ge doce eue EE Lee da Ego vane 7 Numeri Mapping eS 7 SHIFT F2 Change Sending Speed AAA 7 SHIFT F3 Set ASR and TX Monitor Modes CWR MODE ONLY seen 8 SHIFT F4 Morse Code Practice iter i HER E HARE ler PO LEGERE teen 8 SHIFT F5 Toggle Farnsworth Sending nennen nennen nnne 8 SHIFT F6 Toggle
13. embedded in a message and not acted on immediately This can be illustrated with the jump command we can jump from one message to another Here s a simple example Load Slot F1 with co co F3 Load Slot F2 with QRZ QRZ F3 Load Slot F3 with DE K1EL K Message F1 will be sent as CQ CQ DE K1EL K Message F2 will be sent as QRZ QRZ DE K1EL K Jump can be used to make a message loop here how Load Slot F1 with CO CQ CQ CQ DE K1EL K1EL K1EL F1 After sending CQ CQ CQ CQ DE K1EL K1EL K1EL we loop back to the beginning and send it again This will repeat forever until the ESC key is pressed K 42 User s Manual Rev A 7 31 2009 Page 13 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual CTL C lt F1 F12 gt Call a message The call command will jump to the specified message send that message and after the message completes the stream will return to where it was called It is more flexible than a jump to message An example of this command is Load slot F1 with C F2 C F2 de C F3 C F3 BTU OM KN Load slot F2 with WALABC Load Slot F3 with KIEL Message F1 will play as WALABC WAIABC DE K1EL K1EL BTU OM KN This illustrates a powerful feature you can build up a message that contains other messages The message can be reused by substituting different callsigns in the called slots In this example the complicated message is in slot F1 and the called slots are F2 and F3 Even though F2 and F3 are called by F1 they can still be sent individ
14. just been loaded with factory defaults This is the signal that the the K42 is had been turned on for the first time on or a CTL ALT DEL reboot was initiated Normally the N is not displayed On first time power up factory defaults will be loaded into the microcontrollers and Serial EEPROM You can modify these settings and customize the K42 to your own preferences and then save these settings in K 42 User s Manual Rev A 7 31 2009 Page 2 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual EEPROM The next time you power up the K42 it will start up the way you like Initially all message slots are cleared but as you load your messages they are automatically saved in EEPROM After a few seconds the sign on display will clear and the K42 is then ready to use Go ahead and type on the keyboard and whatever you type will be sent in Morse accompanied by internal sidetone Notice that you can type ahead of the outgoing Morse There are two display views the one you are looking at which is the Keyboard Input Window KIW and an Echo Window EW which you can get to by pressing the TAB key The KIW immediately shows what you type the EW shows text as it is sent You can type into the KIW and then swap over to the EW to check on K42 transmit progress No matter what window you are looking at keystrokes always go into the KIW You can do a couple of things while the K40 is transmitting you can pause by hitting the INSERT key or clear the outgoing queue b
15. key down for 5 seconds then BCON DE K1EL will be sent followed by a wait of 60 seconds after which the whole thing will be repeated This beacon will repeat until you hit the ESC key Longer delays than 99 seconds can be derived by looping a wait command in a DECSZ loop an example is given in the CTL Z command description CTL Z lt F1 F12 gt Decrement Loop Count and Skip Message if Zero This command allows you to control looping in a message The structure of the command consists of the CTL Z command followed by a message key F1 F12 There must be a load loop command in the message stream somewhere ahead of the CTL Z command When the CTL Z command is encountered the loop count is decremented by one and if the result is not zero the message is jumped to If it is zero the message is skipped The first time the L command is encountered the count is loaded and subsequent CTL L commands are ignored until the loop count expires this allows a loop count load and loop count test to reside in one message The best way to describe the command further is with a couple of examples Load Message Slot F1 with L02 CQ CQ DE KIEL ZF1 K Results when F1 is pressed CQ CQ DE K1EL CQ CQ DE K1EL K What happens is this When CTL L is processed the K42 loads the count and stores it then it outputs the message The CTL Z command tells the K42 to decrement the loop count and test to see if it is zero if it isn t zero the K42 jumps back to the beginning of F1
16. mapped to UK is mapped to os is mapped to AR CWR Settings by Rotary Encoder There are only available when the CWR module is enabled ALT Speed Conirol Noise Filter Setting If you press and hold the ALT key while you turn the Speed Control the K42 CWR noise filter is adjusted There are eight settings ranging from minimal filtering 1 to maximum filtering 8 This controls the cutoff of the digital low pass filter in the CW demodulator With higher settings of filtering the K42 CWR will respond less to shorter bursts of noise Higher filter settings reduces the K42 CWR s ability to copy very fast CW SHIFT SPEED Control Gain Setting If you press and hold the SHIFT key while you turn the Speed Control the K42 CWR gain is adjusted This allows you to tailor the K42 CWR module for differing input levels Depending on what the source of the audio input is line out headphone jack 600 ohm output speaker output the signal level can vary widely Adjustable gain allows you to compensate for this For best result adjust the gain so that the loudest signal just barely lights the right most LED This insures that you have sufficient gain to copy weak signals while not overdriving the K42 CWR module on strong signals There are eight gain levels from 1 to 8 CTL SPEED Conirol Inter Element Spacing Setting If you press and hold the CTL key while turning the Speed Control you can adjust the amount of inter element space the decoder will use
17. operates like a straight key for a discussion of this see page 18 Every time you hit ALT F6 the K42 will cycle to the next keying mode lambicA gt lambicB gt Bug gt Ultimatic gt lambicA ALT F7 Toggle Autospace applies to paddle input only Here is how autospace works If you pause for more than one dit time between a dit or dah the K42 will interpret this as a letter space and will not send the next dit or dah until a full letter space time has been met The normal letter space is 3 dit spaces but by using the ALT LEFT and ALT RIGHT commands you can modify this The K42 has a paddle event memory so that you can enter dits or dahs during the inter letter space and the K42 will send them as they were entered With a little practice autospace will help you to send perfectly space Morse ALT F8 Modify Output port K42 s keying port connector can be configured in three different ways This allows you to ability to key one of two radios if you do not require PTT control Mode 1 Tip Output Key Ring Output PIT LCD Displays K1P1 Mode 2 Tip Output Key Ring Output Off LCD Displays K1 Mode 3 Tip Output Off Ring Output Key LCD Displays K2 ALT F9 Swap Paddles applies to paddle input only You can swap paddles with this command It s a nice feature to have when right and left handed ops want to share the same keyer ALT F10 Set 17 Extension The K42 addresses problems often encountered when keying older transceivers with
18. or BEEP OFF K 42 User s Manual Rev A 7 31 2009 Page 8 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual SHIFT F7 Toggle Transmitter Muting This command allows you to temporarily disable the Key and PTT outputs Sidetone is not affected by this command Transmit muting is useful for verifying a message off line or for code practice This is both an immediate and toggle command SHIFT F8 Tune Command Use this command to force a constant key down condition If in K1P1 mode both the KEY and PTT outputs are turned on Only one output is turned on in K1 or K2 output modes Any key press will cancel Tune CWR is muted while Tune is activated The display will show TUNE to indicate tune is in effect Tune is automatically turned off after 10 seconds as a safety feature SHIFT F9 through SHIFT F12 Fast Speed Change Keys In contesting or just general QSO hunting it s handy to have several preset CW speed settings that you can select with a single key press You learned how to program these keys in the SHIFT F1 section ALT Commands The ALT command keys are configuration commands that setup K42 operating preferences In most cases you ll set these once save them to memory and not think about them again Remember to use the SHIFT F1 P command to save these settings in EEPROM so that they will be loaded next time you power up ALT F1 Toggle K42 CWR module on and off When this key is pressed it will turn the K42 CWR circuitry on or of
19. tell which display view you are looking at by the underline cursor The cursor is shown when looking at the KIW and indicates the text entry point The cursor is turned off in the EW You can scroll back though the buffer a line at a time using the PGUP and PGDN keys Hitting the HOME key returns the buffer back to the active line The END key is not used for scrolling it is assigned to Fast Callsign Entry Pressing the END key will open up a small window in the upper left corner of the display where you can enter a callsign When you hit return the callsign will be copied into the F12 message slot This is great for contest exchanges Try entering a message formatted like this AKAM C F12 DE K1EL 5NN 5NN NH NH QSL C F12 DE K1EL QSL M K Now you can quickly enter different callsigns into the F12 slot using the END key and reuse the above message over and over again Note that the CALL token C is used to call the message in F12 and then return Detailed Command Descriptions Now that the basics are covered it s time to dig a little deeper and explore the command set of the K42 Shift ALT CTL Keys This is basic stuff but let s cover it The Shift Ctrl and Alt keys allow multiple key functions to be assigned to a single key If you are not familiar with these keys here s how they are used 1 Press and hold the CTL key then press the letter A for CTL A 2 Press and hold the ALT key then press the letter A for ALT A 3 Press and ho
20. the K42 to simply abort the command and not change the serial number Once the serial number is set you can increment decrement and send the serial number using buffered commands CTL l CTL D and CTL N respectively The right and left arrow keys can also be used to change the serial number ALT F5 Toggle Contest Spacing By default the spacing between words in a message is 7 dit times When Contest Spacing is enabled a word space will be 6 dit times The idea here is to reduce the time it takes to send a message it does not affect paddle keying K 42 User s Manual Rev A 7 31 2009 Page 9 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual ALT F6 Select Paddle Mode applies to paddle input only The K42 supports four keying modes lambic A lambic B Ultimatic and Bug keying modes In iambic and ultimatic mode the K42 makes dits and dahs automatically based on which paddle you press In either lambic mode alternating dits and dahs are sent while both paddles are held closed In lambic mode B an extra alternate dit or dah is sent if both paddles had been pressed and then released In Ultimatic mode when both paddles are pressed the keyer will send a continuous stream of whichever paddle was last pressed For example if you are holding the dit paddle and then press and hold the dah paddle the keyer will switch from sending continuous dits to continuous dahs In bug mode the K42 makes the dits and you make the dahs The dah paddle essentially
21. use a mono connector this will ground the ring input and cause the keyer to send a continuous stream of dits Ground 1 Tip EN vr Ring 1 Figure 5 Paddle input Connections High Speed CW Operation The K42 supports HSCW operation by being able to send character strings at 200 WPM speeds and higher HSCW is primarily used to work other stations using Meteor Scatter propagation The method of operation calls for short bursts of characters to be sent repetitively at high speeds for a predetermined period of time The receiving station listens and records the sporadically received bursts and plays them back at a slow speed to decipher the Morse message See http www nitehawk com rasmit ws1_15 html for more information CWR Test Points There are two test points that can be used to verify the operation of the K42 CW PCB TP1 Audio output of the 4 pole active filter before entering the PSoC Controller By applying a signal generator to the K42 CWR audio input and sweeping this from 600 to 800Hz a peak response will be observed at this test point at approximately 690Hz 20 Hz TP2 Audio Output of the PSoC s internal 4 pole SCAF filter In the same manner as above a peak response should be seen at 690 Hz AF Keying Interface Unlike the K40 the K42 PCB does not have an onboard audio keying circuit K 42 User s Manual Version A 7 31 2009 Page 18 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual RF Immunity
22. when making a decision to end a letter or a word This can help in situations where ops use too much or too little space between dits and dahs For example if too much space is used a dit dah dit could be decoded as E T E instead of R It can also help where faster senders do not allow enough space between letters For example dit dah dah dit is decoded as a P instead of A N There are eight spacing ranges where the range is represented by two numeric values The first number is the K 42 User s Manual Rev A 7 31 2009 Page 16 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual letter spacing allowance and the second number is the wordspace allowance The display ISPC 20 45 represents 2 0 dits for letterspace allowance and 4 5 dits for wordspace allowance If there is more that two dit intervals between elements that will be interpreted as a letterspace If there is more than 4 5 dits between elements that will be interpreted as a wordspace To keep it simple use smaller numbers for fast crowded sending and larger numbers for loose spacing Use the value 20 40 for perfectly spaced CW LCD Display Interface The K40 provides an interface to a 16 by 2 line LCD The display allows the user to see what he is typing when preparing out going text and also monitor transmitting progress It does this by providing two display windows that can be selected by the TAB key The default view is the keyboard entry window hitting the TAB key will toggle the view ove
23. CAPS LOCK light on the keyboard will flash to let you know that pause is in effect This command is used to insert a pause into a message to allow you to insert something manually For example you might make a message up that looks like this UR RST IS P NAME HR IS STEVE After playing UR RST IS the K42 will pause to allow you to enter an RST after which you hit the INSERT key which releases the K42 to continue with the rest of the message Note that the ESC key also cancels a pause but will kill the remainder of a message in progress CTL S nn Change Speed to NN WPM nn 05 99 HSCW QRSS Speed Set You can build a message that has a speed change in it with this command This command is also used to run HSCW or QRSS speeds Load Message Slot F1 with s 10 CQ CQ DE KIEL KIEL S 22 CQ CQ DE KIEL F1 F1 will repeat until ESC CQ CQ DE K1EL at 10 wom CQ CQ DE KIEL at 22 wom The K42 supports both HSCW High Speed CW and QRSS Extremely Slow transmit rates through the use of this buffered command The syntax for the HSCW command is K 42 User s Manual Rev A 7 31 2009 Page 14 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual S Hn Where n is a single digit number representing the lpm rate divided by 1000 For example SH2 selects 2000 lpm and SH4 selects 4000 Ipm Any rate from 1000 to 8000 can be picked although only a handful of them are actually used by radio amateurs In the US common rates are 1000 2000 4000 and 6000 lp
24. Number This is the quick way to modify the serial number both incrementing and decrementing is supported Use the ALT F4 command to set the serial number explicitly Preserving Settings The basic settings of the K42 reside in EEPROM so that they are preserved when power is shut off When the K42 is powered on for the first time a default set of values are loaded into EEPROM You can customize these defaults very easily When you have the K42 setup the way you like it just press SHIFT F1 followed by the letter P and current settings for the following items will be saved in EEPROM memory Speed Paddle Swap Paddle Sensitivity Weight Sidetone disable Fast WPM keys Character Spacing Sidetone Frequency Numeric mapping lambic Mode PTT delays CWR Gain Filter Autospace Setting Serial number Pin Configuration Buffered Command Language A simple yet powerful command set is provided that allows you to assemble complex CW messages The language revolves around 11 basic commands These commands can be inserted into a message to perform various functions They occupy space in the message slot so be careful in using them when the slot is close to being full Review the SHIFT F1 command to learn how to record a message When F1 or some other message key is referred to in the examples this just means you press the F1 or other key Following is a list of the commands including descriptions F1 F12 Jump to message Message keys are buffered commands which are
25. Recording Message recording is easy let s say you want to put a new message in slot F4 first press SHIFT F1 then press F4 The CAPS light will come on to let you know that you are in record mode and you can then enter your message If you make a mistake you can back up using the BACKSPACE key At any time you can K 42 User s Manual Rev A 7 31 2009 Page 6 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual abort by pressing the ESC key Any alphanumeric key or prosign can be put into a message as well as any buffered command When you are all finished and want to save the message press the ENTER key and the CAPS LOCK light will go out If you want to review your message without actually sending it hit the Transmit Mute key SHIFT F7 followed by the desired message key and your message will be played in sidetone only Don t forget to turn off transmit mute when you are ready to go live again The message slots are fixed in size If while entering a message you get to within 8 entries of the slot being full the SCROLL LOCK light will turn on When you reach the end of the slot Slot FULL the SCROLL LOCK light will flash The following chart shows the sizes of the 12 message buffers in letters commands F1 192 F4 192 F7 192 F10 112 F2 192 F5 192 F8 112 F11 32 F3 192 F6 192 F9 112 F12 32 Fast WPM Keys Four command keys SHIFT F9 through SHIFT F12 are assigned as Fast WPM change keys You can program these keys to any spee
26. age 11 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual ALT RIGHT lt nn gt Set Key Compensation Keying Compensation allows a fixed amount of time to be added to the length of all dits and dahs QSK keying on modern transceivers can cause shortening of these elements which is especially noticeable at high speeds The K42 allows the length of the elements to be increased uniformly to compensate for this The adjustments can be made in one millisecond steps The maximum adjustment is 31 mSecs Key compensation is very similar to Weighting in that any adjustment added to the dits and dahs is subtracted from the spacing so the resulting speed is not changed The difference between weighting and keying compensation is that compensation is independent of speed so if 10 mSec of key compensation is selected 10 mSec will be always be added regardless of speed So be careful at high speeds with large values of keying compensation dits and dahs may run together with no spacing at all l l l Letter R without compensation JI U om EOL Letter R with compensation ALT LEFT nn Set Key Weighting The keying weight can be adjusted in percentage from 25 to 75 When set to 50 the dit time is equal to the inter element time which is normal Values less than 50 reduce weighting while 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 wei
27. ah adjustable correction Automatic paddle watchdog Flexible Beacon Modes HSCW QRSS Output Capability Farnsworth speed mode Extensive RFI filtering Keyboard Paddle Optional On Off Switch LCD Contrast adjustment CWR Specifications AF Input Level DV nominal 5V max peak to peak External Input Audio Filter 4 Pole PSoC Based Audio Filter 4 Pole Tone Decode Frequency 690 Hz Decode Method Quadrature Correlation Demodulation Decode Speed Range 10 to 38 WPM Tuning Indication Six LEDs frequency bar graph auto squelch Gain Settings Eight gain levels Noise Filtering Eight Digital low pass filter settings Inter element Spacing Four spacing intervals narrow to wide Speed Read Back Displayed upon command key press ASR Mode Automatic display buffer toggle Console and Keyer PICs PIC16F688 CWR Processor Cypress CY8C27143 24 PSoC Processor LED Controller PIC12F508 Microcontroller Support and Warranty The K 42 is fully guaranteed if you are not satisfied please return the kit for a full refund Please submit questions regular mail or e mail via these addresses Steven T Elliott K1EL or e mail K1EL k1el com 43 Meadowcrest Drive Bedford NH 03110 USA Watch the K1EL Website for latest updates and new products http www k1el com While every effort has been made to insure that the K42 design is as complete and accurate as possible it is still possible to cause equipment damage or incur personal injury if 1 The K42 kit is not used a
28. ay The on board keying circuit of the K40 PCB is capable of keying virtually any transmitter positive or negative voltages up to 300 VDC The keying interface is optically isolated from the K42 chassis for safety K42 Back Panel Plus Dit Key N C Dah PTT d Gnd Gnd 4 Gnd PS 2 Pu De Audio lambic Keyboard Key Line Input Paddle to XCVR Figure 1 K42 CW Keyboard Hookup Diagram What Keyboard to Use The K42 uses the same keyboard interface as the K40 which has worked flawlessly with countless brands of keyboards Try to pick one that is as new a possible since newer ones will draw much less current than a 10 year old keyboard off an old IBM PC No matter what keyboard you use it is a good idea to check the temperature of the 5 volt voltage regulator with keyboard attached If the keyboard does draw an excessive amount of current the regulator will overheat and require a heat sink K 42 User s Manual Rev A 7 31 2009 Page 1 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual Office Max and Staples as well as others sell AT style keyboards made by Belkin and Fellowes which work great with the K42 and can be bought for a low price Another option is eBay Be wary of USB keyboards with USB to PS 2 converters Some work with the K42 while others do not We may need to look at a firmware tweak to address this if it becomes an issue with folks Power Supply We covered this during kit assembly but it s worth repeatin
29. d of your choice To set these keys simply press SHIFT F1 followed by the desired Fast WPM key and a two digit number from 5 99 For example to set the SHIFT F10 key to 14 WPM enter the sequence SHIFT F1 SHIFT F10 lt 14 gt NOTE Fast WPM settings are not automatically saved in EEPROM to save them you need to enter the Preserve Settings command SHIFT F1 P Custom Prosigns You can permanently assign 11 custom prosigns A prosign in this context is simply any two normal characters concatenated into a single character The 11 abbreviation keys amp are reserved for custom prosigns Several common prosigns such as AR SK BT And DN are already assigned see page 13 so you don t have to add these One application of this feature could be adding special European language characters or uncommon prosigns Note that and cannot be remapped To illustrate how the command works let s assign AS to the 9 key just enter the following sequence SHIFT F1 AS From this time on anytime you press AS will be sent Custom prosigns are automatically stored in EEPROM after they are entered Numeric Mapping Numeric Mapping allows you to substitute a letter for a number when sending a serial number T is a popular mapping for zero but you can choose what you like for 0 and any other numbers 1 9 To record a mapping press SHIFT F1 followed by M After the CAPS light turns on press the number you want to map followed by what you want it t
30. displayed If you want to leave it alone simply press the esc key Turning the speed pot or using the arrow keys to change the serial number will be noted on the display in a temporary message in the upper right hand corner LCD Bias Control Contrast The display bias level is controlled by potentiometer R1 on the K42 PCB this controls the display contrast To set turn control fully clockwise then return counterclockwise until the display will comes into view then adjust for best contrast Using other LCD Displays The K42 kit comes with an LCD display however K1EL has tested LCD displays from several different manufacturers with success To save yourself a lot of work verify that the display is working and that it supports the HD44780 standard interface Beware of used or low quality surplus displays Following are tested manufacturers Optrex Sharp Hitachi Datamedia Samsung LOOK FOR HD44780 CONTROLLER K 42 User s Manual Version A 7 31 2009 Page 17 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual Also make sure you obtain the correct LCD pinout and pin numbering for the exact display you are using For the most part all manufacturers use the same signal ordering GND 5 VB GND RS W E DO D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 but some start with Pin 1 others start with pin 14 To be safe Get a Datasheet A provision for an onboard backlight current limiting resistor R14 is provided on the K42 PCB the location is sized for a v watt resi
31. e csini Se eee mtn e peers EES EE Dre XR UE REN oe DR CE eiTe eine mes 18 Using a Straight Key with the K42 A 18 High Speed CW Operation 20 m eto e eite te elt a du OPE 18 CWR Test Points 2 1 eoe eee nece e cedet pecie eoe TE ca De cua Hoa E eege 18 AF Keying Hl Ee 18 RE Irnim nity e eret trovo eiie Gudea Te de bunte a E 19 Table1 Immediate Command Chart eese eeeeeee enne tenete n nennen nnn n natn rnnt ani nn nsn n nnns 19 Table2 Buffered Command Chart eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eene enne nnns ntn natns nnn n nsn nn nsn nannan mannna 19 CW Keyboard Theory of Operation eeeeseeeeeeseee esee esee enne enne nenne nnn nnnm ann nn nn nnn ani nn s nnnm natns ntnn nnn 20 gt Il SIBI o rz SEE 20 Command Bypass eite te m debe not tute eite aane Y Pa bre a NER eta 20 Individual BlOCKS tg ree Le ete e Ee REED RET 20 LCD Display Window Architecture nnne nnn nn nsn nre nnns enne 21 K42 CW Reader Theory of Operation 22 K42 Specification cis iefeccseck e PEE 23 CWR Specifications e 23 Support and vri 23 K 42 User s Manual Version A 7 31 2009 Page 30
32. e three CWR controls that can be used to improve the quality of copied Morse 1 Gain can be adjusted to compensate for low or high receiver volume There are eight gain settings Gain is adjusted by holding the Shift key down while turning the speed control As you turn the knob the current setting is displayed momentarily on the LCD display 2 The low pass noise filter is also adjustable There are eight settings from minimal filtering 01 to maximum filtering 08 Filtering is adjusted by holding the ALT key down and turning the speed control As you turn the knob the current setting is displayed momentarily on the LCD display 3 Inter element spacing allowance can be adjusted too This helps compensate for incorrect spacing between dits and dahs which can cause letters to be run together or broken apart There are eight settings which are adjusted by holding the CTL key down while turning the speed pot Smaller values expect less space between elements fixes the case where an R prints as ETE while large values expect more space fixes the case where ETE prints as R There is a limit to the effectiveness of this control if the inter element spacing is way out of range the CWR will not be able to copy very well Always allow time for the CWR to completely lock on the sending speed The upper Rx speed about 40 to 45 WPM with the upper limit primarily influenced by the noise filter setting You can show the current receive WPM by hitting ALT TAB
33. en 14 GN Send Serial N tmb t rei eebe geheegt EN 14 CTL P Pause Output Until Insert Key Dresee eene 14 CTL S nn Change Speed to NN WPM nn 05 gt 99 HSCW QRSS Speed Set 14 CTL W NN Wait for NN Seconds NN 01 gt 99 nennen 15 CTL Z lt F1 F12 gt Decrement Loop Count and Skip Message if Zero sssssssseesseeeeeeeerreerrererereesee 15 More Message Examlples em ete tet rte De p ect etate e ea Red epe eeh IH eave 16 Additional Key Asslgnmehts eee eed ie ee lee ERR Teitt 16 CWR Settings by Rotary Encoder eeeeeseeeeseeeeeeeeeeeee enne nennen ann nnn nnnm ann nn s stima ninm sinn e nnns sinn nnn 16 ALT Speed Control Noise Filter Getting nennen nene 16 SHIFT SPEED Control Gain Setting esses eene nennen nennen nnne nnns 16 CTL SPEED Control Inter Element Spacing Setting seene 16 LCD Display Nier Ee 17 Message Let r Mapping E 17 Buffered Command Tokens aasia ee a a aeaa Ep Bei aa ida Lesbo ee es de Free ra ino 17 ECD Bias Control Contrastes bisects doh wenn nae etc b ect a ees tu apa adta eate 17 Using other CCD Di Splay EE 17 Miscellaneous Information eeeeeeeeeeeeee esee nennen nennen nnne nna ra rannan aeaa a Eaa AA sn sss sn nasa sa sn sans ennaa 18 Paddle Watchdog ie eget e Ue Y eee ERI nae ve e ExpL eo Dre ln a 18 Keyboard P ddl
34. f A message is shown on the display that states which one When the K42 CWR is off it will not respond to audio input and will display decoded CW ALT F2 PTT Lead In Delay Time The K42 provides a transmitter PTT output that can be used to switch a transmitter over to transmit mode in advance of actual CW keying You have control over the time delay between when PTT is asserted and when CW keying will start Some amount of Tail Time must be set in order for Lead In to work If Tail Time is set to zero then the lead in delay will activate between every letter If Tail delay is set to bridge the gap between successive letters then Lead In will work properly The format for the command is ALT F2 nn where nn is a two digit number calling out the delay in 10 s of milliseconds nn 26 selects 260 milliseconds The maximum delay that can be set is 99 or 990 milliseconds ALT F3 PTT Tail Delay Time Time delay to PTT deassertion is programmed in units of 10 mSecs The syntax is the same as ALT F2 Lead in Delay Tail Delay PTT ham The letter A ALT F4 Set Serial Number For contesting the ability to send and keep track of a serial number is indispensable This command allows you to preset the serial number to any 4 digit number from 0000 to 9999 Just hit ALT F4 and enter four numbers If you make a mistake hit ESC to cancel and re enter the number in other words backspace won t work on this Any non numeric entered will cause
35. f the display You will see a peak as you pass though 690 Hz Once you have the station tuned in properly CW will be decoded and displayed Note that the rightmost LED is an overload indicator for best results adjust the audio level so that this LED does not light The K42 has adjustable gain control so that in most cases you can adjust the audio level without changing your receiver s audio level More on this later Although the filtering on the KA2 CWR is good there are two conditions that it can have difficulty with strong background noise and very strong adjacent stations If either of these things is present you will see a decrease in the quality of copied CW Another challenge is trying to copy poor sending technique a bad fist K 42 User s Manual Rev A 7 31 2009 Page 3 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual is a bad fist and it s tough to decode Characters run together poorly constructed letters or widely varying code speed is not easy to copy by machine You will also find that the K42 CWR will occasionally respond to noise or off tuned signals and display garbage characters on the LCD display It may take the K42 a moment to lock on to a newly tuned in station it may decode incorrectly at first but after a few letters it will lock on and display correctly Again the K42 has two controls to address these issues First an adjustable noise filter and second an inter element space allowance control K42 CWR Settings There ar
36. ffer the cursor is not shown when viewing the outgoing buffer LCD Display Window Architecture Display windowing data flow is best described by the following diagram Paddle Keyboard Input Window Echo Window Figure 9 K42 Display Window Diagram Keyed Morse to Transmitter Keyboard Keyer PIC Letters entered on the keyboard are placed directly into the Keyboard Input Window KIW this window has a direct correspondence to the input buffer described previously In other words it shows what is placed in the input buffer The console PIC takes data out of the input buffer and transfers it to the Keyer PIC where it is merged with letters entered on the paddles and then sent off to key the transmitter As data is sent to the keying output it is echoed back to be displayed in the Echo Window EW When not in CWR mode this is easy to understand the KIW shows what is being entered on the keyboard and the EW shows what is being sent in real time The EW also shows what is being entered on the paddles The default window is the KIW since you want to see what you are typing and occasionally look at the EW to monitor sending progress In CWR mode it gets more complicated since there are three different view modes The normal mode is similar to above in that keyboard letters go into the KIW but the EW only shows what is being received by the CWR The EW is the default view In this mode it s not possible to see what is being sent beca
37. g pick a power supply that will provide somewhere between 8 and 13 volts The optimal voltage is 9 volts Current requirement depends on the keyboard you use if the keyboard doesn t draw much you could get away with 100 ma The K42 by itself draws about 40 ma at 9 volts at idle and peaks up to 80 ma when keying with sidetone enabled Just be sure you test the power connector for correct polarity BEFORE you plug it into the K42 We do include a polarity protection diode on board but don t make use of it if you don t have to have a very low current keyboard that allows me to run my K42 off a rechargeable 9 volt battery get about 10 12 hours of use out of one charge Your mileage may vary though Sidetone Speaker The sidetone speaker on the K42 provides adequate sidetone volume for most applications R16 on the K42 fixes the volume level and can be adjusted to suit the supplied value is 68 ohms In most configurations you will turn internal sidetone off and use the sidetone built into your transceiver but it s nice to have it for practice or testing purposes Transmitter Connection This is highly transmitter transceiver dependent It can be as simple as making up a cable with an 1 8 inch mono jack on each side or as complicated as using stereo jacks and modifying the keying mode in your transceiver s setup menu Here are the basics Figure 1 above shows which pins on a stereo plug do what your job is to check with your radio s ma
38. ge or something from the outgoing queue it will be cancelled and you can break right in If you want to exchange the dit and dah paddles hold the ALT key down and then press the F9 key The paddles will now be swapped If you turn the K42 off and then back on again you find that your message will have been remembered but not the paddle swap setting Only messages are automatically saved in EEPROM all other settings must be saved by command The command that does this is SHIFT F1 P it permanently stores all settings in EEPROM more on this later Using the K42 CW Reader CWR Audio Input for CWR Checkout Connect audio output from your receiver to the K42 audio input jack This can be the Line Out of your receiver optimum source or pick off audio across the speaker The latter is a little tricky since the level will be controlled by the receiver s volume control Only two wires are needed ground and audio hook them up as shown in Figure 1 and you ll be ready to start CWR Basics The K42 design includes a built in CW Reader The command to enable disable CWR mode is ALT F1 It s fairly easy to operate the CWR but there are just a few things to keep in mind The filters in the K42 CWR are fixed at 690 Hz This means that you need to adjust your receiver so that its passband is centered on 690 Hz When you hear a station slowly tune the station while watching the six LED display on the K42 front panel Watch for a peak LED movement to the right o
39. ghting results in a thinner sound while increased weighting results in a heavier sound Since weighting will track speed one weighting setting will sound the same at all speeds SLS LOL 25 weighting T LI LA Le 50 weighting J LI UL zen weighting ALT UP Increase Sidetone Frequency ALT DOWN Decrease Sidetone Frequency Sidetone frequency can be adjusted in fixed steps The steps are specified in the following chart 400 Hz 571 Hz 1000 Hz 444 Hz 666 Hz 1333 Hz 500 Hz 800 Hz 2000 Hz ALT HOME Toggle Encoder Half Stepping This sets whether an encoder step is one click of the encoder or two In half stepping mode the encoder is less likely to jump more than one step at a time HOME Return Display to Home Position END Fast Callsign Entry You can quickly and easily enter a message in slot F12 by pressing END It s intended to be used to enter a callsign on the fly When you have entered your text hit return to save Pressing END the key will bring up a small text entry window in the upper left hand corner of the LCD display This allows you to see what you are entering while referencing the rest of the display handy for picking out a callsign ESC will also exit SHIFT TAB Clear Keyboard Display Clears both keyboard input and echo display windows This command will terminate an active message ESC Abort Clear Buffer This can be pressed at any time to abort a message abort a command or to clear the typeahead buffer If this is pre
40. he buffer hit INSERT again A blinking CAPS LOCK LED on the keyboard will indicate when output is paused You can hold the transmit display for a longer period of time by increasing the Tail time TXMON mixes receive and transmit activity in the receive view Letters entered on the keyboard or paddle are displayed in UPPPER case while the transmit stream is displayed in lower case Each time you press SHIIFT F3 will sequence through the settings as shown below ASR OFF TXMON OFF ASR OFF TXMON ON ASR ON TXMON OFF ASR ON TXMON ON SHIFT F4 Morse Code Practice A dual mode multi level code practice program is built into the K42 It S accessed via the SHIFT F4 command key There are two styles of practice receive only and echo receive respond practice There are four levels of practice organized by easy to difficult letter groups The four levels are Level i E TANIMWSGDUKOR Level2 COP JF BVYHXZL including level 1 Level3 1 234567890 including level 1 amp 2 Level4 AR SK BT AS including level 1 amp 2 amp 3 The syntax for entering a practice mode is SHIFT F4 style level where style is R for receive or E for echo practice SHIFT F4 R2 selects Level 2 receive practice SHIFT F4 E4 selects Level 4 echo practice Receive Practice Description Random characters from the selected level are sent in groups of five Practice will continue until the ESC key is pressed You can check what was sent by toggling to the Echo
41. he buffer is full Current Value Status Most commands modify the value of a K42 Parameter Two state commands toggle the state for example Autospace has two states off and on Each time you press the Autospace command key the state will be changed to the opposite of the current setting So when you press Auto space and it displays OFF that is the new setting If you wanted it on just press the key a second time Other commands have multiple value settings It is confusing to advance to a new state when these commands are issued The way they work is that on first key press or encoder click the current value is displayed You have the option to change the state by pressing the key again or moving the rotary encoder another click This lets you see what the current state is and if you are happy with it to leave it as is The following commands work like this ALT F8 Modify Output Port Setting ALT F6 Modify Keyer Mode Modify Tx WPM Speed Rotary Encoder Shift F3 Modify ASR TX Monitor Mode Modify CWR Gain Rotary Encoder Modify CWR Noise Filter Rotary Encoder Modify CWR I Space Rotary Encoder Numeric value commands will display the current value and allow you to accept them or enter a new value on the keyboard An example of this command is Set Tail When you press ALT F3 the current Tail value is displayed if you hit enter or escape the value is left unchanged If you instead enter a new numeric value the value you enter will replace the
42. ks keystrokes as they are entered and a second which shows data as it is being sent by the Keyer PIC The Keyer PIC has three outputs KEY PTT and sidetone Both the KEY and PTT outputs are optically isolated from K42 power and are implemented with a solid state relay Full control over PTT is provided to compensate for transmit changeover delay and hold keying between letters and words The solid state relay will key practically any transmitter vacuum tube or solid state Sidetone generated by the Keyer PIC is buffered by a 2N2222 buffer transistor which drives an on board mini speaker the volume is set by the on board resistor R16 A rotary digital encoder is connected to the Keyer PIC this control is used primarily for speed control but it is also used for real time control of CW Reader settings such as gain and noise filtering The K42 s LCD interface is a fixed format at 16 characters by 2 lines The interface is compatible with most if not all LCD displays based on the Hitachi HD44780 controller LC So if you prefer to use your own enclosure and display you can The display allows the user to see what is being typed in while sending and also do basic editing It is also possible to scroll back to view the last 14 lines typed in The outgoing viewport can be selected by hitting the TAB key which allows the user to see outgoing Morse as it is being sent The outgoing buffer is much larger at 125 lines A cursor is shown when viewing the edit bu
43. ld the SHIFT key then press the letter A for SHIFT A 4 Press the A key by itself for the letter A In this User Manual SHIFT key refers to a key pressed with Shift SHIFT F1 for example ALT key refers to a key pressed with Alt ALT PGUP for example key refers to a key pressed with Ctrl C B for example Most commands will display the current setting on the display when entered If you want to leave the setting as is press ESC to cancel the command Some commands are toggle commands which mean they have two states usually OFF and ON Each time you press the command key the state is toggled press it once or twice to arrive at the setting you want K 42 User s Manual Rev A 7 31 2009 Page 5 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual Keyboard LED indications When you press a command key that requires additional parameters the CAPS light on the keyboard will turn on to remind you that more keystrokes are required to finish the command When recording a message or other stored information the CAPS light will stay on until recording is ended When the K42 is in pause state via the INSERT KEY or by the P buffered wait command the CAPS light will flash to remind you the K42 is paused and waiting for user intervention press INSERT to continue The SCROLL LOCK light is used to indicate full status of either a message buffer or the type ahead buffer When Scroll Lock lights that s an almost full indication when it starts to flash t
44. m the keyboard and determining what to do with them U2 is the Keyer PIC which is controlled by the console PIC its main task is to generate Morse code and monitor the keyer paddle inputs The two PICs communicate over a serial interface running at 9600 baud The Keyer PIC throttles the Console PIC via in band flow control A 4 kilobyte EEPROM memory connected to the Console PIC s SPI interface stores up to 12 messages system settings and holds the keyboard type ahead and LCD display buffers Opto coupler H Speaker Serial I F Key PTT Keyboard Serial I F U5 Console EEPROM Memory LCD Display Figure 6 K42 CW Keyboard Block Diagram Keyer Paddle AF Input There are two types of data sent from the Console to the Keyer Commands and Data Commands modify the K42 s operation in some way changing operating speed turning off sidetone recording a message etc Data are letters numbers or prosigns that are to be sent in Morse Data is processed differently than commands Data is put into a type ahead buffer that allows the user to type faster than the Morse is being sent The size of this buffer is about 200 characters and is a FIFO buffer First In First Out meaning that characters are taken out in the order they were put in Since there can be a considerable delay from keyboard input to Morse output commands bypass the input FIFO and are sent to the Keyer PIC immediately This allows changes to be
45. m while in Europe 1000 3000 4000 lpm are common The syntax for the QRSS command is S lt Qn gt Where n is a single digit number 1 4 representing the QRSS rate 1 QRSS3 3 second dits 2 QRSSE 6second dits 3 QRSS30 30 second dits 4 QRSS60 60 second dits For example SQ1 selects QRSS3 or 3 second dits and SQ4 selects 60 second dits NOTE Remember to put a buffered speed command at the end of a message that contains either a QRSS or HSCW command to restore normal CW operation when the message is completed HSCW Operation Hints In running HSCW mode a common practice is to key the transmitter when sending and feed keyed audio tones into the microphone input You can use the K42 sidetone output directly as a tone source as this is a keyed 2000 Hz tone in HSCW mode Alternatively you can use the K42 key output to key an external tone generator In either case the PTT output of the K42 should be connected to the PTT input of the transmitter You have a choice of either inserting an HSCW QRSS command into a message or use it on the fly while you are typing It is not very useful on the fly though and is intended to be used in a message Use ESC to leave HSCW QRSS mode CTL W NN Wait for NN Seconds NN 01 gt 99 This command is used to insert a fixed pause into a message it s well suited for building a beacon message Load Message Slot F1 with vvv K05 BCON DE K1EL W60 F1 When you press F1 three V s will be followed by a
46. made while sending is underway Command Bypass Key Processor Key Input Command Bypass Output to Keyer PIC Figure 7 Output FIFO Block Diagram Since there are cases when you don t want commands to take effect immediately the K42 buffers certain commands This means that the command is placed in the typeahead buffer and won t be acted on until it comes out An example of the use of a buffered command would be to send two words at two different speeds the first at 15 WPM and the second at 20 WPM By placing a buffered speed command between the words the speed will not be changed until the first word is completely sent Not all but many of the immediate commands can be entered as buffered commands Most often buffered commands are used in messages Individual Blocks Getting back to the block diagram the paddle inputs are connected to the Keyer PIC the paddle takes priority over data coming in from the keyboard A paddle press will cause the FIFO buffer to be cleared This allows you K 42 User s Manual Version A 7 31 2009 Page 20 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual to cancel a message and start sending by paddle right away As mentioned before the keyboard is connected to the Console PIC since its input generally has to be buffered in the EEPROM The LCD is also connected to the Console to allow keyboard data and command prompts to be displayed The K42 keeps two separate display buffers in EEPROM one that trac
47. n you can always toggle between the KIW and the EW with the TAB key When CWR mode is turned off the CWR logic is disabled and will draw minimum power K 42 User s Manual Rev A 7 31 2009 Page 4 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual OJOJ Low Signal Level High Signal Level Fig 3 CW Level Indicator LEDs The LED display is a very simple indication of both tuning frequency and signal strength For this reason a signal that rapidly changes in signal strength can make tuning more difficult The accuracy of CW decoding can vary as a signal fades in and out With very deep fades the K42 CWR may print an erroneous character or get out of sync for a couple of characters CWR Mode Transmitting In CWR mode the K42 KEY output is used to key your transceiver as it normally would You can either type on the keyboard or use a set of paddles to enter letters to transmit While receiving the K42 supports type ahead allowing you to enter a response while reading an incoming message Hit the Insert key to pause transmit so you can type ahead You can quickly toggle between display windows with the TAB key to check a spelling or callsign The Caps Lock light on the keyboard will flash when there are characters in queue waiting to be sent this can be a reminder that you have paused transmit When ASR mode is turned on the display will toggle to the KIW as soon as you start typing When you stop or pause the display will return to the EW You can
48. nslated into ASCII letters which are sent to the Keyer PIC which in turn passes it directly to the Console PIC for display on the LCD As part of the detection process the amplitude of the filtered CW signal is determined in the PSoC This amplitude information is formatted into a PWM waveform which is fed to the display PIC U7 which lights a six LED bar graph display Dual OP Amp 690Hz i PIC12C508 o Input Oo 2 p 4 pole 9 Tuning AF Bandpass E LEDs PWM Amplitude DEAE BEF Toe mann 4 pole 690Hz Decoder Decoded Dits Dahs To From TI ASCII K40 i RO Translation PSoC PSoC Figure 10 K42 CW Reader Block Diagram K 42 User s Manual Version A 7 31 2009 Page 22 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual K42 Specifications Built In PS 2 AT Keyboard Interface lambic CW Paddle Interface PTT Output Solid state relay 300VDC Key Output Solid state relay 300VDC Outputs are optically isolated Adjustable lead in and tail delays Adjustable Speed 5 149 WPM Adjustable Weighting Adjustable Keying Compensation Built In Sidetone Generator with On Board Speaker 16 Char by 2 Row LCD Display Rotary Encoder for fast WPM change 12 Message memories Message Pushbutton Operating Voltage 8 13 VDC On board regulated 5 volt supply Current lt 40 ma less keyboard Embedded commands in messages lambic A B Ultimatic and Bug keyer modes Built in CW practice modes Autospace First Dit D
49. nual and determine what the cable connector wiring should be In general the key line is the tip of the phone jack and the transceiver needs to be configured such that its internal keyer is disabled and set up to run in straight key mode We recommend using a stereo keying plug and leave the ring unconnected This will be compatible with almost all modern transceivers You can plug this directly into the paddle jack of the transceiver The K42 output is open collector and essentially looks like a switch to ground You won t measure any voltage on the key output it is just a passive output If you want to check it out use a DVM and measure resistance from tip to sleeve plus lead on tip negative lead to sleeve Keep in mind that the key output jack is isolated from ground so you won t get any readings by measuring tip to chassis ground Power it up When the K42 powers up it will automatically load settings from EEPROM Messages are preserved from your last session as well as any settings you explicitly saved See description of the Shift F1 command A sign on display will be shown on the LCD K42vA WKvB PvC N CW Figure 2 K42 Power On Screen The power on display reports the firmware versions of the console keyer and CWR microcontrollers Figure 2 reports Console PIC rev A Keyer PIC rev B and PSoC rev C CW means it is running with CWR default off if CWR was enabled CWR would have been displayed The N signifies that the EEPROM has
50. o map to So to map 0 to T you enter the sequence SHIFT F1MO T NOTE Only 0 through 9 can be mapped Numeric mappings are not automatically saved in EEPROM to save them you need to enter the Preserve Settings command SHIFT F1 P SHIFT F2 Change Sending Speed This immediate command will set the current WPM speed to whatever you desire The syntax for the command is SHIFT F2 nn where nn is a two digit decimal speed from 05 to 99 WPM Two digits must be entered or the command will be ignored Note that you can also change speed in increments of 1 WPM with the UP and DOWN arrow keys and the rotary encoder See the section on buffered commands to learn how buffered speed changes are made Note that you can set speeds higher than 99 using either the speed control knob or up arrow This method will allow you to go all the way to 149 WPM K 42 User s Manual Rev A 7 31 2009 Page 7 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual SHIFT F3 Set ASR and TX Monitor Modes CWR MODE ONLY This command controls the setting of both ASR and TXMON With ASR on the K42 will toggle back and forth between the Keyboard Entry Window and the Echo Window display views when characters are typed on the keyboard This frees you from having to hit the TAB key to flip the windows back and forth Actual transmit is still controlled by the INSERT key If you want to type ahead and not transmit pause the output with the INSERT key When you are ready to release t
51. old value Both digits of a two digit number must be entered Command Description by Key Shift Commands Note SHIFT F1 means F1 pressed while the shift key is held For clarity a space is placed between commands and values in the following examples in reality no spaces are used in any command Likewise argument values shown enclosed with lt gt are entered without the lt gt So an example like SHIFT F2 45 should really be entered as SHIFT F2 4 5 F1 through F12 Send Message Messages are assigned to the twelve function keys Hitting one of these keys will cause a message to be queued up and sent after the current contents of the FIFO buffer have been sent in other words they are buffered There is no way to send a message immediately except to first clear the FIFO buffer with the ESC key and then send the message If you hit the message key of an empty slot nothing will happen See below for instructions on how to load a message SHIFT F1 Record Something in Memory The K42 has the ability to store messages and other items in non volatile memory Non volatile means that the memory contents are preserved even if power is turned off Recording begins by pressing the SHIFT F1 key the following chart shows all available recording options SHIFT F1 followed by F1 F12 Record a message SHIFT F9 F12 Set a Fast WPM key SHIFT 0 9 Record a Custom Prosign M Map a numeric P Store current settings as the power on default Message
52. r to the outgoing window The user can type well ahead of outgoing Morse in the entry window toggle over to monitor outgoing progress and then toggle back You can tell which buffer is which by the presence of a underline cursor the cursor is only displayed in the keyboard window Use the PGUP and PGDN keys to scroll back and look at previous lines Home returns you to the entry line Messages appear in the keyboard window as a single token character while the expanded message will be displayed as it is sent in the outgoing window Message Letter Mapping Messages are mapped to lower case letters as follows Fl a F2 b F3 c F4 d F5 e F6 f F7 g F8 h F9 i F10 j F11 k F12 1 Buffered Command Tokens Buffered commands are represented by several tokens shown below E D e IK L 5 z call msg load delay inc s n dec s n key down load loop set speed decsz Figure 4 Command Display Tokens Other tokens are for merge Q for pause and X for serial number These tokens also show up when you enter them in a message They act just like single characters in that you can backspace over them but they represent more content than single characters Command transactions will be displayed as entered parameters can be entered but backspace is not supported hit ESC to cancel the command leaving the parameter unchanged To record messages follow the normal procedure after selecting the message the first line of the current contents of the slot are
53. s intended 2 Is connected incorrectly 3 Safety guidelines outlined in this document are not followed 4 The K42 kit is modified in any way K1EL cannot be held responsible in these or other similar events K 42 User s Manual Version A 7 31 2009 Page 23 K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual K1EL ave R18 47K R16 z ANY a 68 282222 i Bode fo fo PIEZO_SPKR GND GND ou eu e c19 1uF RO ai CN Ra R2 DD1uF RE ATE 47K 2 S HD WM e aro ul mY Ja 1 D SR IT tip 2 T SPHONEJ ring 3 6 16F688 RAq RAS MCLR 4 5 DUALOPTO ca c3 SND D01ut D01ut L c L T nur GND GND c17 OOF Title I m ewn TI kA Keyer PIC Author t CWR TR Steven T Elliott KIEL Systems File Docurnent E FAKAZAKA2 B den K42 ROO Revision Date Sheets B June 16 2009 1of5 1 2 4 5 8 Page 24 7 31 2009 K 42 User s Manual Version A K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual K1EL 22LC32A R15 R22 C2A e SES AuF Keyboard Connector PS2 DIN J2 R21 47K CMD TX 7 CMD Hi RAS Rad RAS MCLR RCS 1GFBSS RC4 RCS a a o o c c s o CH Le gi a
54. slow break in response Due to a slow receive to transmit changeover time the first dit or dah of a letter sequence can be chopped and reduced in length Adding a fixed amount to the first element of a sequence can compensate for this In other words if an R is sent the first dit will be elongated but the subsequent dah dit is sent normally The compensation amount is transceiver dependent and is generally independent of sending speed Note though that this is usually only a noticeable problem at higher CW speeds gt 25 WPM ALT F10 nn where nn is a two digit number 0 99 calling out the delay in milliseconds A challenge in this scheme is to determine when sending has stopped long enough to cause the transceiver to switch back to receive If it has it ll require a new first element correction on the next sequence The K42 uses the PTT tail timer to determine this set the tail timer to roughly match the transmit to receive changeover time of the transceiver and things will work fine It takes some trial and error to get it set up right so make sure you save the values in EEPROM when you re done using the SHIFT F1 P command Normal R Increased 1st Dit ALT F11 nn Set Dit Dah Ratio Default is 50 for standard 1 3 Smaller values decrease ratio larger values increase ratio This causes an intentional distortion of the Morse waveform Some ops use this option to make their CW sound less K 42 User s Manual Rev A 7 31
55. ssed during message entry the message buffer will be cleared and you effectively can start over at the beginning INSERT Pause You can put the K42 into pause with this key Sending will stop immediately and will not resume until Insert is pressed again While the K42 is paused the CAPS Lock light on the keyboard will flash K 42 User s Manual Rev A 7 31 2009 Page 12 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual When the K42 CWR is enabled see ALT F1 command the LCD display will default to the Echo Window This allows you to view received CW that the K42 CWR module is decoding If desired you can press insert to pause transmit and type ahead but the display window will remain in receive You can view the transmit window at any time by pressing the TAB key When you are ready to transmit press the insert key again and PTT will be asserted and text in the transmit buffer will be sent As long as you continue to type the K42 will transmit until the buffer is empty or you press Insert again When you have typed into the type ahead buffer while paused the SCROLL LED will start blinking to remind you that there is text in the buffer waiting to be sent You can cancel the transmit buffer with the ESC key Insert is a toggle command each press will advance from transmit gt receive or receive gt transmit DEL Send Error Dits Eight dits will be sent to signify a CW error Right Arrow Increment Serial Number Left Arrow Decrement Serial
56. ssesseeeeneenenenneeen nene 12 ALT LEFT nn Set Key Weighting sese renes 12 ALT UP Increase Sidetone Frequency sssssssssseeeeeeeneneeneen nennen nnne nnne nennen 12 ALT DOWN Decrease Sidetone Frequency ssssssssseeeeneenenennee nnne nennen 12 ALT HOME Toggle Encoder Half Stepping sse 12 HOME Return Display to Home Position sesesessseeeeeneeeeneneneeen nennen 12 END FastOallsign Entry iuuat terre omoia em eee bem re rele eco nee En 12 SHIFT TAB Clear Keyboard Display 12 K 42 User s Manual Version A 7 31 2009 Page 29 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual ESC Abort Clear Butte ty 2 ntc nee ee abl non ee dt eee c INSERT VE 21 nihit Ed EROR bm biete E DEL Send Erttor Dits fesse eu eqisie ome re aU eee Ut E Re ERRARIR Right Arrow Increment Serial Number AAA Left Arrow Decrement Serial Number el UK e CN Buffered Command Language esses araar paaa EnaA aaeeea raa oa aaaea ASEN asa sn ase F1 Fi2 Jump To message eere eerte n Detention iras CTL C lt F1 F12 gt Call amessage ENEE CTL D Decrement Serial Number AAA CTL l Increment Serial Nurrber deir rte ctn terere cn bee eases CTL K nn Key down for nn seconds nennen ennemis nnne neis CTL L nn Load Loop Count nn 01 99 CTL M lt C1 gt lt C2 gt Merge Next Two Letters into a Prosign ses
57. stor See schematics for details on how this is connected to K42 power Miscellaneous Information Paddle Watchdog The K42 has a built in key output disable that is activated if more than 128 dits or dahs are sent consecutively This prevents unattended keying The output is disabled after 128 consecutive events but the sidetone continues to report to allow you to detect the condition If K42 sidetone is disabled there is no indication that the keyer is active Keyboard Paddle Two keys on the keyboard are mapped as dit and dah paddles These keys are only found on newer WindowsXP keyboards They are located on the lower right of the layout in the same row as the space bar between the Alt and Ctl keys The left key is the Windows key the right key is the listbox select key Due to slow keyboard response these only work well below 18 WPM or so but are useful in a pinch Using a Straight Key with the K42 It is easy to set the K42 up to work with a straight key First select Bug mode using the ALT F6 command Now the dah paddle input will key the output directly You will need a stereo 1 8 plug and wire to only one of the paddle inputs There are two ways to go wire between the connector ring and ground or to make a more universally useful cable wire between the connector tip and ground and turn on paddle swap ALT F9 This will move the dah input to the connector tip The important thing to remember here is to use a stereo connector if you
58. ually Note that in actual use a space is not placed after the control key it s just shown this way to make it easier to read CTL D Decrement Serial Number The four digit serial number is decremented by one If equal to zero the serial number is not decremented CTL I Increment Serial Number The four digit serial number is incremented If equal to 9999 it is not incremented CTL K lt nn gt Key down for nn seconds The transmitter will be held in key down state until the timer expires CTL L nn Load Loop Count nn 01 99 This command works in conjunction with the CTL Z command A loop count is entered with this command The CTL Z command will decrement this loop count and will repeat a message until the loop count reaches zero See the CTL Z description for more info CTL M lt C1 gt lt C2 gt Merge Next Two Letters into a Prosign You can build on the fly prosigns with this command Just press CTL M followed by two letters or numbers and they will be merged together MAR is sent as AR Note that nothing will be sent until both letters have been entered CTL N Send Serial Number The four digit serial number is sent in Morse A leading zeroes are suppressed so 0047 is sent as 47 If a number has been mapped using the SHIFT F1 M command the mapped value will be substituted CTL P Pause Output Until Insert Key Pressed K42 output keying will be paused indefinitely until the INSERT key is pressed While paused the
59. use the KIW only shows keyboard entry and the EW only shows CWR reception For some folks this is ok but most of us want to be able to monitor transmit progress There are two ways to do this In TX Monitor Mode TXMON outgoing letters are displayed in the EW along with CWR reception CWR letters are in upper case while TXM is in lower case If you just want to see the KIW just TAB over to that and you can watch what you are typing in real time The EW only shows letters as they are being sent so it s not too helpful for those who like to type ahead ASR mode automatically toggles to the KIW when you start typing on the K 42 User s Manual Version A 7 31 2009 Page 21 K1EL K42 CW Keyboard and Reader Manual keyboard the EW is still the default Now you can see the keyboard as you type and monitor the CWR when you stop typing In ASR mode the outgoing letters are not displayed in either window Now for those who want both both TXM and ASF mode can both be active at the same time This combined mode will toggle you to the KIW automatically as you type and show what is being sent in the KIW in lower case Two notes about these modes when running ASR it s useful to set a longer tail time to prevent the window from toggling between every letter Also note that in ASR mode the window will toggle to the KIW when you use the paddles even though the paddle entry is not shown in the KIW K42 CW Reader Theory of Operation The following block diagram
60. y pressing the ESC key Now let s load a message Hold the SHIFT key down while you press F1 release both keys and then hit the F1 key We are going to load the F1 slot Type co co DE KIEL and then press the backspace key to erase my callsign and replace it with your callsign When you are finished hit ENTER and the message will be stored in EEPROM Now every time you hit the F1 key your message will be played You will notice that when you press the F1 key only the token for the F1 message will be shown in this case a lower case a if you want to see the expanded message press the TAB key and watch it in the EW as it is sent You can adjust the sending speed at any time by turning the rotary encoder the current WPM will be displayed temporarily in the upper left hand corner of the display Pushing on the rotary encoder will trigger the message loaded in the F1 slot A handy command is Tune press SHIFT and F8 and the K40 will hold key and sidetone on until you press either SHIFT F8 again or the ESC key The LCD display only shows two lines but you can scroll back and look at previous activity by pressing the PAGEUP key this works in both the KIW and the EW PAGEDN or HOME can be used to get back to the start of a window The END key does not affect scrolling well cover that later One last thing to mention before we move on is how to use a set of paddles with the K42 You can enter Morse on the paddles at any time If the K42 is playing a messa

K42 CW Keyboard

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