A bit of background:
During a recent SSB contest I had a cold and was coughing a lot.
I usually use recorded messages for CQ'n and sending my exchange. I leave the
VOX turned on -- say the other guys call, using VOX, and then press F3 (for
example) to send my exchange. Works great and really saves the old voice a LOT
of work. My computer's sound card does all of the work - the mic is connected
to it.
But, with all the coughing I was either coughing over the air (yuck) or
forgetting to turn the VOX back on. So --- I added a relay, controlled by a
foot
switch and an old telegraph key, for turning the mic on. This works OK, but the
key is a bad idea (nice for nets though) it makes me move my hands away from
the keyboard when I need to be typing.
The foot switch kept moving and sometimes I had to get under the desk to find
it....
There had to be a better way.
There is ! You probably already know this though... but just in case:
Rig up your rig so that WriteLog operates the PTT on the radio [see the
manual].
Press Shift+F3 (or what ever key you want to use) and say your exchange and
then hit Escape...... Message saved.
To work a station answering your CQ -
Press Shift+F3 again.
Say the other guy's call and, when finished,
Press F3 again (no shift this time).
This keys the radio (VOX is not turned on) when you're "recording" the other
guys call and transmitts what you're saying.
When you press F3 again the recording is canceled and the original F3 message
plays over the radio.
The mic is now effectively disconnected from the radio. No relay or wandering
foot switch to worry with.
Although I haven't tried it yet, I would think that a .WAV file of zero
length could be assigned to a function key. You could then use that key and
shift
for talking to someone and just hit the key again to unkey the radio and
disconnect the mic.
I hope this helps someone else out with this problem. It bugged me for quite
a while.
73,
Don - K4BEV
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