Richard:
Eric K3NA posted the following previously, which may
help to answer you problem.
*************
You may not have your CW keyline wired up correctly. This is a
common problem.
To maintain isolation between various chassis grounds, the W5XD+
Multikeyer uses a stereo 1/8" jack for the CW keyline. The key
closure occurs between tip and RING, not tip and sleeve as
most people expect. If you just jammed in a stereo plug without
wiring it correctly, you will not get the desired result.
A common approach, when differentials between chassis is not an
issue (i.e., no ground loops are screwing up the audio side of
things) is to use a mono jack.
This is also true for the PTT jacks in the W5XD+ Multikeyer.
-- Eric K3NA
*************
73,
Jeff Maass K8ND
Caribbean Contesting Consortium - PJ2T
http://www.pj2t.org
http://home.columbus.rr.com/jmaass/Radio/PJ2T_Aerial.htm
> -----Original Message-----
> From: writelog-bounces@contesting.com
> [mailto:writelog-bounces@contesting.com]On Behalf Of Richard L. King
> Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 12:38 PM
> To: writelog Reflector
> Subject: [WriteLog] Multi-Keyer Problems
>
>
> I bought a new W5XD/K5DJ Multi-Keyer before the 2003 CQWW CW and I am
> having some problems with it. I mentioned one of the problems here before
> but never got what I would call a true solution. I would like to ask if
> anyone else has experienced these problems or if you can point out
> something that I have done wrong.
>
> I have used the keyer for two CW contests now (CQWW CW and ARRL
> 160 CW) and
> I am running Writelog version 1042C.
>
> Problem 1. There seems to be a serious incompatibility between the W5XD
> keyer and the FT1000MP MkV PTT inputs.
>
> When I first hooked the keyer up I found that the PTT line will drop the
> radio back to receive sometimes while it is sending. This happens
> whether I
> am sending from CW memories and/or sending with the paddle input. The
> problem seems to come and go and will drop out right in the middle of a
> string of characters.
>
> I have two FT1000MP MkVs and the problem is the same on both the left and
> the right radio. So I don't believe the problem is one of the radios,
> unless it is a basic incompatibility problem between the keyer and Yaesu.
>
> I also discovered that my footswitch, connected through the keyer, would
> also allow the radio to drop out of transmit while I was holding it down
> and not actually sending anything. Since this happens when I am not
> sending, I don't believe I have a RFI issue.
>
> At one point the footswitch failure became almost solid and I was able to
> help matters by rewiring the 1/8in stereo plug that goes into the
> footswitch jack on the keyer. I soldered the cable shield that
> goes on the
> ring to the ground connection in the plug making the ring and ground
> common. This made the footswitch work much, much more reliably, but only
> the footswitch. The PTT generated by the paddle input and/or the computer
> through the keyer was still intermittent.
>
> It was my understanding from reading the keyer literature when I
> was making
> the keyer cables that no grounds should be used at the keyer and
> the shield
> of the cable should go to the ring of the 1/8in stereo plugs. But maybe I
> missed something about that? But connecting the shield of that
> cable to the
> keyer ground certainly improved the reliability of my footswitch.
>
> I am wondering if I now need to solder the shields of the cables that go
> from the two FT1000 PTT inputs to the keyer ground to improve their
> reliability? Or does that defeat the purpose of the opto-couplers?
>
> I really need to stop the keyer from dropping the PTT line while sending
> and I need some advice as to the best way to do that.
>
> Problem 2. When I occasionally use my paddle in a contest, it
> usually works
> as expected. This is a situation when I send a call again, or ask for a
> repeat, or send a repeat exchange using the paddle. However when I do a
> small ragchew, I have problems.
>
> If I continuously send CW for longer that a few seconds using the W5XD
> keyer, it goes key down on me with a solid keyed output from the
> radio/amp.
> If I hit the dit key once or twice the radio will stop keying and
> is ready
> for me to resume sending.
>
> I tried turning off the amplifier in case there as a RFI problem and the
> problem is still there running only 50M. That doesn't necessarily
> rule out
> RFI. And the problem was happening before I soldered in a ground
> connection
> back in problem #1. So that's not the reason.
>
> I just paused typing this note, brought up WriteLog, tried to
> recreate the
> problem, and couldn't. I tried to do it with both a empty log and a full
> log with 1200 QSOs just in case log size was a factor. But no
> problem now.
> So unless someone has seen something similar to what I
> experienced, I will
> approach this as a RFI problem.
>
> Problem 3. I seem to have a lot of trouble getting the Writelog
> program to
> read the frequency from both radios when I am setting up for SO2R. One
> radio is on com 1 and the other is on com 8.
>
> The program will set up easily for using either radio without the other.
> But it is very difficult to make it use both radios at the same time with
> one as the left radio and the other as the right radio.
>
> Usually I can get both to finally start working if I spend 30 minutes
> starting and stopping radios using the setup ports radio selection while
> selecting right and left radios. Finally after I have reached the point
> where there is no sense in the procedures that I am doing to try
> to make it
> work, it will suddenly start working.
>
> Perhaps there is a specific procedure that must be followed to do
> this and
> I am missing it.
>
> I would appreciate comments or advice from anyone?
>
> 73, Richard
>
> k5na@texas.net
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>
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