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Recentyly purchased a used ICOM -737, Have not made a qso yet, newly liscensed, Tried to ck SWR for 40 meter band, in the cw mode nothing on swr meter, In AM mode I could take readings ok, ckd manual found it didn,t work until I hooked my straight key up to plug hole in back of reciever, now when I switch to cw mode to ck SWR , meter works but I get loud tones intermitent, faster or slower when i turn key speed knob. i made sure external keyer was off on back of transiever, its off still same thing, tried with full bk in and bk-in on and off no difference,, ckd wirering and polairity on 1/4 in jack off key ok. COULD MY INTERNAL KEYER BE STUCK ON ? Or is this something else? Its driving me nuts i was just about ready to make my first CW QSO . THANK YOU BOB IN OHIO |
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Robert, One possibility immediately comes to mind. Sometimes the simple things can be the least obvious....even to us "old timers". I don't think your internal keyer is stuck on. I think the problem is with your key. Read on.... You can't use a straight key with a keyer. A keyer needs two signals from the key to differentiate between dots and dashes. These two signals are usually obtained by moving the key sideways instead of up and down. One sideways direction makes the "dit" contact and the other direction makes the "dah" contact. If you want to use your keyer, you'll need to get what is commonly referred to as a set of keyer "paddles". NOT a semi-automatic key or "BUG". Do not pay a lot for your first set. As your CW skills increase, you'll want progressively better quality paddles. The connection to the internal keyer's jack has three wires; dit, dah and common. In the case of a 1/4" phone plug, they are tip, ring and sleeve. Consult your radio's manual for which wire goes where. No manual? Google it to see if one is available online. If you want to stick with your straight key, turn the internal keyer Off. There is no wiring polarity on a straight key - one wire goes to the movable contact and one goes to the stationary contact. On a 1/4 inch phone plug that's tip and sleeve. A straight key has a slide switch to activate the transmitter constantly for measuring or tuning. Close it to tune. Open it to operate. This slide, if it is closed, may be causing your current problem. It is telling the keyer to produce a constant stream of either dits or dahs, depending on which command line its single contact is wired to. Hope this helps, Allan - N4NLQ |
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Thanks N4NLQ, Allen changing to stereo plug worked, I even did my own soldering.Sent a few CQS and my call sign, who knows maybe next time someone might answer so I better be ready! thanks again 73 KD8LGY |
