Micromatic Keyer

[john]

Hi Terry,

Well, that might explain it.... mine came (second hand) sans' a manual
or a wall cube. I'm using a generic Rat Shack unit, which might explain some
of the behavior I'm seeing.

The rest of the design is pretty intuitive. I'm going to rig some external
paddles and put it to use.

Does the keyer key only SS gear, or can it do grid block, etc?

Best
John



At 04:51 PM 7/1/01 -0700, Terry Perdue wrote:
>John and all,
>
>As the designer, I can tell you a few things to try that might help. If you
>are using the keyer in a stand-alone situation, in other words, not
>connected to a transmitter, be sure that the keyer's ground has an a.c.
>return path to earth ground. The accessory power cube that was sold for the
>keyer (or may have come with), had internal capacitors from each side of the
>secondary to the ground prong. If you're using a different cube, you should
>find that holding the keyer's body with your free hand increases the
>sensitivity considerably. You could also rest your keying hand on a metal
>plate connected to the keyer's ground. This should also help in a situation
>where RF in the shack is getting into the paddles through your body, as the
>paddles would be effectively grounded when touched. The paddles don't suit
>everyone's taste - that's why an external paddle jack was provided - but
>many people like them just fine.
>
>Terry, K8TP
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: john <johnmb at MINDSPRING.COM>
>To: <HEATH at LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV>
>Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2001 10:45 AM
>Subject: Micromatic Keyer
>
>
>> Anyone have any sage advice as to why a uMatic keyer isnt very sensitive
>> to fingertip contact? Moistening fingertips make it work flawlessly, until
>> they dry out. Was this a common  problem? Wonder if I should just use
>> an external paddle
>>
>> Best
>> John
>>
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