Sunday, March 30, 2008

9W2GU's homebrew simple IAMBIC key

My simple Iambic key build for practicing Morse. It works fine, but the feel is not of that of commercial product. But it work and it is a simple project to do. Materials I use to make mine is wood, PCB and lead for weight.




Iambic



The Base
Using a piece of wood for base 5" x 5" x 0.75".










Iambic



Then, poor me, with out a CNC, i painstakingly chiseled out a hole at the bottom 3" x 2.5" X 0.5" deep. This will be used to fill with molten lead, so that to give extra weight to the base and not move when keying.








Iambic



The paddle mounting

Two small wooden blocks. Oner for mounting the paddle and the other for contact.

Smaller block is 1.5" x 1" x 1.5"
Lager one is 1.5" x 1.5" x 1.5"






Iambic



The smaller block and contact plates. Hole drilled through all for ground contact.










Iambic

The Lead

You will need lots of these. I get mine from car's dead lead acid battery. Then washed.










Iambic




A tin container is used to melt the lead. You'll need about half full of molten lead. Once the lead melts, there will be more sand like and other stuff floating on the molten lead. This you need to get rid of after you pour the molten lead.







Iambic



The molten lead poured into the bottom side of the base. Let it cool naturally. Do not pour water to cool. Takes about 20 minutes.









Iambic



The Paddle

Made from PCB and painted. Hole in the center is for ground contact. Those on the side for mounting on the holder.








Iambic



The IAMBIC keyer

Connect screws with bolts on both side of the paddle for ground contact. Adjust distance and tighten. The left side is dit and right is dah.








Iambic



Side view of the wiring. Notice the blue wire. That connect the conatct point to the ground.











Iambic





Red is dit and white is dah.









Iambic




The completed IAMBIC keyer.










I use the IK0WRB module for this iambic key for morse tones.


Download the PDF file for containing:
PCB foil, TopSilk in PDF format and HEX file




Now to think of a better design. Any better ideas out there?

73's.

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