[Elecraft] Adding PTT Out Switching to a K3

Don Wilhelm donwilh at embarqmail.com
Thu Nov 7 16:06:51 EST 2019


Pete,

To my mind, the PTT and KEY OUT nomenclature used by Elecraft is 
entirely correct and completely descriptive of what each does.  Yes, I 
know that some other rigs use PTT and KEYOUT interchangably, Icom 
confuses my mind more by labeling the KEYOUT with SEND.

PTT is what you do to put the transceiver into transmit - Push To Talk. 
That may be like activating the PTT button on the microphone (I shudder 
when a ham talks about "keying the mic" - to me that is CB talk) or it 
can be from an external device such as a footswitch.

KEY OUT is just what it says:  It is an output signal that is to be used 
to key other devices (such as an amplifier) when the transceiver is in 
transmit.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 11/7/2019 3:14 PM, N4ZR wrote:
> Well I'll be darned.  I just pulled that cable out of the K3 and it is 
> indeed redundant.  I must have missed that in the manual.  Thanks, Bob.
> 
> While I'm on the subject, I wish that Elecraft would clean up their 
> terminology - their use of "Key" to denote PTT is confusing.  See the 
> back panel of the K3, for example, which has PTT IN and KEY OUT jacks in 
> the same row.  I believe this usage originated with CB.
> 


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