[Elecraft] Keying the K3s

[Michael Carter]

Hi Dave,

The K3s (and K3) bypasses the 100 watt PA module
when you set the Power control to less than 11
watts and relies on the KLPA3A 10 watt PA driver module.
No harm will come to the K3s when operating
at 5 watts presuming you have an SWR within
spec for the K3s.

I used a simple optocoupler interface
to key my K3 from N1MM+ function keys
in CW contests, but replaced it with a Mortty,
which emulates the WinKey protocol from
a USB port on the computer.   There are
a variety of single transistor keying interfaces
described on the web if you search a bit.

Others may recall if one can share the K3s serial port
for both rig control and CW keying without
a separate interface circuit - I remember seeing
various discussions on this issue years ago,
but can't retrieve them now.

73,
Mike, K8CN