[Kenwood] TS520, TS820s key jack question.

[Augie Hansen]

On 1/28/05 1:22 AM, "k9di at k9di.org" <k9di at k9di.org> wrote:


>    Now on to my question,  A sighted friend of mine is building a
> Universal keyer adapter kit from Dale Botkin N0XAS for me and the question
> arose, does the 1/4 inch plug that goes to the back of the 520 or 820s need
> to be stereo or mono?  I'm hoping that since this is a Kenwood list an old
> timer can steer me in the right direction in regards to the correct plug
> needed.  Tnx in advance

Hi Wayne,

You can save yourself some grief if you use a stereo plug for your straight
key. Although a mono plug works fine with the Kenwood rig you have, most
modern transceivers (at least those that have built-in electronic keyers)
require a three-wire plug because the internal circuit can accept either a
straight key or a paddle. And to reduce the possibility of RFI getting into
the rig, use shielded cable.

Wire the straight key with the hot lead to TIP and the shield to SLEEVE.
Leave the RING in the plug unconnected. Then you can use the key with other
rigs without having to rewire anything.

For paddles, use twisted-pair shielded cable with the DOT to TIP, DASH to
RING, and shield to SLEEVE. This seems to be the de facto standard on the
rigs I use here: Icom, Yaesu, and Elecraft. The Elecraft K2 uses a 1/8"
connector. The others are all 1/4".

73, 
Gus Hansen / KB0YH