Building the PicoKeyer-Plus Programmable Keyer

I use a Flex-1500 SDR as my main transceiver. I want to get back into CW and, unfortunately, this presents a problem using the Flex. Because of the USB connectivity of the unit to a PC and the processing that must take place of the transmitted signals as they are converted back from base-band to RF, the internal keyer delays the tone of a cw character up to as much as 500ms. This means you push the code key and are sometimes into the third character before you hear the tone for the first character. Needless to say, this makes sending nearly impossible.

To be fair, it is not a problem with the Flex. It is more a delay caused by the USB latency and the type of PC being used. To overcome this, I chose to use an external keyer with a small speaker. I turn off the side-tone in the Flex and the problem is solved.

This little kit is a gem and as you will see it goes together in about 30 minutes! A great project for a rainy winter day. I looked at more expensive programmable keyers but, at $17.99 I didn't think I could go wrong!

www.hamgadgets.com. Dale over there offers good customer service as well. This is not a paid deal. I just really like to give good feedback when it is deserved. Thanks Dale!