HamGadgets News

I have released the first update to the MasterKeyer firmware.  Based on feedback received from the many hams we talked to in Dayton, V1.02 has a few fairly minor changes:

• Messages can be “stacked”.  By pressing up to six buttons in sequence, the corresponding messages will be sent one after the other.  Any paddle input (except during a message PAUSE) will terminate the string.
• The AMP output now has adjustable lead time (0 to 40 ms) and trail time (0 to 7 dot times).  This makes the lead time fixed regardless of speed, but the trail time depends on your sending speed for quick QSK.
• All keyer command prompts in paddle command mode and message record/review/edit now use a slightly higher audio tone, so you can tell the keyer’s “voice” from yours.
• Fixed the straight key/cootie keying mode
• Fixed a bug in the sidetone, it would occasionally drop to 500 Hz on its own.

The firmware is available for download, and can be installed from a USB drive using the simple update procedure found in the manual.  All of your settings and messages will be left intact after the upgrade.

Well, the smoke has cleared…  the truck is back in the garage, we finally had a decent night of sleep.  Almost, anyway. The 2009 Dayton Hamvention is in the books.

We were a little surprised at the low turnout on Saturday, but it seems attendance is off this year no doubt due to the sucking economy.  Hopefully it will recover for next year.  We didn’t sell out of everything, but did make a pretty good showing and made some contacts that will no doubt prove to be valuable.  I also had the chance to talk to a LOT of hams, get some great feedback on our kits as well as the MasterKeyer, and hear what people want to see.

We did have one minor issue with the new keyers.  Fortunately it didn’t take long to find the problem and come up with a fix, and we got the remaining units fixed before selling them.  We’ll fix the first few that were sold , of course, hopefully before they have problems.  It’s a good thing I decided to take all the programming tools along – just in case!

Next year we will probably be at Dayton as well as Friedrichshafen, Germany.  What an adventure!

Well, today was more or less like yesterday.  Pretty good crowd, but not the mad rush we were told to be ready for – more like a slight increase over yesterday.  Piero Begali brought over two more paddles for us to use, a Stealth and a Graciella Jr.  The Graciella Jr. is an especially beautiful piece of work, probably my favorite of them all.

We’ve managed to run out of some kits, but have enough stock to last tomorrow.  Right now, after some great Donato’s pizza, we’re relaxing a little while I get ready for tomorrow.

Wow, what a day.

Response to the MasterKeyer has been pretty good.  I got some good feedback from people (looking and buying) about features to add, and some to change.  We’re told that tomorrow is going to be much busier – it will be Saturday, and it’s supposed to rain and drive a lot of people inside from the outdoor flea market.  Today was no slouch, with plenty of traffic.

I have seen about 10% of the Hamvention, and I suspect that won’t change much.  Still, it’s pretty interesting to see some of the stuff that shows up here.  Like the Luzon team from Japan, showing off their massive crank-up tower (only $41K, $10K off the regular price).  Holy moly!

Anyway, tonight we’re turning in early.  It’s going to be an early morning, and a long day.

73,

Dale – N0XAS

Today (Thursday) was the setup day for the Dayton Hamvention.  Lisa and I got to Hara Arena around 9 AM, and after some slow start we were lugging our stuff into the booth.  By the end of the day we had things pretty much ready for the first “official” day tomorrow.

Around mid-afternoon, Pietro Begali (I2RTF) and Ulrich Steinberg (N2DE) stopped by.  Pietro was kind enough to loan us one of his incredible Sculpture paddles with the gold titanium nitride finish.  Amazing.  It sure does work well with the MasterKeyer!

Our booth at Dayton

MasterKeyer & Begali Sculpture

All in all, a pretty busy day and a pretty good one. Now – on to tomorrow!!

Well, hopefully we haven’t forgotten to pack anything critical. The back of the pickup is packed full of kits, we’re getting the last of the stuff packed in the suitcases, and we’ll be on the road shortly… as soon as I drop off the dog at Doggy Day Camp.

Welcome to the Hamgadgets blog!

I’ll be starting out by blogging during the Dayton trip.  This will be my first time at the Dayton Hamvention, and I’m going as an exhibitor — so I’ll probably miss most of the Hamvention itself.  Right now I’m busy getting the last few details done before we leave.  We’re trying to make a really good showing there, with a professional lookig booth and plenty of products to sell.  I hope you will stop by and see us in Booth 547!