Since its inception in 2004, the ID-O-Matic has been through a number of feature upgrades, a new chip, and a couple of PCB revisions. It’s been in the ARRL Handbook for the past couple of years and has been used in countless repeaters, crossband setups, and heaven only knows what other applications. I know a couple of the early units were used for debate timers!
There have been a few minor bug nagging things I have wanted to address with the ID-O-Matic. The audio – well, that square wave isn’t the best sound possible! There are also a couple of new signals that were not available via solder pads, and connections were in different places on the board.
I am addressing those issues with the new ID-O-Matic II. This will basically combine the functions of the ID-O-Matic and the Connection Kit on one board, and improve the connection setup with a single row of pads and an optional clamp type terminal strip. One big change: using the same PWM technique I used in the MasterKeyer, the sidetone will now be much smoother and closer to a sine wave.
ID-O-Matic II prototype, connector side
ID-O-Matic II prototype
I’m debugging and testing now, and hope to have the new kit ready some time in late January or early to mid February. In the mean time, the remaining ID-O-Matic kits are available for immediate shipment if you don’t need the extra functionality of the new kit. I have not yet decided on pricing for the ID-O-Matic II; it will be a little higher than the current kit (which has not gone up in several years by the way) but still quite reasonable.
I will also have an upgrade path for current ID-O-Matic boards. The upgrade will not duplicate the Connection Kit functions, but will give you the new audio setup and latest firmware. It will require new firmware and replacing the crystal.
