To all of you in the US — Happy Independence Day! I hope you all have safe and enjoyable Fourth. If last night was any indication, I believe we’ve collectively bought enough fireworks to keep the Chinese economy going for another few months.
I will be making the Universal Keying Adapter (UKA-3) kit available for pre-order via the HamGadgets web site shortly. I have the final prototype here, it’s built, it works (no surprise there). I’ve made the last few alterations and will be ordering the first run of production boards this week. As soon as I have a projected delivery date I’ll make the kit available.
The UKA-3 builds on the earlier versions with some often-requested features. First and most obvious, it is available with a custom extruded aluminum cabinet, with both ends pre-drilled and cut. I’ve also added a power switch, an additional indicator to show the power status, and a set of PCB connections that will make it easy to build into your gear if you want, without the connectors and switch. You can order the full kit with or without the cabinet, or you can also order just the base board and parts without the connectors, LEDs and power switch.
I’m also now working on a new ID-O-Matic kit — but I’ll make more information on that available as things progress. I have a prototype board here that I need to build so I can do some testing and debugging. We’ll be on vacation for part of July, so that may have to wait until August before I’m ready to make any big announcements.
Lastly, I am aware that some number of PicoKeyer-Plus kits were packed with three 0.1 microfarad capacitors instead of the correct complement of a single 0.1 and two 0.01 caps. If you need the .01 parts, please let me know and I’ll get them to you. In the mean time, the PK+ will run fine in almost all circumstances without C2 and C3. If you didn’t notice the discrepancy and installed .1 uF parts, most functions will work fine — but you may only be able to record one character in a memory slot. Again, contact me for replacement parts if you need them.
Enjoy your summer, stay safe!
73,
Dale – N0XAS
