"Rick Nevill" ) writes:
Hello!

I would like to to make a custom iambic keyer for a person with
quadraplegia. She mainly has use of only her index and ring finger. She
can only flex her thumb and cannot release the thumb pressure at will.

Does anyone know of an iambic keyer kit or inexpensive keyer that I could
dis-assemble to build a keyer with side-by-side rather than opposing
paddles? That way she could use her ring finger for the dashes and her
index finger for the dots (or visa-versa) . She cannot move her arm at all,
so I will have to make a splint that can hold the keyer and her hand in the
correct position.

The closest I have found is this site that lists alot of keyers:
http://www.eham.net/reviews/products/16 and the MFJ-561K Minature Iambic
keyer kit.

BTW, she cannot use a straw, so I cannot build her the keyer that was in QST
last month!

Thanks for any help I can get!

73,
Rick
WD5FRZ


I can't give any specifics, though I thought some of the keyers had
terminals on the back for a good paddle. Come to think of it, there
was a time when the paddles were not build into the keyer, so you had
to come up with something or buy something after you had the keyer.

But I can't see any problem taking any keyer, and merely adding some
wires across the paddles so you can have an external "paddle". No
matter what the keyer, those points have got to be available to solder
on some wires.

As for they "paddle" maybe try two microswitches sitting next to each other?
Maybe that's too small? I'm sure I've seen such "paddles" described in
the ham magazines in years gone by, and it was shown as an alternative not
something specific for the disabled, though I sure couldn't offer up
any dates.

Michael VE2BVW

"Rick Nevill" wrote in message
...
Hello!

I would like to to make a custom iambic keyer for a person with
quadraplegia. She mainly has use of only her index and ring finger. She
can only flex her thumb and cannot release the thumb pressure at will.

Does anyone know of an iambic keyer kit or inexpensive keyer that I could
dis-assemble to build a keyer with side-by-side rather than opposing
paddles? That way she could use her ring finger for the dashes and her
index finger for the dots (or visa-versa) . She cannot move her arm at
all,
so I will have to make a splint that can hold the keyer and her hand in
the
correct position.

The closest I have found is this site that lists alot of keyers:
http://www.eham.net/reviews/products/16 and the MFJ-561K Minature Iambic
keyer kit.

BTW, she cannot use a straw, so I cannot build her the keyer that was in
QST
last month!

Thanks for any help I can get!

73,
Rick
WD5FRZ

Hello Rick .... I have made some call buzzers for my patients over the
years utilizing mercury switches. They are cheap, easy to mount on Velcro
and can be made to respond with minimal motion. Perhaps using two beads
either side of a pivot would work as I do not know of a double throw single
pole Hg switch. Radio Shack had them in the past ...not sure now. Please
feel free to e-mail me from QRZ.com. to discuss this or give me your phone
number.

God Bless KI3R Tom Popovic Belle Vernon Pa.

ps ..there are systems out there that utilize eye movement for communication
....maybe modification is possible from that aspect ....

"Rick Nevill" wrote in message
...
Hello!

I would like to to make a custom iambic keyer for a person with
quadraplegia. She mainly has use of only her index and ring finger. She
can only flex her thumb and cannot release the thumb pressure at will.

Does anyone know of an iambic keyer kit or inexpensive keyer that I could
dis-assemble to build a keyer with side-by-side rather than opposing
paddles? That way she could use her ring finger for the dashes and her
index finger for the dots (or visa-versa) . She cannot move her arm at
all,
so I will have to make a splint that can hold the keyer and her hand in
the
correct position.

The closest I have found is this site that lists alot of keyers:
http://www.eham.net/reviews/products/16 and the MFJ-561K Minature Iambic
keyer kit.

BTW, she cannot use a straw, so I cannot build her the keyer that was in
QST
last month!

Thanks for any help I can get!

73,
Rick
WD5FRZ

Hello Rick .... I have made some call buzzers for my patients over the
years utilizing mercury switches. They are cheap, easy to mount on Velcro
and can be made to respond with minimal motion. Perhaps using two beads
either side of a pivot would work as I do not know of a double throw single
pole Hg switch. Radio Shack had them in the past ...not sure now. Please
feel free to e-mail me from QRZ.com. to discuss this or give me your phone
number.

God Bless KI3R Tom Popovic Belle Vernon Pa.

ps ..there are systems out there that utilize eye movement for communication
....maybe modification is possible from that aspect ....

Hello Garique, Dale, Frank, Michael and Gary,

I appreciate the ideas. I am not sure how to interpret some of the answers,
so let me give more details. I set up an MFJ-564 paddle into an MFJ-464
Keyer/Reader which converts the Morse into visible letters, and then feeding
that into a PC running HyperTerminal to display larger text.

I'll really show my ignorance here - It sounds like the "Iambic" function
must be in the keyer/reader and not in the paddle hardware (I didn't even
look for an IC chip on the MFJ-564 paddle)? So that means any pair of
switches I use will properly feed the keyer/reader? Then I just need to
find a switch that she can reliably press and release. Do I have it right
now?

And yes, I checked out the eye reading software and the prices were high, up
to $30,000. The above hardware was only about $300. If it works that will
be great.

Thanks to all :-)

-Rick
WD5FRZ

"garigue" wrote in message
news:rdO6c.46868$po.386960@attbi_s52...

"Rick Nevill" wrote in message
...
Hello!

I would like to to make a custom iambic keyer for a person with
quadraplegia. She mainly has use of only her index and ring finger.
She
can only flex her thumb and cannot release the thumb pressure at will.

Does anyone know of an iambic keyer kit or inexpensive keyer that I
could
dis-assemble to build a keyer with side-by-side rather than opposing
paddles? That way she could use her ring finger for the dashes and her
index finger for the dots (or visa-versa) . She cannot move her arm at
all,
so I will have to make a splint that can hold the keyer and her hand in
the
correct position.

The closest I have found is this site that lists alot of keyers:
http://www.eham.net/reviews/products/16 and the MFJ-561K Minature
Iambic
keyer kit.

BTW, she cannot use a straw, so I cannot build her the keyer that was in
QST
last month!

Thanks for any help I can get!

73,
Rick
WD5FRZ

Hello Rick .... I have made some call buzzers for my patients over the
years utilizing mercury switches. They are cheap, easy to mount on Velcro
and can be made to respond with minimal motion. Perhaps using two beads
either side of a pivot would work as I do not know of a double throw
single
pole Hg switch. Radio Shack had them in the past ...not sure now.
Please
feel free to e-mail me from QRZ.com. to discuss this or give me your phone
number.

God Bless KI3R Tom Popovic Belle Vernon Pa.

ps ..there are systems out there that utilize eye movement for
communication
...maybe modification is possible from that aspect ....

Hello Garique, Dale, Frank, Michael and Gary,

I appreciate the ideas. I am not sure how to interpret some of the answers,
so let me give more details. I set up an MFJ-564 paddle into an MFJ-464
Keyer/Reader which converts the Morse into visible letters, and then feeding
that into a PC running HyperTerminal to display larger text.

I'll really show my ignorance here - It sounds like the "Iambic" function
must be in the keyer/reader and not in the paddle hardware (I didn't even
look for an IC chip on the MFJ-564 paddle)? So that means any pair of
switches I use will properly feed the keyer/reader? Then I just need to
find a switch that she can reliably press and release. Do I have it right
now?

And yes, I checked out the eye reading software and the prices were high, up
to $30,000. The above hardware was only about $300. If it works that will
be great.

Thanks to all :-)

-Rick
WD5FRZ

"garigue" wrote in message
news:rdO6c.46868$po.386960@attbi_s52...

"Rick Nevill" wrote in message
...
Hello!

I would like to to make a custom iambic keyer for a person with
quadraplegia. She mainly has use of only her index and ring finger.
She
can only flex her thumb and cannot release the thumb pressure at will.

Does anyone know of an iambic keyer kit or inexpensive keyer that I
could
dis-assemble to build a keyer with side-by-side rather than opposing
paddles? That way she could use her ring finger for the dashes and her
index finger for the dots (or visa-versa) . She cannot move her arm at
all,
so I will have to make a splint that can hold the keyer and her hand in
the
correct position.

The closest I have found is this site that lists alot of keyers:
http://www.eham.net/reviews/products/16 and the MFJ-561K Minature
Iambic
keyer kit.

BTW, she cannot use a straw, so I cannot build her the keyer that was in
QST
last month!

Thanks for any help I can get!

73,
Rick
WD5FRZ

Hello Rick .... I have made some call buzzers for my patients over the
years utilizing mercury switches. They are cheap, easy to mount on Velcro
and can be made to respond with minimal motion. Perhaps using two beads
either side of a pivot would work as I do not know of a double throw
single
pole Hg switch. Radio Shack had them in the past ...not sure now.
Please
feel free to e-mail me from QRZ.com. to discuss this or give me your phone
number.

God Bless KI3R Tom Popovic Belle Vernon Pa.

ps ..there are systems out there that utilize eye movement for
communication
...maybe modification is possible from that aspect ....

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 04:04:33 GMT, "Rick Nevill"
wrote:

And yes, I checked out the eye reading software and the prices were high, up
to $30,000. The above hardware was only about $300. If it works that will
be great.

Another thought:

There is a group called Handi-Hams, which consists of both those with
various physical challenges, and those who build adaptive ham radio
gear.

I don't if you have already, but they might be worth chasing.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 04:04:33 GMT, "Rick Nevill"
wrote:

And yes, I checked out the eye reading software and the prices were high, up
to $30,000. The above hardware was only about $300. If it works that will
be great.

Another thought:

There is a group called Handi-Hams, which consists of both those with
various physical challenges, and those who build adaptive ham radio
gear.

I don't if you have already, but they might be worth chasing.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

Rick Nevill wrote:


Hello Garique, Dale, Frank, Michael and Gary,

I appreciate the ideas. I am not sure how to interpret some of the answers,
so let me give more details. I set up an MFJ-564 paddle into an MFJ-464
Keyer/Reader which converts the Morse into visible letters, and then feeding
that into a PC running HyperTerminal to display larger text.

I'll really show my ignorance here - It sounds like the "Iambic" function
must be in the keyer/reader and not in the paddle hardware (I didn't even
look for an IC chip on the MFJ-564 paddle)? So that means any pair of
switches I use will properly feed the keyer/reader? Then I just need to
find a switch that she can reliably press and release. Do I have it right
now?

That's about the size of it. If you press one paddle of an Iambic
keyer, it goes "didididididididit" until you release the paddle. If you
press the other paddle, it goes "dah dah dah dah dah dah", again, until
you release the paddle. If you press both paddles, it goes
"didahdidahdidah" until you release at least one paddle.

And yes, I checked out the eye reading software and the prices were high, up
to $30,000.

Ouch.

The above hardware was only about $300. If it works that will
be great.

ISTR the New Jersey QRP club had a "finger tapper" key at one point. I
have no direct knowledge of how durable the key was or what type of
force it was set up to need.

And now having dredged the address from the depths of my mind I can
report it can be seen at http://www.njqrp.org/tiptapper/index.html and
it's actually named the "Finger Tip Tapper". It might be worth a look.

HTH

de kg7yy
--
To design the perfect anti-Unix, write an operating system that thinks
it knows what you're doing better than you do. And then adds injury to
insult by getting it wrong.
- esr

Rick Nevill wrote:


Hello Garique, Dale, Frank, Michael and Gary,

I appreciate the ideas. I am not sure how to interpret some of the answers,
so let me give more details. I set up an MFJ-564 paddle into an MFJ-464
Keyer/Reader which converts the Morse into visible letters, and then feeding
that into a PC running HyperTerminal to display larger text.

I'll really show my ignorance here - It sounds like the "Iambic" function
must be in the keyer/reader and not in the paddle hardware (I didn't even
look for an IC chip on the MFJ-564 paddle)? So that means any pair of
switches I use will properly feed the keyer/reader? Then I just need to
find a switch that she can reliably press and release. Do I have it right
now?

That's about the size of it. If you press one paddle of an Iambic
keyer, it goes "didididididididit" until you release the paddle. If you
press the other paddle, it goes "dah dah dah dah dah dah", again, until
you release the paddle. If you press both paddles, it goes
"didahdidahdidah" until you release at least one paddle.

And yes, I checked out the eye reading software and the prices were high, up
to $30,000.

Ouch.

The above hardware was only about $300. If it works that will
be great.

ISTR the New Jersey QRP club had a "finger tapper" key at one point. I
have no direct knowledge of how durable the key was or what type of
force it was set up to need.

And now having dredged the address from the depths of my mind I can
report it can be seen at http://www.njqrp.org/tiptapper/index.html and
it's actually named the "Finger Tip Tapper". It might be worth a look.

HTH

de kg7yy
--
To design the perfect anti-Unix, write an operating system that thinks
it knows what you're doing better than you do. And then adds injury to
insult by getting it wrong.
- esr

Rick Nevill ...

^ I set up an MFJ-564 paddle into an MFJ-464 Keyer/Reader ...

I'm not familiar with the equipment so I can't comment here.



^ It sounds like the "Iambic" function must be in the keyer/reader
^ and not in the paddle hardware ...

True. There are two devices: the key and the keyer. At one time the key was
simply a mechanical switch that turned on the transmitter. The keyer was
later added between the two to give it more versatility.

I prefer a straight key but I understand that there are in general three
types of keys:

straight - the traditional type.
paddle - push one way for a DAH and the other way for a DIT.
double paddle - Touch one for DAH and the other for DIT.

The paddles require an electronic keyer to handle the timing and switching. A
straight key can also be used with the keyer or it can be wired directly to
the radio.

In your case you can probably use any type of keyer and it is the actual key
that you need to customize.

The radio might have a built-in keyer -- mine does, the Yaesu FT-897 -- so
check the operating manual for it. In my case I need only plug a key into the
radio. The miniature phono plug has either two wires for a straight key or
three for a paddle.

Frank