Disappearing Dits

WC6Y

Flex 6600 with Maestro, Begali Signature paddle w gold contacts. My XYL banished my two Maine **** cats to the radio room since they were destroying furniture in the rest of the house. I usually leave the 6600 & Maestro on and the SPE amp off overnight. Came in this morning and the Mox was lit on Maestro - fortunately only 7 watts, low power drive for the amp. In their chasing each other around must've bashed into the Maestro screen. That was easily remedied, but then I had no Dits on the paddle. Dah side is fine. Key is fine, key cable is fine (i.e. not cat chewed). Electrical connectivity checked to 6600 side plug - all good. Plug seated properly in 6600 socket. Powered everything off, booted up 6600, then Maestro - no help. Did it again. Same thing. The Maestro screen in the forefront overnight was the Phone/CW. I've looked to see what could have been reprogrammed there, but have come up blank. Switching Iambic from A to B or back - no effect.

Ideas for recovering dits? (I've already thought of enough ideas re the "radio cats")

Mike-VA3MW

Review the settings:

Menu  --> Phone/CW

Iambic - Enabled (A or

I suspect you have Iambic not highlighted or off.

Mike

Jean Drolet

Problem with  your cat or your dax. you have ham radio deluxe on your computer?

WC6Y

Iambic is enabled. I've tried all combinations of Iambi on/off, Iambic A / B etc. and every other button on that screen to no avail.

Re Cat/Dax, definitely have a problem w my cats (the furry ones - lol)
Do not have ham radio deluxe on my computer (which is a mac). The problem exists without any computer connected, the Maestro controls the 6600. I did notice under the USB Cables menu that a "CAT: New Cat Cable (A9W0ZUL7)" exists which I hadn't noticed previously, perhaps it is for the connection for MacLogger DX which I run on the Mac. In any case, disabling it does not make Dits funcitonal.

Duane_AC5AA

You mention you checked the cable to the 6600 - did you check to see if each side at the connector did the make/break following the paddle?  Also, does the side that works give you a string of dah's or only sound for as long as you hold the paddle closed?  Finally, do you have another key you can try?  Any chance the cat(s) put a foot on the connector and perhaps damaged the interior of it (within the 6600?)  I don't know if that's possible, but it's a thing to check for.  OK, I'm out of questions now!

KD0RC

Try plugging the key into the key jack of the Maestro.  If it works, then Duane has probably found the issue (damaged key jack in the 6600).  If it acts the same as when plugged into the 6600 directly, then the issue is somewhere in the key or the 3.5 mm plug.
73,
Len, KD0RC

WC6Y

Great insights! Plugged the key into the Maestro and turned on Maestro front speaker (also works plugging headphones into Maestro headphone jack) - Dits restored. I've examined the key jack on the 6600 and it seems hard to imagine how it could have been physically damaged (but not impossible). Tried wiggling the key plug in the jack with the dit key contacts closed - no dits. Dahs work fine and without a break while wiggling the key plug in the jack.

I much prefer the sound of the sine wave sidetone of the 6600 to the harsh sounding smoothed-square-wave side tone of the Maestro, hence have long cables from headphones and paddle to the 6600.

Further ideas? I have another year on my 6600 warranty I don't want to violate by opening it up to replace a jack, nor do I want to be off the air while I send it to Austin, esp given virus delays etc.

Thanks for everyone's help!
Ken

WC6Y

I did check make/break on each side, which works fine. I do get a string of dah's. If I hit the reverse switch on the Maestro, I get a string of dits (as long as the paddle is closed). Don't have another paddle (although I do have a J-38 and a Vibroplex Orignal bug).

KD0RC

Great Ken, glad you got to the bottom of it.  I would contact Flex and ask if replacing the jack would void the warranty.  Seems like a very simple thing... My guess is that you won't need to replace the jack, just gently bend the contacts back into alignment so that it works reliably when plugged in.  It is possible that a wire broke off inside, but I will bet that big ol' Maine **** stepped right on the plug and just bent the contacts in the radio.  Definitely worth a quick peek.

Len

WC6Y

Dits return from Walkabout, but Mystery Remains

Thinking I might follow Len's recommendation, I powered everything off, extracted the 6600, cleaned everything externally (amazing how much dust and fur accumulated in just four months) and did a careful examination. Nothing about the key socket distinguished it from the other three in the area in terms of appearance or wiggle characteristics of a plug in the socket. I put it all back together again thinking "who knows?" Problem repeated. Thought I would see if it did it on the air, would check sending my call against the Reverse Beacon Network. 6600 tune through the SPE Amp was as expected. But then I getting neither dits nor dahs sent on the air w key in 6600. Moved key to Maestro - ditto, nothing. Realized I hadn't reengaged "Breakin" (I use this as an expensive code practice oscillator too). Moved key back to 6600, engaged Breakin and all worked. Somewhere along the line I also turned Iambic off & back on, and changed from A to B.

I've repeated all these steps (including wiggling the key plug in the 6600, extracting and reinserting) trying to get it to fail again to no avail. 

I still don't think its a hardware issue but something having to do with a flukey saved-state software issue somewhere, somehow, but I have no idea what. Seems that going on the air made a difference.

I'm not going to press my luck. I'll take it and will go forward as if nothing ever happened ...

Thanks for everyone's help and interest.

73,
Ken

KD0RC

Glad it's working again Ken.  If it recurs, open the 3.5mm plug and look for a broken wire.  I have had similar issues where a broken wire makes intermittent contact.  Can be the hardest thing to troubleshoot.
73,
Len

WC6Y

Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200

Same thing all over again. Return to room and station is self-transmitting. Unplug key - still transmitting. On Maestro, turn off Breakin - still transmitting. Power off 6600 - that stopped it. Power 6600 back on. Tune button on Maestro behaves as expected. Sending with paddle, only Dahs work as before, no Dits. Same behavior with Breakin off (local) or Breakin on (sending on air). 

Plug paddle and headphones into Maestro, Breakin off. Dits and Dahs work.
Turn Breakin on. Dits and Dahs work & am sending.

I replace the external key cable to 6600 - that's not it. Perhaps it really is an intermittent key jack in the 6600? However, the two times I have found my station locked in transmit, it was solid key down, not sending a string of dits or dahs. I would think a jack failure would connect either ring or tip to ground and activate the dit or dah forming software.

Thoughts anyone?
Would be nice to hear from Flex again...

In the mean time I will operate with paddle/headphones connected to the Maestro: however, it seems that signal receive quality is not as good on the Maestro as via the 6600, using the same set of headphones - sounds like more high pitched static via the Maestro. Anyone else notice this?

Thanks,
Ken

KD0RC

Almost certainly the jack in the 6600.  You can easily pop open the top cover without voiding your warranty (there are user installable options available like the GPSDO and antenna tuner after all).  Look to see if there is a wire broken on that key jack or perhaps the jack itself is damaged.  It might be touching something else causing a key-down condition, and is certainly the culprit on the no dits condition.  It is a very low-risk proposition to open the top and take a look.

73,
Len

Duane_AC5AA

When I initially mentioned the key jack it was from the perspective of one of those Maine **** racing over the rig and a foot landing on the key plug - which then works like a lever against the internal contacts or even a board if it is mounted that way.  So, I'd look for damage to either the contacts - warping, bending, breaks, bends - that sort of thing.  Who knows what happens depending on what shorts to what.  I'd still inspect that for intermittents or potential shorts. 

WC6Y

No User Serviceable Parts Inside ...

Two jacks per aluminum box which are soldered to the motherboard. While it may look like the box could be disassembled, w/o removal from the board - I don't believe it can be. I've opened a service ticket ...

KD0RC

Ah, not what I expected...  Thanks for the pic!

Len