How do I set my Maestro CW keying to Semi Break in - Not on SSDR

BigFish30

I have been confused even after reading the manual about how to set the CW keying to Semi Break in, QSK is OK but that is the default which I do not want.

Neil D Friedman N3DF

I like to use the links in the descriptive and we’ll-organized table of contents to quickly find and go to provisions in which I am interested.

KD0RC

From the Maestro manual:

I think that you need to be in CW mode to get this panel to show.

EDIT: Sorry forgot to mention that you get to this screen using the TX Menu button.

Mike-VA3MW

Can you explain what is working and what isn't working? If the the QSK letters are lit, that just means that QSK is possible.

BigFish30

Sorry, I also see this in the manual but that is not what I see in the radio. I have a 6600M unit, I have tried the Transmit menu, the Phone/CW menu and the TX band settings but this particular menu does not appear. That is why this is perplexing to figure out.

KD0RC

I think that you need to have a slice set to CW and that slice needs to have the TX flag set. Then push the TX Menu button.

BigFish30

QSK is lit, QSK is working. My issue is I do not like the cycling on and off so frequently between every dit and dah. I am concerned on how this is affecting my relay in the radio and my amp. I had Semi Break-in on my old radio and that worked very nice.

Mike-VA3MW

What is your delay site to?

BigFish30

OK everyone, here is the correct message I got from support. Flex 6600M.

1. Press the MIC/Speed button on the front panel to get to the correct menu.
2. Then adjust the delay in this menu to 120 or greater - this represent 120 milliseconds which worked for me.
3. Then key the radio and verify that the PTT/TX1 function of the radio delays the return to send the way you want.
4. Then press the MIC/Speed button again to return to normal, then test it out
5. Voila! now when you key a full word such as your call sign the radio and the amp will stay keyed up between the individual letters.
6. Some may think this may be ****, but not everyone is able to copy code well in QSK mode. Nor do I want to trash the relay in my amp prematurely. I am not a new ham and have worked CW for a long time. I cannot believe I was the first to ask this kind of question. This is my first Flex radio however.
7. One small criticism I have about the initial instruction from KD0RC, is that it took me in a wrong direction from the start because that menu is not in the 6600M radio controls from the front panel for this issue. It likely is for the 6600, but not the 6600M I did not realize this, if I had been referred to the 6600M manual section 34.5 and subsequently 34.6.2 I would have figured this out much quicker. I appreciated Len trying to help me out. BTW, Len your picture of that Walleye on your QRZ page is a real stunner. I wish we had Walleyes that big around my house.

Geoff AB6BT

To be fair, your original question started with :

"How do I set my Maestro..."

And that is the information that Len sent. You did not mention 6600M.

BigFish30

Fair enough

BigFish30

Fair enough I could have been more explicit in my question, but it is not the Red TX button but the MIC/Speed button of the TX Menu panel in section 36.5 of the Maestro manual you have to press either on the Maestro or the 6600M panel. That is what drove me into confusion since this menu Len referred is not provided by pressing any TX button only the MIC/Speed button of the TX Menu. There is a TX Menu button described in Section 36.6.2, but not a means on how to get there. Had the instruction been to read section 36.5, then 36.6.2 I would have done much better. I do not go pushing every button on a new radio without a better understanding that this might do. This is the same TX Menu Panel is on the Maestro and and the 6600M. There is a picture of the TX menu panel in both manuals. To be fair to Flex this is all in the manual and alternatively I could have printed out the manuals and read all 210 pages to find the answer. But asking a simple question on how to get to Semi Break in should not have required all that, I thought surely someone had asked the same question I asked before. I can see I will have to print out the manual now.

Craig_KØCF

Rather than printing the whole manual, I find it much more convenient to download and save the PDF. Then, using Adobe Acrobat reader, you can use the Adobe search function to find words or phrases in the manual and very rapidly hit exactly what you are looking for. Much easier than searching page-by-page through a printed manual!

73, Craig KØCF

BigFish30

Thanks for the tip.