Plug in Paddle and Flex 6300 turns off

n4mcc

I can't find the answer to this one. First time I have plugged in a iambic paddle. When I plug into front jack, it makes the radio turn off.

VE7ATJ_Don

Hi… it sounds like you may have the connections on the plug incorrectly set. From the Flex 6000 Hardware Manual…

"The CW key/paddle jack is a ¼ inch TRS (tip, ring, sleeve — what used to be known as a 'stereo' plug) phone plug. For an iambic paddle, the tip is connected to the dot paddle, the ring is connected to the dash paddle and the sleeve is connected to the common. For a straight key or a keyer output, connect to the tip and
leave the ring floating. The common is connected to the sleeve. (Note: 3.3VC Max input.)"

You didn't specify if you were plugging into the 6300 or into a Maestro, but I believe the Maestro is a smaller (1/8in) version of the same TRS plug, with the same wiring.

n4mcc

No Maestro, direct into front panel 1/4 inch Key.

I thought about it maybe being wired incorrectly, so I removed the leads from the Vibroplex Iambic and had the same results. I'll check which wire is connected to what and make sure there is not a short in the 1/4 male plug.

VE7ATJ_Don

Sounds good. All that said, I DID have a problem develop with my 6500 and the key jack where I needed to send it back to home base for a replacement jack :-)

n4mcc

I got some good feedback from Flex. After all was done, I think it was rollback from the momentary short that happens when you use phone jacks like that. I had the power up and the antenna grounded and I think it rolled back from that. Have it solved now. Thanks for the help.

On a side note, once it was working I practiced with it. That creates nearly 1 S unit of "white noise" that comes out even with the antennas disconnected was bad. I finally got rid of about 90% of it by dropping the higher freqs on the RX EQ to zero. Not sure why I get all that noise with nothing connected; I ran that one by Flex.

Mike-VA3MW

@n4mcc

That sounds like a common mode current issue. The ground on the Key is acting like an antenna. RF doesn't care what antenna it attaches itself to.

Adding a choke to the key should solve the issue, but there is a bigger issue you need to find. I would start by reviewing all your ground connections in your shack..