MFJ -495 Instruction Manual

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Memory Keyer

Model MFJ-495

INSTRUCTION MANUAL

CAUTION: Read All Instructions Before Operating Equipment

MFJ ENTERPRISES, INC.

300 Industrial Park Road

Starkville, MS 39759 USA

Tel: 662-323-5869 Fax: 662-323-6551

VERSION 0D

2001-2009 MFJ ENTERPRISES, INC.

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Page 1 Memory Keyer Model MFJ-495 INSTRUCTION MANUAL CAUTION: Read All Instructions Before Operating Equipment MFJ ENTERPRISES, INC. 300 Industrial Park Road Starkville, MS 39759 USA Tel: 662-323-5869 Fax: 662-323-6551 VERSION 0D COPYRIGHT 2001-2009 MFJ ENTERPRISES, INC.
Page 2 Customers using this manual should report errors or omissions, recommendations for improvements, or other comments to MFJ Enterprises, 300 Industrial Park Road, Starkville, MS 39759. Phone: (662) 323-5869; FAX: (662) 323-6551. Business hours:...
Page 3: Table Of Contents
PTT Hang Time ........................ 13 Tone ..........................13 Serial Number ........................14 Leading Zeroes ......................... 14 Other Zeroes ........................14 Nines ..........................14 Iambic ..........................14 Reverse..........................15 Paddle ..........................15 Monitor ..........................15 Output ..........................15 © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 4 Setup Commands ........................... 23 Message Memory........................... 27 Quick Speeds ..........................28 THE TERMINAL Using the MFJ-495 with a Terminal Program ................29 Setup Commands ........................... 29 Message Memory........................... 34 Uploading and Downloading Messages..................34 Loading a Memory Block from the Computer..............34 Sending Contents of a Memory Block to the Computer ...........
Page 5 Figure 3. Qwerty Keyboard Layout ....................5 Figure 4. Dvorak Keyboard Layout ....................5 Figure 5. MFJ-495 Menu Flow and Button Action Chart............... 7 Figure 6. Code Weight........................12 Figure 7. Keying Delay and PTT Hang Time Timing ..............13 Figure 8.
Page 7: The Basics
The MFJ-495 has controls for volume and speed on the front of the unit. The paddle jack connects to any iambic or single lever (dual contact) key paddle. The keyboard port allows use of an optional keyboard for keyboard keying operation.
Page 8: Front Panel
These buttons are also time-sensitive. Note: The F1 to F4 on the MFJ-495 will be referred to as “button” and the F1 to F4 on the keyboard will be referred to as “key” throughout this manual.
Page 9: Back Panel
Power: Accepts a standard 2.1 × 5.5 mm coaxial plug with positive center and negative sleeve. This unit requires 12 volts DC. An optional 500 mA power supply, the MFJ-1315, is available from MFJ Enterprises, Inc. This unit requires a minimum of 50 mA at no volume and without using a keyboard and a maximum of 300 mA at maximum volume into an 8-ohm audio load with a typical keyboard.
Page 10: Table 2. Manual Key Jumper
* is active-high. • Serial Port: Accepts a standard 9-pin serial plug for connecting the MFJ-495 to a computer for ASCII file transfers or monitoring your sending on the computer screen. A 9-pin-to-9-pin serial cable is needed. If your computer has a 25-pin serial port, use a 9-pin-to-25-pin adapter.
Page 11: Connecting To A Computer
Figure 4. Dvorak Keyboard Layout. Connecting to a Computer You may connect the MFJ-495 to a computer using the 9-pin DIN serial port on the back panel. If your computer has a 25-pin serial port, you can use a 25-pin-to-9-pin adapter.
Page 12: Basic Operation
How to Use the Menu System You may set up the MFJ-495 to perform any of its many functions by making the appropriate selections from its menu system. This system consists of seven main menus and 22 setup menus. You make your selections using the five buttons under the LCD display - Menu, F1/Previous ◄, F2/Next ►, F3/Down...
Page 13: Figure 5. Mfj-495 Menu Flow And Button Action Chart
MENU Press to select Bank C. MENU Press to select Bank D. Press MENU to select MSG1-MSG4 main menu. Press MENU to select MSG5-MSG8 main menu. Figure 5. MFJ-495 Menu Flow and Button Action Chart. © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 14 Previous or Next button to go to another setup menu. Once you have made your choices within the setup menus, they will be saved in non-volatile memory for your next session. © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 15: The Menus
“GO” (dah-dah- dit dah-dah-dah). You may then key in a message using the paddle, keyboard or terminal. Refer to “The Memory” section on page 36 for explanation of the MFJ-495’s message memory. Command [COM] Button Use to enter the command mode and the keyer will respond with “CO”...
Page 16: Speed
A shortcut to the message menus from any main menu is to press and hold the Menu button and then within two seconds press the Dit paddle to select the MSG1-MSG4 menu or press the Dah paddle to select the MSG5-MSG8 menu. © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 17: Setup Menus
Setup Menus The setup menus allow you to set up how the MFJ-495 works and behaviors. There are 22 setup menus arranged in a “wrap-around” structure. To access these setup menus, press and hold the Menu button for two seconds.
Page 18: Ccw Weight
The Word Space menu is used to increase the word space (normally seven units) up to 16 units long. There are two numbers on line two of the display; the number enclosed within “[“ and “]” is the word © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 19: Keying Compensation
Figure 7. Keying Delay and PTT Hang Time Timing. Tone The Tone menu allows you to set the audio frequency in the range of 305 to 1006 Hz. The MFJ-495 features smooth, clean audio, with sine wave output, instead of the harsh square wave audio used by many other keyers.
Page 20: Serial Number
MFJ-495 Memory Keyer Instruction Manual 5 milliseconds, avoiding the "spikes" that cause distracting key clicks. The MFJ-495's audio sounds like that of a good CW transceiver. Keying Output Rise Time Decay Time Sidetone Audio Figure 8. Rise Time and Decay Time Timing.
Page 21: Reverse
The Paddle menu allows you to select how the paddle works. With the automatic option, the keyer functions as an iambic keyer for use with a dual-lever paddle. As an iambic keyer, the MFJ-495 has dot and dash memories, for "squeeze keying," and functions just like other iambic keyers, both standalone keyers and those built into radios.
Page 22: The Paddle
Using the MFJ-495 with a Paddle Plug an iambic or single lever paddle into the Key Input jack of the MFJ-495. A ¼-inch stereo phone plug and a two-conductor shielded cable should be used. If separate shielded cables are used, the two shields should be tied together and connected to ground.
Page 23 00 to 20. This setting is used primarily to accommodate switching delay in certain station setup. It is used in conjunction with the PTT line to delay the keying output until all the switching is finished; that is, the keying output is lagged behind the sidetone © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 24 Notice hand-key mode may not be used to enter messages or commands. Note: In hand-key mode using the paddle, the MFJ-495 will not display the code sent or record to the keyer memory. Also, the difference between this and the Hand-key command is that this command affects the paddle only.
Page 25 Tone – sets the sidetone frequency to approximately ##0 Hz, where ## represents two digits in the range of 30 to 99. The MFJ-495 features smooth, clean audio, with sine wave output, instead of the harsh square wave audio used by many other keyers. Also, the MFJ-495 produces each dit and dah with a rise and decay time of approximately 5 milliseconds, avoiding the "spikes"...
Page 26: Message Memory
The keyer will respond by sending an end-of-message character (di-dah-di-dah-dit) and automatically insert “]” to the end of your message. Refer to “The Memory” section on page 36 for explanation of the MFJ-495’s message memory and how to use the embedded commands to enhance your message.
Page 27: The Keyboard
When you plug in a standard IBM style AT keyboard, your keyer becomes a powerful keyboard keyer. The MFJ-495 uses the letter keys A-Z, the number keys 0-9, the function keys F1-F12, the space bar, the arrow keys, and the punctuation characters that have Morse equivalents. Prosigns have been assigned to some of the other punctuation characters for quick operation.
Page 28 Disable prosign mode or Increase setting – Decrease setting + or = Increase setting Use the close square bracket “]” to end message allowing carriage returns in messages End message if selected by the open square bracket “[” © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 29: Setup Commands
Press LEFT or DOWN to decrease or press RIGHT or UP to increase the speed, or enter two digits 10 to 99 to set the Farnsworth speed or 00 to turn off Farnsworth mode. Press ENTER to accept and exit, or press ESC to cancel and exit © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 30 Monitor – enables (#=Y) or disables (#=N) the sidetone monitor, or toggles the sidetone monitor on or off without the #. If the sidetone is turned off, it will still play command © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 31 Note: In hand-key mode using the paddle, the MFJ-495 will not display the code sent or record to the keyer memory. Also, the difference between this and the Hand-key command is that this command affects the paddle only.
Page 32 Tone – sets the sidetone frequency to approximately ##0 Hz, where ## represents two digits in the range of 30 to 99. The MFJ-495 features smooth, clean audio, with sine wave output, instead of the harsh square wave audio used by many other keyers. Also, the MFJ-495 produces each dit and dah with a rise and decay time of approximately five milliseconds, avoiding the "spikes"...
Page 33: Message Memory
Begin typing in your message pressing the space bar between words. The keyer echoes each character as it is typed. Press the BACK SPACE key to delete the last character. In message program mode only, press CTRL+BACK SPACE to delete the last word. © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 34: Quick Speeds
ENTER key with the close square bracket “]” as the end-of-message key. Refer to “The Memory” section on page 36 for explanation of the MFJ-495’s message memory and how to use the embedded commands to enhance your message.
Page 35: The Terminal
Set the baud rate to 1200, data bits to 8, parity to none, and stop bits to 1. Also, set the flow control to Xon/Xoff. Now turn on your MFJ-495. You should type something on the computer.
Page 36 "OFF" (dah-dah-dah di-di-dah-dit di-di-dah-dit). Press ESC to cancel and exit. PTT hang time – sets the PTT (push-to-talk) hang time to #### millisecond, where #### J#### represents four digits in the range of 0001 to 9999. This controls the time between when CW © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 37 (#=H) mode. With the automatic option, the keyer functions as an iambic keyer for use with a dual-lever paddle. As an iambic keyer, the MFJ-495 has dot and dash memories for "squeeze keying" and functions just like other iambic keyers, both standalone keyers and those built into radios.
Page 38 Tone – sets the sidetone frequency to approximately ##0 Hz, where ## represents two digits in the range of 30 to 99. The MFJ-495 features smooth, clean audio, with sine wave output, instead of the harsh square wave audio used by many other keyers. Also, the MFJ-495 produces each dit and dah with a rise and decay time of approximately 5 milliseconds, avoiding the "spikes"...
Page 39 It also supports four different configuration settings for different contest exchanges. reVerse – reverses the sense of the dot and dash paddles. When using paddles, the MFJ-495 normally expects the dot paddle to be connected to the tip of the plug and the dash paddle to be connected to the plug's ring.
Page 40: Message Memory
Uploading and Downloading Messages: To send messages either from your computer to the MFJ-495 or from the unit to your computer, you use a terminal program on the computer that is capable of transferring ASCII data. Configure the terminal software for 1200 baud, 8 data bits, no parity and one stop bit.
Page 41: Sending Contents Of A Memory Block To The Computer
While computers store a carriage return as two characters (the carriage return followed by a linefeed), the MFJ-495 stores only the carriage return and generates the linefeed following it during playback. The additional linefeed thus does not need to be transferred to the Keyer.
Page 42: The Memory
Also, a complete set of QSO exchange can be prepared and loaded into the MFJ-495. The memory is non-volatile, so it is saved even when the power is turned off and it does not require battery backup to preserve the recorded messages.
Page 43: Preparing Messages
Call – calls message ##, where the first # is a single digit in the range of 1 to 8 for the message number and the second # is a letter in the range of A to D for the memory bank. © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 44 Pauses greater than 99 seconds are obtained by using consecutive commands that total the desired value. For example: TIMEOUT 1 SEC /P01 TIMEOUT 1 MIN /P60 TIMEOUT 1 MIN 39 SEC /P99 TIMEOUT 2 MIN /P60 /P60. © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 45 During QRSS mode, the bottom line of the display reads where ## is SPEED = QRSS## the selected QRSS speed. Pressing the Menu button restores the main menu. The Speed, Farnsworth, Weight, and Tone main menus are not available in the QRSS mode. © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 46 Set ## to 00 to key continuously for tuning the transmitter. For example: KEY 1 SEC /X01 KEY 1 MIN /X60 KEY 1 MIN 39 SEC /X99 KEY 2 MIN /X60 /X60 KEY INFINITE /X00. © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 47: Appendices
Press Up or Down button to select the user to be reset to factory defaults. Turn off the power to the keyer. Press and hold both the Menu and F2 buttons while turning the power on. Release the buttons when appears on the display. DEFAULTS RESET © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 48: Message Memory Reset
(di-dah-di-dah-dit). Self Test A self-test routine will check the functions of the MFJ-495. This routine checks the display, the paddles, the front-panel buttons, the remote port, the internal memory and the audio circuitry. During the self-test, you may stop the test by turning off the unit;...
Page 49: Power Down Circuit Test
8. If the power down circuitry is okay, a repetitive message will be displayed and sent as audio. PASS If there is a problem, message will be displayed and sent as audio repetitively. PD FAIL 9. Turn the power off. © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 50: Troubleshooting
If you have any problem with this unit first check the appropriate section of this manual. If the manual does not reference your problem or your problem is not solved by reading the manual you may call MFJ Technical Service at 662-323-0549 or the MFJ Factory at 662-323-5869. You will be best helped if you have your unit, manual and all information on your station handy so you can answer any questions the technicians may ask.
Page 51: Morse Code Character Set
• – – • – • di-dah-dah-di-dah-dit • – • – • • Paragraph di-dah-di-dah-di-dit – • – Invitation to Transmit dah-di-dah FCC test requirement consists the 26 letters, the 10 numerals, the period, the comma, the question mark, © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 52: Signals Used In Other Radio Services
Fine business; excellent Thank Thanks FREQ Frequency Your; you're; you are Good afternoon Good evening Well; will Good morning Watts Good night Weather Hear; here XCVR Transceiver XMTR Transmitter Go ahead Wife (ex-young-lady) Message Young lady © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 53: Meaning Of Q Signals
Here is the info you requested The distress traffic has ended Send a "?" after a Q signal to ask for information or an action. Example: QRZ: station (call) is ..QRZ?: what is your station (call)? © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 54: Setup Commands
[COM] + P# CTRL+P # Queue Queue [COM] + Q# CTRL+Q # ALT+F7 Ratio Speed Ratio [COM] + R## ~R## ~R## CTRL+R ## Speed Overall Speed [COM] + S## ~S## ~S## CTRL+S ## CTRL+UP CTRL+DOWN CTRL+LEFT CTRL+RIGHT © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 55: Table 4. Setup Commands
[COM] + Y CTRL+Y Zeroes and nines Leading Zeroes [COM] + Z### ~Z### ~Z### Other Zeroes CTRL+Z ### Nines Note: Terminal commands can be used via the keyboard, but not vice versa. Table 4. Setup Commands. © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Page 59 MFJ Enterprises, Inc. warrants to the original owner of this product, if manufactured by MFJ Enterprises, Inc. and purchased from an authorized dealer or directly from MFJ Enterprises, Inc. to be free from defects in material and workmanship for a period of 12 months from date of purchase provided the following terms of this warranty are satisfied.
Page 60 MFJ ENTERPRISES, INC. MFJ-495 Manual 300 Industrial Park Road Version 0D Starkville, MS 39759 Printed In U.S.A. 06/2009...