‰  NOW 40 WPM  ‰  TEXT IS FROM SEPTEMBER 2017 QST  PAGE 35‰
2 SHOWS THE INTERFACE ASSEMBLY WITH THE PRO MINI PLATFORM POSITIONED ABOVE
THE OPTO ISOLATOR BOARD AND CONNECTIONS TO THE THREE PANEL JACKS.  FIGURE 3
IS THE CIRCUIT DIAGRAM FOR THE PORTABLE KEYBOARD INTERFACE.  IT INCLUDES
KEYBOARD CONNECTIONS FOR EITHER A USB OR PS2 KEYBOARD CONNECTOR.  NOT ALL
USB KEYBOARDS WORK WITH THIS PROJECT.  HOWEVER, YOU CAN PURCHASE A NEW
PORTABLE PS2 AND USB CAPABLE KEYBOARD FROM ADAFRUIT THAT IS DESIGNED
SPECIFICALLY FOR USE WITH MICROCONTROLLE

PORTABLE KEYBOARD INTERFACE FOR CW AND DATA MODES TAKE YOUR KEYBOARD TO THE
FIELD FOR PUBLIC SERVICE OPERATING OR OTHER ACTIVITIES.  MIKE MUSSLER, AI8Z
MY WIFE, JAN, N8SEW, AND I WANTED A KEYBOARD TO INPUT PSK AND RTTY INTO OUR
ELECRAFT KX2 RADIO, WHICH NORMALLY USES A MORSE PADDLE FOR CHARACTER ENTRY.
THE PORTABLE KEYBOARD INTERFACE DESCRIBED HERE TRANSLATES STANDARD PS2 OR
USB COMPUTER KEYBOARD CHARACTER ENTRIES TO MORSE KEYER PADDLE STROKES AND
IS SUITABLE FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT ADEPT WITH, OR DONT WANT TO USE, A KEYER
PADDLE.  IT CAN BE USED WITH ELECRAFT KX2, KX3, AND K3 RADIOS TO TRANSMIT
PSK OR RTTY CHARACTERS IN THE DATA MODE, OR TO TRANSMIT CW IN THE CW MODE.
FIGURE 1 SHOWS THE PORTABLE KEYBOARD INTERFACE CONNECTED TO THE ELECRAFT
KX2, A PORTABLE KEY BOARD, AND A BATTERY.  ARDUINO MICROCONTROLLER SOLUTION
THE PORTABLE KEYBOARD INTERFACE IS BASED ON THE ARDUINO MICROCONTROLLER
PLATFORM, ALONG WITH A SKETCH ARDUINO SOFTWARE PROGRAM.  LEARN MORE ABOUT
THE ARDUINO ON THEIR WEBSITE WWW. ARDUINO.  CC/EN.  YOU COULD ALSO READ
ARDUINO FOR HAM RADIO BY GLEN POPIEL, KW5GP, OR THE JACK PURDUM, W8TEE, AND
DENNIS KIDDER, W6DQ, PUBLICATION, ARDUINO PROJECTS 2 FOR AMATEUR RADIO.
THE ARDUINO INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT IDE TOOL IS USED TO DEVELOP
ARDUINO MICROCONTROLLER SKETCHES.  THE ARDUINO IDE CAN BE DOWNLOADED AT NO
COST FROM THE ARDUINO WEB PAGE.  SELECT THE IDE VERSION SPECIFIC TO YOUR

COMPUTER OPERATING SYSTEM.  FOLLOW THE LINK ON THE ARDUINO WEB PAGE TO THE
TUTORIAL PAGE, AND FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH THE IDE.  PAY PARTICULAR
ATTENTION TO THE FILE MANAGEMENT, SKETCH VERIFICATION, AND SKETCH LOADING
TABS.  THE TOOLS MENU SELECTIONS ARE USED TO SET UP THE SERIAL INTERFACE
BETWEEN THE COMPUTER AND THE ARDUINO DEVICES PORT, IDENTIFY THE SPECIFIC
PLATFORM YOU WILL BE USING ARDUINO PRO OR PRO MINI BOARD, AND SELECT THE
PROCESSOR ATMEGA328 5 V 16 MHZ.  A NUMBER OF EXAMPLE SKETCHES ARE OFFERED
WITH THE IDE.  YOU CAN USE THEM TO GET UP TO SPEED ON IDE USE AND THE
PROCESS OF COMPILING SKETCHES.  THE SKETCH  COPY MY SKETCH TEXT FILE LINES,
AVAILABLE ON THE QST IN DEPTH WEB PAGE WWW. ARRL. ORG/QST INDEPTH.  PASTE
THE TEXT INTO THE NEW SKETCH IN YOUR ARDUINO IDE WORKSPACE.  FOLLOW THE
STEPS ON THE ARDUINO WEB SITE FOR INSTALLING THE PS2KEYBOARD.H LIBRARY.
YOU WILL NEED THIS LIBRARY WHEN COMPILING THE PORTABLE KEYBOARD INTERFACE
SKETCH.  AFTER SAVING THE SKETCH AND INSTALLING THE PS2KEYBOARD.H LIBRARY
ON YOUR COMPUTER, CLICK THE IDE VERIFY BUTTON AT THE TOP OF THE IDE FIELD.
THE VERIFY BUTTON LAUNCHES THE ARDUINO COMPILER, WHICH TRANSLATES THE HUMAN
‰  END OF 40 WPM TEXT  ‰  QST DE W1AW  ƒ