|
New to Ham Radio?
My Profile
Community
Articles
Forums
News
Reviews
Friends Remembered
Strays
Survey Question
Operating
Contesting
DX Cluster Spots
Propagation
Resources
Calendar
Classifieds
Ham Exams
Ham Links
List Archives
News Articles
Product Reviews
QSL Managers
Site Info
eHam Help (FAQ)
Support the site
The eHam Team
Advertising Info
Vision Statement
About eHam.net
|
| Reviews Summary for Hallicrafters T.O. Keyer |
|
Reviews: 4
|
Average rating: 5.0/5
|
MSRP: $TO Keyer
|
|
Description: Hollow state keyer. Has two speed ranges (slower and faster), adjustable weighting, adjustable volume. First commercial digital keyer to be widely marketed.
|
|
Product is in production.
|
|
More info: http://
|
|
Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to this review.
Subscribe!
My Subscriptions
Subscriptions Help
|
You can
write your own review of the Hallicrafters T.O. Keyer.
|
W5CGH
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Feb 10, 2011 08:48
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
GREAT KEYER (In it's day!!)
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
Before I write another word, let make it clear that my above Summary comments and rating are for this keyer in it's prime in the early 1960's.
The TO keyer was the first of it's kind, an electronic keyer that precisely generated dots and dashs digitally based on a single timebase. W9TO never published his keyer, but he did patent it, with rights assigned to Hallicrafters. W9TO did give out schematics to his keyer for years to anyone who asked for one, and a ham store in Houston even sold a printed circuit board to build the keyer.
By todays standards, the keyer is pretty bad, but when it first came out, it was superb. The biggest problem with the design is that due to the fact that it does not have either a dot or dash memory on the input, it's real easy for the operator to get ahead of the keyer and either send an extra character or have one locked out and not sent at all. It's kind of like learning to type fast on an old mechanical "green keyed" teletype machine, you have to learn to type (and send code) at the speed of the machine, and no faster.
I used my first Hallicrafters TO Keyer as a novice in 1970 at K9NBH, the club station at Great Lakes Naval Station in Illinois. As a key collector, I've owned Vibroplex Vibrokeyer single lever paddles before, and finally bought an HA-1 a few years ago.
Oh, yeah, don't EVEN try squeeze keying with a TO Keyer as no one had even heard of that back when W9TO designed his keyer. Using an iambic paddle and losing both levers at the same time in either order will just send a long string of dashes as long as you hold the paddles closed.
In closing, if you want a vintage keyer to use with a vintage station, the Hallicrafters HA-1 TO Keyer along with a Vibroplex Vibrokeyer paddle is a perfect choice and you'll have great fun with it.
Oh yeah, one other thing, when the HA-1 first came on the market, Vibroplex offered the Vibrokeyer for a while with the base painted to match the Hallicrafters gray color of the HA-1 cabinet.
73,
Brad, W5CGH
|
|
K9TCG
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Mar 26, 2009 10:18
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
An excellent keyer
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
I obtained my T.O.Keyer around 1961. I've used it almost constantly over the years. I even had it shipped to Okinawa when I was at the Army Mars station KR6USA. And the best part of this review? I've never had a problem with this keyer. It has all it's original parts and tubes! It still works great.
|
|
N4KC
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Aug 27, 2007 19:37
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Di-di-dah-dit Dah-di-di-dit
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
Though it lacks practically all the features of today's keyers, it still deserves a "5" for what it did in its day. I've had mine for 30 years, though I'll admit it's been on the shelf for the last 15. That is simply because I need the memories and other features of the modern keyer, but somehow, I can't bear to part with it. I did one mod: added a pot to vary the sidetone frequency. As the previous reviewer noted, this would make a nice addition to any vintage station, and it works very well, too.
Maybe that's why I'm hanging onto it...to go with that HT-37 I'm going to acquire someday.
|
|
KB2FCV
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Aug 27, 2007 09:50
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Reliable vintage keyer
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
I've owned my T.O. Keyer for 15 years and it's a great little keyer! I reccommend one of these for anyone who uses antique equipment because it can do cathode keying. This keyer also works just fine on modern equipment for those of you who would like to run something vintage but still prefer to use modern rigs. The only thing I have had to replace were two electrolytics, otherwise the keyer has performed flawlessly over the years. The speed and weight adjustments operate nicely to suit the person using it. These usually can be had in nice condition for under $100 dollars and work great with any set of paddles. Some of the coolest 'visuals' are the OA2 tubes in the back with the one that 'blinks' and the neon bulb that flickers as well as you send. Ever notice that the neon bulb flickers 3 times with a dash and once with a dot?
|
|
If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about Reviews,
please email your Reviews Manager.
|
|
|
|
|
