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Reviews For: Idiom Press/Ham Supply Logikit CMOS 4 Morse Code Keyer

Category: Keyers & CW Keyboards

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Review Summary For : Idiom Press/Ham Supply Logikit CMOS 4 Morse Code Keyer
Reviews: 94MSRP: 99.95 - 139.95
Description:
The CMOS 4 is the little brother to the world famous K-5 Keyer. Unmatched feature list, with the best operator interface available. Additional features include: greater protection against voltage spikes, lightning etc.; all stainless hardware; internal volume control; updated enclosure design; 3-AAA cells will run Keyer for months, or accepts 9-12 volts DC. See Website for full and complete details.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.hamsupply.com/cmos-4-keyer/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00944.9
WA4FOM Rating: 2002-04-09
Great keyer and first-time kit Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I will try not to repeat the exacting comments
made by Tom Hammond (N0SS), with whose review I
am in full agreement. I built mine in three
afternoons or so. I take a bit longer than most
because I triple-check each step before I perform
it, then double-check it afterwards. I have
"desolderophobia", the fear of having to redo
circuit board work. I have yet to find a
therapist who can help me with that one.

The unit goes together without a hitch. In my
opinion, if anyone wants a good practice kit
to prepare for the many (mostly QRP-related) kits
out there, including those made by "Elly-whoozis",
this is the one.

Buy it. It's a REALLY great keyer and refresher
course at swinging a soldering iron.

W0VX Rating: 2002-04-05
Exceptional Keyer Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The LogiKit CMOS-4 Keyer kit is another high quality, reasonably priced product from Idiom Press. It was fun to build and is a pleasure to use.

The kit went together without a hitch in about 3 hours. The instructions are clear and have check off boxes for the construction steps. The components are top notch from the tactile feedback pushbutton switches, and glass epoxy PC board to the stainless steel hardware and commercial grade, heavy-duty silk-screened aluminum case. You won’t find a flimsy, cheap aluminum case like some of the accessory manufacturers use. The CMOS-4 has a solid look and feel.

Operation is similar to the highly rated Logikey K-3. Most of the commands are the same and operator transition from a K-3 to the CMOS-4 is transparent. There are 3 banks of 4 memories each. The keyer can be set to 10 different timing emulation modes including K-1, K-3, Accukeyer, and Curtis. Just about any parameter you can think of (Auto-Space, Speed Range, Sidetone Frequency, Monitor, Weight, Keying Compensation, etc.) can be adjusted with the function commands. All those features run for over a year on 3 AAA batteries.

Forget the built in keyers in current model rigs. They all seem to be manufacturer’s afterthoughts that just don’t cut it. Each built in keyer has a different feel and timing. The CMOS-4 works the same with all rigs. It’s the one to have if you are serious about CW.
K9PL Rating: 2002-04-05
Versatile, compact keyer Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
High quality all the way:
Fast delivery (four business days),
Fun and easy to build kit,
Compact,
Versatile,
Complements both QRS and QRQ Morse operation,
Top notch performer with a plentitude of useful features.
K3IU Rating: 2002-04-05
Top Notch L'il Keyer Kit Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
April 5, 2002

I just finished building the new Idiom Press Logikit CMOS 4 keyer. Neat kit! Neat keyer!

I ordered on the web site last Saturday. The order was shipped on Tuesday and the package was in my mailbox on Thursday. They're on the west Coast. I'm on the east coast... and it was the US Postal Service.

Inventory took about 20 minutes and for a while I thought that a small (#40) split washer was missing, but then found it hiding in the knob for the speed adjusting pot. The instructions for assembly are well written and quite clear. The printed circuit boards are top quality. The only problem that I noticed was that the silk screening did not include the circle around the holes in to which the two 4007 diodes are inserted. Fortunately, the diagram in the installation instructions showed the proper installation, so I didn't have to resort to chasing the traces against the schematic diagram. Normal care should result in a satisfactory build. Tom Hammond (N0SS) had remarked in a review that the bottom connector on the speed adjusting pot was pretty difficult to connect to. With that in mind, I loosened the securing nut on the pot sufficiently to remove the anti-rotation tab from the hole and rotated the pot so that I could fairly easily access the soldering tabs. After soldering the 2 wires, the pot was reset to it's proper position and the securing nut tightened.

Total time to inventory and build was about three and one-half hours.

I haven't done exhaustive testing, but so far the l'il critter does everything that is advertised. I'm delighted to have it.

Ken Wagner K3IU