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Reviews For: PicoKeyer from N0XAS

Category: Keyers & CW Keyboards

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Review Summary For : PicoKeyer from N0XAS
Reviews: 89MSRP: 17.99
Description:
Completely self-contained version of the original PicoKeyer, first introduced in 2003. The PicoKeyer features four memories, all connections and power on board (no external wiring needed), speed control, simple one-button menu based setup, beacon mode, and much more.
Keying modes supported are iambic A and B, Ultimatic, Bug and straight key/cootie. Hands-free tuneup mode lets you tune with either constant key-down or 50% duty cycle dits. Easy, quick assembly make this a great club or group build project!
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.hamgadgets.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00894.9
N1CVX Rating: 2008-04-27
Great first kit Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Can only agree with prior posters here - the PicoKeyer is not only inexpensive, it's also a high quality product - and fun. If anyone is looking for an inexpensive kit to build, which will later not get tossed to the side of shack, look no further - this one's it.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by N1CVX on 2008-04-27

Can only agree with prior posters here - the PicoKeyer is not only inexpensive, it's also a high quality product - and fun. If anyone is looking for an inexpensive kit to built, which will later not get tossed to the side of shack, look no further - this one's it.
W8YT Rating: 2008-04-27
A+++ Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It's a real pleasure to get more than you expected - from the really fast delivery to the gold plated solder pads and thru-holes. The components are high quality, and the directions are detailed and superb. I bought mine to use as a ten meter beacon with my FT-817, and had no trouble getting on the air immediately with it. Great product. Thanks N0XAS!
JDWYER Rating: 2008-04-05
Short term keyer Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This keyer worked well for awhile but has since become intermittent. I have to fiddle with it to get it to work, sometimes replugging in the cords or removing and replacing the battery. Other times I am unable to stop the memory output by sending a dit or dah. Other times I have to fiddle with the pushbutton to cycle through the commands successfully. Since there is no wiring problem I think the little 8 pin IC is the culprit.
F4UKP Rating: 2008-04-01
Amazing ! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Received my picokeyer tonight. Well packaged and fast shipping!

This is what I call a great 15 minutes project!

You still get a paper documentation which in my opinion is great. I'm tired of buying $400+ electronic stuff and only getting a CD with a PDF file to print!

Doesn't work out of the box but the construction should be achievable by your 5 years old nephew within 30 minutes...

The PCB is of great quality and the documentation up to elecraft standards (sorry I'm only 30 so to young to compare it to Heathkit !)

The feature list is just too long to be listed here.

Definitely worse the €15 including shipping I paid for it!
KC9CS Rating: 2008-03-29
Perfect little keyer Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Wow! A great little keyer on a pc board about 1/2 the size of a credit card or less that does it all. I bought mine on eBay about $17, it arrived quickly and took less than 1 hour to build. This little keyer does so many things and does them all well. Program in some contest info and a push of a button or two will automatically send CW, speed, weighting, keyer type, so many other parameters are all user selectable. I built my into an Altoids tin and still have room to coil up the power and key to Transceiver cables and stuff them into the same tin.
Highly recommended and fun to use.
K2JN Rating: 2008-03-15
Nice keyer for the price! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is great first time builders kit. It's real easy to assemble and comes with quality components and minimal investment. It did not take me long to assemble the kit; less than one evening. However, I did spend quite a bit of time looking for an enclosure small enough to hold the board. In true "Altoids" engineering style, I finally found a small "Everest Mint Gum" tin (2.3" x 1.5" x 0.7") that fits just right. I chose not to install the optional pot for speed control.

Dale, N0XAS, provides top-notch service and is very responsive to questions. He will even upgrade your firmware for a small cost.
KC9GUZ Rating: 2008-03-05
Absolutely GREAT! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought the newer Picokeyer Deluxe and put it together in no time flat. It works great hooked between my vibrokeyer and my Kenwood TS 830S. The kit goes together very easily and works like a champ once assembled and in service. For $17.00 it can't be beat.
KB1NSB Rating: 2008-02-22
Great keyer for the money! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was looking for a keyer to operate a beacon, when I stumbled onto N0XAS's site. After reading about it I went ahead and bought one. The kit was very easy to build, with a well done manual,and it was'nt long before I heard that "73" from the sidetone. The keyer works great, and the menu is easy to get through and get things set up. I got the 50k pot with mine, and speed adjustment is a snap right from the front panel of my homebrew cabinet. Programming the memory is a bit tricky, but once you get use to it, it's no problem. I only wish the sidetone was a little more pleasant to the ear. For the small amount of money, this is one nice keyer! Oh by the way, that call sign up in the corner has been changed to K1KUZ
former_WA6L_JG Rating: 2008-01-28
Lot's of "Bang for the Buck" Time Owned: more than 12 months.

I love working CW and I own several keyers, including a Microham and a Logitec K5. Both of these cost me over $150. I only mention this because when I compare them to the Picokeyer ($15), the difference is not all that drastic!

For day-to-day rag-chewing and DX'ing, the Picokeyer has everything you need. This includes four memories, beacon mode, variable speed, iambic A/B, variable spacing, etc. It is a lot of keyer in very little space and for very little money. It consistently sends smooth and accurate code.

The kit itself is fun and easy. An experienced kit-builder can put it together in 15 minutes. If you are new to kit building, this would be the perfect first kit. The part count is low, the instructions are clear and concise, and there are no tricky or difficult parts.

I have built two of the Picokeyers. The first one I put into a dental-floss container. I realize that this is neither original nor particularly difficult, but I wanted to see if I could do it. It worked immediately and still works a year later. It gets a lot of looks and comments from other Hams, so there is a nice brag-factor there. :-)

The second one I built into a small project box. I wired in a larger control button and put it right on top of the box. On the front is the speed potentiometer. This keyer is now connected to my backup rig and it gets a lot of regular use.

I you are building the Picokeyer as a stand-alone unit, I definitely recommend purchasing the speed pot or wiring-in your own. A detached and larger control button also helps. You will end up with a very economical keyer that is versatile, reliable, and better than many "commercial" keyers costing much more.

73,

John, WA6L
K9EX Rating: 2007-12-15
Superb Value - Perfect First Kit Time Owned: more than 12 months.
N0XAS offers hams very inexpensive kits that perform well beyond their low price tag.

The Pico keyer goes together both quickly and easily. I put mine in an Altoid mint tin with the speed pot on the left side of the tin and the I/O jacks on the right side.

My Pico keyer has perfomed flawlessly for over a year and I have yet to change the battery - amazing!

Highly Recommended