|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sunday, October 26, 2008 |
|
Make a Multi-Key Patch Panel
By NT9K @ 10:56 AM :: 4008 Views ::
2 Comments :: :: General, How To, Technical
|
|
DIY With NT9K
Make a Multi-Key Patch Panel
The box is bamboo and was in the Walmart kitchen department next to the kitchen drawer organizers like you keep your forks, knives and spoons in. They come in 3 sizes, this is the smallest and I think it was less than 2 bucks.
I started out with a 6 jack version and outgrew that one and gave it away, made another 10 hole version and have almost filled it up. Should have made 12 holes. There is also room for improvements. I thought about putting an oscillator inside the box for practice. Adding another input line and a switch to run 2 rigs and be able to use all your keys. You could leave out the switch if you only run one of the rigs at a time. I also considered adding another row of jacks to serve as speaker jacks. I could run a cable to the rigs speaker jack and have multiple outputs on the desktop. One for my cans, one for the rigblaster, one for the pc or all at the same time. Point is, you can do lots of useful stuff with this box.
The box bottom is a tad thick for the jacks to go through and still be able to get the nuts on. I just put a round dremel tool grinding stone on and in seconds thinned the thickness down, marked my straight line and drilled the holes. I used stereo jacks, because that is what I had. You can use mono jacks if you only use straight keys. Just solder all the tips together, then solder all the rings together. Connect a cable to run to your rigs key jack and you're all set. This is an easy project. Good luck with it. If you or anyone needs help with it, let me know.
Here are some photos. First is what I used to use. It shows the wiring of the jacks. This used to hang down behind my rig and was a real pain and made a mess of the cables.
This photo shows the 6 jack version:
And the 10 jack version:
73, Bill NT9K..
http://www.nt9k.com
|
|
|
|
|
| Comments |
By
KB3OMJ @
Thursday, October 30, 2008 12:25 PM
|
To all those who use more than one key, this patch panel is a nifty little idea. Your keys are ready all the time. I built this panel about a year ago following NT9K's email instructions, and if I can built it, anyone can!
73
Dick Williams KB3OMJ
|
|
|
By
KI4UYA @
Tuesday, November 25, 2008 3:14 PM
|
Bill,
You continue your tireless work in helping CW OPS with the many projects you offer. Not sure how you manage to do all things you do to promote CW. My hats off to you fine sir. This project has made me think of a similar idea that I am going to try and build. I have 2 radios that I use for CW that use different 1/4" plugs. One uses a 2 ring mono and the other a 3 ring stereo. My plan is to build a box that will allow me to use either of the keys with either radio. If mine turns out half as good as your, I will be thrilled. Thanks for the inspiration Bill.
73
Wayne Whitby KI4UYA
|
|
|
Only registered users may post comments.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|