K1EL Systems - CW Contest Keyers for Amateur Radio

K1EL K46 Cable Options

Seven cables connect to the K46:

Paddle Cable: 1/8" stereo type

Audio Input cable: 1/8" mono or stereo

Audio Output cable: 1/8" mono or stereo

Sinewave sidetone audio 1/8" stereo type

Keying Cable: 1/8" to radio keying plug

USB A to USB mini B (power / host)

Keyboard Cable: USB

A paddle cable is probably already attached to your iambic paddle. If the plug is a 1/4" style you will need a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter in order to plug it into the K46.

Audio cabling is dependent on the radio receiver or transceiver you are using. The best solution is to use your radio's audio line output. Depending on the radio, this could be on a separate 1/8" or RCA jack. Usually it is grouped with other signals on an AUX connector. Refer to your radio manual to determine what mating connector is required and what the pinout is. If you happen to have a SignalLink Interface (or equivalent) connected to the radio's AUX connecter, it may have an 1/8" AUX output which will work perfectly as a source for K46 audio.

A much easier solution is to use the radio's headphone or external speaker jack. This would be connected to the K46's AF IN port and then an external speaker or headphones would be connected to the K46's AF OUT port. The advantage of this is that you don't have to make a special cable to connect to the radio's line out port which is usually accompanied with a reconfiguring of the radio's menus. The disadvantage of using this scheme is that when you plug the K46 audio cable in, the transceiver's internal speaker will be disabled requiring an external speaker or headphones. Also, the audio level to the K46 will change when you adjust the radio's AF gain control affecting the signal level to the K46. Here is a schematic of the AF IN and AF OUT wiring inside K46.

The CW keying input jack on most transceivers is either a 1/4" or 1/8" stereo phone type which normally accepts an iambic paddle input. The K46 uses an 1/8" stereo output jack so you may be able to use a 1/8" to 1/8" inch cable. Otherwise you'll need a 1/4" to 1/8" plug adapter. You will need to disable your radio's internal keyer and run it in straight key mode. In almost all cases, the PTT output will not be used, we recommended using a stereo connector and disable the K46's PTT output. The PTT ring connection is really only used to key an amplifier or activate an antenna changeover relay.

We offer an accessory cable kit that covers most setups which consists of two cables (1/8" stereo to 1/8" stereo) and one 1/4" to 1/8" adapter. One of the cable would be used for audio and the other for transceiver keying. The adapter, if needed, could be used on either the paddle cable or transceiver cable.

The USB host cable is a USB A to USB Mini B type. We include one with every K46.

The K46 incorporates a sine wave sidetone generator which can be connected to a set of headphones, external speaker, or the input of a powered speaker or to feed into a PC's audio input. This provides a great deal of flexibility. Note that there is an internal sidetone speaker in the K46 which should be disabled when the extrnal sidetone feature is used. External sidetone volume and pitch are adjustable by K46 configurations settings.