DL6ZB IAMBIC MORSE KEYER

USER INFORMATION
MANUAL

ZB KEYER
ROLF HEINE DL6ZB
VERSION 2.0.9
MICRO: MICROCHIP(R) ATTINY4313
LAST FIRMWARE UPDATE: 09-APRIL-2024

    1. FEATURES:

        + DASH/DOT KEYER FOR SINGLE AND DUAL LEVER KEYS
        + SQUEEZE IAMBIC MODE A / MODE B OPTION
        + AUTO CQ
        + AUTO CQ LOOP
        + CALLSIGN MEMORY
        + STANDARD TEXT MEMORY
        + CW SPEED & SIDETONE ADJUST
        + CW AND PTT LINE KEYING
        + STRAIGHT KEY OPTION
        + PTT DELAY OPTIONS: QSK / 0.6 SECOND / 1.2 SECOND
        + SPEAKER OUTPUT
        + DASH/DOT RATIO ADJUST
        + OPTION FOR RTS/DTR CW & PTT CONNECTION WITH SERIAL (RS232) PERSONAL COMPUTER
        + AUTO POWER-OFF (SLEEP MODE)

    2. TECHNICAL DATA:

        + VOLTAGE..............: 2.5 TO 5.5 VOLTS
        + MAX. SUPPLY VOLTAGE..: 6 VOLTS (ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM!)
        + CURRENT (APPROX).....: 0.05 µA (SLEEP MODE) - 0.8 mA (OPERATION) - 9 mA (TRANSMIT)
        + OPERATING TEMPERATURE: -10 TO +70 °C / 15 TO +160 °F
        + MAX. KEYED CW/PTT....: 35 VOLTS / 0.2 AMPERE
        + WPM SPEED............: 5 TO 50
        + MEMORY...............: APPROX. 35 CHARACTERS
        + MICROCONTROLLER......: MICROCHIP(R) ATtiny4313
        + SYSTEM CLOCK.........: 1 MHz

    3. LED FUNCTIONS:

       LED RED = FLASH/CONT > MEMORY IS INVOLVED
       LED BLUE = FLASH/CONT > SPECIAL FUNCTIONS

    4. PUSH BUTTON FUNCTIONS: PRESS SHORT/LONG

       KEYER CONTROL IS DONE BY
        + 4 PUSH BUTTONS
        + DASH/DOT LEVER(S) OF AN ALREADY CONNECTED ONE OR TWO LEVER PADDLE

       PUSH BUTTON DEFINITIONS
       BUTTON(1) IS DEFINED AS REMOTE READ/WRITE BUTTON.
       BUTTON(2) IS DEFINED AS WpM/SIDETONE/RATIO BUTTON.
       BUTTON(3) IS DEFINED AS TUNE/STRAIGHT KEY BUTTON.
       BUTTON(4) IS DEFINED AS CQ/CALLSIGN/STANDARD TEXT BUTTON
       BUTTON(5) IS DEFINED AS POWER-OFF BUTTON

       PUSH BUTTON 1 TO 4 SHORT PRESS MAIN FUNCTIONS
       BUTTON(1) SHORT: MEMORY READ MODE: SEND CALLSIGN OR STANDARD TEXT / STOP WITH PADDLE OR BUTTON(1)
       BUTTON(2) SHORT: WPM >>> ADJUST WITH PADDLES DASH/DOT / PRESS BUTTON(2) AGAIN TO TERMINATE
       BUTTON(3) SHORT: TUNE / STRAIGHT KEY
       BUTTON(4) SHORT: SEND CQ - PRESS ONCE AGAIN FOR CQ LOOP (10x) / STOP WITH PADDLE OR BUTTON(1)
       BUTTON(5) ---    SHUT OFF KEYER

       PUSH BUTTON 1 TO 4 LONG PRESS MAIN FUNCTIONS (APPROX. > 0.5 SECONDS)
       BUTTON(1) LONG: MEMORY WRITE MODE: ENTER CALLSIGN OR STANDARD TEXT UP TO 35 CHARACTERS
       BUTTON(2) LONG: SIDETONE ADJUST WITH PADDLES
       BUTTON(3) LONG: TUNE / STRAIGHT KEY
       BUTTON(4) LONG: SEND "QRL?"

       SEQUENCE FOR DUAL PUSH BUTTON PROCEDURES:
     > PRESS 1ST BUTTON > RELEASE 1ST BUTTON > PRESS 2ND BUTTON > RELEASE 2ND BUTTON

       PUSH BUTTON 1 TO 4 DUAL PUSH BUTTON ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS
       BUTTON(1) LONG + BUTTON(2): PTT DELAY = 0 (QSK MODE)
       BUTTON(1) LONG + BUTTON(3): PTT DELAY = 500 MILLISECONDS
       BUTTON(1) LONG + BUTTON(4): PTT DELAY = 1 SECOND
       BUTTON(2) SHORT + BUTTON(1): DASH/DOT RATIO ADJUST (SEE BELOW: DASH/DOT RATIO ADJUST PROCEDURE)
       BUTTON(2) SHORT + BUTTON(3): TOGGLES DASH/DOT MEMORY. LED/SPEAKER SIGN: A=OFF B=ON
       BUTTON(2) SHORT + BUTTON(4): TOGGLES SPEAKER ON/OFF

       STORED PARAMETERS:
       ALL ADJUSTABLE PARAMETERS REMAIN IN MEMORY AFTER ZB KEYER IS SWITCHED OFF.
       PARAMETERS ARE RELOADED AFTER KEYER IS SWITCHED ON AGAIN.
       CAUTION: PROGRAMMED INDIVIDUAL PARAMETERS WILL BE DELETED IF A FULL RESET HAS BEEN LAUNCHED.
                ZB KEYER PARAMETERS WILL BE SET TO DEFAULT VALUES.

   5. MEMORY MODE PROCEDURE EXPLAINED IN DETAIL:

    PRESSING BUTTON(1) FOR MORE THAN APPROX. 0.5 SECONDS WILL SWITCH THE ZB KEYER INTO
        MEMORY WRITE MODE. WHILE IN MEMORY MODE THE ZB KEYER'S MEMORY LED (RED) IS SWITCHED ON.

        ZB KEYER NOW REMAINS IN WAIT-STATE DOING NOTHING EXCEPT WAITING FOR
        > PADDLE LEVERS ACTED TO START LOADING THE MEMORY
        > BUTTON(1) IS PRESSED ONCE MORE TO TERMINATE MEMORY MODE WITHOUT ANY MEMORY ACTION

      UP TO ABOUT 35 CHARACTERS MAY BE ENTERED AS LONG AS THE MEMORY LED RED IS ON.
        MEMORY SPACE IS SIGNALED EMPTY WHEN THE MEMORY LED RED TURNS OFF AUTOMATICALLY.

        REMARK:
      IF THE PADDLE IS LEFT UNTOUCHED WHILE BUTTON(1) IS PRESSED ONCE AGAIN THEN THE ZB KEYER
        MEMORY STATE WILL BE TERMINATED WITHOUT ANY MEMORY CHANGE AND THE ZB KEYER RETURNS INTO CW MODE
        THUS LEAVING ALL PREVIOUSLY STORED INFORMATION BURNED IN MEMORY. THIS MAY HELP IF BUTTON(1)
        HAD BEEN TOUCHED UNINTENTIONALLY.

      MEMORY WRITE MODE IS TERMINATED IF
        > PADDLE IS RELEASED FOR MORE THEN APPROX. 1 SECOND
        > BUTTON(1) IS PRESSED

      MEMORY READ MODE IS STARTED BY PRESSING
        > BUTTON(1) TRANSMITS THE STANDARD TEXT / CALLSIGN ONLY.
        > BUTTON(4) TRANSMITS AUTO-CQ TEXT WITH ALREADY STORED CALLSIGN
                EXAMPLE: CQ CQ CQ CQ CQ DE DL6ZB DL6ZB DL6ZB K

    CQ LOOP MODE:
    ZB KEYER TURNS INTO THE KEYER'S CQ-LOOP-MODE BY PRESSING BUTTON(4) ONCE MORE DURING
        A CQ CALL IS SENT OUT. THE CQ CALL WHEN IN CQ-LOOP-MODE IS REPEATED APPROX.
        EVERY 10 SECONDS FOR 10 ROUNDS.

        TRANSMISSION IMMEDIATE STOP:
    YOU MAY STOP ANY TRANSMISSION ANYTIME BY ACTING THE PADDLE OR PRESSING BUTTON(1).

        DELETING MEMORY:
        MEMORY IS DELETED BY LOADING A NEW CALLSIGN OR A NEW STANDARD TEXT ACCORDING TO
        MEMORY MODE PROCEDURE. MEMORY AND PARAMETERS WILL BE DELETED AFTER A FULL RESET HAS BEEN LAUNCHED
        (SEE FULL RESET PROCEDURE).

    6. DASH/DOT-RATIO ADJUSTMENT PROCEDURE:

      + PRESS BUTTON(2) WpM...: BLUE LED FLASHES DOTS
    + PRESS BUTTON(1) MEMORY: BLUE LED FLASHES DOTS, RED LED FLASHES DASHES
      + PRESS PADDLE LEVERS...: RATIO ADJUST. DASH KEY INCREASE RATIO. DOT KEY DECREASE RATIO.
      + REMARK: PRESS BUTTON 2 HERE ONCE MORE TO RESTORE DASH/DOT STANDARD 1:3 RATIO
      + PRESS BUTTON(1) MEMORY: TERMINATE ADJUSTMENT, STORE RATIO IN MEMORY

    7. PERSONAL COMPUTER CONNECTION

       PC SOFTWARE AND ZB KEYER MAY BE CONNECTED IN PARALLEL BY CONNECTING THE PC'S SERIAL PORT CW & PTT
       KEYING LINES TO THE ZB KEYER. THIS CAN BE DONE BY CONNECTING KEYING LINES TO ZB KEYER'S
       "TRANSCEIVER" CONNECTOR PIN 2 & PIN 3. RS232 (SERIAL) PORT'S RTS OR DTR LINES ARE OFTEN USED FOR
       THIS PURPOSE BY MANY WIDELY USED HAM RADIO SOFTWARE. DTR AND RTS BEHAVIOUR MAY BE SELECTED IN THE
       HAM RADIO SOFTWARE SETTINGS.

       BESIDE EVERY DAY QSO CW OPERATION, THUS THE PC SOFTWARE WETHER IT MIGHT BE A CONTEST SOFTWARE OR
       LOGBOOK SOFTWARE WITH A CW KEYER OPTION MAY BE USED AS A STANDARD TEXT KEYER WHILE THE ZB KEYER CAN
       BE USED IN PARALLEL FOR MANUALLY TRANSMIT ADDITIONAL MORSE CODE IN CASES WHEN THIS IS NECESSARY.

       CAUTION: USE ONLY PIN 2 AND PIN 3 OF ZB KEYER'S TRANSCEIVER CONNECTOR FOR CONNECTING
                SERIAL PORT RTS/DTR LINES OF A PERSONAL COMPUTER'S SERIAL PORT FOR KEYING TO THE ZB KEYER.
                RS232 SERIAL PORT LINES MUST NOT BE CONNECTED DIRECTLY TO THE ZB KEYER'S STRAIGHT KEY
                INPUT CONNECTOR SINCE RS232 VOLTAGE LEVELS EXCEEDS ZB KEYER'S MAXIMUM RATINGS.
                SERIOUS DAMAGE TO THE MICROCONTROLLER WILL HAPPEN IF A RS232 KEYED LINE WOULD BE
                CONNECTED TO ZB KEYER'S STRAIGHT KEY CONNECTOR.

    9. SLEEP MODE:

    THE AUTO POWER-DOWN FEATURE SWITCHES THE KEYER INTO SLEEP MODE AFTER 15 MINUTES WITHOUT ANY OPERATION
    THUS MANUAL SWITCHING OF POWER-OFF TO SAVE BATTERY LIFE ISN'T NECESSARY. IN SLEEP MODE THE CURRENT
    CONSUMPTION DROPS TO 0.1 MICROAMPERE.

    WAKE-UP IS INITIATIED BY ANY OPERATION OF THE KEYER FUNCTIONS OR ACTING THE PADDLE OR STRAIGHT KEY.

    SLEEP MODE CAN BE ACTIVATED MANUALLY BY PRESSING BUTTON(5).

10. FULL RESET PROCEDURE:

    + PRESS BUTTON(1)
    + PRESS BUTTON(2) WHILE BUTTON(1) KEPT PRESSING
    + LED MEMORY TURNS ON
    + WAIT UNTIL LED MEMORY TURNS OFF
        + RELEASE BUTTONS
    + READY.
    + ALL ADJUSTABLE PARAMETERS WILL BE SET TO DEFAULT VALUES.
    + CALLSIGN (OR STANDARD TEXT) ARE WIPED OUT OF MEMORY.

HOW TO PROGRAM THE ZB KEYER'S MICRO?

   OPTION 1: PROBABLY THE EASIEST WAY TO BURN THE FIRMWARE (WINDOWS/LINUX)
    IF YOUR COMPUTER HAS A REAL PHYSICAL RS232 PORT THIS MAY BE YOUR CHOICE.
    SEARCH GOOGLE FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT PONYPROG HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE. THERE'S QUITE A LOT OF INFORMATION
    AVAILABLE. EASY WAY TO UPLOAD HEX FILES.

   OPTION 2: USBASP (WINDOWS/LINUX)

GET AN AVRISP PROGRAMMER FOR ABOUT 10 BUCKS e.g. USBasp.
INSTALL AVR STUDIO OR AVRDUDE ON YOUR COMPUTER. IT'S FREE.
CONFIGURE SOFTWARE FOR COM PORTS AND MICROCONTROLLER TYPE.
UPLOAD HEX FILE TO MICRO OVER ISP PORT.
READY.

OPTION 3: THE LONGEST BUT POSSIBLY THE SAFEST TRAIL (LINUX ONLY).

LOOK FOR AN ATMEGA328P ARDUINO BOARD. A $6 CHINA CLONE WORKED HERE.
INSTALL ARDUINO IDE ON YOUR COMPUTER
GO TO File/Preferences
ADD THIS TO THE "Additional Boards Manager URLs": https://drazzy.com/package_drazzy.com_index.json
CLICK OK
MOVE TO Tools/Boards/Board Manager AND SEARCH FOR "attiny"
INSTALL THIS FILE: "ATTinyCore by Spence Konde"
SELECT BOARD AND MICRO: Tools/Board/ATTinyCore/ATTiny2313(a)/4313(No Bootloader)
OPEN SKETCH File/Examples/ArduinoIDE/ArduinoISP
COMPILE AND UPLOAD SKETCH TO THE ARDUINO
CLOSE ARDUINO IDE AND DISCONNECT ARDUINO FROM USB
INSTALL AVRDUDE "sudo apt-get install avrdude
IMPORTANT: AT THIS POINT CONNECT A 10uF CAPACITOR ON ARDUINO BOARD FROM RESET TO GND

THE ARDUINO HAS NOW BEEN TURNED INTO AN ISP PROGRAMMER.
NEXT STEP IS WIRING THE ARDUINO TO THE ATTINY4313 FOR PROGRAMMING THE MICRO.

ARDUINO	ATTINY4313
D13	PIN 19 (SCK)
D12	PIN 18 (MISO)
D11	PIN 17 (MOSI)
D10	PIN 1 (RESET)
+5V	PIN 20 (VCC)
GND	PIN 10 (GND)

    PROGRAMMING THE MICROCONTROLLER ATTINY4313 IS DONE BY ENTERING THE COMMAND BELOW INTO THE LINUX TERMINAL WINDOW.
    REPLACE THE path_to_hex_file.hex WITH YOUR INDIVIDUAL KEYER HEX FILE PATH.
    CHECK THE USB PORT, IT MAY BE /dev/ttyUSBx INSTEAD. ttyACM0 IS FOR ARDUINO UNO BOARD IN MOST CASES.
    avrdude -c arduino -p t4313 -P /dev/ttyACM0 -b 19200 -e -U flash:w:"path_to_hex_file.hex":i

    FOR EXPERTS: YOU MAY USE AVRDUDESS FOR A MORE COMFORTABLE PROGRAMMING INSTEAD THE COMMAND LINE OPTION.