# Katsumi ek-150 Squeeze ele-key.



## Mimcoman

Having searched for some time, I finally thought of asking the people most likely to use the above electronic key.

I've been given a duff key which is in a permanent key-down (if a bug key can go key-down?) condition on switch on. No dits, no dahs, and a steady tone in the monitor lspkr.

Can anyone help me with a copy of the manual - or the cct diagram. 

Thanks in advance,
Bill


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## Quiney

Hi Bill
Still have mine in its original box.
Don't think (mine) ever had a manual/cct diagram.
But, have you checked the two micro-switches on the paddles. One of mine failed.

John


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## Quiney

Bill
Just had a bit of a scout round and there was a single paddle Katsumi sold on Ebay, where the circuit diagram was stuck inside the lid.
Worth a look.


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## 5TT

Hello Bill, 

I still have mine from new, still using it and working fine after all these years, it didn't come with a circuit diagram in the box though. Mine is the one with the normal relay type paddle contacts, not the micro-switch type which other models had. 

Couple of questions, the unit is capable of transistor or relay keying. If you've selected transistor keying and have the polarity reversed, that will cause it to key down constantly. If you select relay, can you hear the relay switching? 

I wonder if it switches the same keying transistor to pull the relay when relay keying is selected? If so that keying transistor would be a good place to start.

I'd love to help you get yours going and don't mind opening mine up to assist you, you can contact me off forum. 

= Adrian / ZS1TTZ +


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## Mayday

I never used a bug key and found that very few other people could use one either.
Just looked up the definition of 'Iambic' - a metrical foot consisting of one short syllable followed by one long syllable.
This is probably why the term SWOF came into being.(Jester)

Good luck with the repairs though.

Regards, John.


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## Mimcoman

Thank you very much for all the responses - the Code Of The Sparky is obviously still extant...

In order:
Quiney: Tks vm, om. This key doesn't have microswitches - it has make/break contacts , like a side-on hand key. The fixed contacts are on a (very rough) home-brewed piece of wood, so it looks like the key has been in the wars. Anyway, it's a steady tone, not a series of dits or dahs. I will certainly have a looksee for the one of eBay. (Did you know that a quiney is NE Scotland's word for a little girl? Do you care?)

Hi, Vernon (?) - ex GND like me: Tks for info and will certianly give the ads a try.

Adrian: Appreciate your input. I thought of the relay as well, but it doesn't click and isolating the contacts doesn't stop the tone, and neither does switching between transistor/relay keying. I haven't gone further back into the circuit yet (only had the key a few days).

Good one, John: I was surrounded by good ele-keyers in the coast stations, most (but not all by any means!) from the morse factory known as GKA. I regard myself as still on the steep learning curve. The CRS R/Os had these EK-150s provided, but actually I don't think it's a great key. I believe the story is that a selection of ele-keys were tried at GKA but the decision as to the final choice of the EK-150 was made based on the engineering staff's likes/dislikes. Is this the case, anyone? Now if anyone has one of the ex-GKA ele-keys (the square-base ones with the green translucent paddles which I believe were sold by someone at GKA)...

Tusu
Bill


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## hawkey01

Bill,

I certainly still have my Square based - heavy - key. Still has the jack plug on it. It has not been used in anger for a very longtime now. The fellow who supplied them was Steve Elliston - a GKA RO - I cant remember if he made them or supplied them from one of his contacts. His address is on the sticker and the Co was called - Professional Keyers - He no longer lives there and moved on to work for those who should not be named many years ago. 
Ref the trials for ele keys. We did try several types - the EK150 was certainly not the key of choice but we got it anyway. Cannot remember which ones now - one was definitely the grey German key. I had one at one time but cant recall its name at the minute. They were probably too expensive!

Neville - Hawkey01


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## G4UMW

Grey German key - Samson, perhaps? I used an ETM-3C at sea and it's still going strong as part of my amateur station.


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## Mimcoman

hawkey01 said:


> Bill,
> 
> I certainly still have my Square based - heavy - key. Still has the jack plug on it. It has not been used in anger for a very longtime now. The fellow who supplied them was Steve Elliston - a GKA RO - I cant remember if he made them or supplied them from one of his contacts. His address is on the sticker and the Co was called - Professional Keyers - He no longer lives there and moved on to work for those who should not be named many years ago.
> Ref the trials for ele keys. We did try several types - the EK150 was certainly not the key of choice but we got it anyway. Cannot remember which ones now - one was definitely the grey German key. I had one at one time but cant recall its name at the minute. They were probably too expensive!
> 
> Neville - Hawkey01


Many thanks, Neville (and Rob): 

I saw one of Steve's keys for the first time when Ken Strachan (also at they-who-shall-not-be-named) arrived at GND from GKA. He didn't use it very much because the amount of morse at the coast stations wasn't enough to justify it. But I did like its looks and "feel". I did buy an ETM3C from Martin Davies (?) for a fiver but never got it to work well and eventually found that one of the pins round which the paddles rotated was bent.... I also have an ETM5C which I bought via eBay on a misspelled site for £15, which I like and am just about ready to launch on air. (It's surprising how nervous I feel about this; no problems with an up-and-downer but my bug key will probably frighten everyone who hears it until I get confident!)
tusu
Bill


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## Quiney

R651400 said:


> Hefty bit of criticism that John!
> Two reasons why Diplomatic comms used bug and el-keys particularly the latter was the sheer volume of traffic and to take away any personality that you may have in a bog standard up and downer.


Have to agree. With the forearm and wrist firmly planted, you could send in even the roughest weather. You also sent consistent morse.

I did a ham radio morse test and was very wooden at 8wpm on an up and down key, yet could rattle away at 20+wpm on the El-key.


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## Larry Bennett

I have a couple of EK150s which I rescued from the skip when GKA closed - they are in need of some playing with to restore them to original condition as the GKA engineers modified them to work with the keying circuits. If anyone does have a copy of the circuit diagram I would be pleased to receive a copy so that I can get them fully operational again. Many thanks in advance!

Larry+

PS: I remember the trial of the electronic keys at GKA - there were 3 selected for testing, the EK150 (which was the one chosen), an ETM3-C (which broke) and a Heathkit electronic key which was decidedly 'spongy' to operate. My choice was the ETM3-C but I think reliability was the issue.


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## Mayday

R651400 said:


> Hefty bit of criticism that John!
> Two reasons why Diplomatic comms used bug and el-keys particularly the latter was the sheer volume of traffic and to take away any personality that you may have in a bog standard up and downer.


Point taken. Probably quite useful in the right hands.

I did put the smiley there for a reason.

Regards, John.


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## hawkey01

Malcolm,

I think the oldguard were still in control when I first joined and in your era. They were as you probably well remember sticklers for - thats how its been for years - so it will continue in that way. After the morse test to pass out from the training school - 27wpm - you could apply to take a test on an auto or bug key. Unless you did this at the time I joined you were under no cir***stances allowed to go live in the station. At that time most of the auto/bug keys were used by new entrants and ex RO2's. There were a couple of home made ones with the older guard. 
As we have discussed before the levels of traffic was so high that these keys really were a must. That is not to say that everybody used them. In fact many never used anything other than the handkey. I used to have periods when I would revert to the handkey, mainly just to ring the changes. Used bug and auto over the years. 
I remember well when I was with DWS that to use a hand key all the time was just not an option, far too high traffic levels.
As time progressed the new guard in BT realised that auto keys were an essential and hence we eventually got them on all working point. Thats why we had the trials. Thanks to Larry and others who jogged my memory regarding the Samson. I actually remembered the name last evening but was not about to come on line and change the reply. Also had friends for lunch so the red wine had flowed and I was not fit to go live!
Also thanks Larry for the other two names. I do recall the Heathkit key and I think I liked that one. I had a Samson at one time, think the one we test drove was a squeeze variety. They were not that robust for many different fists.
Used to see the EK150 lying like an upturned Tortoise for those who were lefthanded. Suprisingly I am a lefthander but always keyed with my right hand.

Neville - Hawkey01


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## david.hopcroft

As an RO2 at GKZ I also used a simple Japanese bug which I bought when I joined a Safmarine reefer with the c/s ZSHI. I did many Amateur tests at GKZ but it was never suitable at 12wpm so used the standard PO type for that. The candidates were sometimes a bit in awe of it when it was their turn to send, and many brought there own 'strap-on-the-knee' RAF type things and so not really conducive to passing a morse test !

David
+


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## porthgwarra

My ETM-2 - single paddle - was delayed in the post during the 1970 postmans strike.
Used at GKA/GLD in still in daily use 42 years later !
The internal keyer disembowled long ago and now simply use the paddle to key the rigs built in keyer which can be adjusted for weight and spacing and a host of other options. Can even send RTTY from the CW paddle 

John C.


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## les.edgecumbe

porthgwarra said:


> Can even send RTTY from the CW paddle
> John C.


Do tell how......


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## sparks69

I had a "Swallow" Japanese electronic keyer. Used to jam up when on 6 MHz when the ST1400 was on full power (So did the Decca Nav as well - great fun in the North Sea.)
It just made life easier for both the sender and the receiver.
Loved it. It's in the loft now - any one want a piece of history ?


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## ex ro

HI i have just aquired a Katsumi ek 150 squeeze key unfortunately no circuit diagram either , mine works perfectly using the monitor but will not key the transceiver gives a permanent key down on the transmitter switch setting I can hear the keying relay working normally, so if anyone comes across a diagram for this key would be very grateful for a copy.
The first thing i would check on yours John is the main PCB it is very easy to take out and put back and sometimes could just be a connection problem with the contacts on the edge of the PCB and make sure it hasnt been put back upside down ie should be component side facing down ie components are upside down, I hope this helps regards Alan


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## porthgwarra

Do tell how......[/QUOTE]

Les 

My 'rig' is an Elecraft K3 which if I set it to FSK mode enables me to send CW to it via the paddle and it squirts it out as FSK ! Quite amazing but the novelty soon wears off.
www.elecraft.com

John


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## Mimcoman

Still haven't found the time to go into the details of the key (I keep getting seduced by the Members' Photographs" section of the gallery) but I'm hoping it's only the keying transistor. (See 5TT's post nr 5 above.) The actual creation of the dits and dahs uses 74xx i.c.s so should be reasonably straight forward to test but a bit of a drag to replace neatly.


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## knisten

Hi all,

Today found my "Installation manual" for the EK-150. Was in a terrible condition though, so scanned whatever I could and attach it as a file.
It has the circuit diagram there as well. Hope this helps.

73
Knisten


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## knisten

Hi everyone, good evening

Reading through this topic I came to an expression which I never heard before, namely SWOF,posted by MayDay (John). Hope you John, or anyone can enlighten me as to the meaning of this abbreviation. Thanks in advance......

73 tusu


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## trotterdotpom

It means "Send with other foot". Of course, being an up and down keyer only, nobody ever sent it to me.

John T


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## Tai Pan

have a MIMC 365D. would not change it for all the bug keys etc in the world. can still pound out at 25wpm thats a third of my age. bug, electronics etc, lazy mans tools. cant personalize it, all sound the same, rubbish.


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## Robert Wheeler

Tai Pan said:


> have a MIMC 365D. would not change it for all the bug keys etc in the world. can still pound out at 25wpm thats a third of my age. bug, electronics etc, lazy mans tools. cant personalize it, all sound the same, rubbish.


Bah, don't agree! (Not about your 25 wpm and your age, but about electronic keys)


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## knisten

Thanks for the swift reply on SWOL. IMHO we had a special Q-code for that, namely QLF (use your left foot)   Love my EK-150 though, especially with the amount of tfc on the reefers, never a problem electrically/electronically and RSI wise.And by the way, that German key referred to earlier in this topic might well have been a Junkers - they were quite famous.

73 n cul

Knisten


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## knisten

SWOL ........ *SWOF* of course - lol - Knisten


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## mikeg

Tai Pan said:


> have a MIMC 365D. would not change it for all the bug keys etc in the world. can still pound out at 25wpm thats a third of my age. bug, electronics etc, lazy mans tools. cant personalize it, all sound the same, rubbish.


Don't agree either. Not lazy, I found it far more enjoyable sending with a bug, hand resting on the bench you could send all day without fatigue. Occasionally some conventional ops personalized sending was poor, surely perfect Morse is the ideal. I prefer Creed Machine morse to sloppily dragged out characters any day.

Retires to bunker expecting incoming (Cloud)


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## les.edgecumbe

Mimcoman said:


> Having searched for some time, I finally thought of asking the people most likely to use the above electronic key.
> 
> I've been given a duff key which is in a permanent key-down (if a bug key can go key-down?) condition on switch on. No dits, no dahs, and a steady tone in the monitor lspkr.
> 
> Can anyone help me with a copy of the manual - or the cct diagram.
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> Bill


Have found info for the key? I have just downloaded circuit diagram and instructions. After reading this site I didn't have much 'ope. But there ya go - Satan provides.


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## les.edgecumbe

5TT said:


> Hello Bill,
> 
> I still have mine from new, still using it and working fine after all these years, it didn't come with a circuit diagram in the box though. Mine is the one with the normal relay type paddle contacts, not the micro-switch type which other models had.
> 
> Couple of questions, the unit is capable of transistor or relay keying. If you've selected transistor keying and have the polarity reversed, that will cause it to key down constantly. If you select relay, can you hear the relay switching?
> 
> I wonder if it switches the same keying transistor to pull the relay when relay keying is selected? If so that keying transistor would be a good place to start.
> 
> I'd love to help you get yours going and don't mind opening mine up to assist you, you can contact me off forum.
> 
> = Adrian / ZS1TTZ +


Hi - I am trying to resurrect my EK150 keyer after it decided to self ignite! I cant read the numbers on the burnt ICs and wonder if you would be kind enough to take a photo of the chip side of the removable PCB (only 2 screws locate it place) please.
Thanks in advance
Les / G0NXI


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## 5036

I thought a Katsumi ek-150 Squeeze ele-key was a satsuma juicer but I am just an engineer!

I do a lot of refurb and restoration work on classic yachts and they all want original equipment to work. I use a company called Tinley Electronics in Lymington who are incredible at repairing all manner of marine electro-mechanical devices. They have a minimum charge just to look at stuff but are reasonable for an overall job. They saved me £7000 by repairing a control box for a bow thruster that was obsolete. Volvo had bought the original manufacturer and shut it down to ensure their inferior equipment was used. The only real wear part was the electro mechanical controller and £125 sorted it.


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## les.edgecumbe

Larry Bennett said:


> I have a couple of EK150s which I rescued from the skip when GKA closed - they are in need of some playing with to restore them to original condition as the GKA engineers modified them to work with the keying circuits. If anyone does have a copy of the circuit diagram I would be pleased to receive a copy so that I can get them fully operational again. Many thanks in advance!
> 
> Larry+
> 
> PS: I remember the trial of the electronic keys at GKA - there were 3 selected for testing, the EK150 (which was the one chosen), an ETM3-C (which broke) and a Heathkit electronic key which was decidedly 'spongy' to operate. My choice was the ETM3-C but I think reliability was the issue.


I have just refurbished an ex GKA EK150, and have the cct diag if you haven't been sorted yet. Lety me know and will gladly forward.


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## Larry Bennett

les.edge***be said:


> I have just refurbished an ex GKA EK150, and have the cct diag if you haven't been sorted yet. Lety me know and will gladly forward.


Hi Les,

Got my EK150 working eventually thanks to the good offices of my younger brother (who is much more technically-savvy than me). Can be heard on occasions when I operate my amateur station G4HLN - along with my ex-GKA straight key which I borrowed/purloined after the station closed in 2000.

Larry +


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## les.edgecumbe

That's great Larry. It's a nice key - nowt flash about it, but well made. I have 2 now the refurbed one (GKA) and one from USA, which I purchased to copy the pcb etc. Will keep the GKA job because of its history. Hey - it probably spoke to me over the years  I knew the dits would get to me!


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