Send C (Continue) to add to or edit the message. The keyer will play the current message, then
enter Record mode. You can backspace over existing words if needed.
You can use the R, P and C commands to listen and change your message until you're satisfied. Each
memory can hold up to 60 characters. If you send something other than 1 - 4, P, R, or C the keyer will
respond with “?” and let you try it again.
Several special embedded commands may be used in messages. All commands start with a slash
followed by one or two characters. When playing back a message in setup mode you will hear the
command itself, not its effect – message chaining, QSO numbers, pause and beacon mode are inactive
while in setup mode. For example, you will hear /R instead of the word to be repeated. To store a
slash character in a message, save it as //.
/R will repeat the last word, including the word space after it. This can save a lot of memory space,
since each /R takes up only two character positions in memory. For example, to send a 3x3 CQ,
you can simply store “CQ /R/RDE (callsign) /R/RK”. This can save a lot of memory space.
/1, /2, /3 and /4 can be used to chain the message memories. The indicated message will be played
immediately when one of these commands is encountered. You can chain messages in any order.
/P will insert a pause in the message. This will cause the message to pause while you manually
send information such as manually entered QSO number, RST, etc. The message will
automatically resume after a full word space has passed with no paddle input. Hint: If you use /P,
store it immediately following the preceding characters without a word space. In other words, store
“UR RST/P …” instead of “UR RST /P …”. This prevents you starting to send before the word
space completes, which will terminate memory playback completely.
To have your message automatically repeat at timed intervals, insert the command /B (BEACON)
at the end of your message. This will cause the keyer to delay for the number of seconds set with
the B parameter (see below) and re-send the message. You can terminate beacon operation by
tapping either paddle or the button. This can be especially useful for calling CQ, or to use your
PicoKeyer to control a propagation beacon or “fox” transmitter.
To have Message #1 automatically start whenever power is applied to the PicoKeyer, store the /A
command as the first two characters in message #1. This is useful for automatically starting a keyer
used as part of a beacon station. Remember that you will still need to use /B at the end of the
message if you want it to repeat.
To send the QSO number and increment it by one, send /QI (QSO & Increment).
To send the QSO number and NOT increment it, send /QN (QSO & No increment).
To the last (previous) QSO number, send /QR (QSO Repeat). This is useful during contests if you
need to send a “fill”.
To temporarily increase the keyer speed by one WPM, send /SU (Speed Up). Note that this and
the /SD command will take effect immediately and will remain in effect only until the message is
finished. You can store multiple /SU or /SD commands to change speed by more than one WPM –
for example, /SU/SU will increase your speed by 2 WPM.
To temporarily decrease keyer speed by one WPM, send /SD (Speed Down).
To temporarily set a specific speed, send /Snn where nn is the speed you want. /S or /S0 will
resume the normal speed. For example, to send a signal report at 30 WPM and return to the normal
speed you would use /S30 599/S.
To alter the letter spacing, send /Fn where n is one digit, 0 through 9. This will act the same as
setting the letter spacing in the menu. For example, say you want to add a little extra space between
letters in your call sign in a CW message. You could store, “CQ /R/R DE /F2N0XAS /R/R K
/F0/B”. Remember to set the letter spacing back to your normal setting.
To insert an extra word space in your message, use the special prosign character “1M” (.------).