MFJ-495 Memory Keyer Instruction Manual
16 © 2001-2009 MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
The Paddle
Using the MFJ-495 with a Paddle
Plug an iambic or single lever paddle into the Key Input jack of the MFJ-495. A ¼-inch stereo phone
plug and a two-conductor shielded cable should be used. If separate shielded cables are used, the two
shields should be tied together and connected to ground. The dot wire should be connected to the tip of
the plug and the dash wire to the ring. Begin sending code using the paddles. If you would like to change
speed, sidetone or weight, see the sections pertaining to these commands.
The iambic paddle has a unique feature that the single lever paddle does not have. Notice that the two
paddles are independent and can be squeezed together. Both the dot and dash contacts touch the chassis,
therefore ground. The MFJ-495 senses this happen and uses it as a separate keying mode.
Iambic keying has two modes: A and B. When a squeeze is released during an element (dot or dash),
iambic B adds an opposite element. Iambic A just finishes the element in progress and does not produce a
following alternate element.
The dot and dash memories make sending easier. The memories allow the user to key a dot before the
completion of a dash and vice versa. This feature can be checked by setting the keyer to the lowest speed
and tapping first the dash lever and then the dot lever before the completion of the dash. The keyer will
provide both the dash and the dot. The dash memory can be checked in a similar manner. The dot
insertion feature allows the user to insert a dot by tapping the dot lever while holding the dash lever in.
The dash insertion feature allows the user to insert a dash while holding the dot lever in. The iambic
operation allows sending alternate dots and dashes when both levers are squeezed. The first lever
contacted will determine whether a dot or dash occurs first.
Note: It is recommended the Farnsworth mode be disabled when sending with the paddle. When
Farnsworth mode is enabled, the paddle will send code at the Farnsworth speed, not the overall
speed.
Setup Commands
Press the [COM] button and the keyer responds with “CO” (dah-di-dah-dit dah-dah-dah). A tilde
character “~” will appear on the display. A setup command can then be entered using your paddle. If the
command is invalid then the keyer will send an error character (di-di-di-di-di-di-di-dit) and return the
keyer to normal mode. If the command is valid, the keyer will send an “R” (di-dah-dit). If the user
wishes to re-attempt modifying features using command mode, he must re-enter command mode by
pressing the [COM] button again. If you enter the command mode accidentally, press the [COM] button
at any time to exit. Refer to the appendix “Setup Commands” on page 48 for a table of these commands.
B# Bank – selects the current memory bank, where # is A, B, C or D. Each memory bank has
eight message blocks of 256 characters each, except the last block.
C# Character space – increases the inter-character space with # standard intra-character spaces,
where # is a single digit from 0 to 9. This allows the normally three-unit long inter-character
space up to 12 units long. Note the inter-character space is always at least four units shorter
than the word space. Therefore, you might have to increase the word spacing before
adjusting the character space.
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