She ain't pretty..

.. but she works. I put the relay together in an Altoids box with a battery holder and it works fine. I had a good QSO with W7POE who was camping near Seattle. He had a great fist, and gave me a report of 20 dB over S9. It makes me happy any time that the ol' Drake gets a good report.

73

Drake Keyer interface

I am trying to build as many projects as possible with parts on-hand. I was originally going to build this interface using an opto-isolator and/or high voltage transistors. Last year I bought out the electronics estate of a two-way radio and stereo repairman. I found a Radio Shack reed relay amongst the stuff. I hooked it up with clip leads. Given that this is grid block (only about -35) and my speed is no more than about 15 wpm, I think it will work fine. Going to stick it in an Altoids tin with a battery holder and I will be good to go.
73..

Great CW tutor site

I found a great site for CW practice, www.lcwo.net. It features different teaching methods, Farnsworth spacing, random groups, etc. Plays via an embedded flash mp3, so it is pretty quick in generating practice. You can get a username and the site will track your accuracy scores.

73 es gud DX..