I needed a  “winkey”  to work with ” Starlog” the program that we use as part of the GB7HQ team for IARU, as  existing serial keying that I use with our normal Wintest is not supported in Starlog .

I ordered two units from America some time ago now and they arrived yesterday. Too late! but luckily Simon donated a Microham keyer with a built in winkey to the station which I used for IARU.

Anyway after paying the £20. 00 vat due on collection at the post office (no import duty) I had 2 very well packed K1EL Winkeyer USB kits.

Each kit was supplied complete with all parts, documentation consisted of a mini cd with USB drivers and comprehensive instruction manuals that were concise and easy to understand.

The build took about 2 hrs each and the only parts not supplied was some hook up wire for the speed control pot, (I used a single core out of an intruder alarm cable) and some solder.

The only tools needed are a fine tipped iron, small philips screwdriver, a pair of side cutters and a small adjustable spanner to nip the nut up on the speed control pot. If you have an adjustable temperature control iron this is ideal as there are some very fine, but also heavier joints to be made.

If you follow the instructions they take you through a logical step by step build that starts with mounting the resistors to finally inserting the IC’s in their holders to final testing.

The unit can be powered by the usb port or the internal battery pack which can automatically switch between the two for stand alone operation.

I’ve hooked it up to Wintest and its neat to be able to adjust it’s cw keying speed with the Winkey front mounted pot.

The quality of the product is first class, the hardware fits together nicely giving a professional finish.

K1EL has obviously put alot of thought into this kit and I thank him for that as the build was enjoyable and worked first time.

73 Paul G6PZ