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Connecting a Straight Key in FT 991A Rear Port

Rodrigo Freire edited this page May 5, 2020 · 1 revision

While the FT-991A manual dictates in its page 82:

This allows the use of an electronic keyer via the front jack and a straight key or computer-driven keying line via the rear panel jack.

There's no dedicated CW jack in the rear panel. However, it is indeed possible to connect an straight key to the rear port. There are no provisions for iambic paddles; iambics can be only connected to the front jack.

In order to connect and use the straight key:

FT-991/A Wiring Diagram

FT-991/A Connection diagram

  1. Use the green and the pink leads in the RTTY/DATA port from the above picture. They are identified as PTT Footswitch. No need to buy an fancy DIN cable, use this image as a source of inspiration on how to wire it

  2. Go to menu 050 - PC Keying and change it to DAKY

One important notice. The rear port does not depends on the menu BK-IN state to be in the ON to transmit CW. It will transmit irrespective of the BK-IN state On or Off. On the other hand, if you are using the front key jack, then you will need BK-IN to be in the ON state to transmit.