Illuminated Morse Key

I have been "tinkering" atound again.... got a few bits and pieces left over from previous morse key jobs... and over the past 6 months or so, have been toying with the idea of making an "illuminated" morse key... just for fun..

No workshop pics this time...  as the process was pretty similar to my "home made designer key" the "GEMSKEY"...

This time, I added a vertical  striker from an earth pin from a 5 amp UK power plug.  and a "crystal" knob....  together with a couple of plastic tubes to hold up the cross member for the vertical striker .

Blue led`s in the base of the tubes and a green led in a small hole drilled into the base of the knob.
all wired up "in parallel"... and then wired, by separate lead, to pins 5 & 7 of the USB to Serial Converter DB9 plug.

Now, when this is in use, it flashes at the same rate as I am sending.... SURPRISE SURPRISE... it also flashes when a distant station transmits too ! !!... I wasn`t expecting that... but hey ! .. no complaints ! ! .

The key functions as a "normal" key using pins  4 & 6... so the led`s can be unplugged independently of the normal keying function.

Interestingly... when CWCOM is "disconnected"... it remains unlit... but as soon as CWCOM is CLOSED DOWN... the key lights up on a permanent "mark"...  a good reminder to unplug it ! ! !..

Here is a short video.... the GREEN LED in the knob does not show up too well, and the BLUE LED`s seem to be a bit too bright on the movie... but they do light up the whole length of the plastic tube by refraction !...

Great Fun...