It gets mighty lonesome out there on AM sometimes so for me, a CQ robot is a must. I have been using a Sony Voice recorder and a tedious 90 second CQ to give me a chance to get something done between calls. I have to manually key and unkey the transmitter with this approach.
Looking at my RTTY interface and computer, I just knew there had to be some simple way to combine the two and finally came up with a nifty little program that does exactly what I want.
Voice Key Express ($10) will key the transmitter, start a wave file, loop it n times if desired and then unkey and wait out a programmed delay (5 seconds works well for me) so I can listen for responses and then start all over again.
It uses a Com port to drive a relay which keys my transmitter and all the other housekeeping relays.
It is so simple to use that I set it up completely without even looking at the help file or user manual. It even includes a recorder but I haven't tried using it. I have other ways to do that.
Last night it ran for 45 minutes on 1880 before finally raising a QSO and I never had to leave the bench.
Tonight I retooled the 810 for 20 meters and will give the Robot a workout over the weekend. However, much to my disgust, there seems to be another one of those bloody contests going on.
Here is the link to the program...
http://www.qsl.net/n7qjp/VKE/VKESupport1.htmJack K0ACT
