Homemade Arduino VBand adaptor

Original VBand adaptor

 After my experiment with a old computermouse as USB adaptor for a CW key I wanted something better. Actually I found a website that gave a description af a homemade VBand adaptor made with a Arduino board. A project from OZ1JHM who gave detailed descriptions of the board needed and the connections that had to be made to the morse key/paddle. However it was not clear to me how an Arduino worked and how to upload a script. I wrote him an e-mail but never got any reply unfortunatly. Discouraged I decided to order an original VBand adaptor at Ham Radio Solutions in the US. That was months ago! It first went to the wrong country and showed up at the Israeli customs. I wrote David W6DS at HRS and he posted a second VBand adaptor to me. That was on May 9th. On the 19th of May it showed up at the Dutch customs but was still there till a few days ago. At the 14th of June it showed up in Queens NY? Back in the USA. I have no hope that the adaptor will ever arrive at my home.

So, a new search begun. I found another site from KD8RTT. It showed a similar DIY adaptor with an Arduino board as OZ1JHM's project. I wrote Tony an e-mail asking for info on the Arduino and how to get his sketch file into the board. He kindly wrote me an e-mail with an answer. So I ordered the Arduino and a cheap audio splitter cable for the connectors. Why the splitter cable? Well a splitter cable is way cheaper as separate 3,5mm jackplugs.

For those looking for the info how to with the Arduino:

Software download: https://www.arduino.cc/en/software

Online starting guide: https://docs.arduino.cc/learn/starting-guide/the-arduino-software-ide/

I didn't get the "blink" sketch to work (description in the guide, sketch used as test). So I was afraid this would be a unsuccessful project again. But after uploading the sketch from Tony it is working well now.

VBand adaptor so far.  I need to make a cover from something. I think the LEDs are very bright. Don't know if it is possible to switch them off? But if they are covered it will be allright. I already tested the adaptor on VBand and it responds very well.

Morse Invaders Fun

 

Have a lot of fun with the CW game Morse Invaders lately. You can find it here:

https://morseinvaders.com/

You actually need a Vband or Vail CW adaptor to connect your morsekey or paddle to the computer and play this game. I ordered a Vband adaptor a few months ago but till today have received nothing yet. 

But an alternative is using straight key mode and use the CTRL key on your keyboard. So far, after a few tries, 132 is my best score. Can you do better?

18-June-2025: Having fun. Now with key on the homemade Vband adaptor I managed to score 192.

#6m propagation east coast USA

 Strong signals from the USA/Canada last evening. Had to go QRT around midnight, at that moment there was still strong propagation going on. 

I made a few contacts on FT8 and FT4. Had limited time. Both 50.313 and 50.323 were crowded. Best option was FT4 actually. Didn't have time to listen CW/SSB this time.