KANGA PRODUCTS Advanced T20v3 CW Trainer Instruction Manual
- June 13, 2024
- KANGA PRODUCTS
Table of Contents
KANGA PRODUCTS Advanced T20v3 CW Trainer
INTRODUCTION
Many Years ago, when I learned Morse there was very popular electronic tutor
called the Datong D70. The T20v3 is a modern version with many more features.
This is new version of the T20 Morse tutor project, after many requests it now
has even more features.
Now the T20v3 will support BOTH Paddle and Straight keys in practice mode
(Iambic A or B) and an additional fixed low level SINEWAVE output is provided.
This output can be connected to a PC for use in a number of ways.
The first is when its used with a software package such as CWGet, FLdigi etc you can check your own sending in practice mode, this way you can see how good (or Bad!) your sending really is. Another useful use for this output is to use the practice oscillator over Zoom or other internet streaming type services. This feature works with either a Paddle or Straight key.
The kit is easy to build and due to coming with pre-punched front and back
panels a better finished product is assured.
Based on my design for the FISTS CW Club this tutor offers a wide range of
features that you will find hard to beat. The tutor modes are:
Random Letters, Random Numbers and Mixed Modes Random Prosigns, Random Callsigns, Random common words and abbreviations, Contest mode (More on that later) Practice oscillator Iambic (A or B) or Straight Key (Auto Sense( and 10 Minute session timer.
The tutor is very simple to use, no pages of menus to navigate your way
around, just one push button that changes the mode and 3 knobs, one for
character speed, one for the gap between characters and finally a volume
control.
This new Mk3 version now uses the ATMEGA328 processor chip, the earlier T20’s
used a Arduino Nano Module but with so many fake modules around we have
changed the design to use the more reliable chip.
Learning the code can be hard and you do need to stick to it, but don’t spend
too long per session, it’s not beneficial. I suggest keeping to a 10 min
session once a day, every day. To help you know when a session is up the tutor
will illuminate a Green LED for 10 secs every 10 Minutes. This is a sign that
you may need to take a break.
Now a note about the contest mode, ok what is contest mode? Well the tutor
will send a typical contest type ‘Over’. It will send a random callsign
followed by a three digit serial number, finally a short random message ending
such as ‘GD DX’, a 4 digit locator (Not necessarily the one for the callsign
!) , RST Report, or ‘QRZ’ etc.
That’s all well and good but to add to the realism as much as possible the
pitch between overs and also the speed will change randomly if you select the
‘ACM’ (Advanced Contest Mode) on the tutor’s board (a two pin jumper enables
it). You may want to start with the standard contest mode but you can change
to ACM at anytime. ( I activate it all the time on mine and now the default
setting for the T20)
The tutor will generate code from about 11 to nearly 30 wpm, if this gets too tame for you then you can push the tutor up to about 50WPM, another jumper on the main PCB selects this ‘Hyper’ mode.
In addition, The user can now change the pitch of the tutor, hold the mode
button in while turning on the power will allow the pitch to be changed, just
hold the mode button in and adjust the Gap Control to adjust the tutors pitch,
Once happy release the mode button and the new pitch value will be stored in
the T20’s EEPROM.
To select practice mode plug either a straight or Paddle key in, while the
tutor is turned off, now either press and hold the left hand paddle or hold
down the straight key, turn on the tutor and it will enter Practice mode. The
T20 will now work as a practice oscillator for your key type. (Straight or
Paddle keys) in Paddle key mode you will be in Iambic B mode by default but
there is an Iambic A/B jumper on the main board so you can change between A or
B modes. One more feature, if you are left-handed (or just prefer it) you can
set the paddle to reverse so the Dit is on the right and the Dah the left, on
the PCB is a jumper marked DEV1, the latest software will reverse the paddle
if this jumper is removed, the standard config for right-handed use is with
this jumper fitted.
How to build the T20v3 First Read ALL the following instructions BEFORE you start.
Let’s start. Check you have all the parts before you start.
20v2 PCB
Hammond case
Front and Back Punched/Screen Printed Panels
4 x Stick on feet
2 x 15 way Socket Strips
DC Power Socket
3 x 3.5mm PCB Sockets
PCB 8 Ohm Speaker
6V Battery Clip
4 x PCB fixing Screws
D1 1N4007( other 1N400x diodes may be provided)
R1 270 Ohm ¼ watt Resistor
R2 39 Ohm ¼ watt Resistor
R3 10K Resistor Network
R4 1K ¼ watt Resistor
R5 2k2 ¼ watt Resistor
R6 , R7, R8 10K ¼ watt Resistor
R9 1k8 ¼ watt Resistor
R10 , R11 3k9 ¼ watt Resistor
C1 , C2, C3 0.022uF disk Capacitor (Marked 223)
C4 0.1uF disk Capacitor (Marked 104)
C5 , C6 22pf disk capacitor (Marked 22)
X1 16MHz Crystal
T1 2N2222 (OR 2N2222A)
U1 Pre-Programmed ATMEGA328
2 x 10K potentiometer
1 x 10K potentiometer with integrated switch
1 x Push Button
3 x Control Knobs
1 x 3mm Dual Colour LED
4 x 2.54mm jumpers
4 x 2.54mm 2 Pin Headers
2 x 2 way terminal blocks
1 x Foam tape length
USE INSTRUCTIONS
Prep step, and you would thank me for this if you had the problem later, find the speaker, put a bit of tape over the holes. This speaker has a magnet inside and having used a number of these I find it attracts just about ever off cut of wire in the workshop. The wire ALWAYS seems to get stuck inside and will cause a buzz on every dit or dah it produces later. Save yourself a lot of problems and take my suggestion seriously !
The build of the Morse Tutor is straight forward and shouldn’t present much in
the way of problems.
Ok lets get on with the build. First let’s fit the resistors; R1, R2, R4, and
R5 R1 is 270 Ohm (first two bands Red and Violet) , R2 is 39 Ohm (be careful
it can be mistaken for R10 & R11 as they look similar but the 39 Ohm resistor
has only 4 bands Orange, White, Black, Gold)
R4 is 1K (first two bands Brown and Black), and R5 is 2K2 (first two bands Red
and Red).
Resistors can be fitted either way round.
Next fit the second bank of resistors. R6, R7, and R8 are all 10K (first two
bands Brown and Black) R9 is 1K8 (first two bands Brown and Gray) Be sure to
fit them in the right place.
The next resistors are R10 and R11 both these are 3K9 (bands Orange, White,
Black, Brown, Brown)
Be careful, these can be mistaken for the 39 Ohm resistor, the first different you will see if you look at both is that these resistors have 5 bands , the 39 Ohm resistor has only 4 bands.
The last ‘resistor’ is R3, this is a block of resistors in one moulded lump!
This MUST be fitted the correct way. Look at the picture here and look at the
resistor provided. You will see that on one side of the network there is some
I.D. writing and a dot.
The side with these markings MUST be facing the front of the board, the ‘Dot’
should be next to the R3 mark on the board. 
Next find your T20’s main CPU chip the 28pin ATMEGA328 and its socket,
Carefully push the socket in place on the PCB, make sure you are fitting it
the right way round (look at the outline on the PCB), solder the two strips
into place.
Just solder the 4 corner pins first and check the socket is sitting flush
before soldering all the pins.
Next fit the 6 capacitors .
C1, C2, and C3 are all the same value, 22nf (or also called 0.022uF) . They
will be marked 223 on one side.
C4 is a 100nf (0.1uf) and will be marked 104 on one side
All the capacitors can be fitted either way round but I suggest fitting them
so that the value is shown all on the same side. This makes it easier for
fault finding should you need to.
Now fit C5, C6 which are both 22pf disks. Next fit the 16Mhz Crystal between
the two capacitors.
Next we will fit the semiconductors, one diode and one transistor.
First we will fit D1, this is just a DC blocking diode. The part number of
which will be 1N4007 or any 4000 sequence number between 1 and 7. (E.g. could
be 1N4004)
Next we will fit the transistor, again the exact device number is not
important it does need to be a GP NPN device, the normally supplied device
will be a 2N2222.
The transistor MUST be fitted as shown. The shape of the device is also shown
on the PCB so make sure you fit it as the printing on the board.
Now we can fit the sockets on the rear edge of the board. Start with the three
stereo jack sockets. They will only fit one way round but make sure no legs
are folded under when you push them though the board. When fitted move onto
fitting the DC power socket.
Now we can fit the three controls, Volume, Speed, and Gap. We must do a small
modification to these controls first.
Each of the controls have a small metal tab that sticks out just under the
shaft. We are not using this and we need to snap these off before fitting the
controls. They snap off very easily. I use an old pair of cutters, hold the
tag between the cutters blades and snap the tag off, you will not need to cut
it and they snap without much effort. Do this for all three controls.
Now fit all three controls, the volume control also has a built in on/off
switch and will only fit in one place, either of the other two can be used for
the speed and gap controls (they are the same value)
Next we can fit the user option header pins, these pin will allow you to
change certain features of the T20.
There are 6 pairs of header pins for you to fit, don’t forget the one just behind the headphone socket.
We will fit the jumpers on these pins later and it will be up to you what
options you want to set (don’t worry I will give you a default setup If you’re
not sure about things)
Next fit the two blue two-way terminal blocks.
Make sure you fit these so that the open terminals are pointing towards the
front of the board as shown here. A tip, before you fit the main PCB into the
case I suggest that you unscrew these terminals and put the tip of a small
screw driver into the terminals opening, give it a little ‘waggle’ to open the
terminal ready for the wire later.
Now we can fit the speaker, leave the tape on that you put on earlier for now,
I bet your work bench still has off cuts on it!
The speaker has a Positive marking near one pin, make sure that this pin is
inserted where indicated on the PCB.
Now we can set the jumpers to the standard default configuration, you can
change this if you wish but this is a good starting point for most people.
(See the picture below)
Standard Jumper Settings:-
ACM :- ON
HYPER : OFF
IAMBIC A/B : ON
PAD_REV : ON
DEV2 : ON
H/S : OFF
The jumper marked H/S is below the headphone socket, this selects external
Headphones or external Speaker. If the jumper is fitted the socket marked
headphones IS set for headphones, if you leave it off then you can use an
external speaker with the T20, the jumper just bypasses an audio limiting
resistor. Many people leave this ON but if you do be careful if you use
headphones as it will be VERY loud at full volume. (That’s why I default to
OFF)
Now lets wire the little push button mode switch, you should have a small
length of wire and a inch or so of heat shrink. Attach the wire to this switch
and I suggest (you don’t have too) using the heat shrink to make a nice job of
it. Leave about 50mm of wire on each pin and wire them into the front terminal
block marked MODE. is no longer needed as this is set in the software and the
user can change it when they wish at anytime. (see user guide for full
details)
Now things are getting interesting, find the front plate and the LED, do not fit the LED just yet.
Remove the nuts and washers from the controls if you haven’t already and pop
the front panel over the controls, finger tighten the washers and nuts to hold
the panel in place. Now look at the LED. You will see that the LED has 3 legs
of different lengths, the shortest leg should be on the side nearest to the
edge of the PCB. Push the led into the holes on the PCB and BEFORE soldering
bend it so it protrudes though the front panel as shown below.
Now find the case and put one half which will be the bottom case in front of
you and put the rear panel into the edge furthest away from you. Drop the PCB
and front plate into this part of the case
Before fitting the switch use the four small PCB mounting screws to fit the
PCB into the case, check the positioning of the board from the rear to get the
jack sockets lined up with the rear panel holes.
Once happy put the spring washer on the button and push it through the front
panel, carefully tighten the button with the supplied nut.
Now you will also have a length of foam tape,. Cut the length to fit the cut-
out in the PCB for the battery and stick the foam pad to the bottom of the
case.
Now trim the battery clip leads to about 60mm and fit them to the rear
terminal block, be careful that you put the wires in the right holes, the red
is positive.
The battery can be fitted now. Find the top section of the case Look carefully
at the case. You will notice that the two sides are different, one has a grove
and the other a small protruding edge. It will only go on the correctly way.
Now remove the tape that you put onto the speaker! Tighten the nuts on the
three controls. I have a nice nut spinner I use for this but you can do it
with a normal spanner/pliers or even to be honest you can make sure that they
are tight with your fingers, the PCB will hold them in place really. Turn over
the unit. Fit the two long case screws and the supplied four rubber feet.
Now make sure all the controls are turned fully anti clockwise, fit the 3
control knobs so that the pointer is positioned just pointing at the ‘-‘ marks
on the front panels.
Now we should be ready to test things. Set the speed control to about halfway,
the gap control fully anticlockwise. Turn the volume control clockwise and you
will hear a click and a second or so later the LED will light up. It will
light green for a couple of seconds and then go red. You will also now be
hearing the sweet sound of Morse.
Adjust the volume to suit. Press and release the mode button and the tutor
will move to the next mode.
Now for full details of how to use the tutor read the T20V3 user guide. This
is available on the web sites instructions page should you ever need a new
copy.
I hope you have enjoyed building the T20 and I hope it helps you learn and
improve your code. Any problems get in touch, sales@kanga-
products.co.uk
73 Paul M0BMN
Please Note
In this Mk3 version I have changed the battery pack to 4 x AAA cells (6v) this
gives far greater battery life BUT it will also reduce the max volume of the
tutor. It is possible to use a 9V battery (PP3) and clip if you wish and that
will give you a boost in volume. The battery life will be reduced but for 99%
of people the 4 x AAA cell pack will be better even with the slightly reduce
volume.
T20v2 user Guide
Modes: 7
1:- Random Letters (In 5 figure groups)
2:- Random Numbers (In 5 figure groups)
3:- Random Mix of Letters, Numbers (5 figure groups)
4:- Random Prosigns
5:- International Callsigns,
6:- Common Words and abbreviations.
7:- Contest mode, In this mode the pitch and the speed change by approx.
+/- 15% to add to the realism and to make things less tiring for longer
sessions.
Controls:
Adjustable Volume
Adjustable Speed (approx. 8 to 30 WPM) Adjustable Gap (approx. upto 4 seconds)
Practice Oscillator Modes:- Straight Key/Iambic A or B
Straight Key Input for use as a practice oscillator (3.5mm mono plug on key
needed) and now a Iambic Paddle key practice oscillator (user selectable
Iambic A or B , and Left/right handed paddle via jumpers on main board), of
course the paddle key needs a stereo plug!
Automatic 10 Minute session timer LED
Aux output
Low Level fixed sine wave output for connecting to a PC running decoding
software or for use over Zoom etc.
External Connections:
DC Power (2.1mm Power Socket centre positive)
(7 to 15V although the tutor normally runs from a standard PP3 internal 9v
battery) external 10v PSU is a good choice if using external power but make
sure its regulated Headphones / Speaker out socket (3.5mm mono or stereo)
(Internal Speaker included)
Using the T20
The T20 is refreshingly simple to use, no menus!
Turn the power/Volume control to start the tutor and that’s it your away,
adjust the gap and speed control to your preference and start improving your
code speed. To change modes press and release the mode push button and you
will hear a higher pitch Morse letter. L for Letters Mode, N for numbers mode,
P for Prosigns, M for Mixed , C for Callsign modes, & CT for ConTest Mode.
The internal battery is a standard PP3 9v type and to replace it remove the
two screws holding the case together and lift of the lid.
To use the tutor as practice oscillator
To increase the tutor value it can also act as useful Practice Oscillator.
To use this feature plug your key into the rear connector, hold the key down
and turn on the tutor.
The microcontroller looks at the key input at power on and will detect the key
now. It will automatically switch to straight key oscillator mode. If you’re
using a paddle then hold the left hand paddle when turning on the unit and it
will start up in Iambic practice oscillator mode, the speed control on the
front of the tutor will adjust the Iambic speed. There is also a jumper on the
main board that will allow Iambic A or B modes (B jumper on by default) and
another marked DEV1 that selects left or right hand paddle.
Word of warning….
The tutor uses an internal 30mm PCB speaker, this is great for normal personal use but some people would like to use headphones, if you do use headphones be careful with the use of the volume control. It can be very loud. There is a jumper on the main board marked H/S (headphones/Speaker), with the jumper off the volume level is limited to protect your hearing. Put the jumper on if you intend to use an external speaker.
Changing the pitch of the tutor is very simple. Turn it off, press and HOLD the mode push button while turning on the tutor. Do not release the button. You will now here a steady tone. Adjust the GAP control to change the pitch of the tone. When happy release the push button and the new tone will be saved and used from now on. You can change the pitch at any time you wish.
Tips for improving your code speed.
It’s very easy to fall into a common trap that can cause you problems with
listening to real life Morse.
Do not try to count Dits and Dah’s to work out the letters. Start to learn the
‘sound’ of the letters from day one. Set the speed control to a realistic
speed (I find setting the SPD control at the 12 O’clock position is about
right to start with, about 14 WPM), adjust the GAP control to give you more
thinking time. This way you will learn the characters at the right sound and
although it may seem hard at first it will be easier when you listen on air
(which is the point of learning the code isn’t it). Spend about 10 minutes a
session listening to code, much more than this isn’t helpful. Take a break
between sessions and you will come back fresh and ready to learn. The T20v2
has a ‘Running’’ LED, This LED is also used as the session timer indicator,
ever 10Mins the LED will change to bright green and remain so for about 10
seconds, this is an indication that it’s time to take a break, spending too
much time in one session is not going to help. A couple of sessions a day
would be great and will really help you learning of the code.
Future expansion.
There is an unused jumper, an internal trimmer position, and an I2C connection
point on the main board to allow for future software upgrades. These are not
being used in this current release. Above all, enjoy it and enjoy using the
T20v2 tutor. Good luck with learning Morse. 73 Paul M0BMN Kanga-products
Morse Code
References
- products.co.uk - This website is for sale! - products Resources and Information.
- Welcome To Kanga Kits