
ID-O-Matic Manual 11/7/2007 Page 4 of 6
The PTT output is always active when the ID or beacon message is being sent. It is also active:
•If PTT hang time is set (not zero), the entire time START is active plus the length of the PTT hang time setting;
•If a courtesy beep is set, the entire time START is active plus half a second and the length of the courtesy beep;
•If both are set, the entire time START is active, plus the courtesy beep and hang time delays.
Setup
For beacon, foxhunt or repeater use, connect your ID-O-Matic to a PC or other serial terminal device using a straight-through 9
pin serial cable. If you have built your own custom device using the ID-O-Matic chip, you can use the kit schematic as a guide
to build your own interface level converter. If using a PC you can use the HyperTerminal program provided with Windows, or
just about any other serial communications program such as Procomm. Set your communication parameters for 9600 baud,
eight bits, no parity, one or two stop bits and no handshake. As a quick check to see if your serial port and communication
software is set up correctly, connect a serial cable to the computer but not to the ID-O-Matic. Connect pins 2 & 3 together at
the end of your serial cable. Anything you type should be echoed back to your computer.
Connect the ID-O-Matic and turn the power on. You should see the version number printed on your screen. Tap the ENTER
key twice to enter the setup menu. You will be prompted for several bits of information. In each case you can hit RETURN to
keep the current setting, which will be displayed in parenthesis after the prompt.
•ID Time: Enter the delay time, in seconds. This will be the time between ID reminders or Morse announcements.
•Yellow time: Enter the number of seconds from zero at which you want the LED to turn solid yellow. Setting this
value to zero disables turning the LED yellow.
•Blink time: Enter the number of seconds from zero at which you want the LED to begin blinking red/yellow. Setting
this value to zero disables red/yellow blinking.
•ID msg: Enter up to 64 characters for your desired Morse code ID. Common punctuation and prosigns are supported:
oType a dash (–) for BT
oType a semicolon (;) for AR
oType a greater-than (>) for SK
o@ will be sent as the new @ sign character (.--.-.)
oComma, period, slash and question mark signs are sent as typed
oTo send a steady tone or CW carrier for a specified length of time (such as for a propagation beacon), type
:nnn:where nnn is the number of seconds from 1 to 255.
oLess-than (<) and other characters will be ignored.
oSpaces, including trailing spaces, will be sent. Note that entering a space as the first character of a
message will delete the message.
•Beacon msg: Similar to the ID message, this message will be sent if the beacon time is set. If the beacon time is set
and this message is empty, the ID message will be sent at beacon time instead.
•Auto CW ID: Type Y to use the Morse code ID, or N for a simple beeping ID reminder.
•CW Speed: Enter the desired Morse code speed in words per minute. This will also affect the rate of beeping if Auto
CW ID is off.
•ID Audio Tone: Enter the desired Morse ID audio frequency in Hz between 250 3500. The ID-O-Matic will set a
speed as close as possible to your selection. The value displayed will be the actual calculated frequency.
•Repeater mode?: Type Y if you intend to use the START input. Type N if you do NOT plan to use the START
input, even if it will be used in a repeater.
•Courtesy beep tone: This prompt will only appear if you answered “Y” to Repeater mode. With the courtesy beep
tone set to an audio frequency (in Hz) between 250 and 3500, the ID-O-Matic will send a short beep about 500
milliseconds after the START input goes inactive (high). Set this to zero to disable the courtesy beep.
•Courtesy beep mult: If you have selected Repeater mode, this allows you to “stretch” the length of the courtesy beep.
Enter a number indicating the length of the desired courtesy beep as a multiple of “dit” times – this means the courtesy
beep length is determined by the current Morse code speed selected.
•Beacon time: This prompt will only appear if you answered “Y” to Repeater mode. Setting this to other than zero
will cause the ID-O-Matic to send a Morse message at regular intervals if nothing is seen on the START input while
in repeater mode. This can be set to 3600 to announce the repeater every hour, for example, if the repeater is idle.