G. Doughty wrote:
Good Morning,

I am putting together a winkey keyer kit (I know it is not true homebrew,
but I am just a lowly English teacher). Anyways, I have a variable pot with
three poles and need to know which one is ground. How can I find that out
with a multimeter?

Thanks and 73
G. Doughty
ki4bbl AT cox DOT net



Do you mean you want to know which tag is attached to the wiper? If that
is what you mean, just measure the resistance between any pair of
terminals, the pair for which the resistance does not change regardless of
position of the pot, neither pin will be the pin you want.

Its usually the centre one.

--

Wing Wong.

Ok, it is the center one. I guess i needed to think outside the box as the
schematic has it showing, from how I interpreted it, one of the ends.
Great! Thanks for the quick response. Now I can install and play. Maybe
you'll here me on 40.

Thanks
greg
ki4bbl AT cox DOT net


"Wing Fong Wong" wrote in message
...
G. Doughty wrote:
Good Morning,

I am putting together a winkey keyer kit (I know it is not true homebrew,
but I am just a lowly English teacher). Anyways, I have a variable pot
with
three poles and need to know which one is ground. How can I find that
out
with a multimeter?

Thanks and 73
G. Doughty
ki4bbl AT cox DOT net



Do you mean you want to know which tag is attached to the wiper? If that
is what you mean, just measure the resistance between any pair of
terminals, the pair for which the resistance does not change regardless of
position of the pot, neither pin will be the pin you want.

Its usually the centre one.

--

Wing Wong.

G. Doughty wrote:
Ok, it is the center one. I guess i needed to think outside the box as the
schematic has it showing, from how I interpreted it, one of the ends.
Great! Thanks for the quick response. Now I can install and play. Maybe
you'll here me on 40.

Is what you're building the same thing as on
http://k1el.tripod.com/winkey.pdf ?

If so, it really doesn't matter! You use the center terminal (the
wiper) and one end, it doesn't matter which end. The consequences of
getting it "wrong" are that the control will work "backwards" - you'll
turn the pot counter-clockwise to speed up your Morse, instead of
clockwise. If that happens, you can fix it by using the other end
terminal. You won't damage anything by getting it wrong.

================================================== ====================

In general, for any other future construction projects you may get
involved in... it is VERY unusual for the wiper of a pot to be
connected to ground. It does happen - it would be acceptable to do so
in this Winkey circuit and I have seen others - but it is VERY rare. In
some circuits, grounding the wiper when you shouldn't could result in
damage to the pot (and possibly other parts). And almost always, the
circuit won't work, or at least won't work properly.

Getting the two ends mixed up is far less dangerous. The worst
consequence is the same as it is with the Winkey: the control will work
backwards and you can fix it by swapping the ends.
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

"G. Doughty" wrote in message
news:3RA_d.65108$7z6.28233@lakeread04...
Ok, it is the center one. I guess i needed to think outside the box as
the
schematic has it showing, from how I interpreted it, one of the ends.
Great! Thanks for the quick response. Now I can install and play. Maybe
you'll here me on 40.

Thanks
greg
ki4bbl AT cox DOT net

I am not sure the other poster understood your question- especially given
your response. None of the terminals are grounded- you do that when you
wire it into the circuit. If this is the speed control and you choose the
wrong end- it will function backwards- just reverse the 2 end connections.

Dale W4OP