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Installation under Linux - Depricated:

  1. THIS IS NOT THE RECOMMENED PROCEDURE ANYMORE. As of Linux Mint 22, the system python libraries are heavily guarded. If you see a message stating that "This environment is externally managed," you will need to use some sort of "virtual" or "container" for your python environment. I have found that uv is a very easy solution to this (see above). Also, Miniconda works quite well but requires a little more fiddling. See the next section for the installation instructions under Miniconda.

The instructions in this section are what I still use a Raspberry Pi.

  1. Clone gitub pyKeyer, libs and data repositories

    cd mkdir Python cd Python git clone https://github.com/aa2il/pyKeyer git clone https://github.com/aa2il/libs git clone https://github.com/aa2il/data

  2. Install packages needed for pyKeyer:

    cd ~/Python/pyKeyer pip3 install -r requirements.txt

  3. Make sure its executable:

    chmod +x pyKeyer.py start start_cw qrz.py paddling.py

  4. Set PYTHON PATH so os can find libraries:

    • Under tcsh: setenv PYTHONPATH $HOME/Python/libs
    • Under bash: export PYTHONPATH="$HOME/Python/libs"

  5. Bombs away - you may need to change the first line of each executable to match the location of your interretor:

    ./pyKeyer.py ./qrz.py ./paddling.py

    See also start and start_cw for examples how to run this thing

Installation under Mini-conda (Linux):

  1. There are several ways to achieve a "virtual environment" for python. Although such "containerized" approaches require a little bit of work up-front, there are several advantages:

    • Protects the system python libraries (required by many recent distro releases)
    • Allows for establishment of different environments with, say, different versions of python
    • App will continue to function as python evolves and functions are depricated or syntx changes.

Here is a good video overview of Miniconda:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23aQdrS58e0&t=552s

  1. Point a browser to

    https://www.anaconda.com/docs/getting-started/miniconda/main

  2. Download and install latest & greatest Mini-conda for your particular OS:

    • I used the bash installer for linux

    • As of July 2023: Conda 23.5.2 Python 3.11.3 released July 13, 2023

      cd
mkdir -p ~/miniconda3
wget https://repo.anaconda.com/miniconda/Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh -O ~/miniconda3/miniconda.sh
bash ~/miniconda3/miniconda.sh -b -u -p ~/miniconda3

    • If you'd prefer that conda's base environment not be activated on startup, set the auto_activate_base parameter to false:

      conda config --set auto_activate_base false

    • To get it to work under tcsh:

      bash
conda init tcsh

    • This creates ~/.tcshrc - move its contents to .cshrc if need be

    • relaunch tcsh and all should be fine!

    • Test with:

      conda list

    • To blow away a work environment and start over:

      conda deactivate
conda remove -n work --all

  3. Create a working enviroment for ham radio stuff:

    • Check which python version we have:

      conda list

    • !!! By default, conda does not include very many fonts for tk and therefore the Tk GUIs look like crap. Do this when creating the sandbox to avoid this problem:

      bash
cd ~/miniconda3/envs/
conda create -y --prefix "aa2il" -c conda-forge "python==3.12.*" "tk[build=xft_*]"
exit

    • The fonts on an existing sandbox can be upgraded via:

      bash
conda install --prefix "aa2il" -c conda-forge "tk=*=xft_* "
exit

    • To activate this environment, use:

      conda activate aa2il

    • To see what's installed in the currently active environment:

      conda env list

    • To deactivate an active environment, use:

      conda deactivate

  4. Clone gitub pyKeyer, libs and data repositories:

      cd
  mkdir Python
  cd Python
  git clone https://github.com/aa2il/pyKeyer
  git clone https://github.com/aa2il/libs
  git clone https://github.com/aa2il/data

  5. Install packages needed by pyKeyer:

      cd ~/Python/pyKeyer
  pip3 install -r requirements.txt

  6. Set PYTHON PATH so OS can find libraries:

    • Under tcsh, put this in ~/.cshrc:

      setenv PYTHONPATH $HOME/Python/libs

    • Under bash, put this in ~/.bashrc:

      export PYTHONPATH="$HOME/Python/libs"

  7. To run pyKeyer, we need to specify python interpreter so it doesn't run in the default system environment:

      cd ~/Python/pyKeyer
  conda activate aa2il
  python pyKeyer.py

  8. If the fonts look awful/pixelated, see step 3 above

  9. Known issues using this (as of March 2025):

    • None

Installation for Windoz:

  1. One option is to use miniconda and follow the directions above.

  2. I had success installing Python (v3.12 as of Oct 2024) via the Microslop Store (or directly from python.org).

  3. Clone gitub repositories. There are several tools available for windows for fetching git repositories. I use the command line version from

     https://git-scm.com/downloads/win

    Find one you like, open a command prompt and effect the following:

     cd %userprofile%
 mkdir Python
 cd Python
 git clone https://github.com/aa2il/pyKeyer
 git clone https://github.com/aa2il/libs
 git clone https://github.com/aa2il/data

    Note - to simply grab the latest changes, use "pull" instead of "clone" in these commands:

     cd pyKeyer
 git pull https://github.com/aa2il/pyKeyer
 cd ../libs
 git pull https://github.com/aa2il/libs
 cd ../data
 git pull https://github.com/aa2il/data

  4. Install dependancies:

     cd pyKeyer
 pip install -r requirements.txt

4a) There are three codes here - the complete keyer, e.g.:

    pyKeyer.py -prac -cwt -adjust -wpm 30 -keyer WINKEY

4b) ... a paddle sending practice tool:

    paddling.py

4c) ... and a callsign lookup tool:

    qrz.py

  1. Under linux, these programs can discover the type of keying device available. This doesn't yet work under winblows so only the most popular device, Winkeyer, is available.

  2. There is an older compiled binary/installer listed on the right panel of this screen. If you want/need a more recent binary, follow the steps in windoz.bat to build it from the source.

  3. A note about drivers. Compared to linux where almost everything works right out of the box, Windoz is awful when dealing with device drivers. To get the keyer to work, you will probably have to install device drivers for both the keying deivce (e.g. winkeyer via a serial COM port) AND for your rig (e.g. CAT control and rx audio via a pair of USB ports). Most likely, the rig manufacturer has the proper drivers for the rig available on their website. This may or may not be the case for your keying device. I do not own a genuine Winkeyer as I "roled my own."

To add further complictions, the Winblows device drivers are often buggy and unstable. My main keying device is a modified version of the K3NG keyer hosted on an Arduino Nano knock-off. This device emulates the popular Winkeyer. The Nano-knockoff uses a CH340 chip for USB I/O and not the venerable FTDI chipset. The latest driver (v3.8 as of Oct 2024) for the CH340 initially works but then hangs upon program exit. To get the keyer to work properly, I found I needed to use an older version of the driver (v3.7 from 2022). A zip file with this driver is included in this repository.

I've also built version of the K3NG keyer which is hosted on an ESP32 board. This particular board uses a CP2102 USB to UART bridge. The driver for this one is

https://www.silabs.com/developer-tools/usb-to-uart-bridge-vcp-drivers

One other reminder - MAKE SURE USB CABLE IS A "FULL SERVICE" CABLE, NOT JUST "POWER-ONLY" charging cable. (I admit that, on mulitple occasions, I have wasted considerable time tracking this down - ugh!)