Many hams that get the electronics or CW bug try a Code Practice Oscillator (CPO) kit sooner or later, or maybe orders a pre-made set, like one offered by MFJ. After a while, anyone that uses a certain type of CPO will eventually tire of hearing the harsh tone that comes from it. There’s a good chance the annoying sound quality is caused by the CPO’s circuit itself. Many such circuits make use of the venerable and ever-versatile “555” timer IC.  It’s not the IC’s fault but the waveform produced by the circuit that uses it. Generally what you get is a square wave-based tone that, by its nature, sounds raspy, and when keyed on and off abruptly creates sound artifacts such as clicks and pops.

       On top of that, many oscillator circuits used for CPOs have their main power turned on and off as part of the keying process which often causes ‘chirps’ and slight fluctuations in pitch because it takes a split-second to settle the levels, so to speak. With an abrupt starting and stopping of the signal you also end up with ‘clicks’ and ‘pops’ and other artifacts. The sound produced by a circuit with these issues can grate on the hearer’s ears and actually cause fatigue in longer practice sessions.  Real radios use sine-waves! Since there are practical reasons why your transceiver uses sine-waves in its operation – why shouldn’t your Code Practice Oscillator? Try this one!

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  UPDATE:  Please check out the improved version [2.0] of the Pleasant Code Practice Oscillator by  Steve Smith, G0TDJ, 
                        at: http://www.projectavr.com/esp-01-esp-03-flash-prototyping-board/
                        Steve has added LM386 AF amplification and other improvements and has produced an attractive PCB (prototype) for use
                        as an educational tool for Foundation students.

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Steve's site includes a comprehensive PDF schematic of V 2.0 as well as resource files for professional PCB reproduction.
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The following is my tutorial for the original version:

A Sinewave is the purest expression of energy on any single given frequency. A Square-wave is not a pure signal and is composed of odd-integer harmonic frequencies and thus has a harsher sound quality. A tone composed of a signwave has a pleasant and smooth sound to human hearing.

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       This ‘Pleasant’ Code Practice Oscillator produces a smooth-sounding sign-wave at your favorite frequency, and during keying is turned on and off with smooth transitions which eliminates ‘key clicks’.  The oscillator is left running constant to reduce ‘chirping’.  I show the complete circuit schematic broken into two parts:
Part 1 – 3-Transistor Audio Amplifier
Part 2 – Twin-T Audio Oscillator with Edge Shaping

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Part 1 – 3-Transistor Audio Amplifier

.  Click on pic for printable version.

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       You can build these circuits on a solderless breadboard if you wish. Also known as a 'solderless prototype board', they’re available on Amazon, AliExpress, eBay and other sources for little money and consist of strips of metal contacts encased in plastic that allow you to plug in wires and components to build circuits. Without solder they’re reusable, which means you can build as many circuits as you wish.  Just remember to order your choice for breadboard jumper wires or Dupont cables.
To see how to use one, check out this site: www.instructables.com/id/How-to-use-a-breadboard/

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Here is a graphical layout of the ‘Pleasant’ CPO on a typical (64x2-row) breadboard:

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Click on pic for printable version.

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       This 3-Transistor audio amplifier can provide a modest amount of volume for any audio project and doesn’t require many parts.  It was a common design used in some later transistor radio designs and will provide 100mW of audio power to a 25 ohm speaker.  A Small PM speaker should be used. An 8 or 16 ohm speaker can be used just as well with down to around 50mW of output.  This is a forgiving circuit and many parts values can be substituted including the transistors such as using the common 3900-types.  Q2 is used as the pre-amp, and Q1 and Q3 are the speaker drivers. Diodes D1 and D2 are used to create constant bias voltage.  R2 can be adjusted from 50k-500k to peak the transistor’s bias but consider using heat sinks if the transistors get too warm.  Try it once constructed by applying a very low-volume signal to the input from any audio source such as an mp3 player. You should get about a 5-times gain factor.

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Part 2 – Twin-T Audio Oscillator with Edge Shaping

..Click on pic for printable version.

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       The “Twin-T” oscillator is a classic design.  It produces a sign-wave audio signal with very little distortion by using a complementary pair of high-pass and low-pass RC filters - shown in the schematic by the two obvious ‘T’ configurations.  C1 and C2 must be the same value, and C3 must be exactly double the value used for C1 and C2. Just use two 0.01μF caps tied together in parallel. Adjusting R1 will change the resonance frequency of the oscillator:  A 10k potentiometer can be used and a value of 3-10k will get you a range of around 500Hz–1400Hz.

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Wave-scope display of a 15wpm ‘dit’ element

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       You can try any type of NPN transistor and there should be enough output to drive a small high-impedance earphone. The second part of the schematic shows a common 2N7000 MOSFET and other various discrete components.  Used in this configuration, the MOSFET will smoothly ‘ramp’ the signal level of the oscillator in and out.  When the ‘Key’ circuit is brought to ground potential through R7, C5 is bled at a fixed rate and Q2 loses gate saturation. The ‘Twin-T’ audio signal is now left untouched.  When the ‘Key’ is released, the voltage potential to Q2’s gate is brought to positive through R6 while re-charging C5 thus the audio signal is now gradually shunted to ground.  R6 and R7’s values are chosen for around a 10ms transition time.

       You can adjust these to change the attack and decay of the CW envelope. The image above is an actual wave-scope display of a 15wpm ‘dit’. The result produces an easy to listen to CW sound and I was able to build everything on a Radio Shack prototyping breadboard in about half an hour.  Using a breadboard is the next step up from the spring-terminal project labs that were once offered by Radio Shack, and they allow you to do so much more. This circuit can be transferred to a throughhole and soldered Vero prototyping board and then into a project box. Once finished you can enjoy hours of smooth and pleasant-to-the-ears CW practice!

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Issues with an imperfect circuit:

       There have been reports of both success and failure with this circuit across the board.  When I initially began working with this CPO, I paired the elegant nature of the Twin-T oscillator with the brutal one of the LM386 amplifier IC and was blessed with a code-practice baby with a face only a parent could love.  The output had only enough power to run through a pair of headphones.  The LM386 was fed from the MOSFET shaping circuit through a decoupling capacitor and it worked pretty well.  In writing this article, I was able to provide two circuits for the reader to work on, both the oscillator section and a simple 3-transistor amplifier.  The amplifier was just an example in basic transistor design and wasn't intended to be product-worthy.  Steve, G0TDJ, who hosted a comprehensive STEM course centered around microcontroller projects, took this design further by adding the LM386 and designing a PCB.  Some have claimed success with his updated CPO circuit and others have been frustrated by it due to low volume, chirping and distortion in the final audio.

       By standard disclaimer, I can suggest the obvious by keeping wiring short, using high-quality capacitors and experimenting with different discrete component values.  But in working with this circuit, I have a few suggestions to consider:

1) Chirping Tone:  When keying, the pitch of the oscillator will start at one level and quickly go to another rendering a 'chirping' quality to the sound.  This may be due to inadequate current/voltage regulation to the oscillator section.  A builder may feel tempted to cut the oscillator on and off with the CW key by doing so directly to the oscillator transistor.  To get a consistent tone you must keep the oscillator 'free-running' so that it's stable and let the MOSFET sink the audio after the fine capacitor which decouples the signal source between the oscillator and the output.  Also try isolating the oscillator circuit via a voltage regulator. If you are running the device at 12 volts, use a 9 volt LDO regulator, or if supplying at 9 volts, use a 5 volt one.

2) Low Volume:   A common report. Please note that the transistor amplifier section only provides enough power for headphones or an earphone and not at much milliwattage.  The LM386 should be able to provide enough to run a 3 to 8 watt speaker - a small one, not a large PA speaker.  You should consider using something for that requirement such as an LM380.  In Steve's adaptation (provided PDF - SEE BELOW) I feel that the interface between the transistor amp section and the LM386 could use a bit of work, and I can't be sure as of yet because I haven't tried it.  Try running the output of the transistor amp into the (-) input, tying the (+) to Vcc, and run this through a decoupling cap prior to the pot.  A 10uF electrolytic may work. The LM386's input is high impedance but the transistor circuit was designed to 'work' against a load. A resistor between its output and Vcc may help. Again, I need to work with this.  Resist the urge to over-gain the LM386.  The point of the Twin-T is to produce a tone without distortion!  If volume is still a problem, try an additional power amp after the LM386 or even try one of those PAM PWM amp modules you find all over Amazon.

3) Shaping Circuit Not Working:  The MOSFET's gate is capacitive and also a voltage-driven switch, so play with the associated capacitor/resistor.  Additional wire length on your CW key could affect the MOSFET's operation, so consider buffering the CW's input with a transistor switch circuit (used on my Minty Keyer) to isolate the key from the MOSFET.  The MOSFET's only job is to sink the oscillator signal to ground with an ease-in/ease-out envelope. If a high resistance is measured between the drain and source when in key-down, then the MOSFET isn't being switched.

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Here is a quick and dirty layout on a solderless breadboard.

.  Check out this version built by Chris Waldrup, KD4PBJ
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Chris incorporated an LM386 audio amplifier and is shown here using the CPO to get great practice with his newly acquired Vibroplex bug.

Chris also suggested changing the value of R5 in the oscillator circuit from a 33k ohm resistor to 100k when using an OP-amp or such type as the LM386 to reduce audio bleed-through due to too much gain.

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Walter also uses an LM386 audio amplifier, and just look at that "Manhattan" style construction - This is definitely a major upgrade for his old MFJ Code Practice Key!

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And again, here is the updated schematic for the improved version [2.0] designed by Steve Smith, G0TDJ:

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CW_Practice_Oscillator_v2.01_SCHEMATIC.pdf

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Have some fun this weekend…  For goodness sakes - get out your breadboard and build something!

73! DE Mike, K4ICY  MikeK4ICY@gmail.com