The FT-450 has a keyer jack on the front panel. It is the lower of two 1/8 inch jacks at the upper right.

The Yaesu FT-450D User Manual [PDF] describes how to use this jack on manual pages 46-48 in the PDF version, which correspond to pages numbered 44-46 in the printed version.

To enable keyer mode you must first be set to USB and CW modes.

To begin, press the KEYER button. The KEYER indicator lights up on the screen to confirm it. This enables the sidetone but does not activate the transmitter. This is handy in order to confirm your wiring and for practice with the paddles..

In order to use it on the air you press the F button then the VOX/STO button. The BK-IN indicator will light up to indicate that it will activate the transmitter in QSK mode.

When a straight key is plugged with a mono 1/8 inch plug, it generates a side tone for practice.

The jack is touchy, so the plug might need to be jiggled in order for it to work correctly.

To use paddles requires the use of a stereo plug, where the tip is for dit and the middle is for dah, as switched to ground by the paddles. (This can be swapped in software as described in the manual)

So my problem was when I plugged in my paddles. They would not activate the keyer at all.

This particular set of paddles:

Which provide a 1/8 inch stereo jack output.

Connected to the rig by an audio-quality male-to-male 1/8 inch stereo pigtail.

There are no menu changes necessary to switch between straight keys and paddles. The radio is smart enough to know the difference.

My problem is that the straight key works fine but the paddles are not responding at all.

Question: How to make it work? I know I have all the correct components.

I am a big fan of the Yaesu FT-450D but there is one really frustrating quirk that took some time to figure out.

The FT-450 has a keyer jack on the front panel. It is the lower of two 1/8 inch jacks at the upper left. The labeling is not highlighted very well, but can be seen with enough light.

The Yaesu FT-450D User Manual [PDF] describes how to use this jack on manual pages 46-48 in the PDF version, which correspond to pages numbered 44-46 in the printed version.

To enable keyer mode you must first be set to USB and CW modes.

To begin, press the KEYER button. The KEYER indicator lights up on the screen to confirm it. This enables the sidetone but does not activate the transmitter. This is handy in order to confirm your wiring and for practice with the paddles..

In order to use it on the air you press the F button then the VOX/STO button. The BK-IN indicator will light up to indicate that it will activate the transmitter in QSK mode.

When a straight key is plugged with a mono 1/8 inch plug, it generates a side tone for practice.

The jack is touchy, so the plug might need to be jiggled in order for it to work correctly.

To use paddles requires the use of a stereo plug, where the tip is for dit and the middle is for dah, as switched to ground by the paddles. (This can be swapped in software as described in the manual)

So my problem was when I plugged in my paddles. They would not activate the keyer at all.

This particular set of paddles:

Which provide a 1/8 inch stereo jack output.

Connected to the rig by an audio-quality male-to-male 1/8 inch stereo pigtail.

There are no menu changes necessary to switch between straight keys and paddles. The radio is smart enough to know the difference.

My problem is that the straight key works fine but the paddles are not responding at all.

Question: How to make it work? I know I have all the correct components.