Keys, Paddles, and Keyers

It's not absolutely required to take this course, but VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you acquire a morse code key and/or iambic paddles with a keyer now.  Remember that the whole point of this course is to teach the necessary skills required to get on the air on HF and make CW contacts.  Eventually you will need a morse key to plug into your HF radio to do that.  Logic indicates it is best to acquire a key and/or paddles/keyer now so that you can use them to help you learn and practice while taking this course.

 

Morse Keys and Paddles are a topic of constant debate among CW operators.  We each have our favorites, and we love to argue with each other about what is best and explain in glorious endless detail our reasons for each of our choices.  Don't believe me?  Put two or three CW operators in the same room and ask them what key is best.  Then stand clear and watch what happens!
 

As your instructor, I choose to remain neutral in that particular debate.  Not that I don't have opinions on the topic.

I advise you to initially keep your expenditures low until you figure out what key or paddles are YOUR favorite.  If you can borrow various styles of keys from ham friends to try, that's great.  Perhaps ask them to bring them to Field Day so you can check them out?  Once you figure out what is YOUR favorite, invest however much money you are comfortable spending.
 

There is a huge range of prices for these items.  Brand new commercially built straight keys are sold for as little as $15.  They aren't fancy, but they get the job done.  If money is no object, you can spend $5ØØ for a Begali work of mechanical artistic precision with gemstone bearings.  Keys or paddles for every price in between seems to be sold somewhere.  Some hams even homebrew build their own keys.  Some are humble.  Some incredibly beautiful and precise.  While I'm a huge fan of homebrewing ham equipment, keys included, I do NOT recommend that your first key is something home built.
 

The reality is that a skilled CW operator can send excellent morse code over a cheap $15 key or a $5ØØ Begali with very little performance difference.  It really is all about operator skill, not how much money someone spends on the tools.
 

Don't hesitate to acquire a used key or paddles or keyer.  See if members of your ham club have any extras they want to part with.  You may even get a key gifted to you. 

If you choose Iambic Paddles, you will need some kind of electronic keyer.  Many newer HF radios already have a keyer built in, but not all.  Older radios typically only had a key input for a straight key.  If your radio only has an input for a straight key, you will want to acquire an external electronic keyer that will plug into your radio's key input.  Your iambic paddles will plug into your keyer.
 

Other options are semi automatic keyers, single lever keyers, bugs, sideswipers, and various other less popular choices.  I'm not an authority on these, so if you want more information on them, I suggest Google or find a ham friend that is an expert on them.  Remember, what matters most is your ability to send high quality code using whatever tool you choose.  What works best for someone else may not be what works best for you.  Don't spend a lot of money until you are certain you will love what you are purchasing.
 

The next post will discuss Code Practice Oscillators.

 

Mark

NRØR