[CW] nonIambic keyer option -followup

[M.Wood]

Previously I asked about a "nonIambic" keyer option. I explained that I would 
like my Kent dual paddle to operate as if it was a single paddle --that is, 
no extra dits or dahs with a squeeze, keyer sends dits or dahs depending on 
which paddle was pressed first.

I want to thank those of you who responded both on and off the list. I have 
done some looking and tried a few things and have some conclusions to share.

1) Although none of the contemporary memory keyers available appear to have 
such an option (i.e. Jackson Harbor PK4, Logikey, K1EL, N0XAS Picokeyer, 
CWTouch keyer), the MFJ-492 (or 493) does have a "non-Iambic" option. I have 
not tried the MFJ but I see no reason why it would not work. Perhaps one of 
you who have this keyer can try the non-iambic option.

2. Vintage keyers, from the years when they were newer on the ham scene, may 
not include iambic keying. One such keyer that I have now tried is the Ten 
Tec "Model 679" that was offered as an option for the Ten Tec Century22 CW 
transceiver. This is a basic keyer, but quite adequate for me at this point 
(16-18wpm). If dual paddles are used and pressed simultaneously, the dahs 
take precedence and a stream of dahs is sent.

3.  I bought an up-to-date keyer, with memories and numerous options from 
Sumner at cwtouchkeyer.com. Through some trial and error, I have found that 
by a) turning off both dit and dah memories, and b) using "ultimatic " mode, 
I can more or less duplicate what the Ten Tec keyer feels like. The 
cwtouchkeyer (based on JHPK4) has a very rich set of features, and I 
recommend it.  (It was Marshal Emm at Mtechnologies.com who first suggested 
trying Ultimatic to me, and it was John/K4WJ who suggested turning off dit 
and dah memories.) 

4. A couple of you suggested a spacer of some kind to be put between the 
paddles on the Kent. I tried this with foam rubber. It works, sort of, but 
the foam rubber tends to change with use. Also, the operator must 
considerably loosen spring tension to compensate. Along these lines, it 
appears that the Begali Simplex Mono key uses some kind of interesting 
mechanism to accomplish just this task --ie. link the dual paddles together.  
Fred KD7T is very enthusiastic about the Begali S.Mono, and even prefers it 
over his dual paddles --although he is an iambic sender. 


--Mike K2CSJ