[CW] First Impressions - Begali HST Mark II and Leonessa

[Bruce Prior]

          Good-quality
keys need time to gel.  I'm looking
forward to lots of fun time with two new paddles from Pietro Begali I2RTF, the
prolific key manufacturer from the city of Brescia
in the Lombardy region of northern Italy.  Meanwhile, I'm sharing my first impressions
of both paddles here.

 

HST Mark II

          The HST Single
Lever paddle was in the Begali lineup for awhile.  I wasn't enamored of it.  For me, the HST Single Lever action seemed sluggish.  Although it was made from fine components, I
think the principal source of my difficulty with its performance stemmed from
its long lever.  The HST Single Lever is now out of production.  It's been replaced by the HST Mark II model. http://www.i2rtf.com/html/hst.html
To see the difference, look at the image of the original HST Single Lever on the eHam website: http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/8002
 

            The HST Mark II sports a shorter aluminum
lever, which, like with the original model, is integrated with the
fingerpiece.  The single lever/sideswiper
switch has been moved back.  Using that
switch, the same key may be employed, in turn, to control an electronic keyer
with dits on one side and dahs on the other, or it can be changed instantly to
control a straight-key circuit with back-and-forth motion.  The new fingerpiece is perforated and tall,
like on the Begali Sculpture Mono.  http://www.i2rtf.com/html/sculpture_mono.html
That means that either the whole pointer-finger knuckle or just the pointer
finger tip can be used to oppose the thumb. 
A large vertical hole is available behind the lever which could be used
to bolt the HST Mark II down onto
the operating surface like old landline telegraph keys.  I prefer to paste 3M™ Dual Lock™ onto the base of all of my paddles to secure them to
the operating desk.  

The HST Mark II is simple and businesslike.  Adjusting it is a snap:  left and right thumbscrews control contact
spacing; one front thumbscrew controls the magnetic return tension in both
directions with a moving cam.  At €218
plus shipping, the HST Mark II is
pretty economical among fine-quality paddles.

 

Leonessa

          The Leonessa
is a hybrid. http://www.i2rtf.com/html/leonessa.html  It can serve as an incredibly-smooth
dual-lever keyer paddle.  Then with a
small  adjustment of a thumbscrew on the
left paddle, the Leonessa is transformed
into a two-fingerpiece dual-action single-lever paddle.  Because of the need for neutral centering,
high-quality single-lever paddles are more complicated to engineer than similar
dual-lever paddles.  The hybrid Leonessa is even more sophisticated.

            An oval cam
in the rear can be adjusted to change the spacing between the fingerpieces, a
setting which is independent of contact spacing.  About a 45° setting seems right for my taste.  Also like the Sculpture Mono, both fingerpieces on the Leonessa are tall and perforated. 
After soldering on the patch cord to suit my right-handed paddling, I
set about making the Leonessa
perform.  

The single-lever mode requires some
careful preparation.  The instructions
make it clear that the Leonessa
first needs to be adjusted for satisfactory dual-lever action while plugged
into a keyer.  Both left/right contact-spacing
and left/right return-force are readily adjustable using four large
fingerscrews.  Then when the paddles are
squeezed together to produce the iambic warbling between dits and dahs, that
special smaller thumbscrew on the left-hand fingerpiece is tightened carefully so
that either a string of dits or a string of dahs is produced.  The Leonessa
now performs as a single-lever paddle.  

The tolerances of the Leonessa are extremely tight.  I was able to adjust the contacts so close
that in single-lever mode, I can hear no click when closing it either on the
dit side or on the dah side.  She now
purrs flawlessly.  I had thought that the
Begali Sculpture Mono represented
the finest of single-lever paddles.  In
single-lever mode, the Leonessa is
even better.  Pietro Begali has only one
true competitor:  Pietro Begali!

The Leonessa does come at a pretty price: €390 plus shipping.  That's actually less than the Sculpture Mono, which will set you back
€425 plus shipping.  On the other hand,
whether you currently prefer dual-lever or single-lever paddling, the Leonessa may be the last fixed-station
paddle you'll ever want to buy.  If
you're currently a bug operator and want to try controlling a keyer with
single-lever action you can do so, but then later if you want to develop your
dual-lever paddling skills, you can do that as well using the same precision
paddle.  I moved in the opposite
direction:  after many years of
dual-lever paddling, I've migrated to single-lever style as my sending speed
has increased.  A guest operator at my
station can easily convert the Leonessa
from  single-lever to dual-lever operation.

 

Dayton Hamvention

            Both the HST Mark II and the Leonessa will be available to try out
at the Begali booth at the 2012 Dayton Hamvention.  You can adjust the HST Mark II to your liking in a jiffy.  Especially if you are trying out the Leonessa in single-lever mode, plan on
spending some quality time to adjust it to perform optimally according to your favorite
style.  For me, paddling with the Leonessa is a whole new experience.

 

73, Bruce Prior N7RR

 

    



J. Bruce Prior   853 Alder Street  Blaine, WA 98230-8030   360-332-6046   •Grid CN88px    •Amateur Radio Station N7RR    •The CW Operators' Club 846    
•Washington State SOTA Manager   •Pacific Northwest Trail Association   •American Alpine Club #1672    •SATERN
 		 	   		  
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