[Elecraft] Portable paddle mounting idea

[Vance Huntsinger]

I received my Doug Hauff Porta-Paddle last week--what a nice little key. I 
always find it somewhat of a challenge to mount a key for field use. Doug 
will be coming out with various mounting accessories, but I mounted mine on 
a plastic clipboard. The clipboard I chose is made by Kokuyo, a Japanese 
firm. It is translucent plastic, lightweight but sturdy, and (this is 
important) has the clip (smooth plastic, low profile, better for slipping 
into a pack) on the upper left corner of the board. This allowed me to 
fasten a small legal pad, the 5" x 8" variety, on the upper left corner, 
leaving room for the key near the top and just to the right of center. I 
have room to rest my hand and wrist on the board, next to the pad of paper, 
where I can jot essential info. There is even a little plastic clip on the 
board, meant to hold a pencil, but it works well as a routing path for the 
key cable. The board and paddle assembly can easily be held on the lap 
while operating, acting as a small table. This idea should work for many 
portable paddles and keys; unfortunately, however, it probably wouldn't 
adapt well to the needs of a leftie.

I haven't had the chance to use this system in the field yet, but I did 
make a QSO using it, just to try out the Porta-Paddle. It works great, with 
very smooth action. Being able to rest my wrist on the board prevents 
considerable fatigue. This idea might be an old one, but it was new to me!

Vance Huntsinger--WA9YDJ
K2 #1145