[Elecraft] Key, Keyer, Paddle etc. Recommendation?

["D.R. Weiss KIØRP"]

Kirby, here's one CW op's opinion:

1.  Becoming proficient in CW doesn't depend much on what key/paddle you 
use with the K2.  There are CW broadcasts every weekday from W1AW, four 
times a day (3 on Mondays).  You can listen to those without any key at all.

2.  IF you want to spend a lot of time SENDING CW, I would get some 
paddles, since (a) the K2 has a built-in keyer, and (b) paddles are a LOT 
less tiring than a straight key.  If you don't want to spend a lot of time 
sending CW, then I'd just use the straight key for those few 
occasions.  But -- as always -- LISTENING to good CW is very important, see 
#1 above.

Dave Weiss KI0RP
K2 #2249

At 10:48 PM 3/20/02 -0500, Kirby J. Davis wrote:
>Here's my question:
>
>If you had (1) just built your very first (and only) HF rig [the
>K2!], (2) didn't have a whole lot of extra cash sitting around to
>spend (see (1)), and (3) wanted to become proficient in CW using the
>K2... What would you purchase? Would/could/should you just use the
>straight key?