[Elecraft] suggestions for a paddle?

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

The special keys with carbon-fiber paddles, beautifully-machined and
polished parts, precision bearings, etc., are wonderful! 

They are a delight to see, 

beautiful to caress,

amazing to look at,

...and totally *unnecessary* to send absolutely perfect CW at any speed you
are going to us on the Ham bands and do so all day long with ease.

It's not necessary to spend a lot of money on paddles to be a first-class CW
operator. Those keys are a hobby of their own for those with the money to
spend on them and the desire to do so but, unless you're out to set a new
human speed record in Morse, quite unnecessary. 

It's sort of like buying a Ferrari just to drive to the local supermarket
for a few groceries. (BTW, Bengali advertises itself as the "Ferrari of CW",
so I believe the comparison is apt, Hi!)

Elecraft's Bencher paddles look like a good balance between cost and good
design. I don't own a pair because my Scotia magnetic paddles that I picked
up at a Ham auction 30 years ago are still FB, as are my KXPD1 set that
travel with my KX1. Elsewhere, a key that has a connection with CW history
is the Vibrokeyer made by one of the oldest bug (mechanical semi-automatic
key) manufactures still in business: Vibroplex. They range from $160 and up
(http://www.vibroplex.com/vibrokeyer.html) 

If you are still building CW skills, I would recommend a double-paddle -
what's often called "Iambic" paddles. That's because you then have the
opportunity to learn Iambic or "squeeze keying" if you want. They work just
as well as any other paddle in normal mode, so there's no penalty getting
them and you have that flexibility. I highly recommend learning Iambic if
you want to be proficient on paddles. I used it for 20 years and found
Iambic a joy that let me send traffic for hours on end with hardly a break,
and do so virtually effortlessly. The downside for me was that doing so
ruined my fist for using a bug. I couldn't do both because the virtually
automatic finger response needed to form letters is totally different. When
I left the keyer to return to using a bug I had to invest weeks in practice
to learn to send making my own dashes and proper spaces again, not to
mention my tendency to squeeze the key at odd moments, Hi!

I switch back and forth now, using my KXPD1 paddles with my KX1, but I'm
careful to use the KXPD1 paddles in normal mode (no squeezing) so I don't
lose my "bug fist". 

Four things that make for superior CW sending skills are:

1) Paddles that feel comfortable and which hold their adjustment. That is,
parts don't keep falling off or coming loose, Hi. Years ago a lot of very FB
ops built their own paddles by mounting two war surplus 'straight keys' back
to back on a vertical support. Whatever you can operate easily works FB. 

2) Adjust the paddles correctly. No matter what sort of key you use -
paddles, straight key, bug - this is important. Some excellent tips can be
found at:
http://www.morsex.com/misc/keyadj.htm

3) Paddles that sit stably on the table or desk top. I mount my keys on a
thin (1/8" thick) piece of hardwood, usually oak, using flat head screws on
the bottom, then I cover the bottom of the wood "base" with woven plastic
non-skid available in most stores designed to keep things from slipping on
table tops. The non-skid stuff is almost everywhere out here in the west in
"earthquake" country, but I'm told it's available just about anywhere in
hardware and housewares stores. Just ask for thin non-skid matting. I attach
it to the bottom of the wooden base with some double-sticky tape. I've found
that if I wipe a smooth, polished table surface with a cloth moistened with
a tiny amount of cleaner to remove the surface oils, the key will actually
stick there, and no amount of lateral force will move it short of destroying
the key itself, yet it can be lifted straight up easily and with no damage
to the surface whatsoever! 

4) Practice. Just like driving a racing car: doing a superb job is 99%
driver skill based on practice and 1% is the car. 

Ron AC7AC