[Elecraft] High End Paddles

[Greg Tomerlin - K4KO]

Hi Ron,

Not exactly.  What I have is a couple of small pneumatic switches
(mounted in the large wooden box seen in the photo) which I operate by
sipping and puffing on a tube attached between the two.  Each switch
activates one of the two relays you see mounted at the lever end of the
bug.  A light puff or blow through the tube activates one relay (the
bottom actuator) which presses the bug lever to the right (from the
operator's perspective) sending dits.  A sip on the tube activates the
other relay (on top) which presses the bug's lever to the left and
closes the dah contact.

I'm not very good with the bug, but I use it to ragchew with my elmer
WB4CSG one or two times a week.  When not using the bug, I send CW using
a sip-n-puff device and either a radio's built-in keyer or an external
keyer.  The March 2004 edition of QST featured an article describing a
sip-n-puff device similar to the one I use.

http://w4dit.wilsonarc.org/images/fd05/sip-n-puff06.jpg

http://w4dit.wilsonarc.org/images/fd05/sip-n-puff07.jpg

I also have a sip-n-puff creation which "emulates" a cootie key or
side-swiper, but I am absolutely terrible with it.  Awful.  Unreadable.
I'm lucky if I get two characters sent before I screw up.  My mind just
refuses to work that way.  Sam, my elmer, can send near-perfect code
with it.

72 Greg  K4KO

   Tennessee QSO Party - September 10 
   http://www.k4ro.net/tcg/tqp/rules/tqp06_rules.html 


-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Ron D'Eau Claire
Sent: Friday, June 16, 2006 1:12 PM
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: RE: [Elecraft] High End Paddles


Ha! Ha! I've often asked for a "bug emulator" mode for the keyer so I
could
key like a bug using the paddles when portable, but pundits always jump
up
and tell me that I'd be unhappy with the feel of paddles. They're right,
of
course, and that's now why I wanted it. I just wanted to keep the bug
operation, including the ability to send American Morse (which keyers
don't
allow because it requires using varying lengths of dashes) when using
paddles portable in the field. 

So, instead of having a bug emulator for a keyer, you've come up with
the
same thing to allow using paddles with a bug! 

Ron AC7AC

-----Original Message-----
> Using a bug is a very a *physical* activity compared to
> keyer paddles.  Ron AC7AC


Not the way I do it.  :)

http://wilsonarc.org/images/s-n-p_vibroplex_bug-001.jpg

http://wilsonarc.org/images/s-n-p_vibroplex_bug-002.jpg

http://wilsonarc.org/images/n4wsm_snp01.jpg