[Elecraft] CW Key Suggestions

[stan levandowski]

I do not own one of these products but perhaps I can help with the 
terminology.

An iambic paddle *always* has two levers, each with a separate 
fingerpiece.  A non-iambic paddle *always* has a single lever but *may* 
sport a dual fingerpiece to increase the spacing between the thumb and 
forefinger.  This goes to personal style and usually means the buyer 
asked for such a modification (or did it him/herself).

An iambic paddle permits "squeeze" keying -or- the Op can choose to send 
non-iambic code with it.  A non-iambic (i.e. "single lever") paddle can 
*never* send iambic code.

Some Ops believe that sending non-iambic code with an iambic paddle 
leads to more errors because there are two separate contact levers 
involved; a non-iambic paddle eliminates one entire lever and its 
corresponding contacts.

Ops who were brought up on semi-automatic keys ("bugs") - and who wish 
to maintain their "bug fist"- generally prefer single lever paddles and 
avoid making the transition to squeeze keying.  Of course, this is a 
personal preference and there are Ops who are very capable of switching 
between the various keying styles.

The art of CW - becoming proficient, appreciating its history, 
understanding its development, building a collection - is a wonderful 
subhobby within amateur radio.

Selecting a paddle (or straight key or bug) is very personal "project". 
While it's certainly wise to ask questions, read reviews, and peruse the 
marketing information, in the end the buyer is the only one who will 
know when he or she has found "a winnner."

I have a modest inventory of the "best" keys for "me" and it took me 
quite awhile to get there but the journey was an interesting and 
enlightening experience all the way.

Never be shy about working with a manufacturer if you feel you need 
something beyond what the manufacturer offers.  For example, I once 
asked to have an extra heavy base of specific dimension added to an 
already substantial base to make the key weigh an astounding number of 
pounds.  In another instance, I wanted the fingerpiece style from one 
part of the product line to be mounted on a key from another part of the 
line.  in a third instance, I felt the supplied carbon fiber fingerpiece 
was too thin and asked to have it doubled up.  All these requests were 
filled with no problem.  In fact, the manufacturer who doubled up my 
carbon fiber fingerpiece thought it was such a good idea that he made it 
standard.

Another suggestion is to avoid spending extra money to buy a nameplate 
or call sign plate.  If you later decide you want to sell your key in 
order to buy something else, that personalized  plate, and the holes 
that were drilled in the key to mount it, might not meet with a buyer's 
approval.

One line of reasoning says that being a good CW Op really has nothing to 
do with the brand names on our keys and paddles, or how much they cost. 
On a certain level that is a true statement.

But there *is* great satisfaction in owning and operating high quality, 
well-engineered instruments.  Isn't that why we buy Elecraft radios?

73, Stan WB2LQF
www.wb2lqf.com


On Mon, Jun 25, 2012 at 8:38 PM, Phil Hystad wrote:

> These look nice -- does anyone here own one?  I am probably weak on 
> understanding the terminology though.  Does single-lever imply that it 
> is not an iambic squeeze type paddle.  I noticed that the single-lever 
> version appears to have two levers but guessing that these do not 
> offer the Squeeze feature (which by the way I have never really 
> learned to use).
>