[Elecraft] Getting Started With CW

[Barry LaZar]

Tom,
     As a beginner, don't get hung up on iambic. It's really for the 
advanced CW operator. It requires a double paddle, or squeeze key set 
and when you squeeze the paddles, you send alternating dits and dahs. 
Whether you send a dit or a dah first, is a matter if which side you 
squeezed first.

     There all kinds of keys out there. As a beginner who most likely is 
not going to run high speed, almost any paddle set will work as long as 
the paddles move smoothly. The important thing is that it has a heavy 
enough base not to move around during excited sending. A Bencher is 
probably not a bad starting point. It uses a spring to make the paddle 
work and it doesn't feel all that bad. I use a good Vibroplex most of 
the time with an old Brown Brothers as my other main paddle set. I also 
have my first set which is an FYO set that Bencher copied.

      No matter what kind of paddle set you get, you are going to need 
to adjust it for you. Whether you get spring loaded or magnetic tension 
paddles, the watch word is smoothness and response. At low speed 
response is not usually an issue. The rest of it is cosmetic. If there 
is a good CW operator near you, go see him and ask to play with his 
key/paddle set and see what it feels like. And then ask him why he sets 
his paddles as he does.


73,
Barry
K3NDM




On 12/1/2014 12:05 AM, Tom Blahovici wrote:
> I like the comment about going through an intermediate step... Maybe I'll look at a paddle instead.
> So what's this about iambic? What are the types of paddles out there?
>
> On Nov 30, 2014 11:42 PM, Jim Brown <jim at audiosystemsgroup.com> wrote:
>> On Sun,11/30/2014 8:25 PM, Leroy Marion wrote:
>>>     Does not a paddle and keyer give you perfect timing?
>> It's been nearly 60 years since I went through that. Paddles and keyers
>> did not exist -- we had "bugs," but did start on straight keys. But bugs
>> are inherently different from the paddle/keyer combo. Perhaps one of the
>> CWOps guys who are working with CW Academy can offer an opinion. Mine is
>> that sending good CW is mostly a matter of training our brain and
>> fingers to mimic the good CW that we hear. Unless you're a real straight
>> key "pro," they're far too slow for most on air CW, so if you're going
>> to learn what you're going to use, I don't see the value in going
>> through an intermediate step.
>>
>> BTW -- if you want to get a great start on CW (or build your skills), by
>> all means take advantage of CW Academy. This is the brainchild of K6RB
>> and a few other CWOps members, and it's been quite successful.
>> http://www.cwops.org/  I'm a proud member of CWOps, but not very active.
>> It's a great group. Membership is by invitation. You don't need to be a
>> member to be in CW Academy or the many on-the-air events. Check out the
>> website.
>>
>> 73, Jim K9YC
>>
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