[Elecraft] Cheap Keyer Paddle

[Bill Frantz]

I have made 2 keys. The simple one used a SPDT spring switch 
which might have come from some old telephone equipment. I added 
a finger pad cut from an old credit card and bolted it to the 
top of the Altoids box which holds the Rockmite. It does seem to work.

The more complex one used the arm bearing from an old PC hard 
disk with some brass metal parts and a wooden base. It uses 
repelling magnets instead of springs and some short pieces of 
silver wire, crossed to each other, as the contact points. All 
the corrosion products of silver are conductive so these 
contacts need less cleaning. The big surprise during development 
was discovering that the bearing was a near perfect insulator. 
That's why there is a bit of wire going from the paddle arm to ground.

<https://www.dropbox.com/s/n253mllnr0vqkie/IMG%20-%202%20Paddle%20and%20Rockmite.jpg?dl=0>

After all, much of the fun in ham radio is in building stuff.

73 Bill AE6JV

On 9/19/20 at 10:27 AM, infomet at embarqmail.com (Wilson  Lamb) wrote:

>Seems a perfect time to revive ham tradition and make one.
>Do you have any tools, soldering iron?
>Hacksaw blade comes to mind, maybe a couple of quarters for pads, screws for contacts?
>I know you can Google:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sps6gsqwzws

----------------------------------------------------
Bill Frantz        | Art is how we decorate space,
408-348-7900       | music is how we decorate time.
www.pwpconsult.com |          -Jean-Michel Basquiat