[Elecraft] A or B?

[Gwen Patton]

I'm a big fan of single lever paddles as well. I've got Steve W1SFR's
Torsion Bar Cootie Paddle, and I adore it. The only issue I had was that it
was too light, and skittered around. I guess that's why Steve made another
version, the Fat Boy, with a much thicker and heavier base. I'd tried to
solve it with a 3d-printed base, weighted with stick-on iron tire weights.
It worked, but it wasn't ideal. I didn't want to just buy a Fat Boy, so I
asked Steve how to solve it, and he sold me a Fat Boy base and walked me
through modifying it to work with the original key. So my TBCP is a hybrid
with a Fat Boy base. (I totally recommend just getting the Fat Boy from the
beginning, though.)

It's very easy to use, with practically the ideal gap settings from his
workbench for use with either an electronic keyer (such as the one in my
KX3) or as a Cootie. He supplies a stereo-mono adapter for this, but I
solved that my own way. I built a small box that connects to the KX3
through the bottom 2x2 header for the Elecraft screw-on paddle. I even used
the original screws to attach it to the bottom of the rig. A short stereo
1/8" cable runs from it to the Key socket on the left side of the rig. I
wired it with 4 sockets on the front of the box, two wired to go to the
left side socket, and two wired to the bottom socket. Then I set the KX3
for keyer on the left side, and hand key on the bottom. Now if I want to
use it as a paddle with the keyer, it gets plugged directly into one of the
two left-side jacks, and if I want to use it as a Cootie, I plug it into
one of the right-side jacks.

This key is amazing in either mode. It's practically silent in operation,
no clattering or clip-clopping to disturb others in the room, and the
contacts have clean makes and breaks, so the code it sends is excellent in
either mode. I don't know how he managed it, but I don't have to change the
adjustments when I switch between the modes. On my other keys, I have to
radically change the gaps when I switch modes.

I usually use Mode B when it's in keyer mode. I believe Mode A adds an
extra element to the end, and that messes me up all the time. Even when I
used a double lever paddle, I never squeeze keyed it. So I'm not missing
anything with a single-lever key.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
73,
Gwen, NG3P


On Thu, Jul 8, 2021 at 5:57 AM Tommy Mitchell <tzmitch at gmail.com> wrote:

> And that's how I ended up being a Mode A operator without realizing it or
> even knowing the difference. Sneaky vendor lock-in!  ;) Guess I'll just be
> stuck with Elecraft forever.
>
> 73
> Tommy WZ4M
>
> On Wed, Jul 7, 2021, 15:19 Wayne Burdick <n6kr at elecraft.com> wrote:
>
> > This has been a great discussion, with many perspectives. Just to
> > reiterate, all Elecraft radios going back to the K2 provide both modes,
> and
> > the default is (and always shall be) mode A.
> >
> > 73,
> > Wayne
> > N6KR
> >
> >
> >
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