It took a month and a half to get to me, but my new Kent single-paddle morse code key kit arrived last night.
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It took a month and a half to get to me, but my new Kent single-paddle morse code key kit arrived last night. It was a quick and easy build. Glad I got the kit instead of assembled, because I would have torn it apart to see how it worked if it had come assembled! ☺
After I got it adjusted, I sat down and keyed the alphabet at 20WPM, with no errors on my first use. So the feel is pretty good.
I've been comparing it to my Putikeeg (double-paddle) key, switching back and forth. I have both of them adjusted for a light touch and short throw; I can't even fit a sheet of normal printer paper between the contacts.
The magnet spring on the Putikeeg unscrews itself over time, and it doesn't take that long, because I have it set near the extreme of its travel for light touch. I'm hoping it doesn't go completely missing someday. (I think I need to put some loctite on it to make it stop falling off.) The spring tension on the Kent doesn't move, and can be adjusted separately for dit and dah.
The Putikeeg has a switch to swap sides, which is nice. The Kent doesn't have that feature, and there isn't anywhere on the base to easily add that.
If I slap the paddle too hard on the Kent, the opposite bar strikes the contact. So I can, for example, send Y or K by tapping dah hard and holding it, and L or R by tapping dit hard and holding it. Increasing the throw and tension didn't change that. But I'm not a slap-happy keyer, so I don't think it will be a problem for me.
This is the opposite problem of my 3d-printed key, where a snapping release causes the other side to touch, so if I slide my finger across dah and release it suddenly, I send N; if I slide my thumb across dit and release it suddenly, I send A.
The Putikeeg being a dual-paddle key doesn't have this problem; the sides are completely independent. (I send with the Putikeeg as if it were single-paddle, "iambic" squeezing breaks my brain.)
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I can't believe that less than half a year ago, I got my ham radio license only because morse code is no longer required, and couldn't imagine why anyone who sent CW wanted more than one key — and now I have purchased two keys, printed another I wasn't satisfied with, designed my own 3d-printed key, and am pondering coming up with my own design to machine from metal as well.
I've also cranked up my call sign copy practice to 20WPM which means I'm not getting them all, but I no longer expect it to be December before I can copy 20WPM comfortably.
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