I am in a constant search for the perfect paddle for field operations…
Since I have a affinity for Morse code operations, I am constantly looking for the perfect paddle that is easy to hold and is easy to manipulate and sends clean code effortlessly. This is a fairly tall order, as I have a large hand, and typically field paddles are fairly small.
As of late, I have been using this N6ARA tiny key that I bought off of their website and have really been enjoying using it. With the only two drawbacks that I have found so far are the key is too small (I should have chosen a larger case size since they actually offer them) and the contacts tend to tarnish fairly rapidly causing miss sent characters until you rub the tarnish off from use. So I have been looking for a better solution.
The main problem I keep running into is all of the low-cost keys are built very crudely and the contact mechanisms tend to be fairly fragile, failing rapidly in the field.
My first key that I bought was the simple little paddle off of eBay for $23 and it fell apart almost immediately. So I took it home, repaired it, and took it back to the field, only for it to fail again well before I finished a single activation. Giving it one last try, it failed on me a third time in three activations, forming an opinion in my head that this key was not fit for use.
This is a picture I captured off of my phone of the key I actually purchased off of eBay. I can say, with complete honesty, that I would not recommend this key to anyone. Save your money and buy the N6ARA tiny key if you want a small paddle in this form factor, you will end up buying something better anyway because this one will fail almost immediately. I ended up throwing it in the trash because I did not want to give this to someone else for them to get frustrated with attempting to use it. Lesson learned.
Well, today was the day I tested another key that I bought but this time I actually spent a little bit more money on one and got better quality. As you can see, it was a wonderful fall day with nice crisp, air, and beautiful fall colors! I set up my rig at my usual haunt, which is K-2169 or also known as Cloudland Canyon State Park and got on the air with a 20m vertical half wave, tuner and a couple of counterpoises and ran this into my ICOM IC–705 radio.
What I had done was, I had went ahead and got a CQ Gemini key, also from eBay. This key came from a respected Japanese amateur radio dealer and it was significantly more expensive. I bit the bullet and bought it anyway and had it shipped standard shipping. I bought it on October 5 and was on the air with the key on October 14 and it shipped from Japan! That is service!
First thing that I noticed about the Gemini is that it has significantly more heft to it than the sub-standard keys that I was messing with earlier. It is fairly heavy, and does not slide around on the table, hardly at all, even when using it single-handed.
Another thing I noticed about the key is that it fit my hand almost perfectly when I hold it with my left hand so I can send with my right and then also log the contact with my right hand too. Since I am typically holding down the logbook with my hands anyway, this is a very comfortable and natural position to work POTA with for me. I also like the fact that the key comes with a built-in storage container by loosening. The thumb screw on the top you slide the whole key back into the housing, and then snugging the thumb screw down again, and the key is stored internally in the in its own case. This is brilliant as now the key is almost impervious to damage from transport.
As you can see here, it fits perfectly in my go bag for my POTA operations. Only time will tell if the CQ brand key has the durability to hold up to regular use but from the initial uses of the day and at home several times prior to taking it to the field, it looks like it is going to be a winner. I finally have a key that I like to have with me. One thing I did notice that I will most likely change at some point is that the cable is hardwired to the key, I will most likely redesign this to use a socket and a double ended cable so if the cable fails from use, it is a simple cable swap and I am back on the air. If the cable fails right now, the key is down…
I actually think now I will relegate the N6ARA key to my TR-35 radio kit, which is going to become my travel radio set up as it is very small and compact. But that is a story for another day… if you haven’t done it yet, I would appreciate it if you would like this blog post, and if you would like to help support this blog and my YouTube operations you could buy me a cuppa coffee (or a new radio, that would be awesome too 😬👍) through PayPal. You can find the opportunity to do this on this website. I would greatly appreciate it!