The July 1952 issue of QST describes "The Siamese Paddle". It is two J-38 straight keys mounted on edge and bottom to bottom to form a set of dual lever paddles, great! I didn't have two J-38s but I did find two EF Johnson Speed-X straight keys on my shelf. I could use these for my paddles and still have two original Speed-X keys if I ever decide to disassemble my Siamese Paddles. I also found a couple pieces of aluminum to form the new base and vertical support.
After drilling four mounting holes and creating new finger pieces I now have a new set of paddles.
These paddles aren't a Begali but they are certainly cheaper and my typical CW speed is only around 16 WPM. They work fine for me and fit in well with the rest of my vintage gear.
73,
Niel - W0VLZ
1 comment:
Hi Neil I built one of these in 1980 to use with my new to me highly modified (not by me) HW101 in an apt with wife and small babies .. heh what fun! I had a keyer kit given to me for christmas I built for this.. My wife surprised me with it.. now that was 43 or so years ago..
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