A Siamese Paddle

Recently my local ham radio club asked for members to show off homebrew CW keys. I decided to build something that would fit in with the club show-and-tell and, even better, be usable in my shack.

 

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

 

 

Vibroplex Model X Bug

The Vibroplex Original, introduced in 1905, is still being manufactured. For a few years, 1911 through 1923, the Vibroplex Model X was also sold. I've uploaded a Youtube  video showing the major differences between these two models: For additional information about Vibroplex bugs see: http://www.vibroplex.com/ and Tom French's book, "TheVibroplex Collector's Guide".

New Paddle for my KX3

The homebrew paddle that I pack with my KX3 is durable but weighs in at 2.2 lbs, a heavy weight by any standard. I finally looked around for a lighter weight replacement and found the Palm Pico Paddle. At only 1 oz this one will certainly pack easier. I've now had a few QSOs with it and I couldn't be happier. This one works fine and will pack along on my next hike a lot easier.

The Pico Paddle comes with a magnetic base and a cord for connecting to the KX3. The size is perfect for the right hand side on the KX3, fitting just below the right hand endplate mounting screws and above the antenna connectors. Elecraft does recommend a right angle plug. I found one at Radio Shack. Palm Radio offers a steel KX3 endplate that works with the magnetic mount, but not one with handles. Instead I ordered a piece of steel that sticks on the KX3 endplate to provide something the Pico Paddle magnetic mount will stick to.

I wondered about using the Pico Paddle stand alone. It is a little small for sitting by itself on the desk but I found that the magnetic mount works great with a blank steel electrical box cover.

Phil Moorey has a good suggestion:

You might want to hot glue a piece of metal to a plastic sheet about 5" by 6". You can use the plastic as a clipboard for notes and the weight of your hand secures it when sending. A couple of rubber feet helps prevent sliding on a flat surface. I have been doing this for years.

Addendum, Feb 6, 2014
After seeing Phil's suggestion above I was motivated to return to my local big box hardware store in search of a different stand alone base plate. This was to be used only in the shack so weight was not a big issue. What I found in the plumbing department was a 5"x8" 16 gauge "Steel Safety Plate". I then located soft rubber non-skid "Gripper Pads" designed to stick on the bottom of table legs to keep them from moving. I now have a base for my Pico Paddle that works great at the shack operating position.

Addendum, Apr 21, 2014
The only problem I have is that I tend to be heavy handed enough that I can loosen the paddle from the KX3 when it is set up with the magnet on the side. For me I'll probably leave the magnet on the bottom and pack along a piece of flat metal (like a 3 1/8"  x 7" steel joist tie plate) to use as a base out in the field. 

An Iambic keyer rated for cathode keying

When using my vintage transmitters I've missed not having a keyer. Many older tube transmitters are cathode keyed. The voltage across the key terminals can be high enough to fry the output transistor of a typical modern keyer. In some cases the voltage can even be high enough to be a safety problem.

I already had a K1EL K10 keyer board ( http://k1el.tripod.com/K10.html ). I added a Keyall from Jackson Harbor Press ( http://wb9kzy.com/keyallhv.htm ) to make a keyer capable of keying up to 500V. It works great! I even installed a jack for a straight key so that I use the K10 CW monitor plus the Keyall isolator on Straight Key Night.