I never had the time to learn Morse when I studied the then full radio examination in one go (not separate levels as now), which was quite an undertaking for those without much electronics background (and often felt like it was designed to exclude people like that). But the attraction of using low power and simple transceivers whilst out in the field means I'd like to learn now.
Apparently, CWOps recommends the use of a paddle, rather than a straight key. A pity, as I have a lovely, ex-oil rig radio room key that would have done nicely.
So, not overly-enthusiastic to fork out the frankly ridiculous and typically hiked prices for commercial paddles, I set about building my own - helped by plenty of online searching for those who'd done a good job of it without using an industrial manufacturing workshop!
According to many, a single paddle is often preferable to a twin paddle. I've no idea if this is true or not, but the design is certainly a bit simpler, so that's what I built!
Hardly earth-shattering or novel, but it cost me nothing, other than using junk box parts and waste metal and wood. It works beautifully, and is very finely adjustable for best performance. It's certainly a lot better than the minimum price of £65 for a commercial unit, and a maximum well into the £hundreds.
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