Paddles in General
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I have been reading the emails on paddles and
especially the KXPD1. I hesitated about the paddle when I was thinking of getting a KX1. I hated to spend that much money for a paddle. Usually since I am retired and do not make much money I have to sell in order to buy. Well, this time I got some money that I was not expecting which would cover the KX1 and all the perks. I am not disappointed. I like the KXPD1 very much. I have alway accepted the Apostle Paul's message that whatever circumstances we find ourselves to be content!! Through the 44 years I have had keys, Vibroplex paddles, Bencher paddles, etc. I did purchase years ago Vibroplex Bug! Was that ever a mistake. My first thought was .... How can I get rid of this thing!! <g> In fact if I detect a guy or gal using a bug and calling CQ I will QSY immediately. However, after saying all that .... at the National Museum of Amer. History in Wash. DC where I volunteer on Wed's, we have a Bencher Paddle and a Vibroplex Bug and I am trying to learn to send on that "blasted" Bug!! And when I try to adjust the weight I go crazy! Of course I consider myself a new comer to CW because I did no CW from 1985 to 2003. Paul, KD3JF On the double paddles I never squeeze for I just touch softly and I am very pleased! Paul Paul Gates, KD3JF K1 #0231 KX1 #1186 XG1 _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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Paul and others,
Don't give up on the bug just yet hi. It usually takes a year or more to develop a "clean" fist with a bug. Set the dot arm stop for a gap of slightly less than 1/8 inch. Set the dot contact so that when the dot paddle is pressed, you get evenly spaced dots for 3 to 4 seconds, and keep the contacts CLEAN. Never file the contacts, burnish them with rough paper like uncoated business card stock or some such. This will go far to helping you learn to use it. As you have been sending with a keyer, I'm sure you know what good spacing sounds like. Try to emulate that when sending with the bug. I learned on a bug first back in 1961, before I even got my ham license (Army radio operator) and when Hallicrafters came out with the HA-1 keyer, I bought one and didn't look back for several years. Because of what I did in the Army, I taught myself over the period of a year or more to switch back and forth between the bug and a Vibroplex single lever paddle. I was given a very nice Vibroplex "Original Deluxe" model that was manufactured in 1962, a year before I was first licensed, as a Christmas present. Even though I hadn't touched a bug in years, I found that my training of 30 years ago came back with a few hours practice, and my "Bug" fist was a lot better this time around as I now have a much better feel for what "good" cw is supposed to sound like. Not very many people master a bug to the point where they sound like a keyer, but I have heard a few that come close (definitely not me, but I try.) 73 and Practice-Practice-Practice hi hi. Jim - W0EB Wichita, KS > -----Original Message----- > From: [hidden email] > [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Paul > Gates, KD3JF > Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2005 6:18 AM > To: [hidden email] > Subject: [Elecraft] Paddles in General > > > I have been reading the emails on paddles and > especially the KXPD1. I hesitated about the paddle > when I was thinking of getting a KX1. I hated to spend > that much money for a paddle. Usually since I am > retired and do not make much money I have to sell in > order to buy. Well, this time I got some money that I > was not expecting which would cover the KX1 and all > the perks. I am not disappointed. I like the KXPD1 > very much. I have alway accepted the Apostle Paul's > message that whatever circumstances we find ourselves > to be content!! > > Through the 44 years I have had keys, Vibroplex > paddles, Bencher paddles, etc. I did purchase years > ago Vibroplex Bug! Was that ever a mistake. My first > thought was .... How can I get rid of this thing!! <g> > In fact if I detect a guy or gal using a bug and > calling CQ I will QSY immediately. However, after > saying all that .... at the National Museum of Amer. > History in Wash. DC where I volunteer on Wed's, we > have a Bencher Paddle and a Vibroplex Bug and I am > trying to learn to send on that "blasted" Bug!! And > when I try to adjust the weight I go crazy! > > Of course I consider myself a new comer to CW because > I did no CW from 1985 to 2003. > > Paul, KD3JF > > On the double paddles I never squeeze for I just touch > softly and I am very pleased! > > Paul > > Paul Gates, KD3JF > K1 #0231 > KX1 #1186 > XG1 > > _______________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Post to: [hidden email] > You must be a subscriber to post to the list. > Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com > _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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Jim Sheldon wrote:
>I learned on a bug first back in 1961, before I even got my ham license >(Army radio operator) and when Hallicrafters came out with the HA-1 keyer, I >bought one and didn't look back for several years. > I got my license in '61 and used a straight key (surplus J-38) for a couple of years, and then got one of those Japanese bugs that Lafayette Radio sold in those days - wow, what a difference! I got pretty good with it, and used the bug for several years. Then I built a homebrew version of the TO keyer, and was converted instantly - never went back to the bug. Now I've got a good-sized collection of paddles and keyers. Last year I dug the bug out of storage and decided to give it a try again - after all, I was OK with it in the '60s. I almost got to the point where I'd be willing to go on the air with it, but after 40 years I've definitely lost the knack. The other thing I did last year was set up a straight key for SKN - eeek. I never was very good with a straight key, and after all these years of non-straight-key-use, I've lost nearly all traces of that particular skill. Thank heaven for keyers. I used to worry that we'd all wind up sounding the same, what with the near-perfect code you can send with a keyer, but there are still enough little differences in fists even with keyers that you can recognize many individuals after listening for a few seconds. /Paul W3PH -- /Paul Heller [hidden email] http://www.his.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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Paul Heller wrote:
> Last year I dug the bug out of storage and decided to give it a try > again - after all, I was OK with it in the '60s. I almost got to the > point where I'd be willing to go on the air with it, but after 40 years > I've definitely lost the knack. Hi Paul! After a similar layoff, I re-learned the bug -- it took me two years and I *still* don't sound as good as I did in 1957. One big improvement came when AC7AC told me to use relatively high spring tension on the dot side. This helps prevent the annoying dit-splitting when sending the letter 'A', for example. Another useful bug trick with modern rigs is to debounce the contacts. After trying foam rubber and solid-state solutions, I settled on having the bug operate a Radio Shack reed relay with a large capacitor across the coil (without the capacitor, the relay is fast enough to follow the bounce). -- 73, Vic, K2VCO Fresno CA http://www.qsl.net/k2vco _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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FWIW: As a senior in HS in '56-'57, I got a job as a relief operator at
a coastal marine station. Everyone had their own bug with a wedge to connect it to the company-provided straight key, and all but mine were Vibroplex. I had acquired a very proletarian looking black-based bug (J-36?) made by Lionel (of model train fame) at a WW2 surplus outlet, and used it until I built what I think was a predcessor of the TO-keyer. The big difference between the Lionel and a Vibroplex was that you could slow the J-36 dot speed down very nicely, whereas the Vibroplex sent dots at about 45WPM with the two weights all the way out to the damper. Not long ago, a friend and former radio operator in the USCG gave me his Vibroplex. I fooled around with it some, including alligator clips on the end of the dot arm to get the dot speed down, but I guess I've been on keyers too long and made almost no progress. I finally modified it to separate the dot and dash contacts and use it as the paddle for the keyer in my FT-847 on 2m. The J36 (or whatever it was) was soooo much easier to use than the Vibroplex. Incidentally, when I first took my homebrew keyer (9 or 10 dual triodes, and about 12 lbs) into work, the 16-yr old kid took a lot of verbal and some physical flak from the OT's. Eventually, however, most of them asked to try it out ... and two of them commissioned a friend of mine to build one for each of them. People do change! I don't have any problems with the KXPD1, and it is cool to have a totally integrated rig like that. YMMV Fred K6DGW Auburn CA CM98lw K2/100 # 4398 KX1 # 897 Vic Rosenthal wrote: > After a similar layoff, I re-learned the bug -- it took me two years and > I *still* don't sound as good as I did in 1957. > _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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