My observation is that paddles are cheapest at the ham fests. Over the
years I've tried them all. Well, the mass produced ones.
Practice and fine tuning are the hall marks of good paddling results. All
paddles work. After that, you can line up your favorites and sell the rest
off at a hamfest. I kept the brass racer, but glued the magnets in after
replacing one of them because it seemed to have lost its magnetism. This was
one of the older ones with the keyer in the base. It works fb now. I also
like the NorCal keyer I found, its the design that Vibroplex calls the Code
Warrior, except the NorCal was a kit. The least expensive paddle is the Nye
Viking covered model both black and in chrome. This one is the least
attractive and the most challenging to get working good. Its hard to beat in
mobile use and wont go boing ever. The Vibroplex Iambic was my first
acquisition as my initial transition from the bug which I had used a long
time. Practise and patience are the key to making the switch. Its not my
favorite paddle, I dont know why. Lastly I bought a G4ZPY non iambic paddle
and found it very nice to work and play with, no boing.
Its the most refined. Paddles that went bye bye were the Bencher, heathkit
hd-1410 and a ham keyer. I never tried the TT paddles, the Schurrs, Kents,
or others. I enjoyed hearing about the contributors to this thread.
|