I got my Whiterook MK-44 mini-paddles today. Now, I have been sending with a straight key (an E.F. Johnson J-37 clone I bought from Allied Electronics in 1963) for, well, 40 years. Way back, I tried a Vibroplex Lightning Bug, but never could get the hang of it. If you have ever seen a Lightning Bug, you can probably figure out why that would be.
The DSW20 has a built-in iambic keyer (actually it's in the firmware of the PIC microprocessor), and the MP-44 works pretty smooth with it. I found some 50-ohm attenuators that provide 30 dB attenuation so I can practice without actually radiating (I take the antenna off, 2 milliwatts reflected power probably isn't going to hurt anything). If I can get over trying to switch the dit and dah paddles between letters, I think I can get used to a keyer.
Of course, the MFJ twins don't have built-in keyers, and I don't especially want to buy the $50 daughter board for each of them, so I will probably get the Whiterook mini-keyer for those.
SWL report of the week: heard Alf, G3UAA on 14058 while driving home tonight. He was about a 539 to 559 on the Hamstick. 20 was dead at noon but gets these grayline openings in the late afternoon.
Posted in Radio Daze by WA5ICA at August 26, 2004 08:08 PM