Good mobile CW paddles?

[AF5C]

My 3 foot tall MFJ mini ham stick worked so well that I now want to get into more mobile operation.  Using the UP/DOWN buttons on the 706s mic to send CW gets old after a while, so I am looking to get a set of mini paddles suitable for mobile operation. Something with a suction cup or magnet on the base would be good so I could attach it to the radio.

Any recommendations?

John AF5CC

[KD0TSA]

The Porta Paddle seems to be quite popular with the SOTA folks:

http://www.americanmorse.com/portapaddle.htm

I just ordered one myself, along with the leg strap for doing summit activations:

http://www.americanmorse.com/portapaddlelegmount.htm

It seems they also now make a mount with some sort of adhesive:

http://www.americanmorse.com/ppquickmount.htm

Here's the reviews on eHam:

http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/4368

Disclaimer:  Mine hasn't arrived yet, but hopefully by next week I can offer a full endorsement!

[N6AJR]

I had a set here  that was military surplus and it was a straight key mounted to a steel band that was springy and went around your upper leg. Sort of like a ladies  hair band with a key attached.  look on ebay, or make one yourself.

[KH6AQ]

KD0TSA that looks like an excellent key for mobile.

I use an LTA paddle set on a sheet of wood. The paddle is secured from sliding around by eight self sticking rubber feet pushing against the four sides of the keyer base. The sheet of wood is secured in a similar way to a cubby hole between the stick shift and the dash.

[AC4RD]

I'm not a regular mobile CW op--I tried it for a while, and it's worlds of fun, but the traffic where I live is too heavy for me to be comfortable with running CW from the car.

My regular Benchers were too heavy to be convenient in the car.  I tried my homebrew paddles in the car  (  http://people.duke.edu/~kuzen001/mousetrap3.html  ) but the action was a little bit light for my taste.

I wound up making most of my mobile CW contacts with a really ugly sideswiper, an old cheap imitation of the Vibroplex single-lever model.  I bought it cheap at a hamfest, and it has a plastic base, so it was light and easy to mount in the car.

Whatever you wind up with, GL and please be careful!  :-)

[K5LXP]

I use a Palm Mini Paddle:

http://www.palm-radio.de/

Not the greatest in terms of feel but when you're bouncing down the interstate the action of the paddle isn't too important.  The small and light form factor of this paddle makes it easy to mount to just about any surface, and when not in use it can be retracted into it's housing for protection.

I would also agree with the use of a porta-paddle.  I have one of those for portable operating and it too would be easy to mount in a car, with it's durable construction a plus.


Mark K5LXP
Albuquerque, NM

[KC7YE]

I'm 99 % mobile & 99% mobile CW due to living in condo and personal tastes. Use whiterook MK-33 single lever paddle, more like a Kooti key. Fine by me, started with kooti back when. Leg strap MT - 36. MT-34 is Iambic. Cheaper then other options too. I mounted MT-33 to clip board that holds "steno" pad. Not much room in cabin of Subaru, works.http://www.electronicsusa.com/mk.html

[AC4RD]

Not much room in cabin of Subaru, works.http://www.electronicsusa.com/mk.html

KC7YE, thank you for that link!   I took one look at the website and immediately ordered the mini-paddles; at that price they've GOT to be worth trying!  TNX 73!

[ZENKI]

I like using capacitive the touch paddles. I personally think that they have a huge advantage over mechanical keys in mobile operation. You can build and adapt them to suit yourself.

http://www.cwtouchkeyer.com/