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You can
write your own review of the CW Touchkeyer Model P1.
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TOPPER
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 15, 2009 10:36
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Give it a try!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I had been very dissapointed by a name iambic paddle, at $200. Sloppy work, poor design, & difficult to adjust, (& $200). This paddle may not be the crown jewell of your cw rig - unless you consider basic black & real gold shoddy. This is simple, perhaps drop proof, and works! And the price is not astronomical, Sumner is a fine guy.
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KA9N
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 10, 2009 14:25
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Best-kept secret in ham radio
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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My new P1 (wired) touchpaddle/keyer arrived yesterday. I am absolutely delighted with it!
I was a little apprehensive over the decision to go with a touchpaddle rather than a traditional mechanical unit, and agonized over this for some time.
My greatest concerns were these:
1. How hard would it be to learn not rest my fingers against the paddle faces, as I often do with mechanical paddles?
2. Would the P1 be sufficiently heavy to stay firmly planted on the desktop?
Neither has turned out to be an issue. Before the P1 arrived I spent considerable time practicing with my old Bencher BY-1 consciously trying to make sure I did not rest fingers on the paddles unless keying a character. It was not that difficult to change a minor old habit.
Secondly, I found the P1 to be easily heavy enough to stay put on the table. The additional weight added below the circuit board as well as the high-friction rubber feet do the job just fine. It also may help that I have always used the BY-1 with a light touch, anyway. (That particular design invites a light touch.) I never did bang around mechanical paddles with a heavy fist.
The Touchkeyer P1 is the best-kept secret in amateur radio. There is no reason a ham should rely on mechanical morse paddles in a field that is essentially all electronic. The P1 is electronic, and it works beyond my expectations!
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W8MP
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 22, 2009 18:18
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Great Keyer, Great Customer Support
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This is a great little Keyer. I have owned one for over a year now. Had one problem which was a internal issue. Sent the unit to the manufacturer and had it fixed. There was no charge, and it was repaired expeditiously. Had it back in very short order. The manual is available on line, which is helpful. The menu is not intuitive, but it is easy to follow the directions on line to program it. The phone help and support is great if you still get confused. This is a great product!!!
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W8LV
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 26, 2009 23:11
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The Lightning Touch Bug!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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WOW! I use a Speed-x straight key, a Vibroplex #6, and Bencher Paddles, and I alternate between these.
But the CW Touch keyer, I am absolutely hooked on. Yes, its fun to use the other keys, and I love to use the Vibroplex to send American Morse on the Morse Telegraph Club Internet Site...But this thing is WONDERFUL! After using one, I am surprised that there isn't one on every CW op's table everywhere! I works better than ANY other sending device that I have tried, even the magnetic ones. And for such a reasonable price compared to any of them! Defiantly the bug for the 21st Century, I find the name awkward, so I call mine The Lightning Touch Bug! If Horace G. Martin was still here, he would defiantly give a tip of his green telegraphers visor to the proprietor, Mr.Sumner Eagerman , WA1JOS! Sumner answered my email promptly on this product (even though I bought it used). I use this thing EVERY DAY.
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WG7GW
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 26, 2008 21:21
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Absolutely worth the money!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I purchased the P1PAD kit. I didn't need the keyer portion of the kt. Assembly was quick and easy. I did get a little confused and initially put the assembled board in the enclosure upside down -- but I'll blame that on tiredness. My kit was missing the case screws and adhesive desk pads, but Sumner put them in the mail immediately.
Summary, a great kit. Superb feel on the keys. I like to rest my fingers on my Brown Brothers paddle, then squeeze ... hmmmm, I'm having to do things a bit differently now! Well worth it ...
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K1PN
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 25, 2008 14:47
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Great Keyer
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've operated cw for over 30 years and tried other touch keyers that come and gone. When I tried this one , it worked, and flawlessly .
Others were hard to keep from making errors due to the lack of sensitivity of the touch paddles. This design works well and even sending at higher speeds.
Its packed with memory so that you can preset CQ etc. Available in assembled or kit, I picked the kit and went together easily. Great keyer.
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W1HIS
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 3, 2008 18:40
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Excellent! Really. Try it.
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I've used iambic paddles & keyers for 40 years. The CW Touch Keyer is my favorite. Adapting to it from the Schurr Profi 2 (my second favorite) was a snap. Within three minutes I was sending error-free code at 30 WPM. (My speed is improving with practice.) Adapting back to the Schurr took longer.
If you haven't tried a touch keyer, you should. You'll be surprised by how easily, accurately, and fast you can send. The touch keyer's precision, and the relative lack of motion and force it requires, are real advantages.
I teach ham radio to kids. My current class had used straight keys but never an iambic keyer. I gave each child fifteen minutes with a P1W Touch Keyer set to 18 WPM. Within fifteen minutes, 20 of the 22 children could send most of the alphabet correctly. They took to the P1W like ducks to water. Perhaps I should say “ducklings,” because these children were seven years old.
My next class won't use straight keys at all. From the outset, they'll use Touch Keyers set to 18 WPM. They will never hear a Morse character sent at less than an 18-WPM rate, so they will learn to recognize Morse characters by their overall, whole sounds -- as units. They won't count dits & dahs and visualize a Morse character as dots & dashes.
In psychology, one's overall impression or sense of a thing is called its "gestalt." (It's a German word, die Gestalt.) We recognize spoken words without decomposing each word into letters and visualizing it in print. If we had to do the latter, then understanding speech would be as difficult for us as it is for the machines that answer when we make 'phone calls to big dumb companies.
The Touch Keyer is not only the easiest iambic keyer to use; it is also the only one I've seen that a careless student isn't likely to break. It is precise without being delicate. It needs no adjustment. It has no contacts. It has no tiny screws or springs to get lost. It's tough. You can wipe it off with a sponge. It's self-contained. The Touch Keyer has revolutionized my Morse-code teaching. If you or your ham club conduct(s) Morse-code classes, consider Touch Keyers for your classes, too.
-Chuck W1HIS
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WB7DNU
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 13, 2008 08:27
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Great Keyer
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I built this keyer from the kit. I had a problem hearing the fb that its supposed to send on turning it on and had to call Sumner, thinking there was something wrong with the keyer. I can't believe the help he gave me. The customer service is the best I have ever had anywhere. It turned out the only real problem was the volume pot inside the keyer was turned off.
The keyer works well but you need to use an external speaker so you can hear it. The internal speaker is small and there isn't much volume if you have a hearing problem as I do.
Programming the keyer is a bit tricky. Reading the manual and trying it several times helps but to program my call sign into it I had to call Sumner and get better instructions than are in the manual. Again the customer service was great.
I gave the keyer a 5 because it works well, has a good feel and the customer service from Sumner is the best I have ever had. For the price it is a good deal and works as well as some of the better keyers on the market.
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ON4VP
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 8, 2008 23:34
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a total different experience
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I was looking for a new paddle and if you want to save some bucks, the quality of mechanical paddles suffer. Reading about the P1 made me curious so I ordered one. Shipping took longer than expected but this was out of the hands of Sumner who assisted me the whole time and even proposed a refund if my delivery was taking to long. Finaly after a stressfull periode and due to the unprofessionalisme of the "local" parcel service I got my keyer almost a week later.
I ordered the 'wired' model. The keyer has a firm base with added weight so it doen't move on the desk. All plugs come with the keter. I soldered the calbles and plugs and connected the P1 to my TS480.
The keyer works as advertised. It is a whole new experience working the paddles without mechanical parts. It takes some time getting familiar but once adapted, boy oh boy, what a different world.
The P1 has the internal keyer and it works FB. The only minor thing I regret is the learning curve to access the menus. A few direct buttons had been easier to operate. This is why I give the P1 a "4". The hardware is very good, the programming is less straightforward, it to takes time to get familiar. All is done trough a MEM button and the dih's and dah's of the paddles.
It has a practice mode, potmeter to adjust speed, 4 memories, and a bunch of settings. Impressive to see its all in the PIC processor. I recommend this P1 and would buy it again. The service and email assistenve of Sumner is nice !
Enjoy CW
73 ON4VP Phil
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K8RBW
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 24, 2007 08:57
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A Real Joy!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I love all things CW. Like KE6BB, I have aging hands with nerve damage; nonehteless, I refuse to quit CW. If CW is eliminated, I will terminate my almost 50 years in amateur radio. Enough said.
One of the first things I do in the morning for therapy on my hands is practice sending CW with a keyer. The P1 is amazing in this regard as I can still send 30+ words a minute with it just based on listening to the sound. Although I have built the a Jackson Harbor Keyer ( an excellent keyer and the one used in the P1), I don't use the memory a great deal because I so much enjoy sending with the P1. I own two of them. One is at my main QTH and one is at my summer home.
Highly recommended.
72/73 to all.
de Dick, K8RBW
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