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| Reviews Summary for N3ZN Keys ZN-1 |
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Reviews: 10
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Average rating: 5.0/5
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MSRP: $150
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Description: Magnet Driven, Aluminum Arms, Excellent Warranty, Priced at a Real Bargain
$150 for the black base and $175 for the brass base.
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More info: http://www.n3znkeys.com/
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2E0BBP
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Rating: 5/5
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May 9, 2007 23:17
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Excellent
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Time owned: months
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From the moment that I placed the order with Tony to taking delivery was a very smooth transaction. The key arrived here in the Uk double boxed , and well packed out inside. This key is a quality item, from the box this key exudes quality was straight forward to set up and felt very comfortable. It performs exactly as it should , I cannot find any negative aspects to this key. Thanks again Tony.
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SM5BOH
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 17, 2007 03:09
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Excellent
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Having used the key a couple of weeks I find that the main characteristics are:
- a solid feeling of quality and craftsmanship
- superb possibilities to adjust the settings to your preferences
- allows you to further develop your cw capabilities.
All in all a very nice key that will stay in the shack!
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AA4MC
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 6, 2007 07:29
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compares with the best
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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i have Tony's zn-2a key also. both have excellent feel and action. i have a schurr profi and really prefer Tony's key over it, and others i own. if you really enjoy cw you need to try one of his keys!
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K8JH
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 10, 2007 11:41
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Very pleased
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This is my first real professional key and I love it. It came promptly and already adjusted. Tony, N3ZN, communicated with me right away after my purchase on eBay. He included a 1/4" adapter at my request without charge. Moreover, I mentioned that the cord was a bit short. Without my asking he quickly put a longer cord in the mail, again no charge. Great quality key and great service. An excellent purchase experience.
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W5LXG
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 30, 2007 15:56
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Great buy
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Beautiful fit and finish. Tony obviously takes great pride in manufacturing his keys. Neat design and I could not a flaw anywhere. The size is relatively compact in all dimensions. Exchanged several e-mails with Tony who was very prompt in replies. Nice firm feel and much superior device to more expensive paddles. Shipped in double box. Suspect these paddles may become collector items.
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K8RBW
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 27, 2007 14:50
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Terrific
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Tony makes a great paddle and is extremely responsive to your needs. He obviously spent a great deal of time trying to learn and adapt the better features from a lot of top end paddles. I found the leverage to be excellent for my particular style, thereby reducing the number of errors I make resulting from my carpal tunnel syndrome.
It is too bad that the code requirement has been dropped and many future operators may miss the pleasure of using a fine paddle like Tony's. I studied Chinese for over twenty years and I get the same feeling of achievement from CW as I do from meticulously drawn calligraphy.
A minor problem, like with many paddles, is that the finger pieces are attached with a single screw and have to be adjusted sometimes to keep them parallel with one another.
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WC3O
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 4, 2007 13:12
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A fine key!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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As with another reviewer, I first met Tony through e-bay. Upon seeing his key I decided to try one. Great key! You can set the contact gap as tight as you like. The magnetic tension also offers a wide range of adjustment from a "heavy hitter" to the feather light touch that I like. The key stays where you put it on the desk and it looks great with the brass upper and black base. Good luck Tony and thanks for the great key. It's a keeper.
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W6GDK
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 28, 2006 20:35
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Very nice key
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This is the first high end set of paddles I have used. Delivery was very quick ( 4 days) and the paddles were adjusted optimally, for me anyway, right out of the box. The Begali paddles may look a little more finsished than these, but for the price, these are very nice.
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N3CW
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 3, 2006 11:46
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Gem of a Paddle!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I too first saw this paddle on Ebay. I have been very lucky with almost all of my Ebay (and other ham list) purchases over the years, in that the pictures and descriptions represent fairly well what I actually receive when the product arrives. I must say however, that these new N3ZN paddles are a rare pleasant surprise; the paddle I ordered far exceeds what I expected, in many ways. The paddle was very carefully packed and boxed, and Tony's e-mails followed up on shipping to make sure I had received the paddle. I have found that the time spent packing a piece of hardware usually correlates with the pride the seller has in his ownership and/or fabrication of the item, and here I have a key that I know Tony was proud to put his call on. The brushed satin finish on the brass pieces is far more attractive in real life that in the photos, and small touches like the beveling on the brass contact posts represent solid quality in fabrication and design. The base is suitably heavy and stays put...not always a given when the wrong feet are used (here we have a nice sticky rubber foot which helps keep the key in place). Another one of my pet peeves are fingerpieces that flex; why have solid machine work and infinite adjustments if the fingerpieces deform past the stops? The N3ZN paddle uses a very attractive weave pattern. I'm not sure what to call it, perhaps a fiberglass weave? But the important thing is that the fingerpieces are just the right thickness and are very solid-feeling in use, with no flex like some $500 paddles; coupled with the lightweight aluminum arms, you have a very high-end feel when sending. I really like using this design. It is elegant simplicity combined with excellent machine work. It's a real sleeper, and a super bargain at Tony's asking price (with free shipping to boot).
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K3EY
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 23, 2006 08:37
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A Must Have Paddle
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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First I want to point out my relationship with Tony N3ZN, there is none other than we have a mutual interest. I have yet to talk to Tony on the phone let alone in person although he lives only about 40 minutes the other side of the city from me. I met him on eBay while restoring and selling Keys and I saw he was doing the same with some nice paddles up to and including the high-end models. Then I saw he was actually selling his own line and had used the ones he had in his shack for ideas to start his own line of paddles.
I love different keys paddles and bugs so I just had to try one. I emailed him and he sent me a prototype non production paddle with pivots and magnets. His production line all have bearings, not pivots and use powerful little magnets. I was so impressed by his Proto paddle I bought it. I then decided to buy one of his early production paddles figuring I would get a low S/N knowing that down the road it will become desirable, like the March and other good homebrew paddles.
Tony used Ulrich Steinberg’s [the paddle master IMO] idea of using a light weight arms made from aircraft aluminum instead of the normal heavier brass arms almost every paddle maker uses. That combination of light weight arms and the magnets and bearings along with nice curved gold plated silver contacts results in the feel you get using the very top end paddles.
I also own the Profi and Begali Vertical both great paddles, and have owned the WBLV22 from which all paddle makers should take their cue. This paddle adjusts down to that very light feather touch, but unlike the high-end models it requires more than a mere two seconds to accomplish that feel. I used an Allen wrench and played with it until I had the feel just the way I like it. Adjusting a paddle to that perfect feel is where I separate the good paddles from the ho hum paddles. The run of the mill paddles will not adjust down to that feather touch no matter how careful or how much effort you put into it where Tony’s paddle will indeed do it.
I like the finger pieces he used. They have both aesthetic value and a good feel. I liked the contrast black base to the nice brass finish so I choose the black base model over the solid brass model. Either model is an excellent choice and when considering the price and the fact it’s shipped for free with an unbelievable money back warranty, well it’s my opinion that Tony has a winner here. I think down the road his prices will climb because I can’t see how it’s worth the materials time and effort plus the generous warranty at his prices.
I too thought of selling paddles and with 36 year experience as a journeyman machinist I am confident I could pull it off but with the prices I would charge, people would go to Begali and why I too went to Begali and didn’t pursue it.
If you want a top end paddle at a bottom end price then theses paddles are worth very serious consideration especially at his low prices and warranty not to mention free shipping.
Curt/k3ivb
K3ivb@yahoo.com
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